Andrea 
How much do you need to train?
This is a question that doesn’t have an easy answer because it’s something very personal for different physical characteristics and time availability.
Very often people ask:
- How much do I have to train to be a good fighter?
- How many hours a day should a fighter spend in the gym?
- Do you work out enough?
- Am I training too little?
- How do I balance physical and technical work?.
- How long do other fighters train to get those results?
- How long does it take to achieve fitness and technical training?
Knowing the right time for training and to achieve fitness in one or more martial arts that are practiced is fundamental and can make the difference between training little or doing an over-workout that tires without giving added value against being in perfect shape.
This is the difficult task of your master, coach, trainer or yours if you train alone.
How much time do I have to spend in the gym?
ANSWER: In general, I would say that professional/semi-professional fighters or people who want to learn deep one or more martial arts spend about 3-5 hours of work 5 times a week.
Time for PRO-practice is usually divided into something like this:
- Roadworks (30-60 minutes) (run, small circuits)
- Warm-up and stretching (30 minutes) (empty, rope, bends, lunges, etc.)
- Bag work (30-60 minutes)
- Thai pad/focus and/or skill work, drills (30 minutes)
- Sparring (30 minutes)
- Strength and conditioning (60 minutes)(kettlebell,functional weights, circuits, etc.)
- Warm-down stretching and abs (30 minutes)
Of course, the order depends on the period and purpose of the training sessions (physical conditioning, competitions, etc.), so it does not always happen in this order as for example street work can be done at the beginning or end of the day.
Bag work or bag work can come before or after sparring depending on when the sparring partners are ready and especially based on the type of training session you have prepared.
Also you have to practice sparring with companions with different characteristics to train different specificities of the martial art you practice(Jeet Kune Do, Kali Filippino,MMA, Judo, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Krav Maga,etc. I do not want to exclude any)
Changing the order of routines is not a problem, the ones I have shown you are a way, as you can ignore some aspects on certain days.
You need to learn how your physique responds to maximize and make effective the quality of each training session and make it effective to avoid wasting time or training tired and bad.
Consider that today for those who practice sports competition it has also been understood here in Italy (although very late) that it is necessary to build targeted athletic preparations, with functional exercises often derived from athleticism and Olympic disciplines, to get to Yoga and breathing techniques.
Of course you know the time you can devote and so you have to on the points that I have indicated to you do the ones that are most useful to get your personal goal.
Today, many practice MMA (mixed martial arts) must structure training sessions and days in different forms to explore and work on different disciplines.
Ps. I do not believe in MMA schools but more in multidisciplinary schools, because I believe that we approach this sport after exploring the different disciplines and MMA can be the result of specificities such as the fundamental Jiu Jitsu or possibly Judo, Wrestling and then Boxing, Muay Thai, or variants.
Ps. Personally I train 3-4 hours a day 6 times a week and training in different disciplines my days I divided them into different forms (practical Jeet Kune Do, Kali Filipino, Panantukan, Knife, Boxing, Jiu Jitsu, MMA , Muay ThaI and in addition I am interested in the technical study of other disciplines such as Silat, Judo, Krav Maga, Takewo, etc.).
Clearly the time is divided by disciplines and possibly I try to work in the hours at different aspects to build in principle a main structure of the day that I indicated before and that is used by pros but that makes me work balancing workloads.
Es. If you do Muay Thai sparring that day don’t rolling Brazilian Jiu Jitsu but do a technical job, the same principle about athletic preparation.
You only have one hour a day or three times a week then give “THE MASSIVE”.
I already tell you that I personally consider it too little but better than doing nothing.
If you only practice martial art or combat sports it can also be enough but at the amateur level, if you want to make a leap in quality you have to devote yourself more.
Now you have to keep in mind that your body can only sustain a HIGH INTENSITY for some time before the workout becomes “resistance”, meaning that you have to use the best of yourself for the most important part of your training.
This could be sparring (if it’s a day of sparring) or DRILLS and skill work or for endurance and conditioning.
You need to know what’s important to you that day but you can’t expect to do 6 Rounds of hard sparring and after strength and conditioning work.
That day you only have to do one thing if you can’t unplug and rest.
You have to train with the limits of your body
No matter what the other guys are doing, what you need to understand is that at the end of the day, it’s your body that determines how much you’ve been working at the time.
If you’re not at a good level of training yet don’t try to over-force yourself to the point of overtraining or injury to hurt the next few days by training tired.
PS. this does not mean not to strive, but doing some more work does nothing, it is like eating … once you are already fully booked, the more food does nothing for you, IN FACT IT MAKES YOU FAT.
Train with other people
I often hear people asking “how long do I have to train for” an issue that is often asked by people who don’t train in a gym.
If you’ve been training in a gym, you know and you can see that everyone gets more or less tired around the same time.
Only those who are very trained or with above-average physical characteristics have above-average performance and endurance and you see them keep “pushing” and pulling as if it’s still fresh.
The routines are perfectly balanced to prepare an entire team, not a single individual, so they do specific preparations for the agonists not to limit their training which on average is more intense.
Ps. Different for the Pros where the work is specific to him and his characteristics and the team that trains with him does it to help him and anyway it is a good chance to train with the superstars.
If you want to train better … start training with team.
Training with others helps you find the fastest training pace and last longer because everyone else’s energy around you helps you, stimulates you, etc.
Training with others is important because you gain more confidence, because that way you can see the results and improvements you’re making.
Confronting others allows you to verify that your fitness and exercises are right and get the correct feedback that is needed and crucial to improve faster.
Training alone only works if you’ve already learned to work with others or spent years figuring out the right training routine for you, but still remember that you always need to train with people because many workouts you can’t do on your own (pao, focus, sparring, etc.)
I hope in some way that I have made it clear and also that I have not demoralized you because the important thing is not only the time but the quality of the way you train and the training methods.
The fundamental question I want you to ask yourself is not only how much you need to train but even more fundamental is HOW TO TRAIN.
Time should be functional to your training method and your personal goal.
Good training
Stay Tuned!
Street Fight Mentality & Fight Sport
Andrea
