Sports conditioning
By Donna Gardecki
M.Sc. Fitness and Rehabilitation Consultant
So you haven't been training for a while and you want to go back? If you think you can go back without suffering some very real aches and pains, forget it. Most of us who have trained for a while won't have the discipline to ease back into things. We make the mistake of doing the techniques at full power and full speed, just like we did before we stopped training. Not only are you going to be very sore the next day but you are putting yourself at risk for injuries - especially if you are an older Karate practioner.
There are some very simple things that you can do to lessen your chance of "second day soreness" and potential injury. First of all, take some time every day to do 5 or 10 minutes of fast walking or slow jogging and then some stretching - some of the ones that you did when you were training would be appropriate.Make sure to include the leg muscles and back muscles as well as hips, arms and chest. Secondly, for more joint specific work, take five minutes every day to run through basic blocks, punches and kicks. This really doesn't require any moving so you can do them in your bedroom, hallway, lunch room, bathroom, etc.
All you need is 10 of each performed at a moderate pace - definitely not full speed. This will provide some stress to Karate specific joints to limber them and strengthen them. The basic rule is not to perform anything at full speed for the first 3 or 4 sessions. After two weeks of this kind of regime, you will be better prepared to decrease chances of injury and to avoid debilitating muscle soreness when you go back to intensive Karate training.