Fast twitch..Weights...punch power.

[wisdom mind]

Any suggestions for weight training methods/exercises that promote fast twitch muscle growth to enhance punching and coiling power?

[Paul DiMarino]

Lifting weights primarily focusses fast twitch muscle fibers. For better neaural recruitment of muscle fibers which will give you increased speed and power, try plyometric exercises in conjunction with weights.

[JWTAYLOR]

A big thumbs up here. Plyometric exercises are THE quintesential explosive power builder.

JWT

[wisdom mind]

awsome thanks so much....what are plyometric exercises? many thanx

[mantis108]

Hi Wisdom Mind (soon to be Lion) [img]/infopop/emoticons/icon_wink.gif[/img]

Here's one of the short program for My LY/BM
conditioning.

It's based on circuit training theory.

Warm up with 1 to 3 rounds of shadow boxing using LY/BM techniques such as Soy Kiew, Bui Gim, finger jabs, etc... 3 mins/round w/ 1 min rest.

Yoga based full body stretching. (15 - 20 mins) Important for LY/BM isnce their strikes involve the whole body.

Isotonic exercises using body weight 9 to 12 activities.

Specific techniques (limit them to 6) with dumb bells (less than 10 pounds) low reps varying speed. For example, 2 to 3 sets of 8 slow reps of Bui Gim, 8 tempo reps, 8 pulses. Stretch and rest 30 second between sets.

3 to 5 rounds of Combinations of the same techniques without weights

Warm down stretching and meditation

I do believe we fight how we train. That's the thinking behind this short program. IMHO, weight training is beneficial to a certain extend. Remeber, Bak Mei practice eventually becomes an internal art. Coordinations and balance should always account for. Just my thoughts. With the busy lifestyle that most of us have, I'd rather spent more time dealing with the muscle memory issue.

E-mail me for details discussion if it interest you.

Mantis108

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Contraria Sunt Complementa

[yamato_damashii]

You might also try altering your weight-training routine--use 50% of your normal 10 rep max, but lift with compensatory acceleration (i.e. move the bar as quickly as possible; make up for the lack of weight intensity by creating speed intensity).
I also recommend a book called "Complex Training" by Dr. Donald Chu.

[GunnedDownAtrocity]

I agree with mantis 108. i have been lifting for a while now, but i have noticed it does nothing for my kung fu. i work 50 hours a week and have a family and still try to do at least 12 hours training a week. i have noticed that when i lift all the time, at least half of my training time is eaten up by it. i do like lifting, but i think it is more wise to devote more time to training and see lifting as secondary. i know alot of people here think that big muscles mean strong punches, but this simply isnt true. the strongest punchers i have seen are my skinny friends raatra and josh and a guy from my class that whom is short and has an avarage fraim. your punching power is going to come from technique and internal energy. you might think chi is bull****, but i see no other explanation for feeble 60 year old men having the ability to launch people accross the room with hardly any movement.

so to answer your question . . . i say lift cause your young and want to look good. the added strenth definately wont hurt your punching power or martial arts either. but when its time to practice for power weight lifting wont be as good as focusing on good body mechanics with slow form practice with/without light weights (i find 5lb ankle weights on the wrist work great), some speed training, and hitting stuff. doing lots of cross jabs on the heavy bag will build lats like crazy. i would also include breathing exercises for power, but not everyone even knows chi is really there, so that would be up to you.

[Paul DiMarino]

Tell that to Lennox Lewis...

All things being equal, the bigger guy will hit harder. The reason why so many small guys (including myself) hit hard is because we need to focus on technique for power generation, so we are more refined while big guys generally muscle their way through things. All things being equal though (ie skill, technique, mechanics) the big guy will hit harder. Hence weight classes...

Anyway, you can use maximal weights as long as you are trying to push the bar rapidly. Even if the bar still moves slow because of it's weight, it's the intent that will neurogically transfer over to an increase of muscle fiber recruitment.

Plyometrics exercises are meant to be done explosive to increase muscle elasticity for explosive power. Exercises include box jumps, power push-ups (make your hands come as far off the ground as possible while maintaining a slight bend in the elbow), skips, stair sprints, and the like. I'm sure with a little searching, you can find tons all over the net.

