Since I can't afford a gym membership i'm starting a home excercise routine to get back in shape. I tried it out this morning and it works great, but I need some ideas on what to add to my workout. Here's what I did: warmup- neck rolls, arm rolls, upper body twists, backward falls(judo), and jogging in place. stretching- I stretch all muscles except back and buttocks, I don't know how to do them. excercise- crunches, squats, knee pushups. repeat stretches. I do all of these without weights. I'm a heavy guy so I usually don't need them. I have a barbell and some weights but i'd prefer not to use them because I don't have mush space and the fact that I live in a upstairs apartment- though i'll be moving into a new house soon Sincerely, Mark
I suppose the stretching / cardio / conditioning work you do hugely depends on what style(s) you study. I know that when I trained TKD I used to focus heavily on leg stretching and dynamic stretching. Now Ive moved into the realms of freestyle and kickboxing, Im finding I need longer to workout as its more of a total body system (not dissing TKD, just emphasising that its main focus is kicking). I tend to go offroad cycling for about 20 mins every morning to get the metabolism running nicely for the day ahead, try and use the stairs as much as poss to maintain the burn and then work on padwork (thanks to the wifey) and all over stretching. I try to do this daily but in reality translates to about 4 times per week.
My standard hour and a half in the morning consists of 45 min of circuits (push ups, various sit-up, squats, streches, dips using the furniture) and then another 45 min of kata (karate, aikido), shadow boxing/techniques (Judo, Tai Jitsu). Mark, do you's practice any shadow uchi-komi's in your Judo club, its like shadow boxing but with Judo techniques? Thanx
I don't know what you mean by shadow boxing? I have only been to two classes so far, we did a few throws, chokes and falls, and a little punch blocking. I'm still learning the judo lingo. I'm training primarily for Judo, and I need to seriously lose some weight. I need strong quads so I can lift my body weight and my oponents at the same time(I have to squat a little to get my hip below their center of gravity, making it harder to lift). I did some heavy weight lifting and cardio training for about a year and a half but since I had to quit my fitness level has sunk noticeably. I need to work out a good system for cardio training, I'd bet continuously practicing falling techniques would work but I don't have enough room right now. Any ideas? Thanks, Mark
A good cardio exersize (or so i've been told) is to sprint for a set period of time, then jog for the same amount of time, and then sprint again, and so on. Try it for 2-4 minutes at first and keep going till you're tired out. I think its called anaerobic exersize, but I might be wrong. Bike riding or swimming is pretty good for cardio and muscle strength too
These are all great ideas for cardio. I don't have a bike but the recreation center I go to for my MA classes has a pool (They just cleaned it too) maybe I'll visit. I've also done sprints before and they work well. Now about the stretching, does anybody know any good back and ab stretches? Maybe a website that could help? I stretched my abs by lying on my stomach and pushing my upper body up, but it puts stress on my shoulders. Thanks, Mark
Here's a pretty good site, its got pictures to show you how to do the stretches too. In the drop down box at the bottom of the page is a link to other cardio workout sites too, and a section on abdominal stretches. http://exercise.about.com/library/blstretch.htm
I've been working out in my house since I'm 3 years old. I never go to a gym and I am in top shape. All I do is a good warm up, stretching everything from head to toes. (5 to 10 min) - 50 jump in jacks, - 50 pushup’s - 50 sit up's - 50 more push up's - 50 sit up's - Tigers (same has push up's but your butt is high in the air and try to bring your hands closer to your feet’s) Once in a comfortable position, I go down and back up, only using my arms, BUTT STAYS IN THE AIR… and I do has much has I can, about 25 of those then I Hold this position until I collapse… Tigers are great for the elbows and forearms. - Isometric tension is a must, (pretending there is pressure or weight yet there is none) - Max roll up's with a 10 pound weight, - 50 more jump ‘n jack, - 1 min skip rope (full throttle) - 1 min punching bag (full throttle) - 1 min shadow boxing (relax, work on forms and techniques) - Stretching, breathing exercise, meditation, and then salutation. My workout is more to develop upper body, abs and flexibility. Some day's I train 8 min, some day’s I go for the full 2 hour work out, depends on the energy level of that day and the state of my mind. In my book, 15 min per day is enough, if your intense in your training you can easily get in shape in 15 min workout per day. (4 to 5 times a weeks) few weeks in a row – you’ll definitely see changes in muscle mass, and flexibility. If you use weight and feel a tension in the muscle the next day, WAIT LONGER. Do not workout a muscle that feels tense from a previous workout, give him time to heal!! Also a good protein meal after each workout, eat before you go to sleep and a good solid breakfast. Feed yourself on a regular bassis, and stop those huge meals, eat all day, not 3 times a day. And LOT’S OF WATER!!! I don't need anaerobic, this is more for Hockey or Baseball or other sports where you need energy for a long time but only by burst. While a good martial artist should be able to last 5 min full throttle. If a fight is not over in 5 min, RUN AWAY. (My Sifu tell me ONE min, fight is over, and often will it be 10 sec fight.) But we train for 5 min just in case. And something else I've been doing lately, when I watch a movie, Instead of sitting on the couch and die slowly, I sit on the floor and I stretch, VERY SLOW, AND I hold the stretch for a very long time, not sure if this a good thing, but I can definitely see amazing improvements in my flexibility, only thing is I have to wait longer (few day’s) to stretch the muscle again, (it hurts the next day) but the results are definitely there. My two cents
With your pushups try them at different widths,as in diamond,shoulder width ,wide and Hindu.Hindu squats one leged squats,bridge, back arch PUs, Handstand timed, work into PU There's heap of Bodyweight polymetric stuff you can do.
