When I had first started lifting weights, I had started it as a way to become stronger in my chosen athletic activities at that time; namely, swimming and then karate. I continued for a while as a karate athlete and as such my lifting regimen was devoted to making me a stronger, better conditioned and faster athlete. Having been out of the competitive sphere for some time now, I began pursuing a more powerlifting oriented lifting program with Jim Wendler's 5/3/1 program. I have noticed that my strength and speed have improved dramatically, as most beginners tend to achieve quicker gains than an advanced lifter. I've been lifting weights for some time, but never with any serious dedication to a program and as such I still consider myself a beginner/novice level lifter.
The great side-benefit of becoming a stronger lifter has been improved performance in the dojo, and most recently in the karate tournament I participated in recently. I'm far from being interested in continuing to compete regularly in karate competitions, but they do make for an entertaining diversion from standard karate training. What I've found, however, is that it isn't necessarily the increased strength that has made me a better karate-ka. It has been my dedication to becoming a more physically-balanced individual. Many times anybody interested in lifting weights to enhance sport performance beginning considering loading their standard athletic movements (ie. rubber inner-tubes and ankle weights). This is a problem and tends to create a huge pattern overload. If your body is trained to throw gyaku-zuki over and over, then it will typically happen that your pec minor, anterior deltoid, triceps and serrattus anterior muscles are all highly over-developed in relation to the opposing muscle groups. Adding load to this will only cause the muscle imbalances to increase and create potentially joint-damaging environments. As is often seen with advanced karate-ka, a multitude of braces and bandages are worn whilst training; it is my contention that muscular imbalances are generally the cause.
When a karate-ka takes up lifting weights to supplement one's training, it is important to take a holistic view and not a strictly karate-based view of training. Training in any sport creates the potential for injury, so it is necessary to build the body into a stable platform upon which to practice these sports.
In karate, we typically use the whole body which is to our benefit, but more emphasis is placed on punching and kicking as opposed to blocking techniques. The problem that arises is the dependence on the "mirror" muscles for punching and kicking.
It is incredibly important to incorporate all kinds of pulls into one's lifting regimen to create balance. The standard I use, for a pure beginner, is to do twice as many reps/sets of pulling exercises as opposed to pushing. If doing bench press, then do 3 sets of 10 but do 6 sets of 10 of lat pull downs, rows or pull-ups. If doing 3 sets of 10 squats, do twice that in dead lifts, hamstring curls or any hip-hinging movements (ie. stiff-leg dead lifts, Romanian dead lifts, pull-throughs, back extensions, etc.).
As balance is restored to one's joints it is acceptable to return to an equal number of repetitions between pushing and pulling, but never neglect the pulling muscles. The entire posterior chain is tremendously important to one's overall physical health, and athletic ability. Increasing one's posterior strength will do more than save the body from injury, but help to forge one's body into the weapon it's meant to become through severe training.
Enjoy the benefits and make sure to keep at it!
My typical lifting routine:
Monday
Shoulder press superset with chin-ups (I do a ton of sets of both of these exercises)
Arm work (biceps and triceps superset)
Facepulls and shoulder isolation
Tuesday
Deadlift (Again a number of sets are done, the dead lift is probably the greatest exercise any person can do, and should never be overlooked or short-changed. Learn proper form and go ahead and grip n' rip!)
Abs and lower back superset (sit-ups and back extensions usually)
Obliques and hip-hinge isolation
Thursday
Bench press superset with chin-ups (or some other rowing exercise; a ton of sets completed)
Dumbbell bench press and dumbbell row super-set
Arm work
Friday
Squat (The second greatest exercise ever, when done correctly there are few exercises that force structural integrity)
Single leg work superset with front squats (Martial artists operating on one-leg as often as both, if not more often. Let's get strong unilaterally as well as bilaterally. Use Bulgarian split-squats, lunges or step-ups. Front squats don't only do a number on the quads but when done right really give your middle back a hard workout)
Finish off with leg extensions/leg curl superset for some isolation.
