Please Scroll Down to See Forums Below Legion Kreinak
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Er, rather I meant how MUCH weight lifting? 3 sets 12-15 reps on a lighter weight? Or did he edge more towards a bodybuilders perspective like a 5x5 routine? Thx! ^^
Chest Used in Martial Arts?
- Thread starter Legion Kreinak
- Start date
hmm this is the dilema i face 
hi reps would make you think more endurance and since you are mving the weight faster, you;d also thin you are moving more explosivly and training more fasttwitch muscles
but i;ve read (i think on T-mag) that heavy weight is still explosive, perhaps even moreso than light weights as you are exlosivly contracting your muscle even if the weight is light
as a result i try to train low reps but its not always possible with say dumbells etc. next year i plan on workig in olympic powerlifting moves and plylometrics into my routine to make my muscles move faster
as for endurance....hmmm.....id just train more in the actual martial art and just build the endurance there rather than try and get it in the weights room, that way you know your body will be adapting to fighting endurance as opposed to weightroom endurance if that makes any sense. just spar a lot. its really tiring
hi reps would make you think more endurance and since you are mving the weight faster, you;d also thin you are moving more explosivly and training more fasttwitch muscles
but i;ve read (i think on T-mag) that heavy weight is still explosive, perhaps even moreso than light weights as you are exlosivly contracting your muscle even if the weight is light
as a result i try to train low reps but its not always possible with say dumbells etc. next year i plan on workig in olympic powerlifting moves and plylometrics into my routine to make my muscles move faster
as for endurance....hmmm.....id just train more in the actual martial art and just build the endurance there rather than try and get it in the weights room, that way you know your body will be adapting to fighting endurance as opposed to weightroom endurance if that makes any sense. just spar a lot. its really tiring
Legion Kreinak
New member
Yeah, it gets tiring after a couple of fast-paced rounds, I've been there already. Sparring is the closest I get to fighting without getting in trouble for it, it's like a godsend when I spar. ^^
So, you're suggesting lift more weight, less reps generally when I weight train to gain strength? The only thing I was worried about was getting too much (though I know it doesn't happen overnight) bulk from doing heavier weights. You're awesome, danielson. Wax on, wax off!
So, you're suggesting lift more weight, less reps generally when I weight train to gain strength? The only thing I was worried about was getting too much (though I know it doesn't happen overnight) bulk from doing heavier weights. You're awesome, danielson. Wax on, wax off!
again another dilema of mine
this is stuff i;ve read but i;ve not read anything that says 'definately do this its worked 1000 times before'.....now it said that if you weightlift the heavy weights, provided you are moving that weight as fast as you can the movement will recruit fast twitch muscle fibres more
however my sifu/instructor is very fast and he has done this through plylometric training and no weights.....so whether combining the two will help or not i dont know. he is very anti-weights though
i train heavy anyway jackie chan on the other hand trains hi-reps low weight.....so i dont know who;s right.
as for the bulk.....as long has you have flexibility and control over your own bodyweight i dont see a problem in getting too big, and if you do a lot of cardio anyway its real hard to get so big it becomes a problem. just as long as your not soo big you cant physically get your limbs in the right place!
this is stuff i;ve read but i;ve not read anything that says 'definately do this its worked 1000 times before'.....now it said that if you weightlift the heavy weights, provided you are moving that weight as fast as you can the movement will recruit fast twitch muscle fibres more
however my sifu/instructor is very fast and he has done this through plylometric training and no weights.....so whether combining the two will help or not i dont know. he is very anti-weights though
i train heavy anyway
jackie chan on the other hand trains hi-reps low weight.....so i dont know who;s right.as for the bulk.....as long has you have flexibility and control over your own bodyweight i dont see a problem in getting too big, and if you do a lot of cardio anyway its real hard to get so big it becomes a problem. just as long as your not soo big you cant physically get your limbs in the right place!
Legion Kreinak
New member
Heh, heh. I sww what you're saying. I think I'll stick with higher reps and lower weight with intense cardio. Just gotta kick the sprinting up a notch. Thanks a lot, man. You helped me a great deal, seem to have well rounded knowledge about this stuff.
Legion Kreinak
New member
Oh yah, Karma to you.
Thaibox
New member
Man, gone for a couple weeks and I miss all kind of good stuff.
