From treading water to doing laps aquatic training is one of the best supplementary activities a fighter can have. If you have never thought of incorporating aquatic training into your fitness schedule, this might be a wake up call.
Low Impact Training
Boxing / Muay Thai and several other “fighter” training activities are very high-impact & can put the joints and muscles under a lot of stress. One of the greatest benefit of aquatic training is that it can offer a low impact, high intensity training type that translates into peak performance on the ground, not to mention sometimes switching up your training style is a necessity in breathing new life into your training regime.
Recovery
You went hard into it last week during sparring & hurt yourself. Time to take a week off? Maybe not, just the act of being in water will help with swelling and tho the adage “motion is lotion” does not apply to all injuries I find doing something is far better for the body and mind than doing nothing. If you have it in yourself to keep active instead of taking a week off, limp yourself to the pool and get some work in.
Core Strengthening
In our fight camps we focus on full body compound movements that engage the most muscles possible. It just so happens that swimming is also a full body workout, A quick look at competitive swimmers and you will see a Striking resemblance in physique to top level fighters especially when it comes to a strong core.
Cardiovascular Endurance
Regardless of what you think your endurance might be, swimming for extended periods of time will test you. it’s possibly the best exercise to build endurance and will help you learn how hard you can truly push yourself. Not to mention unlike running or resistance complexes its extremely easy on the joints (low impact) so if your prone to injury, buy a swim suit & leave risk in the ring.
Training Variety
Your routine is old and has possibly been the same for months, put some spice in your life! Mental fatigue is real, and your training needs to keep you engaged so you feel your not doing the same thing over & over again. We are practicing “martial arts” not martial technique, have some fun with it!
The benefits of aquatic training are undeniable and the rise of this form of training being adopted by top level athletes is no fluke. They use what garners the greatest results in the most practical way possible. You may not have a pool, find a community center with one.
If your training is leaving you perpetually injured it may be time to try something new, Click Here
Written by: Derek Frohlich