Gas tank feeling empty? How to keep your calm, breath & cardio during a fight
If you have never been in a fight, let me describe it to you. You and your opponent may be staring each other down. Hands are up, feet are planted and your mind may be racing. The most common factor: your mind. When it’s your first time doing any fight, your mind will get to you. When you’re standing across from someone that is physically trying to hurt you, your adrenaline spikes up faster than any roller coaster. This adrenaline gives you strength, but it has some huge costs. Mainly, adrenaline spikes make you move wildly, but also the adrenaline spike causes you to crash when it drops. Whether it’s on the street, in a ring or on the mat, the common thread of adrenaline control and focus is key to not getting winded too quickly.
Even if you watch professional MMA fighters, you’ll see the adrenaline spike drop especially in heavyweight fights. Those fights are terrible to watch as they are just sloppy, mouths are open and punches are so wide and wild.
So how do we overcome it? In this article, I want to show you how to control your adrenaline for any fight and then I will specifically delve into controlling your gas for sparring, tournaments and on the street.
TIPS FOR KEEPING YOUR GAS
Breathe: Obviously breathing sounds easy, but are you doing it correctly? When the adrenaline spikes, rookies take in a lot of air through their mouths, but just blow it all back out. No oxygen is actually entering their blood. Instead, take deep breaths through your nose. By oxygenating our bodies, our blood cells have what they have to make full deliveries to our cells and to keep our bodies and mind moving.
Breathe in for 3-4 seconds and exhale out of your mouth again for 3-4 seconds. By doing this deep breathing technique multiple times, you are counteracting the adrenaline spike by oxygenating your blood while also pushing the carbon dioxide out of your body. In addition, by making sure you are breathing for a full 3-4 seconds, you are going to help slow down your heart beats so that you do not feel overexerted. By lowering your heart beat, your body won’t work harder than it needs to.
Think: Too many fights get sloppy because no one is thinking. Inexperienced fighters end up doing