That's it, getting stronger is pretty simple, but it's rarely easy. Each of these workouts is a sweat drenched brutal hour. For the very basic template I use for determining rep ranges and weights pick up a copy of Jim Wendler's 5/3/1 program, click here.
The great side-benefit of becoming a stronger lifter has been improved performance in the dojo, and most recently in the karate tournament I participated in recently. I'm far from being interested in continuing to compete regularly in karate competitions, but they do make for an entertaining diversion from standard karate training. What I've found, however, is that it isn't necessarily the increased strength that has made me a better karate-ka. It has been my dedication to becoming a more physically-balanced individual. Many times anybody interested in lifting weights to enhance sport performance beginning considering loading their standard athletic movements (ie. rubber inner-tubes and ankle weights). This is a problem and tends to create a huge pattern overload. If your body is trained to throw gyaku-zuki over and over, then it will typically happen that your pec minor, anterior deltoid, triceps and serrattus anterior muscles are all highly over-developed in relation to the opposing muscle groups. Adding load to this will only cause the muscle imbalances to increase and create potentially joint-damaging environments. As is often seen with advanced karate-ka, a multitude of braces and bandages are worn whilst training; it is my contention that muscular imbalances are generally the cause.
When a karate-ka takes up lifting weights to supplement one's training, it is important to take a holistic view and not a strictly karate-based view of training. Training in any sport creates the potential for injury, so it is necessary to build the body into a stable platform upon which to practice these sports.
In karate, we typically use the whole body which is to our benefit, but more emphasis is placed on punching and kicking as opposed to blocking techniques. The problem that arises is the dependence on the "mirror" muscles for punching and kicking.
It is incredibly important to incorporate all kinds of pulls into one's lifting regimen to create balance. The standard I use, for a pure beginner, is to do twice as many reps/sets of pulling exercises as opposed to pushing. If doing bench press, then do 3 sets of 10 but do 6 sets of 10 of lat pull downs, rows or pull-ups. If doing 3 sets of 10 squats, do twice that in dead lifts, hamstring curls or any hip-hinging movements (ie. stiff-leg dead lifts, Romanian dead lifts, pull-throughs, back extensions, etc.).
As balance is restored to one's joints it is acceptable to return to an equal number of repetitions between pushing and pulling, but never neglect the pulling muscles. The entire posterior chain is tremendously important to one's overall physical health, and athletic ability. Increasing one's posterior strength will do more than save the body from injury, but help to forge one's body into the weapon it's meant to become through severe training.
Enjoy the benefits and make sure to keep at it!
My typical lifting routine:
Monday
Shoulder press superset with chin-ups (I do a ton of sets of both of these exercises)
Arm work (biceps and triceps superset)
Facepulls and shoulder isolation
Tuesday
Deadlift (Again a number of sets are done, the dead lift is probably the greatest exercise any person can do, and should never be overlooked or short-changed. Learn proper form and go ahead and grip n' rip!)
Abs and lower back superset (sit-ups and back extensions usually)
Obliques and hip-hinge isolation
Thursday
Bench press superset with chin-ups (or some other rowing exercise; a ton of sets completed)
Dumbbell bench press and dumbbell row super-set
Arm work
Friday
Squat (The second greatest exercise ever, when done correctly there are few exercises that force structural integrity)
Single leg work superset with front squats (Martial artists operating on one-leg as often as both, if not more often. Let's get strong unilaterally as well as bilaterally. Use Bulgarian split-squats, lunges or step-ups. Front squats don't only do a number on the quads but when done right really give your middle back a hard workout)
Finish off with leg extensions/leg curl superset for some isolation.
That's it, getting stronger is pretty simple, but it's rarely easy. Each of these workouts is a sweat drenched brutal hour. For the very basic template I use for determining rep ranges and weights pick up a copy of Jim Wendler's 5/3/1 program, click here.
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