In the previous article we learned about Adenosine Triphosphate (ATP) the body’s “energy currency” and how the body uses certain sources to replenish this.In this article we will look at how ATP is actually produced by the body and how this is important for Taekwondo.

There are actually three separate energy systems through which ATP can be produced. A number of factors determine which of these energy systems is chosen by the body, such as exercise intensity.

Recently I was asked to review an Strengh & Conditioning programme written for a full time Taekwondo athlete, by the athlete’s full time coach. Within the programme the coach was making the athlete do swimming a few times in a week!

I queried as to why swimming had been included within the programme, and the coach said to make the athlete “fitter” for competition… It was very apparent to me by this point that this coach had completely no idea about effective training and had really missed the point… Most importantly they must have never heard about the Law of Specifity!

As most good coaches know Strengh & Conditioning (S&C) for the Taekwondo athlete is an absolute must in any training programme. Some of the greatest Taekwondo athletes in the world are massive advocates of this discipline including Steven Lopez the 2 x Olympic – 5 x World champion. Every top Taekwondo national team in the world has an S&C coach employing this training methodology… it is just a greatly under used resource at the club and national levels.

Strengh & Conditioning is a very broad term which covers a multitude of different disciplines within sport. S&C within Taekwondo covers and includes some of the following key areas…

Have you ever looked at your life and actually seen the wonderful things you are doing today, that you never thought were possible?  I’m guessing no…

It wasn’t until I was working with an athlete, overcoming some confidence issues, that I actually realised that not only was he doing the Impossible, but I realised that I was doing the Impossible too.

I’m not going all sentimental or anything… Continue reading

Before a Taekwondo match even starts the first thing a Taekwondo player will do is position themselves into stance. Stance is a hugely important component for a Taekwondo athlete as you send at least 80% of your time in a match in that position. Even during basic traditional Taekwondo training, stance is a major variable which is practised over and over again.

A key question that I always get… Continue reading

Ok, you may think I’m totally off my rocker here, but bare with me…

What is the “Taekwondo Bank of Success”?. Well, it’s actually the “Bank of Success” but I’ve adapted it for Taekwondo.

Let me ask you this? Can you go to a bank and take out money that’s not in your account?

NO!

So why do people go to tournaments and expect to be… Continue reading

Well lets answer the question in the title right now… in Taekwondo competition, Strength & Conditioning (S&C) programmes at an elite level are an absolute must to be successful. Even if you have as little as an hour and a half a week to spare and do Taekwondo recreationally, you can get in some good S&C work by knowing the right areas of the body to target and using your… Continue reading