My Sensei (Karate instructor) used to do a circuit training workout with us once a month. This workout was for the hard-hitters: a group 10 – 15 guys (and a few girls). The Circuit Training workouts were the type of workouts I enjoyed and looked forward too. They were painful and I loved the feeling of my entire body covered in sweat. By the time your were done, you would have sweat pouring into your eyes. Many times, when it was cold outside, the windows would fog up due to all the heat being generated in the dojo.

Image by IndyWeek.com

Yup….those were the days.

Circuit training at the dojo was very simple. You stick to one station for about 3 minutes, then move onto the next station. In the middle of the workout, Sensei would make us drop and do about 20-30 push-ups. His words were, “You improve when you’re tired.”

Following the same principles of dojo circuit training, I have come up with the following workout:

• Station One: Perform any variation of push-ups for the time allotted
• Station Two: Alternated between bent-over rows, and push press, 95lbs
• Station Three: Jump Roping
• Station Four: Free Standing Heavy Bag Punching

You are to perform three rounds of this workout in the following manner:

• Round One: 1 minute at each station
• Round Two: 2 minutes at each station
• Round Three: 3 minutes at each station

Try it out and get back to me!

Every sport needs to be supplemented with resistance training. If you’re on this site, you know this to be a fact. However training for sport is much different than bodybuilding training.

Training for Sport:

• Use large, compound lifts
• Train fast, resting little between each set
• Train every muscle group in each session
• Generate power, not strength

Compound lifts include lifts that stress more than one muscle group. For example, a Dumbbell Swing is a great compound exercises since it works the lower back, hamstrings, shoulders, and glutes. However, an exercise like the dumbbell front raise has no use being in a sports-specific program since it isolates the shoulder muscles.

When training for sport, one must realize that the body works as one unit. Your power is generated from the ground up when you throw a punch in boxing. You use more than just your arms when you tackle an opponent or throw a ball in football. If you can start to see your training as “movements” as opposed to “body parts,” you can start to create workouts centered around your specific sport.

One of the most important things about sports-specific training is to be able to develop explosive strength. For maximum explosiveness, you need maximum power. Power is an element of strength and speed. Simple physics tells use that power is equal to force times velocity. Hence, the faster you can move a heavier weight, the more powerful and explosive you will become.

Top compound exercises for power:

• Power Cleans
• Power Snatched
• Dumbbell Swings
• Burpees
• Power Clean & Press
• Deadlift
• Push Press
• Squat Jump

In order to generate power, you need to choose the right exercises. Compound exercises should be the first aspect of choosing the proper movements. The next step is to think in terms of carry over. Which movements mimics movements that you would perform on the field? In martial arts, every time you throw a punch or kick,, you are using your legs and hips to generate power. Hence, all movements should have me standing up and using my hips. Power cleans and snatches should be the fundamentals of my training program.

When developing your own specific program keep in mind that you are training for a sport, and that everything that you do in terms of training should have carry over to your sport.

Need some help with your training? Let me analyze your training.

When I first began training, it’s safe to say that I had no clue what I was doing. Like most trainees, I picked up a bodybuilding magazine and copied the routines as best as I could. But a lack of knowledge is what made me knowledgeable. I spent hours on various websites, taking notes as if I were in school, and implementing said techniques into my daily routine. My first chance at real advice giving was when I began posting on a forum known as Jubei’s Martial Arts Zone, which is now defunct.

Jubei’s helped me realize that I can write and share my thoughts with people. Some would agree, others would not, but it did not matter. I could teach those that were willing to keep an open mind. The mainstream thought back then, which is still the mainstream thought, was that you trained like a bodybuilder despite the sport you played. There was some sport-specific training out there, but it wasn’t really that much different than what a bodybuilder would do.

