Interval training is great for improving anaerobic and aerobic endurance. It’s the best way to lose body fat and increase endurance for sport.
Personal Example
I took this photo after I did an in-home interval workout involving burpees.
That is how your shirt should look like after interval training.
When I am getting ready for a tournament at Lin Martial Arts I will perform short interval drills after a regular practice.
I like being a little bit tired and performing my interval work at the end of sparring.
One common drill we use at Lin Martial Arts is: burpees 30 seconds, jog 30 seconds – repeat 5-8x.
When You Do Interval Training You Have to Go All Out
Interval training has to be intense. During your work set you have to go all out.
Sometimes when I finished those drills I would feel like I’m going to shit myself. No joke lol. It never happened by the way.
The Exercise Doesn’t Matter
I learned this concept from www.RossTraining.com. It’s not WHAT you do, it’s HOW you do it.
The exercise doesn’t really matter. You can replace burpees with any other (ideally full body) exercise: rowing machine, bike intervals, mountain climbers, squat jumps, shoot double legs, etc…
What matters is that you are consistent with your efforts. Do it like 2-3x per week. And push yourself every time.
Main Points
Interval training is great for increasing endurance for a tournament.
Focus on small additions. Adding 2-3 short interval workouts per week – at the end of your regular practice will quickly improve your cardio. They can be 5-20 minutes long.
Interval training must be intense if you want to get good results that transfer over to the tournament.
It doesn’t matter what exercise you do. I like burpees, double legs, or practicing passes on a heavybag.
What matters most is that you are consistent, do it every week, and work your ass off each time.
If you take the advice in this post, you will push yourself harder than you have before. You will develop more confidence in yourself.
You will also probably see Jesus at some point during your workout. Tell him I said “Hi”!