Have you ever wondered how some fighters seem to have endless stamina? There’s a secret training tactic that you might have overlooked: underwater training. Taking your workouts to a pool can do wonders for your stamina as a martial artist.

Controlled underwater exercises improve endurance, boost mental clarity, and enhance breath control—three essential attributes for success in martial arts like Muay Thai, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ), and Boxing.

Understanding The Importance Of Breath Control In Martial Arts

Being able to control your breathing is a vital skill as a martial artist. How well you can manage your breathing impacts your output, whether you’re firing off a salvo of punches on a heavy bag or rolling on the mats in a BJJ dojo.

Some key benefits martial artists can experience with proper breathing include:

• Increased Endurance: Learning to breathe efficiently keeps your muscles well-supplied with oxygen, delaying fatigue when training or competing
• Enhanced Mental Focus: Controlled breathing activates the parasympathetic nervous system, helping you to stay relaxed under pressure—like when you’re caught in a rear-naked choke and need to think fast.
• Explosive Power: Exhaling as your strikes make contact maximizes the force the land with. That’s why many martial artists use kiai. (short shouts when throwing strikes). It can be the difference between a solid strike and a knockout blow.

Underwater training helps you to build all three attributes since you’re in an environment that forces you to push your lungs to their limits while regulating your breath.

Getting The Most Out Of Underwater Training

Underwater training isn’t about holding your breath for as long as you can until your face turns blue; it’s about engaging in controlled exercises that challenge your ability to breathe efficiently while engaging your muscles.

Some of the ways underwater training makes you more capable as a martial artist include:

• Resistance Amplification: Water is far denser than air, meaning every movement you make, including punches and kicks, while submerged requires more effort. Practicing martial arts techniques underwater will simultaneously improve your strength and endurance.
• Breath Timing: Being underwater forces you to sync your movements with your breathing, helping to develop your rhythm.
• Pressure Acclimation: Water pressure compresses your chest when submerged, making breathing harder. Performing aerobic exercises with most of your body underwater helps to increase your lung capacity, giving you an edge during prolonged exertion when sparring or competing.

Success Stories of Famous Athletes That Utilize Underwater Training

Many top athletes have turned to underwater training to elevate their performance to new levels. Boxing World Champion Dmitry Bivol is one such example, known for his intense and rigorous training methods. Dmitry incorporates underwater conditioning into his routine to build stamina, improve recovery, and enhance his cardiovascular endurance. By working on his breath control and lung capacity, Dmitry can maintain high-intensity output throughout the later rounds of his bouts, ensuring that fatigue doesn’t hinder his performance.

Another notable athlete who utilizes underwater training is ONE Kickboxing World Champion Jonathan “The General” Haggerty. Known for his mastery in both Muay Thai and kickboxing, Haggerty incorporates underwater workouts to boost his endurance and mental toughness. The resistance training in water challenges his body in ways that traditional training can’t, enhancing his ability to perform under pressure and recover quickly between rounds. Many top-level athletes credit underwater training for their success, as it helps them maintain peak physical condition and stay focused during high-stakes competitions.

Effective Underwater Training Exercises

You don’t need to be a professional swimmer to reap the rewards of underwater training. Some basic exercises that can deliver impressive results include:

1) Underwater Shadowboxing

You’ve probably seen videos of high-level fighters like Saúl “Canelo” Álvarez shadowboxing while fully immersed in water. These videos aren’t popping up all over the place because fighters want to look cool; the pressure created by all that water around you forces your lungs, shoulders, and arms to work harder. Holding your breath leads to less oxygen in your muscles, training them to perform as the volume of oxygen in them drops.

You can hold on to a pair of small dumbbells to help keep you planted at the bottom of the pool.

2) Pool Sprints

Swim short to moderate distances as fast as you can while holding your breath. This exercise mimics the oxygen debt your muscles experience during intense sparring and competitions. It also conditions your lungs to absorb oxygen more efficiently.

Start small—about 20 feet—and gradually increase the distance as your ability to hold your breath improves.

3) Weighted Dives

This exercise involves holding on to weights, like dumbbells and kettlebells , so you can sink to the bottom of the pool and walk along its floor. Your underwater strolls will increase your leg strength, balance, and ability to breathe efficiently. Always have a buddy watching over you when training underwater for safety.

The Science Behind Underwater Training

Studies show hypoxic training (exercising with limited oxygen intake) increases red blood production, improving cardiovascular endurance. This is one of the reasons why elite martial artists often train at high altitudes or use hypoxic chambers.

Underwater training mimics these conditions, providing similar benefits while sparing you a hiking trip to Bukit Timah Hill. Training underwater requires you to stay focused on the present during your exercises, improving your ability to focus while reducing stress.

Important Safety Tips For Training Underwater 

Underwater training is a highly effective way to elevate your cardiovascular endurance, but it’s important to follow key safety measures when exercising to ensure you push your body to its limits safely. These include:

• Supervised Training: Always have a coach, training partner, or lifeguard nearby to supervise while performing underwater drills.
• Knowing Your Limits: Listen to your body and avoid holding your breath to the point of significant discomfort. Gradually work on improving your breath-holding ability while keeping track of your progress.
• Using Proper Gear: Use gear like goggles, nose clips, and swim finds for added safety and comfort.

Ready To Dive In?

Underwater training is an unconventional but powerful way to improve your endurance, strike power, mental focus, and ability to recover after bursts of strenuous physical activity. It’s much more fun than running endless laps, and its impact on your joints is low, giving them a break from all your hard work in the gym.

Grab a pair of goggles, nose clips, and swim trunks the next time you feel like taking your training to the next level, and try underwater training. It just might be what you need to turn into a cardio machine.

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