Roadwork for Fighters: A How To Article

Roadwork for Fighters: A How To Article
By: Kedric Umaa

It is known that if you fight, you run. So most fighters put on their jogging shoes and pump out a few miles every morning. However, why are you supposed to run? How do you know jogging a few miles is the right way to do it? Is there a better way to do it? I’m here to answer these questions. I am a retired Thai Boxer, and a trainer certified with the National Academy of Sports Medicine, and I am here to shed some light on why we do roadwork, and how to get the most out of it.

I will start by explaining why we do roadwork. The answer is obvious to most people… cardio. Jogging helps you improve the cardio and stamina needed in a fight. I am here to say that you are right, and you are wrong.

In order for you to understand this, you first need to understand that we have three different energy systems that we use in different situations. The first two, ATP-CP and the Lactic Acid System, are used for very fast bouts of activity like lifting a heavy weight or sprinting as fast as you can. The second system, the Oxidative System is used for low intensity activity like jogging, walking, typing, cooking, etc.

The first two systems are called Anaerobic and you only have enough fuel to last anywhere from 30 seconds up to 3 minutes for highly trained individuals. The third system is called Aerobic and can last indefinitely. When you fight, you are using both systems. You go back and forth as you battle between high intensity bouts of activity, like when you are throwing combinations, and low intensity activity like when you are circling your opponent. When you go jogging, you are only training your Aerobic stamina.

Now, if we take this a little further, you will see that in a fight, you are not really doing any Aerobic activity at all. You are doing ANaerobic activity, recovering, and doing more ANaerobic activity. So jogging a few miles in the morning, actually does not directly affect your stamina in a fight at all. What jogging does is make your body more efficient at recovering from activity. However, again, it only does so indirectly, because all jogging is doing is increasing the strength of your heart and lungs, and removing waste products through your circulatory system from your last training session.

With that understanding, jogging is good to do, but not the only thing to do. Your roadwork should resemble the ANaerobic/recovery/ANaerobic demands to more closely resemble what your body is going to do in a fight. How do you do that? Sprints, bodyweight or weight exercises, and jogging all mixed together. A note here, by weight I don’t mean a leg extension or bicep curl machine. I mean heavy things like tractor tires, kettlebells, clubbells, sandbags, sleds, a heavyweight fighter, and other things that make you use every ounce in your body to move it.

The closer you get to a fight, the more your roadwork should resemble the ANaerobic/recover/ANaerobic program, and the further are you are from a fight the more jogging you should do.

The reasoning is very simple, jogging gets your body ready to do the intense stuff, and the intense stuff gets you ready for the fight.

To more concisely illustrate what I am talking about, below is a sample roadwork program for one month before your fight. Note, if your fight is going to last 19 minutes (5 rounds of 3 minutes, with 1 minute rest between rounds) you should have gotten yourself up to jogging at least twice that amount of time five days a week by now. You will be doing five days a week of roadwork with two days of rest in this sample program. Perform all exercises and sprints AS FAST AS POSSIBLE!

Week 1
Monday
Warm-up with a 10-minute jog
Perform 10 squats, sprint 100 meters, perform 10 pushups, and sprint 100 meters back, rest 1-minute. Perform this routine for a total of 20 sets.
Cool-down with a 20-minute jog

Tuesday
Jog for twice the time of your fight.

Wednesday
Rest

Thursday
Jog for twice the time of your fight.

Friday
Warm-up with a 10-minute jog
Perform 10 squats, sprint 100 meters, perform 10 pushups, sprint 100 meters back, perform 10 burpees (a.k.a up-downs), sprint 100 meters, rest 1-minute. Perform for 15 sets.
Cool-down with a 15-minute jog

Saturday
Jog for twice the time of your fight.

Sunday
Rest

Week 2
Monday
Warm-up with a 10-minute jog
Perform 10 squats, sprint 100 meters, perform 10 pushups, sprint 100 meters back, perform 10 burpees (a.k.a up-downs), sprint 100 meters, perform 10 pull-ups, sprint 100 meters back, rest 1-minute. Perform for 10 sets.
Cool-down with a 10-minute jog

Tuesday
Jog for twice the time of your fight.

Wednesday
Rest

Thursday
Warm-up with a 10-minute jog
Perform 10 squats, sprint 100 meters, perform 10 pushups, sprint 100 meters back, perform 10 burpees (a.k.a up-downs), sprint 100 meters, perform 10 pull-ups, sprint 100 meters back, rest 30-seconds. Perform for 10 sets.
Cool-down with a 10-minute jog

Friday
Jog for twice the time of your fight.

Saturday
Warm-up with a 10-minute jog
Perform 10 squats, sprint 200 meters, perform 10 pushups, sprint 200 meters back, rest 30-seconds. Perform for 20 sets.
Cool-down with a 20-minute jog

Sunday
Rest

Week 3
Monday
Warm-up with a 10-minute jog
Perform 20 squats, sprint 200 meters, perform 20 pushups, sprint 200 meters back, rest 30-seconds. Perform for 15 sets.
Cool-down with a 20-minute jog

Tuesday
Warm-up with a 10-minute jog
Sprint a half mile in under 3 minutes, rest 1-minute. Do one sprint for every round of your fight.
Cool-down with a 30-minute jog

Wednesday
Rest

Thursday
Warm-up with a 10-minute jog
Run one mile AS FAST AS POSSIBLE!
Cool down with a 20-minute jog
Friday
Jog for twice the time of your fight.

Saturday
Warm-up with a 10-minute jog
Perform 20 squats, sprint 200 meters, perform 20 pushups, sprint 200 meters back, perform 20 burpees (a.k.a up-downs), sprint 200 meters, perform 20 pull-ups, sprint 200 meters back, rest 30-seconds. Perform for 10 sets.
Cool-down with a 20-minute jog

Sunday
Rest

Week 4
Monday
Warm-up with a 10-minute jog
Sprint a half mile in under 3 minutes, rest 1-minute. Do one sprint for every round of your fight.
Cool-down with a 30-minute jog

Tuesday
Warm-up with a 10-minute jog
Perform 10 squats and 10 pushups, sprint a half mile in under 3 minutes, rest 1-minute. Repeat for every round of your fight, plus one.
Cool-down with a 20-minute jog

Wednesday
Rest

Thursday
Warm-up with a 10-minute jog
Perform 10 squats, 10 pushups, 10 burpees (a.k.a up-downs), sprint a half mile in under 3 minutes, rest 1-minute. Repeat for every round of your fight, plus two.
Cool-down with a 10-minute jog

Friday
Jog for twice the time of your fight.

Saturday
Fight!

As you can see, this is no walk in the park. If you can do this, you do not have to worry about gassing in your fight as this is probably going to be harder than your fight. Remember, if you are training right, the fight is the easy part. If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to post them here, or email me at thewolf@junglemiami.com.

Take care,
Kedric "Wolf" Umaa