Give your taekwondo fitness training a boost

This is our taekwondo fitness training program. We use it before competitions. Or after holidays!

Or anytime our fitness needs a boost.

We find it particularly helps develop our anaerobic fitness and strength.

It's not an easy routine. So if you're not already fit you might not be ready for this program just yet.

There's no rush. You can come back to it later in your taekwondo journey. When you are ready.

First warm up

We start with a light warm up.

We kick off with joint rotations. Working systematically from neck to toe.

We also take time here to stretch any tight muscles.

Then we go for a very light jog. Maybe half a mile or so. Just to gently warm up our muscles.

Sprints or hill running

Now for the running. Some days we do hills. Some days flat sprints. (We don't do both on one day!) We run on grass or sand to reduce the impact.

For the flat sprints. We run about 70 meters at 100%. We give it everything we have. We run as fast as we can aiming past the finishing line.

Then we jog very slowly or walk back to the start line.

We do this 4 or 5 times through.

And for hill running days.

We look for a steep, grassy slope about 70 meters long. We start at the bottom. And then sprint up as fast as we can.

We find that two thirds of the way up our legs and lungs are screaming at us to stop.

It would be sooooo easy to quit.

This is when we have to dig deep. Lift our heads. Lift our knees.

And keep driving.

Till we reach the top.

Then we walk slowly down. And do it again.

3 or 4 times through is enough.

Push-ups and dips

Next in our taekwondo fitness training program. Some upper body strength work.

We start with push-ups. We concentrate on keeping a flat back and tight abs.

The best push-ups to do are clapping push-ups.

Where you push-up in an explosive way so that your hands leave the floor.

And you clap before coming back down.

This helps with the explosive power needed in taekwondo.

We try to do 20 clapping push-ups.

(Deb has to do some off her knees).

Next tricep dips.

The important points are keeping our hands close together.

And our legs straight.

Then dip by bending the elbows.

Two sets of 20 is good.

Tuck jumps

Next in our taekwondo fitness training - tuck jumps.

We squat down.

And then jump as high as we can. Tucking our knees in at the top.

It's important to look out in front. And keep our heads up.

Two sets of ten explosive jumps is enough.

Now for your abs

There are a multitude of ab exercises we can choose from.

We usually do some normal sit-ups and some reverse curls.

And we always include criss-cross sit-ups. Bringing opposite elbow to knee as Neil demonstrates here.

And there's more core strengthening exercises here if you need ideas.

Cool Down

And that's it for our taekwondo fitness training program.

We stretch. Jog home. Have a warm shower.

And chill out with some well deserved good food!

What fitness exercises work for you?

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