Conditioning Your Body to the Max

[DrunkenMonkey]

Right now, my body is weak. Ever since I ripped my first hamstring, its been going down. My muscles are more easily torn, but my stamina is incredible. How do you even the plain?

Please tell me weight training isn't the solution.

An Art is any form of expression or task that has been honed to near perfection.

[Lost_Disciple]

Drunken Monkey
If I had to make a recommendation, I'd say rest.
You don't gotta be a gym rat or nothin, but 3, 30~45 workout sessions wouldn't hurt you none once you were ready. You also wouldn't be shooting for failure, just 3 to 5 reps of weight that wasn't easy to do. You need to give your body time and you definitely need some strength to balance out. Like I said, it's not like you've gotta become your typical, high intensity, too big to wipe his own arse, Gold's Gym T-shirt wearin, gym rat; just do some weights to supplement your strength.
Just don't rush into it too quickly, give your body some time, and take it a little easy until you're totally back on your feet.

Just some thoughts from an ignoramus..

[DrunkenMonkey]

thanks

An Art is any form of expression or task that has been honed to near perfection.

[mortal]

Weight training is not the answer. It takes away from flexability which happens to be the answer. A disciplined stretching regiment everyday is how those injuries are prevented. I have pulled my hamstrings in the past because I wasn't that flexible yet. Weights have nothing to do with it. One of the things I love about kung fu is you don't have to be a muscle head to be powerful. I have seen old masters who are in great shape with tons of energy able to do very difficult forms. Point being kungfu training should be making you young.
Many times the most muscled guys get the most injureys. If you just focus on push ups sit up s and training you have all the power you need. Just my humble opinion.

[IronFist]

Weight training is not the answer. It takes away from flexability


::coughbull****cough::

Ironfist

[Lost_Disciple]

ironfist
;)

mortal
newsflash, if you work out, you're not necissarily gonna become a muscle head. if you're a muscle head, you're not necissarily gonna be unflexible. if you're really buff, you're not necessarily strong, and vice versa. Zhong Luo is a big buff guy, but his power don't come from his muscles, however his muscles do aide his power. He's neither slow nor unflexible. He's the chinese bak mei guy at all those masters demonstrations. And THAT's just an example of a buff guy, not an athlete/martial artist using weights to aide his strength. you really need to update your training ideas. your opinions were out dated back in the 80s.
.

Just some thoughts from an ignoramus.

[ElPietro]

Ummm...Mortal please check your facts before spewing off such concentrated mis-information. You don't have to be a muscle-head to be a good kung-fu practitioner is about the only thing that you wrote that is actually true. Weight-training INCREASES flexibility, also do you think you go to the gym and overnight become the next mr.olympia? You would practically need to workout at olympic levels and take a lot of illegal supplements to come withing 1/10th of their muscle mass. So first of all weight training IS a good idea. Strengthening your body in any way is good. Adding muscle protects joints and ligaments, and training those stabilizer muscles will help with balance and speed as well. Martial arts is great for cardio fitness but I feel it should be supplemented with at least some weight training. Mortal you probably pulled your hamstring because you are against weight training...weak muscles are just that...weak. There is also no conclusive proof that stretching helps in any way to prevent injury. Although I do stretch I'm not religious about it.

DrunkenMonkey when you tore your hammy did you go through any physio? Usually when the muscle is extremely weak they will use ultrasound to slowly work the muscles. I don't think you are at that point but you may be at a point where intense training will do you harm. Just start off with weight that puts almost no strain on the muscle and increase very slowly in weight. It's better to do things slowly because re-tearing your hammy will just send you back to the drawing board again. Good luck.

[DrunkenMonkey]

Um, I know a huge ass muscle-building who can do total splits. Good weight trainers stretch after each session.

An Art is any form of expression or task that has been honed to near perfection.

[DrunkenMonkey]

No, I've not been through physio. They are not EXTREMELY weak, but they are weak. Right now all I am doing is light jogging, wearing 5 pound weights on my ankles and doing stand-still jogging to work my hamstrings.

Also, I have noticed a very important thing that has prevented my muscles from being pulled for the past 4 weeks. I massage them in the morning, after each training session, and at night. I know its supposed to decrease lactic acid which causes fatigue and pulling, but even when I massage already-DAMAGED muscles, it helps them heal better.

But I have a question—is there such a thing as OVER-massaging? Does it interfere with building muscle strength?

just wondering

An Art is any form of expression or task that has been honed to near perfection.

[DrunkenMonkey]

Maybe its the Chi... Also, I think that massaging increases blood flow to the area which also provides a higher supply of nutrients that will heal muscles better.

just speculating

An Art is any form of expression or task that has been honed to near perfection.

[DrunkenMonkey]

...

An Art is any form of expression or task that has been honed to near perfection.

[Lost_Disciple]

I've never heard of "over massaging" myself, but I'm no professional PT.
Hope they get better, my knees and back are killing me right now.
.

Just some thoughts from an ignoramus.

[ElPietro]

Just have patience and dedication. Keep things light and easy...take things slow and make a full recovery. Consult with your physiotherapist as often as you can and get strength tests so they can recommend adequate exercises for you. I know it's hard to do things slowly, when I sliced the tendon in my hand I wanted to get back to my life asap, as a result i re-ruptured the tendon and had to have a second surgery...now I don't have full range of motion with one finger...it kinda sucks but think how much it could suck if applied to a leg. So take care with recovering or you will most likely regret it.