strength trainging with ur forms.

[Son Goku the monkeyking]

i was wondering, how would you go about increasing your strength training, by using ur forms alone. when i am a home that is usaually all the time i have for because of my schedule, unless iam at practice i dont usaully do any push ups or sit ups and stuff like that.

and i dont do it before i go to sleep, or in the morning becuse i am really kinda tired at nite, and am usally runnin for school in the moring o what can i do to increase my strength trainging using forms.

PEACE holla at cha boy

[viskous]

i suppose you could use wrist and ankle wieghts.......you could even fill a backpack with wieghts and wear it on your back if youve got one of those ones that distributes the wieght so you dont hurt your back

[KarateKid7]

if you have a form such as sanchin (equivalent of iron-shirt qi gong in karate), perform these with quite some tension and slowly with the proper breathing. dont do this without proper instruction though. THis will definteli increase your dynamic strength. You could perform your forms slowly imaging you are moving in water against high resistance. This will again build dynamic isometric strength which is vital for any martial artist.

[cheetahkata]

probably use weight training. ...swimming training etc.

[DokterVet]

Forms won't do much for strength. Lift weights.

[orion82698]

Forms won't do much for strength. Lift weights.

Bingo. Weight and resistance training builds strength. If you don't want to lift weights, or cannot try using a band. They're low in cost, and can offer just as many ways to get a great workout in as do weights. I bring a band with me when I go on vacations, if there is no gym in the hotel.

[elbows_and_knees]

As stated, forms will not help your strength training. They will, however, build muscular endurance, which is different.

[Aodhan]

i suppose you could use wrist and ankle wieghts.......you could even fill a backpack with wieghts and wear it on your back if youve got one of those ones that distributes the wieght so you dont hurt your back

This is really not a good method to try and develop strength for forms for several reasons:

1) You can't practice the explosive techniques that give a form its "snap". If you do, you really run the risk of injury with the weight on your extremity at extension

2) You develop different balance due to the weight. If you put 5 lb weights on each ankle and try to do some side/round kicks, you will have to adjust your balance to compensate. Then when you don't have the weights, you feel off balance.

3) The backpack can place serious strain on the abs and lower back muscles without much compensation.

I would train in sport specific movements (Reverse/front punch - Bench press, knifehand - rear shoulder/lats, ridgehand - chest, front shoulder, etc). That way you can train the motion with weight without the risk of injury.

For explosiveness, use rebound techniques such as plyometrics, resistance bands, things of that nature.

Aodhan

[cleung]

You can increase your strength while doing forms if you hold your stances lower and hold your position for awhile. You can also do very slow kicks - that is slow when extending and retracting your leg. All good kickers do slow kicks as training.

[Ryokeen]

There are some exersizes that will make you stronger, but only to a certain degree and then you'll be stuck where you are now. Pushups, Crunches ect will only get you so far. But they can get you pretty dang far if you are strict about it.

(Btw what school do you go to for your MA classes; and do you compete a lot? I'm from Mansfield, was woundering if you were going to any tournements coming up soon.)

Anyways, you could essentially do 100's of pushups sit ups and work kicking and punching routines and stretch to gain your muscle. I am HIGHLY discouraged by my instructor to use weights. When he was at the top of his game he looked like he lifted weights daily, but intruth has never lifted a single weight. It is possible, but you have to be insane to do it and you have to be on very strict measures. From the time he got off work, 'till 9:00 (aprox 2-3 hours) He would have done 900 pushups. Daily he'd train in his Dojo and work his legs and techniques inadvertively. A lot of people will tell you you HAVE to, without any doubt, lift but in truth, you'll naturaly get stonger by doing more and more gradually.

If you truely want to use weights then orion82698 and Aodhan know what they're talking about.

Best of luck either way.

Do your forms repeatedly and do your best to copy how an upperank or blackbelt would do the forms. Low to the ground, and make everytechnique count. Continually work on it and you'll get a bit stronger. However, you're going to have to start being more focused on your training. I wake up at 5:30 do a light workout until 6:00 hop in the shower clean up, do my daily routine, talk online (lol) and then I head off to school. Just go to bed sooner.

Again best of luck,

Aaron