GPP For Upcoming Martial Arts Grading

Bigger Stronger Leaner Powerlifting & Strength Sports
1

I’m to do 2.5km within 15mins for my upcoming grading. Apparently, that works out to about 10km/hr. A Do-able task for most, but then, I’m not like most!!!
I’ve never been a runner, but great at swimming.
It’s my lungs though. I survived a big bout of pnuemonia in 2001 and now have a 20cent piece size scarring in my left lung near the diaphragm.
When I run, I always get a side stitch - last night’s was close to unbearable and I can still feel it a little bit today. The other thing is that I get a bit wheezey. I’ve been checked for asthma and I have a great lung capacity for scarred lungs.

So far I’ve been told

  • Don’t eat anything for at least a couple of hours before running
  • Don’t drink anything for about an hour before running
  • Take 1 deep breath in and out for about 8 steps
  • Stretch if you feel a stitch coming on - that one’s from the internet. Something to do with the Diaphragm spasming due to insufficient oxygen intake
  • Thoroughly warm-up your muscles before running so that the oxygen is optimumly flowing through your body
  • Push your run through the stitch
  • run a couple hundred metres, walk for about 50m…repeat process till finished
  • do 50m sprints->walk->sprint->walk…
  • take longer strides instead of increasing leg movement/speed
  • if running with someone, preferably someone of similar height - whoops, there was one problem…I was running with a 6ft-er! But it’s still happening.

Any ideas as to improving my running breathing pattern or how/why I get a stitch and how to stop them??? Thanks

2

Not sure about the stich explanation. my undersranding is that there is no explanation, and the diaphragm, lack of O2 is an idea, but not a proven one.

wrt the other bits, try Ki breathing when on rest periods.

3

I recall reading that side stitches stem from a trigger point in the diaphram muscle. Scar tissue from your illness could have caused scar tissue to form. There’s a book called The Trigger Point Therapy Workbook by Clair Davies that might help. It’s probably the best $20 I’ve ever spent, as it’s helped with host of injuries I’ve had.

4

I’m sorry I thought this was a thread about GPP for martial arts. BUT concerning running and breathing (and preventing a pain)- would the same kind of painful result occur if you did sprints instead of the long distance running? I mean a 10 minute/mile pace isn’t too bad, but I’ve always felt that martial arts wasn’t about how easy a pace you went, but how you could utilize your conserved energy for force-bouts or recover faster from flurries. I guess what I am trying to say is your energy system doesn’t seem to match with most martial arts hard-style and soft-style.