Kettlebells and Interval Training for Tae Kwon Do and Grappling

As much as I enjoy practicing tae kwon do at ATA Anthem, it’s a good thing they practice some Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu there as well. If nothing else, it reminds me how much more effort it takes to roll with somebody. Even conserving my strength, I was huffing and puffing after a few minutes, but don’t worry, I have a training cure for that!

First off, yoga begins in earnest starting today. It’s the perfect complement to grappling, and if you include multiple repetitions of hip, neck and arm bridges (among other things) you will increase strength, endurance and flexibility where it’s needed. The trick is to keep it flowing. Constant movement going from stretch to isometric hold to brief relaxation during a transition is a lot like grappling.

High intensity interval training is the next key. Oh I do intervals now once or twice a week, but I sorda half-ass it. A 12-15 minute HIIT session sucks, but it’s effective. The key will be to include additional resistance, such as kettlebells for time combined with body rows or pull-ups. Sprinting some stairs wouldn’t hurt either.

So let’s break this down into a workout I call the “Lucky 7.” This could be any four exercises performed in bottom up fashion, for a total of 112 repetitions. Once you begin, you do one rep of each exercise and continue with 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 without stopping. For example:

Kettlebell cleans x1,2,3,4,5,6,7 (moderately heavy)

Pull-ups or Body Rows x1,2,3,4,5,6,7 (add resistance if too easy)

Burpees x1,2,3,4,5,6,7

Dumbbell/Barbell/Kettlebell military press x 1,2,3,4,5,6,7 (moderately heavy)

You can half-ass this workout and get a lot out of it as long as you keep moving; but eventually you’ll half to work to keep making progress. Save this high intensity interval workout for when you’re willing to do it for time and give it the effort it takes for results.