Hope no one minds reading my less than spectacular training regime and Martial arts experiences. I hope to get motivation off this log, thinking of planning out a routine and giving updates weekly, as well as write about the stuff that goes on in class. Its mostly going to be body weight exercises with weights for arms. My goals are, 1. strengthening my triceps and chest. i'll be doing dumbell routines for this. 2. Biceps, Again with dumbels. 3. My core, Going to do crunches every day, working on obliques too. Any help with designing a routine for this would be greatly appreciated. 4. Body weight exercises for legs. squats and such. again. any help would be appreciated. Also i'll probably post any dilemmas i'm having in technical training here instead of making another thread =) As a beginner, what weight should i start lifting first? keeping in mind i have been doing bodyweight exercises in class for almost a year. Thanking anyone who reads this in advance =)
What equipment/weights do you have access to? Crunches are not the best way to train core strength and can be detrimental to lower back health. You'd be better starting off with static holds like planks and side planks for timed holds, and when you talk about 'core' strength you should remember that your back is part of your core, so adding in something like reverse leg lifts or the 'superman' hold would be a good idea. With weights, you want to aim for compound exercises rather than isolation (think overhead pressing, rowing, bench pressing, deadlifting, squats, pullups, chin ups, press ups, dips, glute ham raises, pistols etc, plus unilateral work such as lunges, split squats, single leg deadlifts). That being said, there is nothing wrong with some more specific isolation work to give certain areas a boost (or to work round injury issues). As a beginner, I would say you should start with relatively light weights and concentrate on form for the first month or so, then start thinking about adding weight. How much time per week do you have to dedicate to strength training, conditioning and martial arts training (remembering that you need to include rest and recovery in your plan - its just as important for your progress as the weights you lift).
Ah. that i didn't know, i though when one referred to core it meant abdominals and Psoas muscles only. Thanks, will look into that. Unfortunately the only facility i have with me are my dumbels. i have weights that can make them up to 10 kgs. Our dojo offers free gym to regular students but due to time constraints i can't make use of that until i get my own car. =( I Go to class thrice a week. on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. We cover a wide range of body weight exercises. The training is quite stamina oriented and the teacher always advises students to make use of the Gym upstairs after class, we have a gym coach there too. I was hoping to get the arm, chest and leg exercises on the days on which i have class and do abdominal training every day. *though now i think i should research on the Core more*
10kg dumbbells are not going to push you very hard or build much strength and you will find that trying to do a strength workout after a stamina based martial arts class is not the best way to go about it. My suggestion would be to think about doing 2 or 3 strength sessions per week on the days you don't train martial arts. As you are limited by your equipment, you might want to focus on bodyweight/gymnastic exercises rather than on equipment based strength training, but be aware that progressing on these can be slow due to the need to build tendon/ligament strength and the issue of leverage. Holds like planks can be done every day when you first start training, but the abs are like any other muscle and once you progress to more advanced work need the same rest periods as other muscles - you wouldn't train your biceps every day would you?! Have read of some of the following to give you an idea of core training: http://robertsontrainingsystems.com/blog/High-Performance-Core-Training/ http://robertsontrainingsystems.com/blog/Core-Training-For-Smart-Folks/ http://robertsontrainingsystems.com/blog/21st-Century-Core-Training/ http://robertsontrainingsystems.com/blog/Complete-Core-Training/
Thanks Frodo, i've been reading up on the inks on core training over the past few days, and coming up with a preliminary workout. I'm going to research more on Core exercises that i can do at home and then include them into my regime. ill need to figure out a way to do biceps, perhaps buy a pull up bar or more weights... so i've decided to do a workout on tuesdays, thursdays and saturdays. Today i'll do. Planks: Before and after workout, preliminary to find out how long i can hold them for. Pushups: 4 sets, slow and steady. *i want to work to be able to do my pushups with elbows tucked in, can't do that right now* Dumbel chest press: 10kg with 10 reps. 3 sets *gonna get more weighs on saturday* Dumble Flys. again 3 sets. Tabata sqats: 4 sets 10 reps each. Isolation squats: 3 sets 10 reps each. Crunches, Half crunches, leg raises and roman twists this week. hopefully a much fine tunes ab and core workout by next week. i'm off to uni now, any advice on building up/modifying this routine will be very appreciated.
I'm a week into the routine now. I find the hardest factor to be motivation though. and skyrim isn't helping much on that matter. =P the routine is the same for now, only i've added jumping squats to the routine. I do jumping squats one day, and isolations the other. The rest of the routine is pretty much the same. I read up on the core training articles that Frodo linked me to. I'm going to try out side presses and windmills with my dumbles this week. Another update next week. =) Here's something i've been brooding over since friday. I've gotten better at kumite. I ccan fight with confidence, i flinch a lot less, have better footwork, gotten more conditioned and can deal some damage as well. but i notice that for every punch i throw, my opponent lands a counter. for now my conditioning holds. but i want to be able to hit more than be hit. i looked over some reaction drills on youtube for this, and i know that the tried and tested way to get over this issue is to spar more and spar smart, but was wondering what advice people here had for me =) I do kyokushin karate, for anyone who wants to knoe =)
Yay! i felt awesome today! My kicks have gotten snappier. surprised myself with the increment of speed =D would've disbalanced myself if there wasnt someone recieving that kick =P I hope i keep showing increments like this and don't find a peak any time soon cuz i was loving it. =D My core is improving too. i can keep my back straight while kicking and can take more punches to the tummy too =) same training here for now. i think i'll keep this routine through February and then add more and change a few exercises to keep things fresh. Geek out.
Hi again. i've been away for a while. fate took an unfortunate turn with me recently. I caught measles from a patient in our hospital. it got me pretty bad. it kept me down for almost three weeks and i lost 6kg in the process. It left me feeling pretty weak and to make matters worse, i caught a flu right after that, which thanks to my now low immunity, took a week and a half to break up. after that i'd been told to take care and not exert myself to prevent any more illnesses until my immunity recovered, and until i gained some weight. three weeks of doing nothing since then, i'm finally going to rejoin my class since the first, and get back on my home routine a week after that. I've started light body weight exersises to prevent major DOMS when i return to karate. and i hope to keep up with these updates then too. =) Untill then, i'm enjoying the two books i got for kata and their bunkai i mentioned on another thread earlier, and can't wait to practice them during resistance. i cant wait to spar again! =P *never thought i'd miss getting hurt so much*
