I started practicing martial arts (karate) three years ago, but only now I realize that I haven't got any remarkable result, I think because of the poor training knowledge of my instructor, my poor understanding of my own body and my bad habits such as bad eating. So, knowing that if I keep doing the same I will keep getting the same, I have decided to stop going to karate classes and to take a year to train by myself, in order to understand better myself by listening to my body reactions, and to acquire enough abilities (such as strength and flexibility) to be able, when practicing martial arts, to concentrate mainly on techniques without wasting time on other stuffs—I will certainly look for another more qualified instructor.
Looking up on the Internet to get the information I need, the most well written and 'no-nonsense' information I found are on Tom Kurz Weblog—this is why I am here asking you for advice.
About a month ago I decided to change my nutrition following Kurz's suggestions (i.e., eating mainly meat and animal fats, and some vegetables or rice; and avoiding grains) and I can say I feel much better than before. Now, after having collected information about training across the Internet, I came up by writing an exercise schedule that I think suits my goals—getting on muscle mass, getting stronger and (as a side effect) increasing my (mainly leg) flexibility—and that can be done at home, without any specific gym machine.
The schedule is the following
- pull-ups, pull-overs, dumbbell bicep curls, crunches (or other abdomen exercises)
- day of rest
- push-ups, dumbbell shoulder press, hip flexors exercises, leg curls
- day of rest
- squats, deadlifts, isometric stretches for side split
- day of rest
- day of rest
In addition, almost every day I will do dynamic stretching exercises (the one Kurz calls "early morning stretches").
I'd like to receive opinions from you about this training plan. This way I can verify, before starting it, if it is generally correct. Any suggestions and critiques are well accepted: It's why I am asking you
And, as a last question: how much time should every workout last?
Thanks in advance.