Legion, some may disagree, but what works best for me is train in all aspects. Train heavy and short, train light and long. But, I think one thing should remain constant, and thats big power movements. You can curl to build you arms, shrug to build your traps, row to build your back thickness, good morning to build your erectors, and leg curl to build your hams, OR deadlift heavy weight and force them all to respond.
Not benching is a bad idea. Even if chest is only(say) 15% of your striking power, why train to hit with only 85% of your potential? A clinching hook is almost all chest. Ever work on someone from their guard? The chest is a huge muscle and helps in more ways then you may realize. Sure shoulders and back(as well as legs) play a major role, but like Danielson said, why create a weak link in yourself? Benching is a compound movement anyway. So, its not like you're only training chest, you're hitting tris, delts, etc. Benching is very important in my opinion.
Also, you said you don't want to get too big and be slow. This is a BS fallacy started by skinny guys. If you train properly, your strength will increase disproportionately to your size, allowing you to be big while becoming faster and more agile. Look at your average pro powerlifter that can slam dunk a basketball with ease. Or, watch an olympic lifter snatch with a blur of speed.
Not to mention being big feels good
Legion, some may disagree, but what works best for me is train in all aspects. Train heavy and short, train light and long. But, I think one thing should remain constant, and thats big power movements. You can curl to build you arms, shrug to build your traps, row to build your back thickness, good morning to build your erectors, and leg curl to build your hams, OR deadlift heavy weight and force them all to respond.
Not benching is a bad idea. Even if chest is only(say) 15% of your striking power, why train to hit with only 85% of your potential? A clinching hook is almost all chest. Ever work on someone from their guard? The chest is a huge muscle and helps in more ways then you may realize. Sure shoulders and back(as well as legs) play a major role, but like Danielson said, why create a weak link in yourself? Benching is a compound movement anyway. So, its not like you're only training chest, you're hitting tris, delts, etc. Benching is very important in my opinion.
Also, you said you don't want to get too big and be slow. This is a BS fallacy started by skinny guys. If you train properly, your strength will increase disproportionately to your size, allowing you to be big while becoming faster and more agile. Look at your average pro powerlifter that can slam dunk a basketball with ease. Or, watch an olympic lifter snatch with a blur of speed.
Not to mention being big feels good
Legion Kreinak
New member
Yeah, that's why I'm thinking of maybe doing the 5x5 routine. You ever do it ThaiBox? I figure getting some size (and power, supposedly it gives LOTS of power) would be a lil' better. I don't wanna be too intimidating, then no one's gonna brawl with me if I go out to a bar. And that means sadness for me. 
Heh heh
Heh heh
S
solidj55
Guest
I dont know how much this relates but I think its along the same lines. If you think of close fighting/wrestling type shit(which most real world fights end up wrestling on the ground, pushing etc. unless someone gets knocked out first) then there are several things that should be taken into consideration.
As far as your pressing movements go, and we all know pressing movements simulate the range punches are thrown and pushes and shuves, etc. Well in my opinion all pressing movements should be closegrips. Like closegrip incline press and closegrip bench press. Also dumbell incline and dumbell flat presses help isolate and build up each side equally as well as they are the most natural range of motion for this. My football coach used to always preach doing closegrip presses rather than wide or normal grip because you never push(block) with a wide grip, its just natural to do it at shoulder width or closer.
For back I would think any type of row as well as pullups would be of great benifit.
For legs I would think squats, hack squats, or leg presses would be important.
And of course training the triceps with pushdown or extensions would help and doing some sort of curls.
But also important would be training for explosiveness. Things like hang cleans, power cleans, snatches, push press, clean and jerk, etc are all explosive movements that would help in that area.
Just my opinion though.
As far as your pressing movements go, and we all know pressing movements simulate the range punches are thrown and pushes and shuves, etc. Well in my opinion all pressing movements should be closegrips. Like closegrip incline press and closegrip bench press. Also dumbell incline and dumbell flat presses help isolate and build up each side equally as well as they are the most natural range of motion for this. My football coach used to always preach doing closegrip presses rather than wide or normal grip because you never push(block) with a wide grip, its just natural to do it at shoulder width or closer.
For back I would think any type of row as well as pullups would be of great benifit.
For legs I would think squats, hack squats, or leg presses would be important.
And of course training the triceps with pushdown or extensions would help and doing some sort of curls.
But also important would be training for explosiveness. Things like hang cleans, power cleans, snatches, push press, clean and jerk, etc are all explosive movements that would help in that area.
Just my opinion though.
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