Full-time training and work

You can’t leave your job to train unless it feeds you the same way.

People begin the passion for fighting and fighting in different disciplines at all different stages of life.

There are those who start at a very young age, some as a young boy, those who when they are older or have already turned 40 but are never too old.

It certainly changes the time available especially for the commitments of life since growing up you have wives and children and also the choice of the type of art that must also be adapted to age and your physical condition but it is never too late to start.

They certainly change the goals!

Now for me it was as a boy around the age of 16, then a stop and after the age of 23 that I had already finished studying and I was working on the discovery of some limbs that have become my passion such as JKD & Kali, boxing, muay thai and the fight like grappling and the BJJ,the discovery of MMA, etc. then continuing until the creation of the blog and the project Expert Fighting.

Street Fight Mentality & Fight Sport is not only a motto, a slogan, it is the philosophy of the blog.

Because it has been a continuous study and research that continues today always oriented to combat sports and self-defense.

Obviously since I lived alone and then I lived leaving my daily work to pursue my passion that still did not repay me was not something I could do.

However much I want to stop working to pursue dreams, it is nice to imagine and to say to do so, actions must be taken and we must be as concrete as we are at combat.

I need to make a living through the project as well.

Training every day 6 days a week for 4 hours with a full-time job was not all fun, but the passion on the edge of obsession, the desire to learn new things and the different disciplines and I found a way to make this trip beautiful even if it was not easy.

“the first time I had an aperitif had already gone out of fashion, at that time in the evening I was always in the gym”

I was fortunate to have great masters who have been able to convey passion and knowledge to me for what I do and working and educational methods that have improved me not only in sport but also in life.

I took lessons and took habits from those experiences in the gym every day that proved to be fundamental even in life.

While practicing activities with very different goals such as combat sports and personal defense, many elements I used for preparation and protocols can be applied to both combat sports and personal defense with proper contextualization.

This article is a starting point for those like me who worked full-time and went to classes and want to train and grow as a fighter and have/maintain a career and do a high level of training every day to become a very good fighter.

Keys to success for a fighter who works 8 hours a day

The only way to make a training program work as challenging as combat sports is to build these attitudes:

• Preparation/Programming
• Habit
• Flexibility
• Desire
• Constance

I know, it’s not easy and there are definitely days when you are more motivated and energetic and others when you feel unloaded, demotivated, but you always have to respect your schedule, you always have to train!

This makes it possible to compensate for those most difficult moments!

Here are the things I prepare in advance, as often and in the best possible way:

Workout notes

• Write what you do, techniques, notes, things to improve, things you want to learn, etc.
• Read your notes and notes often
• Use a convenient agenda ortablet/smartphone
• At home write what you have done and what you want to do or learn
• Write down the things you want to ask for or that you don’t understand

The gym bag is always ready to carry you or leave you in the car.

• Clothing: Various underwear changes, various shorts, t-shirts, after-workout jumpsuits, various.
• All tools: gi, rushguard, bag gloves, gloves for 12 and 16 oz, MMA gloves, paratibie, mouthguards,shell, bands,boxing shoes, sneakers, etc.
• Personal material: Thai oil, tape,patches,soap, shower gel, bathrobe, etc.
• Supplements:Protein, ZMA,etc. each has its own supplement (only if necessary)

Preparing food to support you energetically

• Taking the example of those who practice fitness and bodybuilding and have to take a lot of care of nutrition, on Sundays prepare the containers and bags with meals of the week.
• Sunday is a suggestion because you have more time.
• Prepare the three daily meals to take with you to work, and a couple of snacks (e.g. protein bars, fruits, almonds, walnuts, etc.). It’s important to prepare meals because if you have to do it every day the risk and start eating what’s there, or you have to go shopping after you’ve trained.
• Important creates simple and essential meals such as chicken or cooked prawns, vegetables, brown rice or basmati, olive oil/ or avocado. Another meal in the rotation is a mix of strawberry and blueberry yougurt.
• Water always with you to stay hydrated.
• Supplements: Protein, ZMA, etc. each has its own supplement(only if necessary)

Training Schedule / Calendaring

• Keep track of when you’re training, how much you work out, and what you’re training with using Excel or Google Calendar.
  
• It’s important to have an overview of your workout along with your other personal and work activities because it makes you understand what you need and can do and what you can’t do to organize and understand what you can postpone or move, if you can optimize something you’re doing, reverse some workouts in the week like intensity and duration Etc.
• Having an idea of all work programmes, personal programmes and training together can be useful in order not to overlook any aspect.
• If you have a structured and programmed training program divided by disciplines it can help a lot and helps you to have accurate notes and programming but it is a job that I have done for the training of my team but it is difficult to find it in most schools. This is useful because if you already know what lessons there are and

Always respect your routine!

I repeat that it is important that you respect your routine, it must become a method, a habit but you must also be flexible to change strategy and way if necessary to adapt to commitments or to improve.

One example that’s likely to happen to you if you work full time is to get stuck at work and be late to get to class, or you’re traveling for work out of town or abroad.

Instead of giving up training altogether, it comes when you can and do as you can with what you have at that time, as if you are going on the road, doing only one training is better than not training (run, kettlebell,rubber bands, empty, trx,tractions, etc.)

An example of a weekly program

Here’s a 6-day/7 training schedule to calibrate based on your or your disciplines:

• Sunday: Relax and shop for the week and prepare meals in plastic containers and sachets.
• Monday: Work Hard (I trained 4 hours in 4 different disciplines)
• Tuesday: Work Moderate (I trained 3 hours in 3 different disciplines)
• Wednesday: Work Light (I trained 2 hours in 2 different disciplines)
• Thursday: Work Hard (I trained 4 hours in 4 different disciplines)
• Friday: Work Hard Plus (I trained 2 hours in 2 different disciplines but hard sessions)
• Saturday: Work Light or Hard Plus (I trained 3 hours in 3 different disciplines reviewing or sparring session)
  

Ps. Plus I consider it a day of sparring because it is the end of the working week and the training is much more intense in view of sparring on Friday evenings and sometimes even on Saturday afternoons.

Now it is a scheme and can also be an hour and a half in a single discipline such as Muay Thai, Boxing or BJJ, etc. but the scheme is related to the hardness of training and type.

I personally have built for every day a training for each different discipline every day to train the different attributes.

Over time my personal program also for blog-related commitments is based on what I can do, my energy level and any activities coming up but every day I work in the industry.

For example, I try to balance striking and wrestling sessions with more technical or conditioning lessons.

You don’t want to perform any strength and conditioning training during the week if you have to do fight or sparring sessions just as many poo people would before a fight or fight tournament in the ring.

Every now and then I clearly take a few days off from training to take a break with my family.

Now to be able to structure your Hard, Medium and Light days you need to examine your schedule, your discipline and the gym you frequent.

These are general ideas for reasoning but they are editable.

Learn how to best distribute workloads and breaks, if you need to train early in the morning before your daily work begins, whether you can do it during your lunch or evening break.

This depends on your gym, the schedules you have, etc.

If I feel exhausted, train Light or take a day off.

I repeat that you have to score in an excel or google calendar when, how much and how much you train to keep an eye on how many sessions or days you have trained and, if necessary, increase your workouts and take a break and take time off for yourself and your family.

Find your rhythm and what works for you.

When you’re working with a full-time job, you need to make sure you pre-stall Quality more than Quantity!