From what I can gather, some of the best benifits from strength training for striking martial arts are increased flexiblity and decreased risk of injury while performing kicks etc.
Would you say that there is also a substancial increase to power for kicking and punching or is this mainly a function of speed? Would a person who wants to increase there power of kicking and punching be better off focusing on speed drills in this case?
Regards,
Jim
Strength training benifits for striking MA?
Re: Strength training benifits for striking MA?
Jim wrote:Would you say that there is also a substancial increase to power for kicking and punching....
I'd say yes.
If your core(abs,lower back,etc) are strong and conditioned they are able to contract harder.
Consider all the kicks and punches that involve a twist(contraction) of the waist to gain more power.
I'd say no.Jim wrote:Would a person who wants to increase there power of kicking and punching be better off focusing on speed drills in this case?
If you want to hit harder,you've got to practice hitting harder.
If you had a trainee who only hit a heavy bag and a trainee who only hit thin air,the guy on the bag would punch harder.
Obviously though,you don't want to lose speed so ideally you want to practice all aspects of fight training.
Dragon.
Thanks Dragon,
Your Reply makes sense.
I was sort of beating around the bush a little bit as to what was on my mind.
I strength train my core and legs once, sometimes twice a week, and go to TKD classes 2-3 times a week. I have noticed lately that when I am sparring my legs feel like I am wearing concrete shoes. I have increased the weight gradually and do not really lift all that much (2/3 my body weight for squats and deadlifts for example). I have been searching for what may be causing this feeling. Maybe I am just getting to old for this stuff.
Regards,
Jim
Your Reply makes sense.
I was sort of beating around the bush a little bit as to what was on my mind.
I strength train my core and legs once, sometimes twice a week, and go to TKD classes 2-3 times a week. I have noticed lately that when I am sparring my legs feel like I am wearing concrete shoes. I have increased the weight gradually and do not really lift all that much (2/3 my body weight for squats and deadlifts for example). I have been searching for what may be causing this feeling. Maybe I am just getting to old for this stuff.
Regards,
Jim
Jim
Why don't you skip your usual strength training workouts for a week or two and see how you feel in your TKD class? If you feel much better, than you know there is something wrong with your recovery from your strength workouts.Jim wrote: I strength train my core and legs once, sometimes twice a week, and go to TKD classes 2-3 times a week. I have noticed lately that when I am sparring my legs feel like I am wearing concrete shoes. I have increased the weight gradually and do not really lift all that much (2/3 my body weight for squats and deadlifts for example). I have been searching for what may be causing this feeling. Maybe I am just getting to old for this stuff.
Regards,
Jim
Regarding the question as to whether weights are a benefit or hinderance to martial arts, I would recommend that you review this article.
-Mark
You don't say the order or days you train on.For example,if you weight train the day before your MA training that could explain the heavy limb feeling you're getting.Jim wrote:I strength train my core and legs once, sometimes twice a week, and go to TKD classes 2-3 times a week.
Also,not getting enough rest days could also contribute to fatigue.
If you want to gain strength without muscle size(and therefore more weight on your legs) perform low reps/sets.Jim wrote:I have noticed lately that when I am sparring my legs feel like I am wearing concrete shoes. I have increased the weight gradually and do not really lift all that much (2/3 my body weight for squats and deadlifts for example).
Also,you have to manage your weight training/MA time efficiently.
Steve Cotter(full contact world champion and kinesiologist) says:-
"but as a rule of thumb, the strength training curriculum should not exceed 30% of the martial artist's total training. In other words, to be efficient with his use of time, the martial artist should spend at least 70% of the total practice time on the martial art skill training and not on lifting weights."
Hope this helps,
Dragon.
Thanks Guys,
I have been struggling a bit with what I have been doing wrong as I have basically been in the same routine for many months now but its only been within the last month since things have been going wrong. It has become obvious to me now that I have progressed into a routine that is bad for me. I normally give myself a day of rest before going to TKD after a strength workout (not always possible though). I think I am going to back off considerably the amount of work that I do in the strength training routine for the time being.
