How do I increase martial arts performance?

Question

If I bench press or squat,I am lifting a big weight slowly,so I'm not really getting anything,except the ability to lift a big weigh slowly.That won't help me in martial arts.Is there another way to increase both strenght AND speed at the same time?

Answer 1

Yes; do some reading on reaction time, fast and slow twitch muscles and plyometeric training.  I have included a website below to help get you started.  By lifting heavy and doing fewer reps like a power lifter or a person bulking up you tend to develop your power muscles more which tend to be slower firing or slow twitch.  Most trainers would put you in a weight training program using light to medium weight and a higher number of reps to more easily develop those fast twitch muscles as well as your strength and to more easily isolate using those slow twitch muscles and rely and use more easily those fast twitch muscles.  This is one of the reasons why for years weight training in boxing was thought of as bad for fighters.  Much more is known about muscles, physiology, and how things work than fifty years ago and now many fighters use weights and have incorporated weight training into their workouts without bulking up.

http://www.karateathlete.com/Pages/Plyom...

Answer 2

If you would like to increase your performance in Martial Art, I would advice you to practice the fundamentals, or the basics. Sure training with weight will increase your muscle mass, but would it help you in your flexibility or speed?

Train the basics, the puching, the kicking, the kata/form, until you master them. All the kata or form in every martial art have been designed to increase your performance in Martial Arts.

Ask the masters if you don't believe me :)

Answer 3

Punching bag.

Answer 4

If you use a weight that is about 50-60% of your maximum, and concentrate on explosive speed during the execution of the lift, you can accomplish a substantial power increase.  There is no basis to weight lifting reducing flexibility, as long as you continue stretching.

Arnold Schwarzenegger is said to have been able to touch the floor, with his palms, from a straight legged standing position during the peak of his bodybuilding years.

I wrote an article about increasing dead lifting power through the use of explosive singles.  For other exercises, I would use more repetitions.

To read the dead lift article, click here: http://www.ehow.com/how_4488009_increase...