How to Sweat a Lot in a Karate Workout

Karate workouts can be as relaxed or intense as you want them to be. The onus is on you to decide how hard you work and how much you sweat. Individuals may respond differently to various types of karate training. To make sure you get the most out of your training, experiment with your class structure to see which aspects of this historic martial arts cause you to expend the most energy.

Instructions

    • 1

      Drink water throughout the day before heading to your karate class. According to MayoClinic.com, the average man requires 13 cups of water per day, while the average woman requires 9. If you plan to train, you should drink more water before, during and after your workout. If you have limited fluid in your body, you won't be able to sweat enough to cool down and you will tax yourself unnecessarily.

    • 2

      Drill your punches and kicks until you break a sweat, then keep drilling. The key to learning proper form in any martial art is repetition. By endlessly drilling your strikes, you'll improve your skills and work up a sweat in the process. You can increase the effort of the exercise -- and how much you sweat -- by increasing your speed, taking shorter breaks between rounds or using light dumbbells when you punch.

    • 3

      Practice katas in every karate class. Katas are traditional forms that combine stances, punches, kicks and defensive techniques in predetermined patterns of movement. Katas take considerable concentration and give you a healthy workout at the same time. Warm up with katas at a slow speed, then up the intensity by increasing your speed and putting more power in your punches and snap in your kicks. Increasing your work rate is key to building up a good sweat. When you're advanced enough, invent some katas of your own.

    • 4

      Squat into a horse stance and hold the position as long as you can. Spread your feet slightly more than shoulder-width apart and lower your butt to just above knee level. You can increase the intensity of this position by throwing punches as you hold the stance. The combination of isometric strength training and aerobic punching will raise your heart rate and tax your muscles, causing you to sweat more.

    • 5

      Intensify your kicking drills by practicing slow kicking. Instead of snapping side, roundhouse and front kicks, balance in your stance and go through the motion as slowly and controlled as possible. This will increase your effort considerably as it strengthens your core and support leg. If you're not sweating enough, slow it down even further and increase the time spent on each repetition.