weight training advice

[IRONMONK]

I have never done any weight training and i am looking to do some that will benefit my kung fu training.Now i do not want to be bodybuilding but more functional strength/power etc.
I only have standard barbell and a pair of dumbell.Any advice on what type of exercises and how many reps/sets would be appreciated.

Regards,

Faze.

[fa_jing]

I say focus on the deadlift and the clean and press. Try 5 sets of 5 of each, after a warmup. You can vary the weight in between the sets. If you like do some curls and pushups, but only after you are done your heavy lifting. Do this twice a week then see how it goes after about a month. Continue your MA training.

[AndrewS]

Hey Faze,

1). Learn good form. Check clips on the web, and instructionals.
2). With any new exercise, error on the side of caution. Better to go light and work into heavy over a month, than go heavy, learn poor form, get less benefit, and pick up an injury.
3). Stick with big compound movements
4). Push and pull in each plane
5). When you learn a lift, many quality reps are helpful. You can do this by doing multiple lower rep sets (4-8 reps, 3-8 sets, for instance) with small to moderate rest intervals (45s-2 min), rather than higher rep sets (which are useful for metabolic conditioning and muscular endurance, but when using people tend to get sloppy on the later reps). This should give you time to get your mind right between sets, and, provide you with some good hypertrophy. Later as you work to increase your maximum speed and strength, you'll do fewer reps (1-5) varying your set number and rest intervals based on the % rm1 you use, and your goals (strength/power, vs. hypertrophy).
6). Eventually you'll want to do some sessions working for speed (move a lighter weight fast), some heavy (as much as you can).
7). Pick a few exercises from the squat family- Oly back squat, power back squat, front squat, overhead squat, lunge, split squat, bulgarian squat, a few from the deadlift family- DL, sumo DL, Romanian DL, snatch grip DL, power cleans, clean pulls, some upper body stuff- push- bench, front press, push press, jerk and pull- chin up, row. Set up your workouts so you've got one 'big' exercise done intense and first, and a couple more that you do lighter.

Go check <t-mag.com> and the Elite Fitness Systems sites for more good details.

Andrew

[Akronviper]

Like Andrew said check out T-mag.com. One of the writers wrote a book about martial arts and weight training, which you can get at borders or a place like that he also has articles on line at the site.

one thing I do find funny and I'm not taking a shot at you, but every body says they dont want to be like a body builder, or I dont want much muscle I want to keep my speed. Just because you pick up some weights your not going to look like Arnold. Your speed and depending on your streching your range of movement will hopfully increase. The problem many people encounter with MA and weightlifting is overtraining.

well theres my rant, but hey check out that site it will help you, look for that guy (name ?) and Ian King.

[stricker]

Ironmonk, andrew : ok after just one session playing with some lifts, after the push press and especially the jerk, i punched the hardest i ever have. My punch felt like when a cartoon character gets electrocuted is how i would describe it. It felt like 100% of my muscles just bam switched on 100% in an instant.

The effect felt so dramatic after one session it cant have been a physical (structural/hypertrophy) change but how the nervous system fires the muscles is reprogrammed by throwing a weight around explosively.

Theres some other stuff that seems to cross over to wing chun nicely, which id actually been taught bodyweight versions of by wing chun teacher. Swings but just using the hip not the full leg motion (so remove the squatting part of the usual swing). Split squats with hands holding weight up stretched overhead.

Military press holding a kettlebell bottom up good for wrist and shoulder stability/strength, and then if you try it with your eyes closed it sorta reminded me of chi sao in a funny way.

Anyway it's a real pain in the arse trying to figure out what to do, so many different sources, so many types of weight training and programs, different effects (max strength, speed strength, strength endurance etc) etc its a bit daunting. How does it fit in with current training (dont wanna do arms the same day you do **** loads of punches or chi sao, or squat day + running etc). Then theres the money side of designing a program. Do i join a gym, especially if i only need the gym for squats + deadlifts once a week? OR someone else says i should be doing squats + deadlifts every day! Where the hell do you get coaching on olympic lift form??? I'm on case researching, but **** its hard, i just wish there was one nice book that had it all summed up in one place... anyway enough o'my yackin.

good luck sorting it out ironmonk! ps I think andrews advice to do push press/jerk might well be the best possible thing for a serious punch.

