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I took my first Krav Maga class last night and liked the actual training, but there was a part of the (one-hour) class that bothered me.
I’d say about 40% of it was jumping jacks, push ups, and a little bit of sprinting. Is that a normal amount?
I understand the importance of being in shape and do strength and cardio outside of class. My thinking was that if I’m going to spend hundreds of dollars for a qualified instructor, I’d want their time focused on teaching me Krav Maga.
There are lots of aerobics teachers out there who can lead me in a set of jumping jacks at a lower rate.
Do the rest of you do calisthenics in class? How much should be expected? I’m in St. Louis and at least one other school mentioned “cardio work” in their classes, so I’m wondering if it is common.
Re: How much cardio should a class have?
Welcome David,
It depends on the class. The ones that I’ve gone to our warmup is like 15 minutes or so. From there it may be more depending on what we’re gonna be learning/doing.
KM classes are great but if your center offers fitness classes, TAKE THEM. They do alot of good and help with your endurance. I wouldn’t judge quite yet till you’ve taken a few more to see how you feel about whether there’s too much cardio.
Re: How much cardio should a class have?
One basic principle behind it also is that you are trying to mimic fight conditions and train simple, easy to remember fight techniques to mass muscle memory. A good way to do that is to get you exhausted and off-balance through calisthenics before techniques are taught. It definitely serves to condition you (a huge part of your abilities), judge where you are physically, and more accurately simulate fight conditions. Krav is known for workouts that commonly make you puke anyway. :chair:
Re: How much cardio should a class have?
There should be little “cardio”. Maybe some to start class, increasing the heart rate, etc., as part of the warm-up, but the bulk of the fitness training should be combat functional.
Re: How much cardio should a class have?
I have basically been a hobo for a while and trained in quite a few KM locals. I have seen some that are OUTSTANDING and some that are good. (Never been to a KMWW place that was bad.) I have seen a couple that treated KM like 40 minutes of Tai Bo and a little SD at the end.
That said, I agree, if I want cardio I have a Mt bike or can run. If I want to learn self defense, I go to KM. I know you need to warm up, but Ryan is right on. Trust me, you WILL get plenty of cardio punching and kicking etc etc. A quick warm up and then into it is what I like.
A side note, I just started at a new place and hopefully I will be living here and no longer on the road every day. The warmups were light SD drills interspaced with pushups, crunches, squats and streching. PERFECT!!!!
Re: How much cardio should a class have?
I think that cardio is important if you really want to do well in advancing your martial arts, but the serious student can do that on their own time for the most part.
Re: How much cardio should a class have?
As I understand it, the actual warm up shouldn’t last more than 5 to 10 minutes including cardio, upper, lower body, and core exercises. This should get your heart rate up, some adrenaline flowing, get your muscles warmed up and ready to go into combative training.
Quote from my roommate after his first class… “Well I know now that if I can’t end the fight in 30 seconds, I’m F^$ked.” Commenting on his endurance and fitness level.
Re: How much cardio should a class have?
I’d think the cardio,strength training, and stretching should be the first 10-15 minutes or so. It gets you warmed up, and helps minimize the chance of injury from pulled muscles, etc.
The KM training I find is part of the cardio as it’s always so intense and continuous. No stopping. Agree with you though that for good money, you want good training. Not a 40 minute workout.
That being said, without extra training on the side for endurance….getting through classes, and tests would be unobtainable!
Re: How much cardio should a class have?
In a school lucky enough to have several KM instructors, I’ve found it usually runs between 10-20 mins, depending on the class size, class makeup, and the instructors mood or lesson for the day. Cardio won’t kill…it’ll just make you wish you were dead.
Re: How much cardio should a class have?
Well,
If the training is truly intergrated there should be no distinct seperation between the cardio and Krav. The class should be structured so that everything during the lesson requires movements and positioning that are based on Krav principles and movements. Different instructors value different types of training. This ain’t Tae-Bo.
Alot of instructors forget this sometimes. So we must always ask for feedback from our peers and students. I am not a big fan of killer cardio sessions in class. That is more filler than actual product. I want Krav! The more scenarios and stress added to the class the better.
The same goes with too much sparring in class. Sparring will always degenerate into kick boxing type of movement if not controlled specifically. This type of training is not valuable in self defense unless you emphasize attack! But that is for another thread….
Re: How much cardio should a class have?
If class is only an hour long then maybe 15 mins. tops to get the heart pumping. Now if the class is 2 hrs. then 45 mins. would be ideal.
Re: How much cardio should a class have?
hi david,
welcome to the club.I’m a absolute beginner at KMWW LA, and we do about 5-10 min warmup and stretches, 45 min kicking and punching the crap out of something or someone, and then round off with something technical like choke releases to warm down.
the punching/kicking bit is the hardest cardio i’ve ever done, so i don’t know what else is required. it’s so hard in fact, that us level one’s have started ganging up and asking lots of inane questions just to get a bit of a breather. don’t think the instructors have spotted that one yet.
i’m still looking for the part of Krav which doesn’t require you to be athletic.
I will say howeverer that after 3 weeks, either the classes are getting easier, or I’m getting harder.talk to your instructors, i’m sure they’d love to swap jumping jacks for some bag or pad work.
all the best
dunc
more wag,
less bark.Re: How much cardio should a class have?
I’ve come to learn that after 3 weeks going 2 – 3 times a week your body starts to adapt and your conditioning increases.
So I started taking bag classes right before lvl 1 class like last night now I sit here at my desk with the good hurt!
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