my wife has taken up jogging, so i am like, what the hell, i'll join her, but it's kind of boring and pointless so i have started doing this tabata intervals thing, sprinting for 20 seconds and resting for 10, for about 5 to 10 cycles. i am throwing my arms into the sprints, so i look extra gay and crazy. i searched, and found some stuff on other boards, but what i want to hear from anyone here is: has this stuff helped your grappling endurance, even a little bit? seriously, 'cause even though it's not for that long, this shit is kicking my ass and is not good times at all.
I do tabata workouts. I believe they are more for decreasing your recovery time that really building your cardio up. I have never done them alone, so I don't know what the effects are by themselves, but that is what I have always understood about them. I will say, however, that I have never done tabata sprints. Usually it is pushups, body weight squats, etc. I would not be surprised if the effect on cardio was more profound with sprints.
There's a pretty good discussion on tabata intervals and sprints over in the conditioning forum. For Tabata intervals I do bodyweight jiu jitsu solo drills, and abs. KB/DB swings are pretty good, too. Personally, I'd rather run a set of 100m sprints with active rest in between than tabata sprints. EDIT for link http://www.sherdog.net/forums/f14/tabata-sprints-756688/
Guys swear by stuff like this, but I was always taught that you train for your sport; i.e., 5 minute grappling= 5 minute cardio sessions or lifting circuits for 5 minute intervals. I do 5-6 sets like this with 1 minute breaks.
