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MichaelKinnett
newbie
Joined: 08 Dec 2007
Posts: 28
Location: Muncie, Indiana
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 Posted: Mon Mar 03, 2008 6:03 am Post subject: Explosive Bodyweight. |
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So no one has had any interest to post here yet so I thought that I would begin..
I have always been a proponent of bodyweight training. Seeing many of the sport and combat orientations of martial arts makes me think that this could possibly be one of the most beneficial types of conditioning that we could get and use.
A very minimal amount of equipment is needed, as a matter of fact some small things such as blocks, stairs, or even something as expensive as a Bosu Ball could be used to help add effect to this type of workout or help to change up a stagnant routine.
Explosive strength is required in almost every sport, hell even a serious Golfer or Ping Pong player needs some of it to really use their power. An average person who is in shape has nowhere near the learned potential that a trained person has. Plyometric activity can be done with the upper body as well as the lower. You always hear of guys who use it to improve their vertical jump, well think about that and translate that into any pushing or pulling movement with the upper body.
I have a few ideas, some my own, and some taken from others and I will list a few of them for specific parts of the body, but most of these will deal with the whole body.
Push-ups.... we all know 100 variations including the clapping push-ups, but add to it jumping from side to side using only your arms to propel your body. Even add a ball into the mix and put one hand on it then push up and switch hand positioning. Push the ball 3 feet in front of you then on the upward motion of your push reach for the ball with one hand then go back down. Next rep reach with the other hand.
Sit-ups.. Same for the last one. Krav Maga sit-ups are killer with a partner. have them kneel and hold your shins with their knees on your feet. Sit-up as hard as you can and stand at the same time then youre all the way up on your feet. Killer exercise!! Lay on your stomach and bend your feet up toward your butt, reach and grab your ankles, explode away from the ground by bending your body and pulling your feet trying to rise as high as you can(courtesy of Sifu Eckart). Shuai Jiao sit-ups.. Grab a partner who can hold your bodyweight on their shoulders. Put your legs over their shoulders like you're going to hang from them with your legs on the front side of their body. They will need to hang on to you and support the weight, leaning back may help. You will be upside down looking up at them, now sit-up and you've got to explode because at the top of the sit-up you're going to try to smack them in the chest with both hands which will further the explosion and extend your body even further.(Not easy on you or your partner)
Legs/Lower Body.. We all know about bounding probably. The Broadjump is a great one. Make a line, stand on it, swing your arms, get your momentum and then explode jumping as far as you can, when you land, instantly jump as high as you can. Alternate them back and forth trying to make the movement seamless.. Stairs, jump from the bottom to the highest stair you can reach, and keep bounding as many stairs up as you can, next time do it with one leg, then switch. Now if you maxed at like 5 stairs, next time only jump 4 up, then jump backward 2 down, then 4 up, 2 down, 4 up, 2 down.. So on and so forth, makes for a few missed angles for your legs.
Get a big ball, a chair, a stack of blocks, anything that you can't step over and lay it on the ground(gras preferably) stand on one side of it and jump forward over it, then backward back over it. turn sideways, jump to the right over it, then back to the left over it.. remember to explode, as that quick explosion of your muscles and tendons is going to be what your body is developing.
Great ones for body control are Bat Flies North!!!!! We've almost all done it, but when you do it next time, explode into the air and rotate 180 degrees, left and right(tough).. Then explode 60 degrees, left and right(Tougher!) And if you get good enough, dig a hold and stand in it. Jump out of the hole and turn 180 degrees to land(wow).. and if you're a real man/woman do this same thing and spin 360 degrees.. I know the hole training is part of the actualy program, and so is the spinning, but I dunno if spinning out of the hole are, they just add difficulty in control and body awareness..
Pull-ups........ Wow, people underestimate this exercise GREATLY! If you can't do a pull-up you should get to where you can. If you can't do 10 pull-ups you need to work on that next.. If you can't do a pull-up and clap at the top and still catch the bar before you hit the ground, well then you have neglected another area of your explosive strength.
Rope Pulls.. You need a heavy bag, or a duffel bag filled with as much weight as you can pull.. A curb or parking stop is great for this, anything that can support your weight and the bags without moving.. Put the bag about 20 feet past the curb with the rop attached to it and run the rop to the curb. You can sit or stand or switch, but your feet are against the curb and your facing the bag. Grab the rope and start pulling, one hand at a time, or both, but make sure to make your pulls one explosive movement at a time. Don't climb the rope per se, but yank on it as hard as you possibly can. If the bags coming too quickly, add more weight. This can also be done with kettlebells attached to rope, or a weighted sled, or a person.
I could go on almost limitlessly with exercises like this. They seem to cater to my body style and build so they interest me greatly and always have.. I can't benchpress 500lbs, but I dunked my first basketball at 14 years-old and only 5'10" tall, and while I can't squat 500lbs I can deadlift just over twice my bodyweight..
