Unfortunately, it seems to be a dirty term for some martial arts enthusiasts but I feel its a great thing. So, anyone know any weight-lifting excersizes that are especially good Gung Fu supplements?
Full squat
Deadlift - snatch grip, conventional, partial, romanian
Olympic pulling - any
Jerks - Push, power, split
Bench
Row
Press
Pullup, chinup, horizontal pullup(lean back to approximate a rowing motion)
Grip training of all kinds
Medicine ball tosses of all kinds
Throws of other implements(discus, shotput, rocks…)
Thanks for the tips William.
Grip training is something I always liked. But I am not sure what exactly I should do in this reguard. Also, I’ve heard that if done improperly one can get tendonitis. What would you suggest in terms of grip training?
For grip i do alot because its just good to have but try rock climbing esp indoor my forearms failed twice in 2 hours it awesome.
Weight training. I try to do mostly full body exercises like William suggested. But if you check my pullup thread you’ll see that my pullups suck right now.
Here’s what I do for my standard workout.
Rowing machine, row 500 meters
20 box jumps on a 20inch box.
20 kettle bell swings.
20 push presses with 75lbs.
I time myself for three rounds and record the time. The time is a great way to measure fitness. Once I get to a certain time I’ll either add another round or another exercise.
For example, when I first started doing this workout, I didn’t have the kettlebell swings in there. I was doing 4 rounds of the other exercises in less than 15 minutes. So I decided to add another exercise and drop down to 3 rounds. My times are comming in at about 17 minutes now. Once I get down to the 15 minute mark, I’ll add a fourth round.
Once my back gets healed up I’ll also get back to doing deadlifts, squats and bench press.
Grip training. I use a Captains of Crush gripper. I started out with the Trainer and I now have a Number 1 gripper. I was able to close it for the first time just last night.
I’ve heard another way to improve grip strength is to rope climb so I’m considering putting a rope in the tree in my back yard.
Interesting stuff. Have any of you tried or considered traditional Chinese weights? I know its big in Shuai Jiao circles. If you do buy the stuff, I wonder if you’d need an actual trainer or can you just do the excersizes from reading.
just like anything else, it would benefit you to have someone show you proper technique, be it a pulley, stone locks or the rock pole.
Thanks for the tips William.
Grip training is something I always liked. But I am not sure what exactly I should do in this reguard. Also, I’ve heard that if done improperly one can get tendonitis. What would you suggest in terms of grip training?
I’m no expert in grip. However just train it in moderation, 2x weekly to start. If it gets too much then cut back and ice.
Train the finger extensors(opening the hand) as well to ensure muscle balance. Elastic bands work well here.
Finger extensors. Yeah, that would make sense to ensure balance. Thanks!
Hey The Xia----I started traing with kettlebells a few months ago and have gotten results that I really like. They have made my back and shoulders way stronger than they used to be, and they really improve the grip. I think they’re especially good for martial artists because you learn how to use your whole body on every exercise (which is essential in MA anyway). I also rehabed old injuries with kettlebells too.
You can read up on them on http://www.dragondoor.com.I didn’t buy mine here because they are too expensive. I got them form a track and field websit that Chief Fox posted a while back. They won’t kill you with shipping like dragondoor does.
I still keep my regular plate weights around because I think deadlifting has enourmous benefits.
Hi, I’m new to this board but not new to this question. I am a certified fitness trainer with 26 years of experience and a 2nd degree black belt in the art of Kung Fu San Soo with 14 years experience.
This is something that is right up my alley. I have found that one of the keys to martial art prowess is the development of your leg strength (balance and power) and your cardio strength (the ability to sustain your energy during an altercation).
If you would like tips related to this subject take a look at my blog,
Good luck in your training!
Tony Mendoza
Kung Fu Training Secrets, Inc.
Thanks for the link. I like your website, Tony. Welcome to kungfumagazine. Squats and Pullovers are two of the great exercises old school weight lifters know and love. You could do much worse than those even if they were all you did.
Cheers.
Thank you
Thank you for the welcome. I look forward to participating on this board. I also noticed that you are out of Eugene, Oregon. I am in the process of moving to Brookings, Oregon and will be opening a Kung Fu San Soo school there once I am settled.
Thanks again!
Tony
chief fox turned me on to crossfit a while ago and i just did this routine for the second time last night:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4o-RM6ebuis
its a killer leg workout that i can not recommend enough. i did it for my first time cause i thought it looked fairly easy for a crossfit workout. i thought its just too bad i only have 40lb dumbells at home. turns out 40s were too heavy … after 2 sets i had to drop down. the girl in the workout is using 45s. i think the guy is using 65s. it’s deceptively hard.
even if you dont want to kill yourself like these guys do you can still take a lot of ideas and workouts from their site and play with them.
also sled. if you have access to one it will become your new best friend. if you can purchase one cheaply and have a place to use it do so.
*edit .. .sled link fixed
GDA,
that Crossfit clip reminds me of why I have a problem w/ Crossfit. The decay in form both those trainees were experiencing is disturbing and dangerous- knee injuries waiting to happen- both of them were buckling their knees in on the squat motions even on the first set, and it looked brutal by the last. Sevenstar’s comment on learning proper technique is especially relevant here.
Andrew
ill admit that this is an area i certainly lack expertise, but my knees feel fine.
i tried to keep decent form all the way through, but is there really such a high risk of injury with such light weight?
its like turning your head when racking 225 … it’s a bad habit and it can become a real problem when the weight gets heavy, but you could rack 225 like that forever without ever risking injury. i see this set in kind of the same light. it’s highly unlikely that you’ll ever go heavy enough with dumb bells for it to be a real problem.
i respect your opinion though, so if you dont mind elaborating further i appreciate it.
GDA,
look at the clip- in the first set, by the clean to squat both folks are having a little adduction of the knees going on the ascent, by the 5th set they’re fried and their knees are buckling in on nearly every rep. That’s a recipe for a medial meniscus injury, and it doesn’t take a heavy load to for that to occur.
My b*tch with crossfit is that they construct workouts using complex exercises which take a lot of time to learn with good form, then wind up putting those exercises in formats where you will perform them under conditions of great fatigue, where form is more likely to decay, and risk of injury increases significantly.
There’s nothing wrong with doing that workout- it looks really fun- but the mentality (tough it out, up the volume) and the assumptions (no injuries/imbalances to work around, technical competance at complex lifts which can require months to years to learn) make the program risky.
Andrew
There was a lot of discussion on that video when it first appeared on the crossfit website. Many people brought up the same warnings that AndrewS brought up.
No doubt that is a great workout and just like any workout or lift, if done improperly, it could result in injury.
They do stress over at Crossfit that you scale the workouts to your ability. They also discuss learning proper form from a professional before atempting complex lifts.
It’s pretty clear that the guy in that video was using too much weight for his ability and looked like he was coming close to falling several times.
I really don’t think that particular video is a good example of the crossfit mentality.
Part of the crossfit philosophy is “intensity”. Some people take this a little too far. It doesn’t have to be dangerous to be intense.
It sounds like GDA did the smart thing by listening to his body and dropping weight.
Good call. I didn’t watch the clip until I read your reply, and you’re right; their knees are buckling. :eek:
i dunno i still like crossfit and that workout in particular.
we might have been using girly weight, but our knees didnt buckle at all when doing the last movement. in fact, the last set of squats were almost a relief to me when i got to them. the previous 2 movements seemed so hard by the third set that it wasn’t all that big of a deal to pump out a couple squats in good form. i wanted to puke mind you, but my legs could handle doing what they were told.