Increasing upperbody strenght and determining fitness level.

[Nadz37]

Hi, greenie needing some advice on general training regimes as well as increasing upperbody strenght. I'm gonna babble a bit but hopefully it might be usable information when advising me I apologise for perhaps writing tooooo much, but please bear with me

I am 22 year old female who started Goju Rye when I was about 8. I did that for 5 years till we moved. Alongside with karate I also did ballet for 7 years and hiked quite a bit in the mountains up until recently.

When I moved I joined a new dojo, Gojukai, but dropped it after a year finding myself losing interest. I started doing hockey before switching in my final year of high school back to karate. I think I did Shotokan or Shoto something? I dropped out again due to exam stress and time shchedules.

5 years later, I've attended a free class this monday with my dojo with whom I started. My senseis still remember me:) I was at a green belt in Goju Rye and can still complete my first 3 katas fluently despite the interuptions. Well, I will need to fix the forms because my katas changed slightly when I 'defected' If I can figure out my transport issue, I am definitely signing back on, but in the meantime I have started training myself as well this week.

Problem is, I dont know how fit I am.

Someone has suggested the beep test, but I am not familiar with it at, but it sounds like a lot of running and I more or less know my capability in that:P Im referring to the limits of my muscles. I believe myself to be healthy, not nessesarily fit however. I am 1.57 weighing about 63-ish. It varies Food include whatever I find but a balance of the good and bad. Been a social smoker for about 4 years now, but not addicted.

I have no clue what my current physical ability is. I know I have a fairly good kick, and the blackbelt I paired with the other day commented on it as well. This is prolly due to ballet, hockey and mountain hiking as a kid. I dont hike that much anymore, but I still walk about an average of 3-4km a day. Welll...got my car just now...not sure how much that will impact me;)

I lack severly in upperbody strenght, which also makes sense concidering all the sports I participated in involved my legs. I punch like a girl...and I know I am one, but still its...embarresing

So as a sollution;

I bought 1kg wrist/ankle bands today. I am not planning on doing exercises involving impacts as I understand according my research to be unhealthy.

But I did wear them on my wrists while jumping rope.

I also practised my katas, blocks and punches wearing them.

My friend who studies physiotheraphy also suggested pushups.

I know women cant bulk up due to a lack of testorone but neither do I want broaded shoulders. Well, around here we call it swimmers' shoulders.

My questions:

How do I determine the limit of my physical capability?

When do I know I've reached my limit in a exercise before risking injury?

How do I increase my general upperbody, as well as punching strenght?

Do I need to follow a specific diet or a change in dietary lifestyle to augment my training?

If you had read this far, thank you for your patience XD

[JCavin]

Is your goal to punch stronger or to get stronger in general? Or to just become more fit overall?

Also, everyone is always going to recommend that you stop smoking. It is poison.

[Wastelander]

The only way to find your limit is to reach it, really. For muscular endurance I would say you can do pushups until your arms won't move anymore and that's the limit of pushups you can do, and you can do situps until your abs won't clench anymore and that's the limit of situps you can do, and you can do squats until your legs give out and that's the limit of squats you can do. How you apply that knowledge to your training is up to you.

As far as avoiding injury, your muscles will save you from yourself. Your muscles will seize up and give out when they have reached their safe limit--you can push past this but you are going to be doing more damage to your muscles than is healthy. Stretching of muscles and tendons is a completely different matter.

To increase upper body and punching strength, do pushups (fast ones), rotational abdominal exercises, run up stairs and punch a heavy bag.

STOP SMOKING, make your diet rich in protein, fruits and veggies (carbs are okay, but don't go overboard), don't drink alcoholic beverages without benefits (basically anything but wine is out) and do not drink more than a glass a day.

[Nadz37]

Smoking is not a problem, havent touched nicotene in 2 weeks with no craving. Found the alcohol to be a surprise. Anything but wine?

Live with a vegetarian, so the fruits and veggies are no problem either.

So the body kinda alarms itself before I will injure it?

