Totally Tae Kwon Do Magazine - Issue 26

In my last article in issue 20 (TKD a new
Beginning), I told you about my Taekwon-
Do past, and my new start earlier this year.
In the meantime, I've had time to define a
plan to get me fit and healthy more
effectively, and therefore not only aid my
TKD practice, but remain injury free (or so I
hope).
I did find that in my
enthusiasm of
practicing TKD, I forgot
that this time around I
was 20 years older,
and not as flexible as I
once was (and that's an
understatement), and
strength, while I never
really was much of a
muscle man, but
endurance I did have
plenty.
Taekwon-Do Taekwon Do Fitness:
As a result, I had a few
muscle strains and
other painful
experiences, that
caused me to re-think,
and approach the
matter a bit more
'careful', TKD is fun
when you can practice it,
but at home with an injury is not a good
way to do that!
First and foremost, this body of mine
needed strengthening up,loosing some fat,
as well as endurance and flexibility to be
gained. I have the added difficulty that I
travel a lot for my work, which affects my
Getting Getting In In Shape... Shape...
by Koo Fockens, 2nd Dan
…. and how to get rid of that belly flab...
Ms. Joanna Fazzino, NPTA
workout routines, my diets, and my time for
TKD practice.
MAKING A PLAN:
Over the past few months, I've been lucky
that the hotels I've been staying in (I travel
for work) had a gym, one better than the
other, but a gym
nonetheless, so I
looked into how I could
use those facilities to
my advantage.
While you can do plenty
of strength and
endurance training
without a gym, I find
that it offers a good way
of measuring your
progress or workout.
Either by showing you
how many calories
you've burned on a
treadmill for example,
or by how much weight
your pressing on a
bench press (in my
case, a rather
unimpressive figure at
present).
I've made good use of
these gyms recently, but not before I
figured out what I wanted.
Research was conducted, as many of
these 'torture' machines were new to me,
or I needed refreshing, but also into diet
plans, and workout plans.
There are thousands of such articles on
Totally Tae Kwon Do - 49