DokterVet

Regarding crunches just affecting the upper abs: This is false. The "abs" are one muscle, called the rectus abdominus. I don't think there is any evidence that a specific part of one muscle can be isolated. A muscle contracts as a whole. If anyone has a link to a study that suggests otherwise, please post it. Situps won't make your abs visible. What makes abs visible is large muscles (hypertrophy occurs best in the 6-8 rep range) coupled with (most importantly) extremely low bodyfat levels over the abdomen. In order to get your bodyfat low enough, you need good genetics for it (some people store too much of their bodyfat there, and it is impossible to chose where to lose fat from), an appropriate diet, and probably aerobic/hiit excercise.

No, he didn't. He was just part of bringing it to North America. I thought the movie was incredible; the best I've seen this year.

Here is a list of excersizes for the erector spinae (often called 'lower back' excersizes) http://www.exrx.net/Lists/ExList/WaistWt.html#anchor1945210 For the record, I do deadlifts.

Muscle makes you faster, stronger, and tougher. If you fight competitively, and you have 8% bodyfat at the same weight class as someone at 19%, think about how much more strength, speed, and toughness you will have than your opponent. But lift real weights, not machines. Do lots of compound lifts like squats, deadlift, and benchpress. And if you want to add muscle, you need to eat and eat lots.

Sounds like some pretty hardcore training to me.

The ab king pro is hillarious. Just a lousy hip flexor excersize.

Bruce Lee stressed that all martial artists should use modern workout methods. He lifted heavy, and in fact injured his back doing so. Chuck Norris has said that Bruce Lee was one of the strongest men he knew.

So full of muscles you can't use all of them, eh? Care to explain why you think this would happen?

I saw it this afternoon. It was ... interesting. I hadn't seen the first one. I gather this one had a lot less fighting in it. The old kung fu teacher was rediculous, and hilarious. Straight out of an old kung fu movie.

Agreed. "Toning" as most people think of it is basically a myth. If you work out a muscle regularly, it will become partially flexed all the time and feel a bit firmer. But if you work out it's there, if not it's not. You can't keep getting "more toned" that way. For the most part, muscles either atrophy, or hypertrophy. When somebody looks "toned" they have big muscles and low bodyfat. If she wants a toned butt, she should do a weighlifting routine that includes squats, and maybe some kicking back motions if she wants. These will build up the muscles. She'll also want to reduce her overall bodyfat percentage. For the latter, diet is the most important thing. Cardio, and - even better - high intensity interval training - will help. I've started using https://www.fitday.com to keep track of my diet. She might find it useful.

Interesting read. It's defnitily right about the running...there's a lot of evidence in support of high intensity interval training for all sorts of purposes. Surprised not to see squats in the split though.

I've watched the "best of ong bak" trailer, and it's awesome. The main guy has some great front kicks that he totally levels a couple guys with. None of that sissy 'not actually hitting the guy' crap either; he's nailing them.

A gymnast I know who competes nationally in Canada told me that they never use weights, only bodyweight excersizes. The reason for this is that they don't want to build muscle and become heavier, because they have to hold their bodyweight during all of their routines. Last I talked to him, he was training every day from about 4:00PM - 10:00 PM. So you could try that.

I'll probably go with squats for the best, and for the worst I'm going with the Ab King Pro. If you haven't seen the informercials, they are the worst yet. The motion doensn't require any dynamic contraction of the abs, and there's no way to add resistance. So basically it's a piece of garbage. And it's huge.

Hit a heavy bag! And if you want to get stronger, follow a good weight-lifting routine.

Interesting. The reason I'm asking is because recently my training has shifted from in-class katas, kicking in air kind of stuff like ESA-Shotokan suggested to lots of bag training. Before I always did it toes forward but now that I'm walloping something solid I'm tending to drive forward with everything I have - occasionally giving the hip on the kicking side an extra thrust forward.

Sounds interesting. Don't have a PS2, but it would be interesting to try out.

No, I've never fought in a full contact tourney. I've been outclassed in some a point sparring (still hitting hard enough to bruise, knock over, and cause lots of pain) tourneys though I've never competed in grappling. It's weird though because I have very limited grappling training. In fact while I'm awake, I am self-conscious about my limited grappling abilities. I could take down and tap out Joe Averageguy pretty easily, but not someone from a grappling background, or someone a lot bigger than me.

When you guys front kick do you keep your hips totally square and your bottom foot facing straight ahead, or do you allow a slight twist of the hips so your bottom foot faces out a bit?

I know I'm interested in these kinds of posts, so here's one for you guys: I found out today that a 19 year old girl in the karate organization of which I am usually a part was attacked in a public washroom recently. Apparently, she doesn't remember too much of what happened, but the man who attacked her had to be sent to the hospital with broken ribs (apparently from a roundhouse kick) and blows to the face. Although it's unfortunate that she was attacked, it's good to hear that her training has paid off.

Hmm...why didn't the body just evolve to deplete fat first, then go catabolic on the muscle if that doesn't work? That way it could keep its strength until absolutely neccessary? Stupid body.

I hit the bag as hard and fast as I can at least once a week. There's one friend I spar with that I will hit with punches and front kicks as hard and fast as I can. I pull my roundhouses a bit though. I roundhoused someone in the thigh last year because he wouldn't stop bugging me when I was working on a project. We went outside and I kicked him as hard as I could with my shin. He said his leg went numb and he didn't bug me anymore.

I actually get into fights occasionally in my dreams, and I find that I can't strike properly. I'll try to punch and kick and I'll be slow, akward and weak (almost like I'm under water). I won't be able to connect or do any dammage, so I usually have to rely on grappling. I think maybe the parts of my brain that are active while I'm sleeping just don't "get" striking. EDIT: White Warlock, I just read your post. You definitely described what my strikes are like. I don't know if it's unpreparedness though, because I have been able to defeat skilled opponents with grappling in dreams.

I think what killed the third movie for me was the plot. Neo has powers in the real world? eh? He can see without eyes in the real world? Huh? Also, then end of the last fight, with neo giving up, kind of makes the whole thing seem pointless. I thought the second one was cool though. In fact I re-watched it last night. There were definitely some classic scenes/moments in it. Morpheus flipping the SUV with the katana, then blowing it up? Awesome.

I'm 6'0", 170 - 178 lbs (depends on the scale and time of day). And I'm bulking, so I'm gaining about 1 lb a week. I would say I'm normal to athletic. I'm not athletic naturally, but I'm starting to get more muscular. I used to weigh 145 - 150 lbs at 6'0", so I'm naturally very skinny.