Owen Gee Kee is the co-owner of the Underdog Jiu-Jitsu school in the CBD and co-owner of Underdog Fight Gear. He was one our first clients and probably has more knowledge than most of the trainers out there. Owen will be contributing to the blog fortnightly, giving you an inside scoop as he describes training from the athletes perspective. Here is his first post...
I've been doing Jiu jitsu since about 1997, and I thought that I was fairly fit through the majority of that time. I mean I could wrestle for 3 x 6 min rounds, sure I was a little tired, but then again look around the room... Who wasn't. So after watching one of my close mates Craig Roberts start REAL TRAINING and seeing his cardio explode, I too had to give it a try.
I only got a couple of weeks in and apart from the soreness that comes with new training protocols, I started to notice that my sport training was suffering. I seemed to be tired, my timing and concentration were off and I just didn't seem to have my usual game flowing. To be perfectly honest I wondered whether I'd made the right choice. But I persevered, and after a few weeks my body adjusted to the new workload. I seemed to be able to hold my concentration longer and was able to compete through more than 3 x 6 minute rounds. In fact after 5 rounds I was feeling like I could do much more without an issue.
Ive found that taking up new training protocols to assist your sporting development will usually result in a temporary dip in performance, but fear not, as they say what doesn't kill you, will only make you stronger. Persist through the decline and you'll come out the other side with benefits you could only dream of!
The Science Behind It...
This training phenomenon is known as supercompensation. It is the process where a temporary decline in performance/fitness is followed by an increase above baseline. When you leave the gym, you are worse than when you came in. You have depleted your energy stores and your body is entering a catabolic state. It is only when you allow yourself adequate recovery that you begin to adapt and improve.
