As a Thai Boxer, say yes or no to weights ?

[naratib]

Yes, do lift 'some' weight but don't turn into Arnold because you'll become a slowww moving target.

[chalambok]

Question: How fast can you run?
Answer: As fast as you can swing your arms, and no faster!
Have you ever seen the upper body of Ben Johnson, or Justin Gatlin? Sprinters, like football players, religiously lift weights to increase their explosiveness and overall anaerobic fitness. The amount of weight you push is not as important as your manner of lifting. Current studies show 'fast-twitch' muscles can get faster by lifting 80-90% of your capacity as fast as possible, then lowering it as slowly as possible, 3 to 4 sets of repetitions 3 times a workout; workouts every other day or 2-3 times a week. And do your plyometrics. It has recently been discovered that abs, like jaw muscles, do not need to be rested between workouts, so situps can be done every day. Also, contrary to what I always believed, stretching before exercise has recently been found to offer no benefit at all, except to extreme athletes (like martial artists...lol), but that stretching after exercise, combined with an ice bath, will enhance recovery and the expulsion of lactic acids from your muscles. If it all seems confusing, welcome to the world of personal responsibility

[ceestand]

Chalambok, thanks for bringing up the topic of slow vs. fast muscle fibers. It would seem that for Muay Thai, it would be optimal to use bodybuilding to increase the number of fast-twitch fibers in the muscle, provided you could keep up enough aerobic stamina to go an entire fight.

Here's an intro to fast vs. slow: http://www.teenbodybuilding.com/shane6.htm

Abs can/should be done everyday (but not with weight, IMHO).

According to Schwarzenegger, bodybuilding will not inherently cause a lack of flexibility, since for each contraction of a muscle, it's extended as well. The exception is olympic power lifters who don't lower the weight slowly, hence not experiencing the extension. Stretching before and after exercise is ideal, but make sure you're warmed up before attempting the first set of stretches or risk injury.

[ncalpunker]

Tim Mousel has a great article cover this on this very site, surprised no one even mentioned it:

http://www.defend.net/articles/thaibox.php

[Oreomeister365]

Tim Mousel has a great article cover this on this very site, surprised no one even mentioned it:

http://www.defend.net/articles/thaibox.php

hmm...that was a pretty useful article there, I see tons ofd questions such as "how should I work aerobic an muscle training exercise into my week, should I be doing aerobic exersice on workout days?" and so on, and that article hits the spot as far as that is concerned.

And lucky me, my week is almost already like that

dow if only he had an article on diet

[ncalpunker]

More concrete info:

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/hale7.htm

[ncalpunker]

And why high-reps is a misconception:

http://www.myodynamics.com/articles/pavel.html

[Tameo]

http://www.mantismartialart.com/demofight-2.WMV

[Oreomeister365]

from this I have concluded:

when pulling as hard and as fast as you can (lets take a bicep curl for example) the weight should be heavy enough that it takes 2 seconds or so to curl all the way, and you should let it down slightly slower, so it should take 4 seconds or so.

It's pretty interesting stuff.

[Tom Yum]

It's pretty interesting stuff.

Is it as interesting as Vin Diesel?

[Oreomeister365]

Is it as interesting as Vin Diesel?

I'm crying and it's all your fault.

[ncalpunker]

http://www.mantismartialart.com/demofight-2.WMV

What are you trying to say with the above video clip?

[ceestand]

What are you trying to say with the above video clip?

I think that the lesson is that strength is of no value when you're not actually hitting eachother...

As for the other posts, IMHO, the most important factor when it comes to choosing a weight routine is genetics. People grow in different ways. During all the time I was weightlifting, I made the most gains when I was ditch-digging and power swimming. The resistance of the pickaxe and the water, respecively, was less than the weights I was lifting. Since then, I've gone away from the 1-5 rep principle and now use lighter weights at a 6-10 rep program and seen greater results.

What works for the authors of the above articles likely will not work for you. A better indicator of what type of program you should use is the time it takes for you to fully heal the broken-down muscles. For an example of this, consider the High Intensity Training (HIT) theory that works so well for some people. In those cases, exercises are done with ~90%of 1RM only once a week and significant gains are made.

On the other side, take Schwarzenegger. His training program has always included more reps and sets than the above authors use and does anyone believe that Pavel Tsatsouline or Jamie Hale is stronger?

[ncalpunker]

I think arnold is a bad example as he is a body builder. Granted you get stronger from mbody building, but I think the mass to strength ratio is much higher for body builders. I am sure there are plenty of athletes that are stronger than Arnold (even in his prime) but aren't as big or muscular.

I think we all need to work out in a way that is best for our own bodies, but the important point is that weightraining will build a superior athlete then non weighttraining. Also, strength AND speed are a component of power. You can't expect to build power by just getting faster OR just getting stronger. They need to be equally developed.

[ceestand]

I think arnold is a bad example as he is a body builder. Granted you get stronger from mbody building, but I think the mass to strength ratio is much higher for body builders. I am sure there are plenty of athletes that are stronger than Arnold (even in his prime) but aren't as big or muscular.

Yes, but the point is that it's difficult if not impossible to determine anything more than a generalization about weight training methods without doing a detailed study for every person attempting a routine. In other words, there's no telling what works unless we try it ourselves. "Strength" is just too vague a term to be used as any type of variable in choosing a training strategy. Let alone how strong someone looks (as Pavel used as an indicator, lol). No matter what their "strength", Pavel and Arnold are both "stronger" than I am, so for them to have differing routines makes choosing one over another arbitrary.

Besides, they are both extremely unhealthy according to the CDC's BMI, so best to stay away from them altogether.

I think we all need to work out in a way that is best for our own bodies, but the important point is that weightraining will build a superior athlete then non weighttraining. Also, strength AND speed are a component of power. You can't expect to build power by just getting faster OR just getting stronger. They need to be equally developed.

Agreed.