Hardest Training Session Ever! – Do you need them?

Training in any combat sports there is always an apprehension of the dreaded Hard Training days amongst those who haven’t gone through it. And a mix of apprehension and excitement amongst those who have lived through them.

MMA, Muay Thai, Kickboxing, BJJ all these combat sports have days when the training intensity is super high and will make you wonder if its worth it. But these sessions are not for everyone.

If you are just starting out, not interested in competing, then there is absolutely no requirement for these killer days in your life. You need to know your goals and you need to communicate the same with your coach.

But if you have already have had a bit of experience and are looking at competing then these days are a must. Not every session needs to be a body-breaker but a few of these do a lot of good.

What good you ask?

Well, firstly, surviving these killer days gives you a definite mental edge and confidence. And specially for competitors, that 1% mental edge might be the difference between winning and losing.

Secondly, we all have our physical limits. If you were just lifting weights there is a very certain way to track progression (weight, reps, sets etc). But in Combat Sports, its hard to gauge what those limits might be. Once in a while, these hardest of training sessions should push you to the edge of your physical limits, or even beyond just to see what you are capable of, and how well you can recover from them. I do not recommend crossing the threshold so much that you need more than a few days to recover, that’s the opposite of what the hardest of training sessions are meant to do.

So, the next time Coach tells you that tomorrow will be a harder training session, try not to abscond, show up to the session, embrace the grind and see what you are capable of.