It can be tough to keep a balanced exercise schedule in the best of times, but when pressures and demands start creeping in from your home, office, or school, it can seem almost impossible. It’s easy to put off your exercise when think your Krav Maga training schedule is a hobby, work is work, and family is family. That can easily turn into a slippery slope that leaves you out of shape, out of practice, and out of sorts. Our lives may get busier every day, but that doesn’t mean we have to give up training altogether.
Flexibility Is Key
You can’t always determine when work deadlines fall, assignments are due, but you can create a balanced exercise schedule that allows for flexibility. This not only lets you better balance your commitments, it helps you prepare for the unexpected, already an important aspect of Krav Maga. Here are some examples of how and where you can find or create flexibility in your routine.
Changing It Up
- Cardio - Cardiovascular exercise can be one of the easiest areas to improvise with when the need arises. If your usual routine is a jog at a specific time of day, find a different time to jog. You may not be happy with an early morning or a late evening jogging session you aren’t used to, but your body will still get the exercise it needs. If you won’t be able to do your usual method, such as if you use a bike or stair stepper at the gym, convert it to a different exercise. Even jogging, jumping, or squats in place can help you keep a balanced exercise schedule on track when life throws you a curveball.
- Strength - Hitting the weights feels great, but a business trip that takes you away from your gym or a PTA meeting that eliminates your spare time can derail your goals. Luckily, exercises based on isometrics and bodyweight resistance can work as a stop gap until your next session. Crunches, planks, squats, and dips require little to no equipment. It also may be time to invest in a small amount of home equipment, like adjustable dumbbells, to provide even more options when needed.
- Training - Krav Maga provides self defense and fitness benefits that you carry with you when you leave the training center. If you can’t make your regular Krav Maga training schedule, check with your location and see if other classes are available. You can also speak with the instructor about the potential for coming early to the next session for some additional training, work with a partner in your class who can make additional sparring or training time throughout the week, or take some time to practice on the fundamentals yourself if no one else is available. Krav Maga Worldwide also offers an online academy at www.kravmagaworldwideacademy.com The online academy offers an introduction to Krav Maga Worldwide self-defense training for free, as well as other training curricula available with a paid subscription. The online academy is a great way to review lessons and learn new material that will supplement your training at the training centers.
Plan Ahead
Just as we teach in class, awareness and planning go a long way when the unplanned occurs. Ask yourself now, if my schedule changed, how could I continue a balanced exercise schedule. If you find deficiencies in your preparedness, fix them now. As always, if you are looking for real-world self-defense and a healthier you, call or visit a Krav Maga Worldwide location or affiliate and register for classes today.
