Strength Training Poll

[muaythaiguy15]

I was wondering who does weights, who does body resistant workouts, who does both, who does niether, and other (cycling, swimming, etc.)

Personally, Im a mix of weights and body resistance. Mostly I do weights thou. Free weights baby.

[bigred389]

Uhh...hard to say.

Nothing beats body resistance for convenience.

But you need weights if you really want to grow.

And as for the "other" part, it helps to have cardio to give you a nice base...and swimming gives endurance like nothing else, IMO.

So I'm not sure what to answer.

[Broadsword2004]

Not true, you will grow big time if you do bodyweight exercises on gymnastic rings and parallel bars. For legs and lower back though, you need barbell squats and deadlifts. And if you want the definition of a bodybuilder, you need isolation movements with weights for once you have built up muscle mass.

[SamuraiGuy]

I went from weights, to heavy weights ( heavy being defined as close to my one rep max), to body weight exercises, to a mix, back to bodyweight, training mma/grappling/striking twice a day, to hard ass physical labor all day everyday (not really training, but its more tiring so meh).

[Hardball]

Free cast iron weights and knuckle pushups.

[aseepish]

Weights three times per week, BR as part of my MT and BJJ classes.

[TrainingRoom]

Nothing beats Russian Kettlebells for conditoning. They build strength, power, and can be set up anywhere. Combined with some body weight training, sand bag training bring your fitness levels through the roof.


www.trainingroomfit.com

[JKDBerlin]

I do a mix of weights and body weight workouts and ad some Kettlebells and Rubberband workouts...

Greetings

[totaltwatdeano]

I only do body resistance workouts because i think it's the same strength without the bulk, which means more speed. i have always found this important, especially in the rough estate i live in.

[Tom Yum]

Note: The last option should be spelled 'neither' not niether.

Weights - Such as the bench press and squat are best for increasing limit strength. Your ability to exert maximal force. They are also really best for strengthening your body to handle contact and to build size, if important.

Bodyweight Resistance - Excercises such as pushups, jumping jacks and pullups develop a base of strength (for the younger athlete or out the of shape) but require muscular endurance, agility and a little bit of cardio. Do 100 jumping jacks. If you're out of shape, your calves, hip flexors and shoulders will be soar and you'll be out of breath. I guess swimming is also in this category.

There was no mention of plyometrics. Plyometric excercises are calisthenics (sometimes assisted by light weight resistance) that are done explosively.

The goal of plyometric excercises is to improve starting strength and speed strength.

Starting strength - Is your ability to explode off the line. Examples of this are found in football, track, and wrestling.

Speed strength - Really just another name for power, is the ability to apply maximal strength in the shortest amound of time. Think the pitcher in baseball, football again, wrestling and boxing.

[>:)]

You missed out Isometrics. Full force exerted against an immovable object

[Tom Yum]

PS - the information I got from this topic came from "Power: A Scientific Approach" by Fred Hatfield. Affectionately known as Dr. Squat, Hatfield is a trainer, powerlifter and a huge source of knowledge on resistance and strength training for speed and explosive athletes.

Let me know what you think...

[seany85]

Cool, where can you get a copy of this "Power: A Scientific Approach" ?

[Maxx]

Here's some general guidelines to go by. As an athlete, you should maintain a strength training program all year, including the off season. your lifts as an athlete, not a body builder, should include presses (Bench press, overhead press), pulls (Lat pulls, bent over rows, high pulls, power cleans) ans squats ( front squats, back squats, overhead squats, lunges. Bicep curls and tricep extensions are isolation exercises. Ad a few if you want but the other exercises will work the bis and tris pretty well. Understand that the strength that you develop will not be immediately apparent in your sporting activity unless you continue to practice... never decline to practice your sport in order to lift.

Later, incorporate lifts such as snatches, clean and jerks, basic kettle bell movements and plyometrics. These will increase speed and power. MMA athletes are power athletes. Power is more important then raw strength. Someone who is strong can move a 1000 pounds. Someone who is powerful can move 1000 pounds in 10 seconds... make sense?

Towards your competitive season reduce the volume and increase the intensity in your original lifts (Presses, pulls and squats). 3 sets of 1-4 reps to maintain strength... new gains in strength will do little for you. Increase plyometric and speed training (intervals and sprints) and you will do well.

Always remember that the best way to get strong in your sport is to practice your sport... lifting is supplemental and it can take months or years to incorporate new strength into your movements.

[EmptyneSs]

i just stick to basics, and work on them dilligently. pretty much the stuff you mentioned maxx. i focus my workouts on seated rows, pullups, bench press, shoulder press, leg press, and a couple isolation lifts thrown in there to compliment the more important compound lifts.

i do abb and lower back on one of those large inflatable balls.

i do all this outside of ma training. ma training has me doing lots of conditioning through weightless exercises. one of my favorites is doing pushups with a partner. you do as many as you can in a row, and when you fail your partner helps lifting you so you can complete like 15-20 more pushups. it can get pretty painful

i will say though, if i had access to a clean pool, id swim tons of laps per week. i used to be a swimmer so i know how challenging swiming tons of laps can be for your body. its truly one of the best workouts there is and you can push yourself to the very limits. imagine swiiming tons and tons of laps of just butterfly stroke lol. it aint a stroll in the park. and there are so many different ways to exercise in the water. just trying to walk through water as fast as you can will exert tons of resistance against your body. its fcking awesome.