>He is doing pushup routines, which stress the triceps among other things. So, incorporating bicep exercises serves to balance out the arm.
I would argue that this would not be a good exercise to choose for balancing muscular systems. You are talking about a simple motion (in this case flexion of the elbow for bicep curls) and compound motion (in this case flexion and possible abduction of the shoulder joint depending on the form).
To achieve balance you want to use simple/simple or compound/compound. Which would make your choice of pull-ups (I am assuming you here mean chin-ups with your palms facing you thereby stressing the biceps) to balance push-ups a good suggestion.
>And bicep strength is important for fighting. Ever grappled?
As a matter of fact I have trained in a few different styles of grappling and have many friends who are devoted grapplers and trainers. Most of the good grapplers that I have trained with or spoken to actually don’t perform too many simple motion exercises. They perform a lot more compound motions (pull-ups in their many varieties) in their training.
And also if you are talking about punching…biceps can act as an antagonist to the motion, which can cause a beginning fighter a lot of grief.
So it depends on what the function of your training is.
>you get good at something by doing it. Also, I think jumping rope is an excellent warm-up.
I should have been clearer. I was only referring to jumping rope as the beginning of your warm-up. Once your muscles are warm then by all means go to it.
For the same reason you would not start a beginning weight lifter with power cleans before warming up you would not want to start off by jumping rope. Then again, after years of training it may be done without worry of injury (i.e., professional boxers).
>I have heard that holding out your arms with say 2-5kilo weights with your palms facing down is good for your punching ??
If you are talking about holding them out for a while, this is isometric training. You are taxing the deltoids (shoulder) which are used in many fighting applications. As far as helping your punch…If you don’t have good technique, having strong shoulders might cause you to rely on muscle and not body unity for power. This would eventually lead to having to re-train your punches as you get older and you loose muscle mass.
In my experience a lot of the older Chinese martial arts masters are skinny and have a relatively small amount of muscle mass. But they can still punch with a tremendous amount of power.
A lot of your training should be based on the style of martial arts that you are studying.
>If you do an anaerobic exercise like sit-ups or push ups … is that still burning calories ? or is it burning to little to be thought of in that way ?
Typically, anaerobic training uses glycogen for fuel. This is a generalization because certain types of weight training (i.e., endurance and sports related resistance training) can utilize fat for fuel.
Calorie burning is not equal and should not be used as a gauge for exercise. Running and other aerobic activity is still has no substitute in the anaerobic regimen. Both are important. If you don’t like running or cycling, try shadowboxing, hitting focus mitts, or doing back work. I don’t train this way to fight, I train this way to build my cardio-respiratory endurance.
>training bench press with a heavy weight is going to help you drop a guy quick.
I suppose most professional boxers perform bench press then? I have news for you. They don’t. Most trainers that are called in to train boxers (I am talking about in the Olympics and professionally, avoid the bench press because of the cramping of the shoulder blades in the motion while lying on the bench. A good alternative is pyramid push-ups at various angles.
Thanks.
