Importance of Roadwork

[Brian Patrick]

How important is roadwork? If it is important, then do you do distance runs, sprints, or both?

[OctaviousBP]

A link...

This is a good place to start to gather some info on how the body develops endurance, and whether or not "Road Work" is necessary. Personally, I wouldn't give it up... until my knees do.

D

http://www.trainforstrength.com/Endurance1.shtml

[chalambok]

Good Stuff From Master Chai

Okay, first of all my personal congrats to Octavious. Thanks for keeping us posted during your adventure.

About roadwork, yes by all means. You should run every day as early in your day as you can. Master Chai always told me to jog in the morning, not for the body, but for the mind. You run intervals or hills or wind sprints for the body, plus the miles. At many camps you will run maybe 6-10 miles early in the morning, then skip rope for 15-30 minutes before going to school. The big workout is in the afternoon, close to fight time. Dale Kvalheim advocates 10-mile runs with a finishing sprint of 1/4 mile. If you are training to fight you should definitely end your run with a sprint.

[PentjackSilat]

Ajarn Chai's routine for me was:
Run 45 minutes, 7 days a week, in the early morning.
On Fridays, after my run, do ten 100 meter sprints.

He said the running and sprinting was for leg strength, not cardio...and that cardio was developed other ways.

However, what I do now (I was told to do this is Novembr of '01)
is run at night. I run for distance (5 miles) on Thursday and Sunday.

I do sprints (10- 100 meter/ 5- 200/ 3- 400 meter) after 3 minutes of bleacher running...and a cool down of 2 minutes of bleacher running. I rest for 30 seconds in between reps of sprints, and 3 minutes in between the sets on Tuesday and Saturday.

I do this because I noticed that when I was in the ring I could cruise at a constant level without getting winded, but stop and go messed me up. Meaning I either needed to not hit, or keep hitting. Once I stopped hitting, my lungs hit me like a ton of bricks. So now I am experimenting with this new routine.

As for the necessity of roadwork I will quote Ajarn Chai again.

"If you're not doing roadwork, you're not fighting!"

I heard a story where he and a female fighter he was training were driving in a car and he asked her if she did her roadwork that morning.

She said "no," and master Chai made her pull over and run her 5 miles on the side of the expressway in the dress and high heels she was wearing, with makeup running down her face.

So yes, roadwork is necessary.

[dave_UK_MT]

I can't walk properly to bathroom when I get up in the morning, never mind go out jogging.

Does anyone else who has a 9-5 job find it very hard to get up before work and go out running?? is it something you just get used to??

[PentjackSilat]

I work in a lumber yard from 6 a.m. until 5:30 p.m., and teach class from 6 p.m. until 8 p.m.

i.e. I work 14 hours a day, and I still run 5 miles and train for 2 hours, not the two hours of class that I teach, two more hours.

You'd be amazed at what your body can get used to doing.

[dave_UK_MT]

So do you run before going to work then??

I've got no problem working 8 till 6 then going to the gym and training from 6.15 till 8pm.

When the alarm goes off at 7 in the morning the last thing I feel like doing is going running, I think I just value my time in bed a little too much. It would be interesting to give it a go though and see if I could stay concious on the way round

[jcolvin]

I work a 9-6 job and I find it beyond difficult to get up in the morning and train. This year I am trying something new though. Instead of trying to do it everyday I am working at doing it about 4 days a week and on the days that I fail to get up and do my morning cardio I move it to the end of the day. Which makes it harder

[dave_UK_MT]

Originally posted by jcolvin
on the days that I fail to get up and do my morning cardio I move it to the end of the day. Which makes it harder

I find it fairly eay to go running after work (around 7pm) rather than before. Mind you my body doesn't really wake up till about 12.30pm.

We just weren't designed to be sat around all day staring at a computer.

[OctaviousBP]

With regards to a morning run... that is part of the game. When you see that clock blinking 6:00am and you get out of bed and hit the road, you are doing muay thai. Well, in the larger sense of it. As was previously stated, it's not necessarily about the cardio, but also about where it puts your head space. A good run in the morning, I find, sets the pace for the day. Not to mention the fact that it gives you a sense of accomplishment and a good workout all before the clock strikes 7.

D

[jcolvin]

I totally agree with you on that point. A good hour in the morning and you are charged for the entire day. The good and the bad about a good morning workout is that you won't need coffee to wake up like everyone else in the office, but the first time you miss then you will be dragging.

How do you guys feel about running on the treadmill and the other cardio machines in the gym vs just running on a track or path?

[dave_UK_MT]

Treadmills seem way easier to me than 'proper' running.
I suppose its because you don't have a constantly changing surface that you have to compensate for.
Also you seem to have to do more time on a treadmill to get the same effect as you would in a normal run, couple that with the fact that its pretty boring, unless there's some tasty ladies to gawp at, I prefer to go for the real deal.

[jcolvin]

Well, the eye candy part is a must, but my biggest problem with running outside is that I can't wear the headphones because the cd will skip, therefore all I have to listen to is my heart pounding in my chest.

[PentjackSilat]

Don't run on a treadmill.

Running is to strengthen your legs, and a treadmill will not do that. It is best to run on the sand or in the woods. If you have neither, run on grass. Never run on asphalt or concrete, always on something soft.

Try to run as far away from cars as you can. The exhaust fumes are no good for you. I either run in a local park, or on the beach.

Invest in an MP3 player, they cost anywhere from $100 to $300. You can store anywhere from a half hour to four hours of music on it, and it won't skip...and they're small. I have one that I wear on my wrist like a watch as I run. All you need is a computer so that you can download music onto the player.

When I don't use my MP3 player, I use my run time to mentally rehearse the combinations I'm going to use in my next fight, and I think of counters that I can pull of against attacks. If you mentally rehearse your game, it will have improved drastically when you execute it.

So, for now, rehearse your form.

As you run, imagine yourself throwing the perfect kick. Feel wind rush past your leg as it travels to it's target with your foot and hips rotating...and locking perfectly into place upon impact, and the sting of impact. How does the impact feel? Did you hit with your foot or your shin? Do you feel the warmth on your shin like you get when you kick the bag? Did you hear the "thud" when your shinbone landed against his rib, and the his grunt from the pain? Is he hurt, or did the hit not phase him at all? He's hurt! Go after him! Hit him, feel the kick land again. Now punch, etc...

What you imagine should be pulled from reality. Have you sparred yet? Did you hit him with your jab? What did it feel like...what did it look like? Don't just remember...re-live. What you felt, heard, and saw...see yourself doing it against an imaginary opponent,and when you hit him with your jab feel what you felt when you hit your sparring partner for real. Hear the slight grunt of pain. Now imagine it again with a knee.

And as you imagine...always, always, always imagine that as he is throwing a punch or kick at you...that you never blink...and you watch it the whole way through.

Sorry for the novel.

[terry]

I need to run on a treadmill sometimes because the dirt track near my house turns into a big mud pile when it rains. I tilt up the treadmill to 3% angle and run with a heart rate monitor to make sure I'm not slacking.

Terry