How many days a week do you train?

[Hizen]

Originally Posted by disgruntled

another soon to be new father? congrads!

Thanks alot

[jordanjelly]

I don't do weight training at all. It isn't very helpful as it isolates muscle groups and has no practical usage. And if you lift weights too much you get a large amount of slow twitch fibers (bad for taekwondo etc.)I know of elite gymnasts who do only bodyweight exercises and they are strong and wiry (but not excessively muscular). bodyweight exercises are more functional and helps you develop kinesthetic awareness and learn basic acrobatics (like hand walking)which are great for martial arts demonstrations.

Although you won't get as much brute strength as weight training you won't get slowed down by too much muscle mass and you'll learn more physical skills.

[jordanjelly]

Oh and don't stretch too much. Women are more flexible than men and are THEREFORE more prone to injuries. Each time you stretch you might be making micro tears in your muscles, making you more vulnerable to injuries like torn ligaments etc. When you elongate your muscles through stretching you also become more sluggish because electrical signals from your brains take slightly longer to reach your muscles.

So stretch enough so that you can kick high but not more than that.

[Jalek Moye]

when i was training under weiyuan lau i trained every day, as long as i wasnt to sick i had to train. I was his sole student so i didnt have to worry about price and transportation.

[disgruntled]

Originally Posted by jordanjelly

Oh and don't stretch too much. Women are more flexible than men and are THEREFORE more prone to injuries. Each time you stretch you might be making micro tears in your muscles, making you more vulnerable to injuries like torn ligaments etc. When you elongate your muscles through stretching you also become more sluggish because electrical signals from your brains take slightly longer to reach your muscles.

So stretch enough so that you can kick high but not more than that.

although that is correct, if you pair stretching with weight training the same muscle group you will be fine, which is why it is important to weight train.

Originally Posted by jordanjelly

I don't do weight training at all. It isn't very helpful as it isolates muscle groups and has no practical usage. And if you lift weights too much you get a large amount of slow twitch fibers (bad for taekwondo etc.)I know of elite gymnasts who do only bodyweight exercises and they are strong and wiry (but not excessively muscular). bodyweight exercises are more functional and helps you develop kinesthetic awareness and learn basic acrobatics (like hand walking)which are great for martial arts demonstrations.

Although you won't get as much brute strength as weight training you won't get slowed down by too much muscle mass and you'll learn more physical skills.

if you stretch properly while muscle training, and use our full range of motion it is not as detramental. you just need to know what you are doing. personally i prefer bodyweight exersices too, but there is a lot more you can do with free weights. and you do need muscle for strength so i would argue that it is benefical for TKD.

[jorgetkd]

I used to train 7 days a week, 5 days TKD in the dojang, Sats running and stretching and sundays weightliftng, but now with my 3 weeks old kid, I can only train TKD 3 or 4 days a week.

[Zaraki Kenpachi]

Originally Posted by jordanjelly

I don't do weight training at all. It isn't very helpful as it isolates muscle groups and has no practical usage. And if you lift weights too much you get a large amount of slow twitch fibers (bad for taekwondo etc.)I know of elite gymnasts who do only bodyweight exercises and they are strong and wiry (but not excessively muscular). bodyweight exercises are more functional and helps you develop kinesthetic awareness and learn basic acrobatics (like hand walking)which are great for martial arts demonstrations.

Although you won't get as much brute strength as weight training you won't get slowed down by too much muscle mass and you'll learn more physical skills.

LOL. Obviously I disagree with that statement wholeheartedly. Go watch some sprinters, UFC fighters, K-1 Fighters, Boxers, and see how slow they look to you. Its not the lifting that makes you bigger its the amt of protein you eat. If your body doesnt have the building blocks guess what, it doesnt build. Seriously I cant believe people still believe these things when all of the worlds best atheletes lift weights. Just becaue Bruce Lee was a munchkin doesnt mean thats the perfect body type for a martial artist.

[disgruntled]

Originally Posted by drallig9399

LOL. Obviously I disagree with that statement wholeheartedly. Go watch some sprinters, UFC fighters, K-1 Fighters, Boxers, and see how slow they look to you. Its not the lifting that makes you bigger its the amt of protein you eat. If your body doesnt have the building blocks guess what, it doesnt build. Seriously I cant believe people still believe these things when all of the worlds best atheletes lift weights. Just becaue Bruce Lee was a munchkin doesnt mean thats the perfect body type for a martial artist.

hey, not so fast.... what he is saying is correct, but only if you are not training properly. his concerns are real and should be acknowledged. but if you train properly then chances of danaging your body decreases. so for a beginner just going to the gym and not willing to research how to correctly work out, i would advise them to sick to bodyweight lifting because it is so safe. plus bodyweight lifting can target more practical muscles.