That's good to know.

JC, my general goal is to punch stronger and become stronger in general. I am not unfit, nor am I fit, and I believe that the fitness will pickup along the side of the exercises.

But from the looks and sounds of it, I have still have a long way to go ^^

Hope to hear some replies, but thanks Wastelander and JC

[JCavin]

Wastelander was actually saying that the ONLY alchohol you should consume is wine. And only one glass a day.

Also, make sure you're getting a steady diet of protein if you are serious about getting stronger.

If you have access to a gym you would do well to look into Coach Mark Rippetoe's Starting Strength program. Pay no attention to the myth that if a girl lifts weights she will get "bulky" and look like a guy. It doesn't happen unless you try to make it happen, and then only at an advanced level.

For general strength do what Wastelander said. Air Squats, Pushups, Pullups, Situps, and lots of rotational abdominal exercises. Your hips are what power your punches so they need a lot of attention to develop proper form for strong punches.

If, and when, you stick to doing a set routine of bodyweight exercises(and if you don't have any lifting experience or access to someone who does or to a gym), you would probably benefit from doing a program like p90x. But, you shouldn't invest in something like that until you're in good shape and know you want to stick with something similar.

[Wastelander]

Wastelander was actually saying that the ONLY alchohol you should consume is wine. And only one glass a day.

Also, make sure you're getting a steady diet of protein if you are serious about getting stronger.

If you have access to a gym you would do well to look into Coach Mark Rippetoe's Starting Strength program. Pay no attention to the myth that if a girl lifts weights she will get "bulky" and look like a guy. It doesn't happen unless you try to make it happen, and then only at an advanced level.

For general strength do what Wastelander said. Air Squats, Pushups, Pullups, Situps, and lots of rotational abdominal exercises. Your hips are what power your punches so they need a lot of attention to develop proper form for strong punches.

If, and when, you stick to doing a set routine of bodyweight exercises(and if you don't have any lifting experience or access to someone who does or to a gym), you would probably benefit from doing a program like p90x. But, you shouldn't invest in something like that until you're in good shape and know you want to stick with something similar.

Exactly--I said "anything but wine is out" meaning that any alcoholic beverages that aren't wine have very little value to you, health wise, and any alcohol in excess is bad. I also totally agree with the rest of the above post.

[Happy Dragon]

Hi, greenie needing some advice on general training regimes as well as increasing upperbody strenght.

Problem is, I dont know how fit I am.

Someone has suggested the beep test, but I am not familiar with it at, but it sounds like a lot of running and I more or less know my capability in that:P Im referring to the limits of my muscles.

I'll babble a bit too then!

Good on you for getting back to your karate. It is funny how the path takes us to where we need to go.

Strength first, that's easy: more push ups!

As karateka we tend to rely on body weight exercise for strength. This gives us the needed speed without building the bulk associated with weight training.

Make sure you do every variation of push ups you can find. Change the angle after working yourself to exhaustion and do it again. And again.

You want to know how fit you are?

Ah the beep test! We love to hate it at our club.

Simply explained it is a run back and forth between lines 20 metres apart set at the pace of a recorded interval 'beep'. You keep running back and forth, the beeps get quicker and eventually you can't keep up, and your last successfully level is your score. It is also called the multi-stage fitness test, but no matter what the name, it tests a lot more than your running!

It also provides a great standard for evaluation. Here in Australia the following beep test scores (along with push up and situp requirements) are needed for these various positions:

Navy (standard recruits) - 6.1

Navy (Clearance Diver) - 10.1

Army (standard recruits) - 7.5

Army (Special Forces) - 10.1

Air Force (standard recruits) - 6.5

Air Force (Ground Defence Officer and Airfield Defence Guard) - 7.5

After you've run a beep test, so you have some idea of what this means, check out these record numbers from the Aussie Rules Football League - 15's!

[Lee M]

Do a search for Amir Khans reebok circuit its free and suberb for fitness and conditioning - its tough too!