building an olympic body

martianwarrior · Post by **martianwarrior** » Sun 27 Dec 2009 03:46

thought some of the wai'ers might enjoy what this article has to offer...

a true body-weight challenge

http://www.dragondoor.com/articler/mode3/229

i've been following a body-weight conditioning routine for quite some time with decent results. my goal was to first build bi-lateral strength and eventually moving on to uni-lateral exercises. i'm getting close to starting the uni-lateral training, i still need to accomplish 20 dips and 20 pull ups before i allow myself to move on. from there i'm going to start using kettle bells and other explosive weighted exercises. perhaps some more classic weight training too, maybe.

if i remember correctly, doing static poses helps build the slow twitch muscle fibers?... something like that. and i think its a good idea to build that kind of strength as a base before building explosive strength, utilizing the fast twitch muscle fibers.

usually at the end of a set i do a regular planche (like being in the up position of a push up) for 1 minute. sometimes i just wait till the end of the entire routine. i liek to mix it up so i can rotate other exercises in and out, mix things up.

today i began doing the frog stand the describe on the site. they are hard!

my elbows are much more bent than the child in the picture. the site says to build up to a minute of quality work and i read that as meaning a minute worth of the hold, whether it's all at once or not. i think i'll make sure i can do a minute straight, like my reg. planche, before i even think about moving on to the tuck planche. i need to get my elbows straightend out a bit more too.

enjoy!

johndela1 · Post by **johndela1** » Mon 28 Dec 2009 21:00

Have you considered getting an Olympic bar with bumper plates? They are kind of pricey but you can just buy the plates you need and not get a full set then add to it as needed.

It is really nice to be able to drop the bar from high and not worry about damaging anything...

martianwarrior · Post by **martianwarrior** » Tue 29 Dec 2009 15:05

yes, if i do start lifting weights that's what i want to get. they are expensive though.

right now i'm kind of on the fence as to whether i want/need to do any kind of weight lifting that would require a barbell or free weights. i'm training for MMA so i don't want to become too big and lose flexibility. basically, i intend to build gymnast/ballet strength; flexible, lean and graceful.

i'm focusing on explosiveness and plan on moving on to kettle bells after i advance through bilateral, unilateral and static body-weight routines.

zackcentury · Post by **zackcentury** » Mon 12 Apr 2010 05:16

Hi, one tip I've always heard from martial arts trainers, and educated trainers in general, is that activity-specific training is important. If MMA is important to you, you should try to simulate as many movements in your training that your fighting will require. This site is great, and offers a lot of DIY training information: http://rosstraining.com/blog/
If you make your own weights or develop a bodyweight workout plan, you can get strong without spending much money.

I like to do cheat planches with my feet up agains the wall-cause I can't do them properly yet. Handstand pushups are interesting, but you may alternate holding a handstand some days and doing supported pushups other days, so you develop balance and strength at the same time.

If you're interested in efficient workouts, Mike Mentzer, Arthur Jones, and Ellington Darden wrote some interesting stuff.