[Zaraki Kenpachi]

ANYTHING done incorrectly can be damaging. There comes a time that doing body weight exercises are inefficient because you are too strong. You would have to do way more reps than you really have time for. For example I cant do dips with my own body weight alone. I would be at that station forever. So I have to add 70 pounds or so and work my way down to my body weight feeling heavy. And thats after already doing sets of pushups and bench press.

Seriously lets stop living in the 1940's. Anyone that competes should lift weights, if not you will see the difference when you face someone that "trains" as much as you but goes that extra mile. There are more elite atheletes that lift weights than dont, I think the proof is in the pudding.

[Little Dragon 117]

awww man,
I was too late for the poll I think, but anyways
i train everyday on some part of my body (flexibility, speed, power, etc)

since I am not in any schools right now, I train my martial Arts whenever I go to school (I spar with other Ma friends), or I shadow box to perfect my techniques whenever I weight train! I weight train on average 3-5 days a week, but everyday I work on flexability, footwork, cardio, etc

[jordanjelly]

If you're just going for brute strength lift weights.

If you want to develop balance, co-ordination and agility do gymnastic bodyweight exercises like hand stands, handstand pushups, hand springs, flips etc etc. Hey these are more spectacular then lifting things!

[Little Dragon 117]

yes, but lifting weights also gives you power, and sometimes speed if you are a scrawny person like me! I do a lot of gymnastic type things when I practice breakdancing, ha ha ha so I think I am pretty well rounded!
since lifting weights adds on more muscle mass, and bigger muscles, I am going to limit my weight training to 2-3 days a week!

[Zaraki Kenpachi]

Being well rounded is never a bad thing. I say do it all. I do find it funny however that you keep talking about gymnastics. Considering that particular sport doesnt include ANY direct competition between its competitors, meaning they dont have to block a shin kick aimed for their head. Also I would like ask, do you think Tito Ortiz is slow? I mean if you want real world application of your martial arts the UFC, and the like, are where you should look. All of the successful fighters look like they weight train to me.

[Zaraki Kenpachi]

Originally Posted by jordanjelly

I don'tAnd if you lift weights too much you get a large amount of slow twitch fibers (bad for taekwondo etc.)

Just wanted to point out that this is a false statement.

Anaerobic exercise involves short bursts of higher intensity contractions at a much greater percentage of their maximum contraction strength. Examples of anaerobic exercise include sprinting and weight lifting. The anaerobic energy delivery system uses predominantly Type II or fast-twitch muscle fibers, relies mainly on ATP or glucose for fuel, consumes relatively little oxygen, protein and fat, produces large amounts of lactic acid and can not be sustained for as long a period as aerobic exercise.

Source: Wikipedia

Your body will used fast twitch muscle fibers during high-intensity, short-duration exercises such as weight lifting exercises that use heavy weight for very low reps, or sprinting.

When performing high rep weight training exercises it's your slow twitch muscle fibers (Type I) that will be recruited to do the majority of the work. Your body uses this type of muscle fiber when endurance activities, aerobic activity or high rep sets are used.

Slow to fast and fast to slow, not quite...
Is it possible to convert the slower Type I fibers to faster Type II fibers? In the early 1990's there was an indication that a rigorous exercise regimen could convert slow fibers to fast IIa fibers. Researchers at the University of Copenhagen Muscle Research Center suggested that a program of vigorous weight training supplemented with other forms of anaerobic exercise converts not only Type IIx fibers to IIa, but also Type I fibers to IIa. If a certain type of exertion can convert some Type I fibers to IIa, we might naturally wonder if some other kind can convert IIa to I. It may be possible, but so far no link in human training studies has unambiguously demonstrated such a shift. It is true, star endurance athletes such as long-distance runners and swimmers, cyclists and cross-country skiers generally have remarkably high proportions (up to 95%, as mentioned earlier) of slow Type I fibers in their major muscle groups, such as in the legs. Yet at present we do not know whether these athletes were born with such a high percentage Type I fibers and gravitated toward sports that take advantage of unusual inborn traits or whether they very gradually increased the proportion of Type I fibers in their muscles as they trained over a period of many months or years.

Researchers have found that hypertrophy from resistance training enlarges Type II fibers twice as much as it does type I fibers. Thus, weight training can increase the cross-sectional area of the muscle covered by fast fibers without changing the relative ratio between the number of slow and faster fibers in the muscle. It is the relative cross-sectional area of the fast and slow fiber that determines the functional characteristics of the entire muscle. The more area covered by fast fibers, the fast and more powerful the overall muscle will be. So a sprinter at least has the option of altering the characteristics of his or her leg muscles by exercising them with weights to increase the relative cross section of fast fibers.

[TreacherousThrive]

Not in any martial art yet, but I keep myself in shape any ways. About every week day and weekends off.