[AndrewS]

Faze,

one thing I forgot- unilateral exercises, especially leg exercises. I've been a recent convert and think these are an important key to injury/muscular imbalance prevention. Split squats, split jerks, lunges, step ups, bulgarian squats, etc.

and another- *variability*- change up what you do. Few things will work forever.

and another- the best workout is the one you do- Dan John

Lastly- have fun.

Jon,

liking the jerks and push-presses, eh? :-)

Think about the mechanics of the straight punch w/ step (realizing that short power = stepping without stepping = jumping in place= oly lift) and the similarities in shoulder girdle stabilization and it makes a lot of sense, no?

A couple more good 'uns/
-Romanian deadlift/ straight-legged deadlift- keep that back nice and arched, don't go too far below the knee, and you'll be kicking higher and more comfortably than before.
-full contact twist- evil little boost for rotational power. . .

Later,

Andrew

[Chief Fox]

Another thing you may eventually want to add is plyometrics and agility drills.

Exercises like box jumps, dot drills and speed squats are great for explosive power.

[Akronviper]

The guys name is Charles Staley and his book is "The Science of Martial Arts Training".

[manofkent]

I would advise IRONMONK to see a pro about deadlifting and the clean and press. There not exersises you can learn from a forum. If pos join a gym, even if its only for a month, so that some one can keep an eye on your technique.

You could be lifting wrong and not even know it untill your back goes crunch 2yrs later.

[IronFist]

^ Most people at gyms will not know how to deadlift or clean and press, either.

One time when I was training deadlift at my gym for a powerlifting meet, a personal trainer came up to me and asked me what I was doing. When I told her I was deadlifting, she goes "well, just so you know, this is a deadlift" and demonstrates the movement of a stiff-legged deadlift. I told her that was a stiff-legged deadlift and I was doing a conventional deadlift.

Anyway, just make sure you learn from a good source. I think it's possible to learn to deadlift correctly from a GOOD book, website, or video. The deadlift is a lot simpler than the squat. Learning the clean and press from a book or something would be a lot harder, ESPECIALLY for someone who's new to weightlifting. Don't worry about that one for a while.

[IRONMONK]

thank you everyone for the good advice and weblinks

i am doing downloading video clips of these lifts from various websites
I think it will take some time to learn them (with light weights) but i rather take my time then injure myself.Hopefully i can get someone who is experienced to show me.

AndrewS ,

tried a few full contact twists and they are BRUTAL!!!

[Fu-Pow]

Here's a good link to the variations on deadlifts. I had always visualized the stiff legged variety which I think has a lot more potential for back injury. However, the other two versions, conventional and sumo, seem to be pretty good quality lower body exercises. :)

http://www.stumptuous.com/cms/displayarticle.php?aid=116

BTW, this lady looks like she could kick some ass.

[stricker]

hey again faze and andrew.

Andrew, ive gotta give it to you, i think your right. It makes sooo much sense. Ive gotta run over this stuff with my wing chun teacher who is biiiig into weights...

faze, what ive read one of the good things about using a kettlebell (but like my man chuck d said, d.d.dont believe the hype) is that olympic type lifts (clean, jerk, snatch etc) are basically technically easier so you dont need so much in the way of coaching.

oh yeah the kb advice i've been given was to break exercises into the following types : squat, split, push, and pull. so it sounds like the split/lunge type (unilateral) stuff is pretty important.

the full contact twist looks pretty good, at mma we do a lot of this bodyweight twist exercise lying down on back, legs straight up at 90deg then twist all the way left and right, 20 reps feet dont touch the ground. they may be worth a try ironmonk, as you dont need the gym or any kit, and after a load of crunches and press ups and stuff they can really finish you off, or you could add some ankle weights? I think this lying twist maybe isolates the waist muscles more than the fct, and with the fct theres the arm/shoulder and the fact that the weight is travelling an arc its more 3 dimensional but hey its a poor mans version.

ps when I googled "full contact twist" on the very first page that comes up

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/mm6.htm

theres a little bit about steve cotter talking about rib compression and expansion in martial arts and lifting. its cool the little nuggets you find here and there ;)

[Akronviper]

Ironfist, I have also noticed that many people belive that the stiff leg dead lift is the only dead lift, which is a shame because for at least myself I belive the tradional dead lift to be the best excercise. It just sad that with all the resources out there that some still only do the "muscle magizine excercises".

A little off topic but seemed that I had to comment since Ironfist hit it on the head.