So being a busy bee, with a full time job, couple of kids, lots of other stuff going on, my time for training is precious and I need to make the best use of it. Being a relatively mature busy bee, with training goals in most areas you can think of - improving strength, in particular leg strength, improving my flexibility, balance, technique, stamina (you name it.....) I make gains but often at a slower rate (a friend of mine says it's like being a car on a hill with no handbrake - you have to run the engine a bit just to stay in the same place ). I wondered if anyone has any suggestions for the most efficient exercises for any of the things I need to improve on. I'm re-working my home routine which includes running, pull-ups, push-ups, squats (w/o weights) planks and stretches. Welcome any thoughts on what works well for you.
Weights. Big heavy weights. Warm up correctly and don't push your luck and you're not too likely to be injured whilst still making gains. The more stringent and healthy your diet is, the more you'll see positive thigs coming from it.
The big 3 is always a good call Aslong as you don't have any injuries (especialy back problems) your strict with your form (definately worth seeking professional help if your unsure) and your realistic with what your lifting then go for it. Those 3 exercises are the core of most strength training routines
a pair of adjustable dumbbells and a TON of farmer's walks will do your body good. can also do lunges and romanian deadlifts, which will help with leg strength and flexibility, although the latter are best done with a barbell tbh (same with squats).
Going to class and moving more in anyway during the day. Lifting weights or exercising for 30 mins a day doesnt mean crap all if you arent going to class or you spend most your evening sitting down in one place. if you want a bodyweight routine, check out the bodyweight training section of MAP: http://www.martialartsplanet.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=124
Many thanks for advice. Given me lots to think about and should help me to make some new plans for my training. I agree with being generally active throughout the day and walk the stairs at work - to 5th floor as a matter of course. I think it all helps.
Can i ask how old are you, and what are you goals? And do you have any health issues? otherwise its like taking a stab in the dark For instance suggesting deadlifts and heavy squats to someone in their 60s who has never lifted is a bit silly, as is suggesting sprints in you are over weight and have joint issues
Bingo - what icefield said. plus Abeille asked how they could improve their home work out routine not about weightlifting you'd all make terrible social health advisers
Thanks for your questions. I've never written down my training goals before so this is a useful question to ask. About me: I am 52, female, have two sons and am working towards doing 1st degree black sash grading in long fist Kung Fu next July so that's providing a focus for my training. In terms of my background re training, I did very little till I was 40 when I took up running and still enjoy pounding the streets of Tottenham or getting a weekend run in along the riiver and across the marshes. I have no underlying health issues and my weekly class can be pretty intense. As I said in my intro to this topic (now relocated to the right area of the forum - thanks) I can see that I need to work on: - my general health and fitness (coupled with nutrition and hydration) - making sure I do enough of the right type of exercises regularly enough to keep up the momentum and maintain any gains that I make; - improving my core strength - more of a challenge because I've had a couple of kids - and as far as I can see it underpins almost everything else; - improving my kicks by working on my (a) flexibility (hamstrings and hips in particular), (b) balance and (c) strength of my leg muscles. My sifu says I need to improve my accuracy with regard to my kicks and I recognise that I could improve in all three areas to help with this. - intensity - what I mean by this is that I have decent stamina but still need to increase the type of aerobic capacity used during sparring (not sure about the right term for this?). I also need to work on my upper body strength and do sets of push ups and pull ups for this. Is that sufficiently specific for training goals, do you think? As I said before, I'm looking ideas for the most efficient approaches to addressing these goals, given I have so little time. And also any thoughts about how often any exercises need to be done - what should I be looking to do every day and what can be done a couple of times a week. I don't have any weights (at least not yet).
If you want to give your stamina a quick boost then I'd suggest doing interval sprints uphill. (I don't know if there any hills near Tottenham though!) Sprint uphill for about a minute(ish) then jog or walk down. Repeat that sequence for about forty minutes. It's a tough one, but you'll see the benefits very quickly. And you don't need to do it very often to get real lasting benefit, in my experience. Even as a one-off cardio 'boost' I don't know of anything to match it.
