Taekwondo is a martial art that combines powerful kicks with powerful punches. But strength is not all you need to be a taekwondo master, you also need to master speed, how fast can you kick, how fast can you counter attack. And there’s a variety of exercises to achieve this, especially when it comes to the legs which are the body part that you need to be faster on.
But there is nothing like using resistance bands for this goal, you will not only achieve speed but also strength which will result in having the ability to kick faster and harder.
HOW DOES IT WORK?
For a start let us understand the basic principle behind this, a resistance band does exactly that: resist. Resist when you try to move your legs and or arms which force you to apply more strength to your exercise which will result in an extra-workout for your arms and legs.
Now, here’s the thing, the more you train with the resistance bands the more you will get used to that extra force you apply to each move, but when you do those same moves without wearing the resistance bands you will see that your legs and arms will move faster whilst having more strike force in them.
Also, there’s not just one type of resistance bands, there are several lengths which are used to achieve different results, for example, the shorter the band, the more effort you need to put to make a movement, hence the strength you will get from the exercise, as you progress you will use longer ones in order to improve on your results.
Also, one of the benefits of using resistance bands is the fact that, differently from using weights, you’re not putting your legs at risk of injury and the strength you put is your own so, as we mentioned before, you won’t get hurt.
One of the side effects of using resistance bands is that one gets faster and this results in running better and gain agility that, in martial arts, is quite the aid, especially when you are specifically training for competition.
SCIENTIFIC APPROACH
Although those who have used resistance training as part of their routine have claimed the success of this method, there have been a series of studies that have resulted in inconclusive results on whether or not using resistance bands can provide a difference when training.
Also, one of the things that have been mentioned in this studies has been performed using different lengths of resistance bands to determine how effective this kind of training is.
The result has shown that even though there have been certain differences between those training with resistance bands and those without them, scholars insist that these results are not definite and that more tests are needed.
We believe that the only results are those you get yourself and we encourage you to try. Remember, Taekwondo is the communion of speed and strength.