Words of Wisdom – Training Tips from Sifu Jensen!
Watch Out for Wet Clothes!
Imagine if you will. You are working out and you are all warmed up. Muscles stretched out warmed up blood pumping vigorously doing your thing! Then suddenly some one wraps you in towels soaked with cold water! Yuck! What happens next? Your body cools rapidly. Muscles contract quickly. In fact, your muscles can contract so quickly that you will trap blood in the capillaries in the muscles. This leads to stagnant blood condition. This can cause you to get a sore aching feeling that is difficult to go away. It may require treatment with cupping or massage with blood moving lineaments. It will also reduce the benefits, especially increased flexibility, you should receive from your workout. This is exactly what happens when you train hard, break a sweat, (good job) soak your shirt, and then slow down to catch your breath, or get a drink of water. The sweat in your clothes will cool very rapidly and then it will chill your muscles trapping blood as
described above.
Imagine another scenario…. You have just finished your workout. Your body is still very warm, your pores are wide open, especially on your upper neck and back, and some throws cold water on you and blasts you with cold air. Do you think you might have increased chance of catching a cold or getting sore cramped neck or back muscles? I do!! This is exactly what happens when you leave class still sweating haven’t toweled off and then stand around outside in the cool evening air chatting away.
Both of these can happen to in an intense Kung Fu workout, but they are easy to avoid. When you are working out and you sweat through your shirt, towel off, and change your shirt! Then continue working out. If you have soaked through all your clothes, towel off and change them. Then
continue working out. After class, towel off, change your shirt, and then wear a warm outer layer when you leave class to protect against wind and getting a chill.
When I pack for training I usually pack 3 – 4 extra t-shirts, 2-3 extra long sleeves or uniform jackets, a towel, and a complete change of clothes including underwear and socks for after class. I change shirts when I soak through them. In a typical
personal training session I soak through everything above and bring home a lot of laundry! I really like having a complete change of clothes for after class especially if I have a long drive. It feels a lot nicer. I wear a warm jacket after training that protects my neck. If my jacket doesn’t seem warm enough or I forgot it I wrap my towel or whatever I have, maybe an extra shirt, around my neck to protect it. I like hoodies for this too. Sometimes I wear the hoodie under my jacket to keep my neck really protected. This will make a big difference in the long haul of your training for longevity.
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