These types of exercise require the linking that true power comes from. Curling a dumbell that weights 200lbs isn't going to help a fighter knock a guy out with his fists. This type of strength will come into play in everything you do. San Shou, Shuai Jiao, on the street, on the mat, on the field, it doesn't matter. It's like flexibility, if trained correctly, you can never have enough. |
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TheMonkey
Site Admin
Joined: 06 Dec 2007
Posts: 73
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| Posted: Tue Mar 04, 2008 8:33 pm Post subject: |
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Excelent post. A lot of our training methods are bodyweight exercices Bat flies north, snake pushups & crab walks all come to mind.
It is great stuff and it eliminates excuses for not working out. When all you need is you, You can never be too far away from the equipment. |
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bizzarrokennon
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Joined: 30 Dec 2007
Posts: 21
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| Posted: Tue Mar 04, 2008 9:12 pm Post subject: |
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Very good post Mike.
Monkey is also correct in saying you are never to far from a workout.
Most of the exercises you do with your bodyweight use your whole body. Even a push up uses more than just your arms and chest. It may be the main focus of them but you are using your whole body.
A couple of good ones that i like trying are:
Push-ups while walking up and down stairs. Start where you want but for ease of writing I am going to start at the bottom of the stairs. Get in push-up position at the bottom (not on the stairs) Do one push-up. Place your one hand on the step above you. One hand should be on the landing, and one should be on the step. Position your body slightly. Do a push-up. Place bottom hand on the same step as your other hand. Do a push-up. Repeat these steps by alternating hands as you move up the staircase. You can do the same thing "walking" down the staircase.
Handstand Push-ups. Find a wall where you can do a handstand against. Get into handstand position. Try doing a "push-up". These are hard. I once worked with a guy that needed no wall, he would do a handstand and could crank out up to 25 of these at a time. He would do a few of these sets on a shift.
bizarroken |
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OlufemiTaiwo
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Joined: 06 Dec 2007
Posts: 48
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| Posted: Fri Mar 07, 2008 6:40 am Post subject: |
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I'm gonna try these over spring break...I'm especially interested in working up to a pullup. The strength/bodyweight ratio is limiting me right now, but it's just another hurdle to over come.
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"The wise man sees failure as progress
The fool divorces his knowledge and misses the logic
And loses his soul in the process
Obsessed with nonsense and a caricature that has no content"
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OlufemiTaiwo
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Joined: 06 Dec 2007
Posts: 48
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| Posted: Sat Mar 08, 2008 9:12 pm Post subject: |
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I've read up on this stuff, and apparently gymnasts, who do basically nothing but nobdyweight training, have ridiculous strength density...like their 180 pounders have the strength of 230ish bodybuilders. Something to think about, definitely.
_________________
"The wise man sees failure as progress
The fool divorces his knowledge and misses the logic
And loses his soul in the process
Obsessed with nonsense and a caricature that has no content"
- Germaine Williams |
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MichaelKinnett
newbie
Joined: 08 Dec 2007
Posts: 28
Location: Muncie, Indiana
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| Posted: Sun Mar 09, 2008 1:35 am Post subject: |
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| Yeah, their strength is sport specific.. Take an olympic gymnast at 180lbs and put him up against a boxer of the same weight and see who punches harder.. But take that boxer and put him on a pommel horse or some rings and he wouldn't know what the hell to do. Many things can translate, but some can't. |
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OlufemiTaiwo
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Joined: 06 Dec 2007
Posts: 48
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| Posted: Sun Mar 09, 2008 9:06 pm Post subject: |
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I came across some PDFs that would be useful...if you've herd of Pavel Tsatsouline, a bunch of his work was in the pack I got - including "The Kettlebell Challenge" and "The Naked Warrior"...kettlebell stuff obviously in the first one and an entire book of bodyweight exercises in the second. A bunch of all around good stuff for workouts. I'll share with anyone who wants.
_________________
"The wise man sees failure as progress
The fool divorces his knowledge and misses the logic
And loses his soul in the process
Obsessed with nonsense and a caricature that has no content"
- Germaine Williams |
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MichaelKinnett
newbie
Joined: 08 Dec 2007
Posts: 28
Location: Muncie, Indiana
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| Posted: Sun Mar 09, 2008 11:17 pm Post subject: |
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| Yeah, I've read/learned most of his stuff and have attended two seminars with him. Naked warrior is a good read, teaches good full-body tension but the cool thing is, had I not learned it from him I was going to learn it from Sifu anyway. They've both got the same stuff.. Russian stuff is almost exactly like the Chinese. Kettlebells vs padlocks/stone spheres, sambo vs shuai jiao/chin na... and so on and so forth, sambo btw isn't an ancient MA, it's a fairly new one, i believe the creator is still alive. |
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OlufemiTaiwo
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Joined: 06 Dec 2007
Posts: 48
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| Posted: Mon Mar 10, 2008 12:20 am Post subject: |
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Yeah, the Naked Warrior actually mentions a lot of stuff from kung fu, one chapter even centered around a Tai Chi guys, they've got some old school karate stuff in there...pretty informative so far. I'll definitely be training the one legged squat variations, hopefully I'll be able to work up to doing an actual unassisted one.
_________________
"The wise man sees failure as progress
The fool divorces his knowledge and misses the logic
And loses his soul in the process
Obsessed with nonsense and a caricature that has no content"
- Germaine Williams |
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