Training For The Seasons

I get very excited about summer training. I enjoy the way my muscles feel when it is hot outside. It is always a different kind of “sweat” that we develop in the summer. However, it is also a good time to make sure you are taking in good fluids. Water, sports drinks and juices are an example of good fluids. Colas, pop and coffee are not. Consuming those beverages in reasonable quantities is perfectly fine. But overdoing it can leave you dehydrated. Also, remember to drink something like Gatorade or Vitamin water after classes or running, to replenish fluids and electrolytes. 
      
      As much as I love summer training, I also love fall, winter and spring training. Each season brings a different “flavor” of training to my routine. The main thing is to train regularly…and train hard  when you do work out.  I think the seasons almost give us a “semester” feel to our training. It keeps us on a schedule of sorts. This is a good way to vary your training. Maybe in summer, you are doing more forms than usual. Maybe in the fall you are concentrating on self-defense techniques more than is you normal routine.  Then in the winter you are drilling your techniques for sparring a little more rigorously, getting ready for the tournament season. And since spring is a season of new life, maybe you work on new material, be it forms, self-defense or self-designed one-step sparring drills.
      
      This is why I find Tae Kwon-Do so exciting. There is ALWAYS something to work on…to perfect. There are so many aspects to this great martial art that I am challenged daily and THAT is what it’s all about!