Has anyone got any good body weight exercises for strengthening legs? I have just started wing chun so I would like to strengthen my legs a bit more At the minute I am doing leg lifts which apart from the fact I'm keeping my legs straight it feel like it does more for my lower abs
There are lots of options for legs and lower body. Split squats, lunges, Bulgarian split squats, one leg Romanian deadlifts, pistols, skater squats, glute bridges, hip thrusts, glute ham raises to name a few. You can add weight to all of these if you need to.
sprinting is a good way to mix high intensity cardio with a leg workout. find a hill near you, not a huge one, maybe a hundred yards or so. sprint up, jog down. repeat until exhausted. then go one more.
Assuming by "leg lifts" you mean lying leg raises: they work primarily the hip flexors and some lower abdominals. Hindu squats are my go-to bodyweight leg exercise for beginners and elites alike.
leg training - everything the opposite of goat riding i like hill sprints, weighted stair walking, bulgarian split squats, split squats, skater squats and jumps
To build explosiveness for the Wing Chun, work some plyo-style exercises like box jumps or frog jumps into the mix. This is assuming you have good knees and a place to land that is soft.
Stepping on a weight bench. Pick one that is about knee height and step up onto it and back down. Then do a lot of reps really fast. Add dumbells for extra challenge. I also like running up flights of stairs.
I know skipping is used a lot in boxing but would it still work as well for wing chun? I can't believe how many different things there is for legs haha
Good old squats and lunges will go a long way towards building leg strength. Once you've gotten a strong base with those, you can start looking into airborne lunges and pistol squats. [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dy3JDKm39bA"]Airborne Lunge: Improve Kicking For Martial Arts - YouTube[/ame] [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XcHuJ1UBiCA"]How to do the Pistol Squat: 3 Simple Progressions for Crazy Leg Strength - YouTube[/ame]
Also these: http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_article/most_recent/hamstring_hell_sliding_leg_curls They look pretty goofy but they're great. And by "great" I mean "miserable."
ball squats are a fun variation. [ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xqMZr8_flaw"]Stability Ball Squats - YouTube[/ame] I like doing squats on a bosu ball too. (top or bottom side up, depending on how challenging you want it to be WRT stability) Hope this helps.
I have strong hamstrings. Or I thought I did until I tried to do one single leg curl. Jesus. :jawdrop:
That's the kind of exercise for me that, though probably effective, I'd want to punch myself in the eye for doing it.
I have puny hamstrings myself but other than that, spot on. Amen. Not only do you suffer, you don't even look cool and manly while you're at it.
personally for me, i enjoy : pistol squats harold curls box jumps sprinting glute bridge side to side hops over a box depth jump calf raise you got pistol squats,harold curls, and glute bridge, and calf raises for strength, and sprinting,side to side hops over a box, box jumps, depth jumps, and jump roping for explosiveness
