Best cardio for fighting

[neijia_boxer]

while i am reading forrest Griffins book, i found and excellent point he makes in one of his chapters: he talks about his friend that does all the running and circuits and weight training but still gases in a fight. forrest goes on to say something quite intelligent for his low IQ (he states his is only 87) that the best cardio trainining for fighting it rolling and sparring, not only that but with a fresh opponent while in a bad position/scenerio each new round to make it extra difficult.

that was good motivation to go to sparring and bjj more frequently.

[Wanderingdragon]

Rolling? You mean like tumbling and breakfalls and stuff?

[neijia_boxer]

rolling is juijitsu sparring or randori

[Wanderingdragon]

Oh, my ignorance to being on the ground is showing, sparring and work on the heavy bag will have to suffice for me.

[shawnsegler]

I've heard tennis works pretty well.

S

[Chris Fleming]

while i am reading forrest Griffins book, i found and excellent point he makes in one of his chapters: he talks about his friend that does all the running and circuits and weight training but still gases in a fight. forrest goes on to say something quite intelligent for his low IQ (he states his is only 87) that the best cardio trainining for fighting it rolling and sparring, not only that but with a fresh opponent while in a bad position/scenerio each new round to make it extra difficult.

that was good motivation to go to sparring and bjj more frequently.

Sounds reasonable...to a point. First thing that comes to mind is that Forrest's friend isn't able to calm his mind and body down in a fight and promptly throws his breathing out the window when it comes to the fight. That would gas anyone regardless of training.

[Teazer]

I haven't found long sustained periods of cardiopulmonary effort to be as useful as shorter bursts using one of the approaches to interval training and its variants.

Same here. Tabata ftw!

[Juan]

We do something like that when we are about to fight. We usually do six rounds of boxing introducing new partners every round. We also do 5 rounds of clinch work with three people. The person who is training to fight does clinch work with one partner while the other one rests, when the round is over the person who is resting clinches with the fighter the next round while the other guy rests and so on and so forth for 5 rounds. I swear after that is done you feel like puking your guts out. Fortunately I've come close to puking but haven't done so yet (knock on wood).

[ashe]

Sounds reasonable...to a point. First thing that comes to mind is that Forrest's friend isn't able to calm his mind and body down in a fight and promptly throws his breathing out the window when it comes to the fight. That would gas anyone regardless of training.

that;s what i was thinking. the science is pretty clear on VO2 max and intervals, but i think that wrestling etc. is still a must.

[tiltpoint]

SAID: specific adaptation to imposed demand. You fight, and then get better at fighting? something sounds too simple.

As an athlete, I've long disagreed with cardio for the sake of cardio. As a coach, I am in the (by far) minority. Nothing wrong with wanting to be able to run for several miles (and for cutting weight it's a must), but don't for a second think it will help you more than marginally with wrestling. You want better cardio for wrestling? Wrestle longer/ with more intensity. Want to relax more and make the other guy work harder? Practice that.

Wind sprints up a hill or stairs. Preferably with weights, farmer grip. Maximum burst for several seconds, rest, maximum burst. Or you could just practice skipping...

[Darth Rock&Roll]

bag work and shadow boxing at high intensity = best cardio for fighting.

sparring is sparring and has an element fo cardio, but the focus is not cardio.

rolling, the same thing, you'll get cardio, but you also go anaerobic at times.


steady bag work and steady shadow boxing is task specific and heavy cardio that you can focus on breathing and timing your breathing even more importantly.

Griffin while entertaining, and an ok fighter, is not the greatest teacher, but what do you want for an IQ of 87? lol

[vadaga]

Besides bag work and shadow boxing, some other things I like:

skipping rope
line drills
rock climbing
cycling hills
jogging with interval sprints mixed in (e.g. indian runs or fartlek)

I guess the common feeling when I do all of these to get the heartrate up, while still trying to remain somewhat relaxed so that you don't gas out.

[Josh Lerner]

Tabata burpees are the bee's knees.

Josh

[tiltpoint]

rolling, the same thing, you'll get cardio, but you also go anaerobic at times.

EXACTLY! The whole point of endurance is to be able to endure the rigors you will likely face. If we're talking combat sports, it means aerobic levels interspersed with bouts of anaerobic intensity over 3 to 5 minutes. If we're talking THE STREETS (TM) and a fight lasts more than a few seconds, you're probably screwed anyway (with the exception of running away, but most times you only have to have more gas than the other guy has desire to continue the conflict.)

Just don't fool yourself that aerobic endurance will help you more than marginally in a fight. On the other hand, anaerobic conditioning results in increased VO2 max by possibly one of the most effective means. The only discussion should be which is to be emphasized, ATP-CP storage (short term anaerobic) or glycogen storage (long term anaerobic). That is dependent on whether you want combat sports, or THE STREETS (TM).

If we're talking hunting/tracking prey till it gases, marathon/ solely aerobic training is OK.

[Ian]

to be honest I've never needed cardio in a fight - ring or otherwise.

although it's good to do for other reasons.