i was wondering if anybody could help me out, my personal opinion is when doinb weights its best to use slightly lighter weights and explode out as when you punch or kick your forcing a very quick muscle contraction. If you bench say ur 3 rep max, you won't be able to push out as quickly so its not worth doing. However what i want to ask is that what are the different benifts to me as a martial artist in lifting heavier weights for more sets and less reps than what i currently do. EG. When doing bench press i will put 40kg on and get between 15-20 reps out per set, and i aim to do as many sets as i can, aiming to complete each rep as quick as i can. Is it worth benchin 75kg but like 5 or 6 reps?
what are you looking for? strenght or muscle endurance? also, you need to be careful when doing that type of lifting not to sacrifice form and avoiding injury
yeah i understand that. My aim is not specific in endurance or strength, more so to do which is going to improve the functioning of my muscles in martial arts. I do alot of push ups (clapping, wall, etc varying them) for endurance anyway and i guess the aim of the weights is to further that. But what i want to ask is what are the different advantages and disadvantages to me as a martial artist in lifitng heavy weights, and slightly lighter ones. My overall aim is to get as much strength as possible whilst maintain as little mass as possible, so to me i want to be as strong as i can around the 65-75 kg mark.
if you are throwing a "proper punch/kick" the added strenght will increase the force at which you throw it, lighter weights/more reps will increase the endurance of the muscle, a combonation of hy/light days plus strecthing to keep your flexibility is one suggestion
Why is your goal to avoid gaining weight? Are you competing? To get stronger, do compound lifts (squats, cleans, dips, etc.). Do them hard. Use weight that is challenging (5-7 reps max). Explode in your motions. Here's what I've found- being stronger is better. Seriously. Slick fighters, technical fighters, fast fighters... they're all good. But if you can maintain all your abilities (timing, footwork, etc.), the stronger you are, the better. You will win more fights. You will be more dangerous. FMA convinced me of this- a stick is a lever, and the people who can more that lever faster are more dangerous, all other things equal. This may seem incredibly obvious, but I've heard a lot of crap over my years of training about hi-rep, low weight exercises. I've never seen them work. The best fighters do crazy stuff to get stronger- ie: Chuck Liddell runs up hills with a wheelbarrow full of rocks. My old Kru (who was about 145 lbs soaking wet and 6' tall) did 3 min sets of 32 kg kettlebell snatches, (fyi- he hit like a truck). If you want to get stronger, lift something heavy. Move in a way that makes you work, ideally to the point that you feel sick. Then eat protein, sleep, and do it again. That is "Strength Gaining 101."
The best way to build overall strength is to lift heavy weights. And by heavy I mean close to your 1RM. Broadly speaking, somewhere around 70-90% of it, IMO. Basic principles: for strength, lift heavy for low reps. To manipulate your weight, either up or down, manipulate your diet. Also, from your original post: You've not directly stated it, but you've implied that you're concerned about speed (correct me if I'm wrong). When you attempt to move a weight, your muscle fibres are recruited in a certain preferential order. Your slow (type I) fibres will recruit for fairly light weights. If the weight is heavier, faster (type IIa) fibres will jump in to help. And if the weight is heavier still then the fastest (tye IIb) fibres will be recruited. The closer you lift to your 1RM, the more of the faster muscle fibres you will be recruiting and therefore training.
thnks for that, now i understand why so many martial artists lift heavy weights, so by lifting weight near my max i will only become quicker. I will give it a shot for 3 months and see if i feel a difference. Again thanks.
If you're looking to increase your relative strength, keep your intensity (% of your max) high and your total volume (sets x reps) low. 6 sets of 2 for instance, or 3 sets of 3. It doesn't matter that the weight is heavy and you can't move it very fast, what matters is that you make an effort to move it as fast as you possibly can. As long as you're contracting as hard and fast as possible, it won't matter that the heavy weight is barely moving, you'll still be increasing your speed which will translate into your martial art.
cheers, thats what im aiming to do actually, say when talking about excersise's such as the squat and bench press, the weight which will improve the speed and strength of my punch/kick the most. You've answer my question, what i will probs do is attempt 6 reps in 3 sets for the bench press, or mayb 2 sets and the squat do 12 reps of what weight i can and 2/3 sets.
I didn't mean to hijack his tread, but thought it would be kinda related to it. How about a workout where you start with lower weight (not light) and then on each set increase weight and decrease reps? Like for example start bench with 160 and do 10 reps, then add 10 lbs and do 8 reps, after that add 10 more lbs and do 6 reps, and so on adding weight till you get to 2 reps and max. weight. Thx.
Read this thread . There's a reason it's stickied at the top- it's a great place to get started if your new to lifting, and also a good place to refresh your memory if you've been around a while. That type of progression is fairly common- it's often called a pyramid set. You can up weight throughout the exercise (ie: benching starting at 185 and moving up 10 lbs a set) or peak in the middle (starting at 185, getting to 225 at set 3, then back down to 185 by set 5). Personally this type of progression hasn't really ever done much for me. I can't say it's hurt, but I also haven't ever found it to be remarkable in any way. That's training though- find what works for you.
So, that would be like increasing weight, and when you get to the max you start lowering? And yea its called pyramid set, a friend of mine suggested it. Thx for the info.