As to weights being secondary... You're right. [img]/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif[/img] Nothing is better than activity specific training, and nothing is more activity specific than the activity itself! [img]/infopop/emoticons/icon_wink.gif[/img] Any conditioning that you do outside of your chosen art should be done with a goal in mind, or else you may see little to no results. The way you lift (# of sets, reps, tempo during eccentric and concentric phases of each lift, etc) will play a huge part in what you are trying to accomplish. You can't simply do a good old 3 sets of 10 routine and expect to see results in everything or for an unlimitted time for that matter. The human body survives by adapting, so everytime you that you subject it to the same routine, you are getting decreasing routines. Switch things up every 3 weeks or 6-8 workouts.

[wisdom mind]

is it possible? a thread withOUT flames
come on where are the insults [img]/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif[/img]?

seriously, thanks alot gentlemen, I look forward to adapting this info to my training

[Iron Spirit]

Try to do just full body exercises, Cleans, power cleans, squats , deadlifts, standing barbell presses, These kinds of exercises are great for teaching the body to act as one unit rather then isolated bodyparts, it also keeps your time required to work with weights to a minimum just pick any two full body exercises and do 5 sets of 3 for each then take off 3-4 days and do it again. Plyos are great too. Definetly try to work out a plan to periodise no matter what routines you decide on.

[jimmy23]

heres my two cents worth
I tend to lift with a "heavy duty "frame of mind.I never do more than 10 total sets in a workout(usually less than 8).I work each body part directly once a week.An important point,when doing the positive part of an exercise(like pushing the weight up on a bench press),go as fast as you want,but on the negative portion(lowering the weight back)be sure to do it slow,taking 3-5 seconds to do it.IMHO,the time the muscle stays under tension is the single biggest factor affecting growth.You want the muscle under tension for 40 - 50 seconds per set,doing slow negatives allows this.

[GunnedDownAtrocity]

that's pretty good **** jimmy.

[Water Dragon]

I have to disagree with plyometrics. You might get a little faster from them. However, you can almost bet on ending up with arthritis, torn ligaments, blown out shoulders, etc. when you get older. It is possible that you won't get any of that. But hey, it's also possible you won't get cancer from smoking.

Do the weights in a slow and controlled manner. ALWAYS. Understand that you probably won't get huge unless you are predisposed to it.(genetics)

Here's a good workout. It's what I currently do. It takes up hardly anytime too.
Benchpress. do 1 warm up set then 2 sets of 8 to failure. Deadlift. 1 warm up and 2 sets of 8 to failure. weighted crunches. 2 sets of 8 to failure. Only takes about 20 minutes. I do it Mon and Thurs. and see good results. Failure means you couldn't possibly do another if your life depended on it.

As far as speed: There's not too much you can do to increase actual speed from point A to point B. For better results focus on...
Relaxing so that your muscles don't slow you down. Heavy bag work to understand what happens on impact. Slow soft boxing to work on 1 strike leading into the next, And timing and angles. This will make you much faster than working on increasing your speed specifically.

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Although there are many styles, they all depend on the strong beating the weak and the slow falling to the quick. These are not related to the power that must be learned -- Taiji Classics

[Paul DiMarino]

Jimmy brings up some very good points. Slow eccentric contaction not only will premote growth in strength in size, but also lessen the risk of injury. The deal with total number of sets is a great point too. 15 should be the ultimate maximum anybody with a full-time job and martial arts practice can really do. Supersetting helps a lot too. I've seen the best gains from doing only 8-12 sets and using a 5 day rotational routine:

Day 1 - arms
day 2 - legs
day 3 - off
day 4 - chest/back
day 5 - off

[8stepsifu]

Punching doesnt come from the chest or upper body. The most the upper body does is act as a guiding system. All good strikes come from the legs, are expressed in the waist, (different leg to waist ratio for hooks and strait punches) and delivered through the extremeties. You can never match with one body part the kind of power that can be achieved by using the whole body in unison.