Let me first define what I believe to be a bodybuilder routine. For a routine to be a bodybuilder routine it must have the following attributes:

1. Split-training schedule
2. Majority isolation movements

Let me clear up the fact that I have nothing against bodybuilders. Bodybuilding is
what inspired many athletes to pick up the weights in an attempt to get stronger and faster. Hence, in the beginning, people just picked up a magazine and copied the routines.

As I stated earlier, I did the exact same thing. At that time I was around fourteen or fifteen years old and had been practicing martial arts for a good two to three years. The mainstream advice was all the same, however when I really looked at what I was doing in the dojo compared to what I was doing in the gym, I realized what worked and what did not.

What worked:

1. Lots of bodyweight squats
2. Circuit Training
3. Punching the heavy bag
4. Dead lift

What did not work:

1. Bicep Curls
2. Triceps Extensions
3. Lateral Raises
4. Distance running

Enter the Dragon

I believe it was after I read a book on Bruce Lee by John Little called “The Art of Expressing the Human Body,” that I really began to change my routine. Bruce lee used predominantly full-body workouts to build up his body. His exceptional strength and feats of power really made me realize a few things:

1. In order to be the best, you need to train at a high frequency
2. In order to be the best, you need to train smart and practical
3. In order to continue being the best, you need to keep reinventing yourself
4. There are only a few simple rules you need to follow, and your goal is to find those simple rules
5. Constantly try new things, but only use those things that are useful
6. Eat healthy

The Nutritional Aspect

My journey took a swing when I decided I wanted to get ripped. I had always been very athletic, but I never looked like I was athletic. I wanted to change that, and so junior year of High School I began getting up early to run, cutting down on my caloric intake, and went to the weight room after school. The journey was intense and at my lowest weight ever of 143lbs, I was anything but ripped. What I learned was that I did not have enough muscle mass to be ripped. In order to be really ripped I needed to start lifting heavy and eating more.

By the time I graduated High School, I was 157lbs, however a good amount of that was fat. I was around 20% body fat but much stronger and muscular. That entire summer went by without much weight training or dieting. College began and the campus, the girls, and the lack of work mesmerized me.

A short 3-minute drive away stood a Taco Bell. At that Taco Bell was delicious food for you to enjoy. It soon became a ritual. Go to the rec center, workout for a half hour, then go to Taco Bell and grab some quick lunch before class started. I was doing a 5×5 routine with the Push Press and Dead lift. The extra protein helped me put on some size, however along with that size came fat.

To make a long story short, by the end of my junior year of college I was 170lbs and depressed as a bug. I won’t get into the depression, but I want to say that in January 2007 I was 163 lbs, and by May 2007, I was 170lbs. How did I gain 7 lbs so fast? I went on a bodybuilder diet. I was eating up to 7 times a day trying to get in enough protein. However, my workouts were probably not as intense as they should be.

That summer I decided to lose all the weight I’d gained, and some more. Three months later, I was 15lbs lighter with about 17% body fat. The purpose behind this story is to shed some light on a sport made for and developed by those that compete in bodybuilding shows. The techniques that they use may or may not be specific to a regular Joe. Looking back, I did not need to eat as much as I did because I was not putting in the effort in the gym. But now, since my workouts are more intense, I need to eat more, and so now a bodybuilder type 6-time a day schedule would make sense.

What’s your goal?

My entire goal of starting this website was to get regular, recreational athletes and fitness enthusiasts together and get them to take a good look at their goals. Are they similar to that of a bodybuilder? Are they similar to that of a powerlifter? Are you just someone who wants to stay healthy? Do you have time to get to the gym 4 days a week, an hour at a time? Base your training around your goals, not around what some world-class bodybuilder does.

My goals don’t match bodybuilders. I don’t compete, and never plan to. I care about practical fitness, not how much I can bench. That’s why I’m not a bodybuilder.

Related Posts:

• Time Interval Training
  
• My Take on the Warrior Diet
• Differences in Training
• Crossfit and Bodybuilder
• Vegetarianism and Bodybuilding

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