One of the best exercises a Taekwondo athlete can use in the gym as a part of their Strength & Conditioning program (and again even pretty much all year round!) is the flat benchpress.

In our last Strength & Conditioning articles [ Taekwondo Strength Training Basics – The Back Squat and Taekwondo Strength Training Basics – How To Perform The Back Squat ] we covered the Squat, it’s benefits and then how to do it. In this article I’m going to cover the Benchpress and in the following article, I will cover how to execute it best.

While working with athletes, one of the many (if not the highest) issues I have to work on is an athlete’s relationship with their family for the benefit of their Taekwondo Training and Competition Success.

In my last article – Taekwondo Success Is Determined By The People You Associate With – I talked about how the people you hang around with will determine how well you do.

Time and time again, I’ve seen how one little thing from a family member can either make or break someone, especially in the early part of their Taekwondo career.

On one of my many journeys to work with athletes to bring them to their next level, I had a talk with a young athlete this weekend, and it brought back to me the importance of who you associate with for success, not just in Taekwondo, but in Life in general.

This athlete was chatting with a “friend” (and I use that term loosely) on Facebook, and this “friend” was talking crap about his coach, and other people. His coach was definitely not happy, not because he was talking crap, but because what he was saying was firstly inaccurate but secondly and more importantly, because this young athlete let it get to him, and it was affecting his mindset.

In the last article – Taekwondo Training – Periodization – we had a brief introduction explaining what periodization is and why it is important. Hopefully you have written your goals and your training elements down as advised.

However we now have all of this information and need to put it into a coherent plan that works in one direction taking us step by step closer to our ultimate goal. Whatever your goal is, whether it be making National Team for the Olympic Games or winning a local competition, the planning process is quite similar… getting to the Olympic Games just takes a little bit longer that’s all

The underlying principle of periodization is to ‘train smart, not hard’. It is not about going out there and training yourself into the ground and bashing your body to oblivion.

OK, so we understand it is necessary to be doing Strength and Conditioning in order to be a more proficient athlete or even to meet your weight loss/fitness goals in Taekwondo etc.

But the biggest question I get asked by Tae Kwon Do athletes and coaches alike is where to start? What do you need to do first? This is where periodization takes the forefront.

Periodization is essentially ‘athletic planning’ that explains your long term schedule to reach your ultimate goals.

Ok, so you’re training, possibly 2-3 times a day. You’re doing your best, but there’s always room for a bit more success in your life.

So, what can you do to give you that edge, to accelerate the effects of your Taekwondo training and give you more success at the Taekwondo competitions?

Well there is one thing that you need to do that will bring all your training and nutrition together that is a must for any athlete looking for Success.

We have all seen it… especially back in the old days… minutes and minutes of bouncing in a Taekwondo match!

One of the most common questions I ever get asked by people who don’t do Taekwondo is ‘Why are they just standing there bouncing around doing nothing? Why don’t they kick each other?’ To people who do Taekwondo this seems like a tedious question just like ‘Why don’t they… Continue reading

I came across this video on YouTube on the topic of ATP – Adenosine Triphospate.

So, following on from me article a few days ago, I thought I would share that with you here.

Let me know your thoughts, and if you have any questions, just ask in the comments box below.

With the conclusion of the Beijing Olympic Games over a year ago TheTaekwondoCoach.com team found it interesting to note that there were no Olympic male gold medal winners attending the recent 2009 World Taekwondo Championships in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Olympic Champion in the male fly weight division Guillermo Perez of Mexico has had a successful competitive campaign after the Beijing Olympics with participation in the 2009 World Taekwondo Team Championships… Continue reading