52 year old male here who got back into martial arts in my mid 40's. Lots to be said about home workouts! Good on you for doing what you can. Biggest problem with working out with only body weight is that most of us get boreed quickly because we tire of just adding more reps. Simple homemade weight is a gallon jug with handles. Viola! Instant 8 lb weight. Make 2 and you have 2 8lb "kettle bell" type weights. Now you can do curls for biceps, tricep extensions, shoulder/deltoid presses and raises, and lunges with them. DIET: keep it simple. Protein, complex carbs, minimal fat. If I comes from the ground (veggies, fruits, nuts) eat it. Don't add lots of stuff on top of these things. Just a bit of your favorite spices, lemon/lime juices, sesame oil, balsamic vinger. Won't say eat lean meats or grab hummus since I don't know your eating habits but get protein in every meal or snack. Make carbs from vegetables or whole grains for blood sugar maintenance. Simple sugars in candy and fruits cause blood sugar to spike and crash. Discard candy (chocolate as a treat ) but fruits have other nutritional benefits that candy lacks. The others above have provided great suggestions about training and your routine. As Zaad suggested, via Simon, SMART is great way to go. Diet should be simple too. If everything becomes a chore, we tend to avoid it. Good luck! Keep showing these young folk what us 'seasoned' people are still capable of.
You could always start a training log here (or join a site like Fitocracy), having people comment on your sessions and help when you get stuck always helps with motivation. Do you have any equipment at home, or would you be interested in buying anything? If you struggle for space for stuff, some dumbbells or kettlebells might be a good investment, as can a skipping rope. One way to improve strength with minimal equipment is to wokr towards unilateral exercises (1 arm push ups, single leg squats, single leg deadlifts etc). For core strength there you can't go wrong with deadbugs (done correctly) and planks. http://www.t-nation.com/free_online...formance_repair/core_training_for_smart_folks
thoughts - Zaad, thanks for the reminder about SMART for goals. I will clearly need to give all a bit more thought. Narcsarge - nice to meet someone the same age as me! I trained with a friend for a few years but she has moved on to other stuff so I am now used to being by a long way the oldest person in the class. Frodocious , not heard of deadbugs before but have done some similar exercises. So will have to see how I get on with them. Have started to work towards single leg squats too.
Johnno - I will definitely need to work hard to get anywhere close to being able to do the hill sprinting for the length of time you suggest but will give it a go. There are a couple of steep hills near me which I include in my runs and have used for hill work but not at the level you've described. I'm going to give it a go this weekend and see how long I much I can do.
I think you just got some good advice here but Im going to talk to you some about what it all really means. Ok first off if your a martial artist you dont want to make weight lifting your exclusive form of exorcize, and you dont wanna start your weight lifting experience off by power lifting bro, real power lifting is fairly dangerous when done by seasoned lifters, it puts a huge strain on your joints. If your really serious about working out then try this bro. 1.warm up-joint rotations/overhead arm clap/side leg raise/stretch lower &upper body. from a fighting stance perform the following/2 strikes/2blocks/2 kicks ten reps each. 2.dead lift to millitary press three sets of ten. 3.shadow boxing or side leg raise or cardio kicking for 1-2 minutes 4.plank or situps 5.shadow box hammer curls three sets 15 7. same as three above 8. wind mills or grass cutters for 1-2 minutes 9.shadow box. try that and see what ya think.
Powerlifting isnt any more dangerous than any other type of lifting, and there is a big difference between doing the three powerlifts and actually powerlifting And to suggest that then say your first exercise should be a deadlift (admittedly with such low weight it won’t actually work any of the muscles the deadlift usually builds)...!! This routine doesn’t hit the legs, or the pulling muscles, but it does work the guns and the shoulders so she will be ready for the beach
Ice man thanks for the reply. I like power lifting exorcizes just dont like the really really heavy weight. The routine I posted above is an upper body work out that hits the core and addresses cardio as well as martial arts skills, my thinking was it would start her getting into some range of motion other than couching and clicking. On a side note though, I really do like power lifting, in fact I like the old school strong man methods, you know the stuff they used to do in the freak shows. Frankly I dont even own a bench or a squat rack, If it cant be done useing a barbell and a couple dumbbells I dont do it.