I currently own Stretching Scientifically and The Secrets of Stretching DVD. I have learned a great deal from these products and have seen good results. Is there any products available that would help me specifically organize my strength workout. This information may already be in the products that I have purchased but additional information would be helpful.
Regards,
Jim
I have been struggling a bit with what I have been doing wrong as I have basically been in the same routine for many months now but its only been within the last month since things have been going wrong. It has become obvious to me now that I have progressed into a routine that is bad for me. I normally give myself a day of rest before going to TKD after a strength workout (not always possible though). I think I am going to back off considerably the amount of work that I do in the strength training routine for the time being.
I currently own Stretching Scientifically and The Secrets of Stretching DVD. I have learned a great deal from these products and have seen good results. Is there any products available that would help me specifically organize my strength workout. This information may already be in the products that I have purchased but additional information would be helpful.
Regards,
Jim
Jim
Hi Dragon
Thanks for the info.
This is getting off topic but I did the search as you suggested with the names that you gave me and I noticed an interesting similiarity with all these people. They all train and promote Kettlebells. This is a product I am not familiar with. Is it a product you train with? Any recommendations one way or another?
My weight training equipment is pretty limited - a barbell, a bench, a chin bar, and a pair of iron boots.
Regards,
Jim
Thanks for the info.
This is getting off topic but I did the search as you suggested with the names that you gave me and I noticed an interesting similiarity with all these people. They all train and promote Kettlebells. This is a product I am not familiar with. Is it a product you train with? Any recommendations one way or another?
My weight training equipment is pretty limited - a barbell, a bench, a chin bar, and a pair of iron boots.
Regards,
Jim
Jim
Hi Dragon
I have been reading up on the Kettlebell training and it seems interesting. Unfortunately we do not have access to Kettlebells around here (not that I know of anyway) and ordering them in would be somewhat expensive to give them a try. Could a person get away with ordering some type of book or instructional video and use dumbbells in place of the kettlebells?
Regards,
Jim
I have been reading up on the Kettlebell training and it seems interesting. Unfortunately we do not have access to Kettlebells around here (not that I know of anyway) and ordering them in would be somewhat expensive to give them a try. Could a person get away with ordering some type of book or instructional video and use dumbbells in place of the kettlebells?
Regards,
Jim
Jim
Hi,
The Mike Mahler DVD's are very good kettlebell instructional material.It may be better getting a video/DVD as opposed to a book as a lot of the lifts are explosive which a book won't be able to show you in detail.
Dumbbells can be used for a vast amount of kettlebell exercises but there are some,such as some of the flips which rely on the kettlebells off centre mass,which couldn't be done with dumbbells.
As an alternative to kettlebells which can be quite expensive(one 16kg kettlebell costs about £115 in the UK) ,you could try a kettlebell stacker.This is basically a kettlebell shaped handle and shaft that allows you to use normal dumbbell plates to make up the weight you require.
I've never used these myself so don't know how good they are to use.If you type kettlebell(or kettlebells) in Ebay they should come up.
Also,you could read through the posts on Pavel Tsatsouline's Dragondoor forum.I'd imagine the kettlebell stacker has been mentioned on there.
Dragon.
The Mike Mahler DVD's are very good kettlebell instructional material.It may be better getting a video/DVD as opposed to a book as a lot of the lifts are explosive which a book won't be able to show you in detail.
Dumbbells can be used for a vast amount of kettlebell exercises but there are some,such as some of the flips which rely on the kettlebells off centre mass,which couldn't be done with dumbbells.
As an alternative to kettlebells which can be quite expensive(one 16kg kettlebell costs about £115 in the UK) ,you could try a kettlebell stacker.This is basically a kettlebell shaped handle and shaft that allows you to use normal dumbbell plates to make up the weight you require.
I've never used these myself so don't know how good they are to use.If you type kettlebell(or kettlebells) in Ebay they should come up.
Also,you could read through the posts on Pavel Tsatsouline's Dragondoor forum.I'd imagine the kettlebell stacker has been mentioned on there.
Dragon.