Safe and healthy exercise for Karate?

[username19853]

I understand that lifting, with proper form, is a very healthy form of exercise. But I have a very specific question! For Karate, what do you think is the healthiest and most beneficial form of exercise, and how should it be done?

I'm asking this because I've heard that even doing lots of push-ups over time can cause injury in the elbows, wrists and shoulders. If push-ups can do that, I'm sure that bench pressing can do that. Everyone's heard that squats can be cause knee injuries over time.

Now, contradictory to those previous statements, I've also heard that doing these over time with proper form can help keep your mobility.

Speaking of mobility, I've also heard that there are mobility specific workouts to help you stay mobile and reduce risk of injury.

Everything I've said is something that "I've heard" because I just don't have the answers. So I guess I'm just wondering what kind of workout could I do, targeted to help my performance as I continue to study Karate and keep me mobile and healthy as I continue to age and get older? Karatekas are the best to ask because you see them well past their 70's moving better than people in their 20's!

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

[DWx]

Think of it like this, the weakest link in the chain is the one which will break first. You don't have to be a body builder or world class strongman, but you should prepare your body for the forces you are going to put it under. I don't know the stats for martial arts movements, but take for example a long jumper, as they take off, their body and joints can be subjected to forces 16x their own bodyweight. To prevent injury they have to sufficiently build up the structures and muscular support, especially for high risk areas like ankle and knee joints. To not do so is leaving the body unprepared and hoping for the best. So in the end, strength training is necessary to prevent injury, not cause it.

Just this weekend I was on a course with a strength and conditioning coach who works with a number of Olympic athletes, including previously working with Team GB Taekwondo and he stressed strength for injury prevention, particularly strength at the limits of your mobility to help protect yourself. As martial artists we shouldn't be strong just to kick and punch someone else, but we should mainly be strong to help prevent injury.

Weight lifting, when done with proper form, is good because it's scaleable and easy to progressively load each time. The big lifts such as squat, deadlift and bench all work the whole body too. However bodyweight exercises can be equally as good as long as you scale them too as they also work balance and provide you with acrobatic strength. But forget just doing 50 pushups, it's better to increase the difficultly and do 10 handstand pushups for example.

[username19853]

Thank you! Could you recommend a program that targets injury prevention? Or are you saying to stick with the main lifts and the main calisthenics, scaling and progressively loading with a focus on proper form?

[DWx]

To be honest any programme that targets the whole body (and not just bicep curls!) will be good. I think it is mainly down to personal preference what you do and what works best for you. Personally I do a mix of both but that's because I like the variety. If weights, I would lean towards barbell and dumbell over machines as they require you to develop stability and balance also but if you really prefer or only have access to machines, then it is still good for you.

If you don't have a specific plan already, these are some good starting points:

http://stronglifts.com/5x5/

https://fitloop.co/routines/bwf-recommended-beginner-routine

[Nidan Melbourne]

I understand that lifting, with proper form, is a very healthy form of exercise. But I have a very specific question! For Karate, what do you think is the healthiest and most beneficial form of exercise, and how should it be done?

I'm asking this because I've heard that even doing lots of push-ups over time can cause injury in the elbows, wrists and shoulders. If push-ups can do that, I'm sure that bench pressing can do that. Everyone's heard that squats can be cause knee injuries over time.

Now, contradictory to those previous statements, I've also heard that doing these over time with proper form can help keep your mobility.

Speaking of mobility, I've also heard that there are mobility specific workouts to help you stay mobile and reduce risk of injury.

Everything I've said is something that "I've heard" because I just don't have the answers. So I guess I'm just wondering what kind of workout could I do, targeted to help my performance as I continue to study Karate and keep me mobile and healthy as I continue to age and get older? Karatekas are the best to ask because you see them well past their 70's moving better than people in their 20's!

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Weight Lifting can be safe and effective for Karate and for Martial Arts in General. You wouldn't have many injuries if you perform exercises (Bodyweight, Loaded Weights or Cardio) correctly and if you load appropriately. As injuries generally occur because people do something silly and incorrectly do something.

Now you ask a tough question, because generally HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) is best for training and weight management.

Doing Push-Ups correctly wouldn't cause much of an issue to joints UNLESS you have weight + a few health issues.

In Relation to mobility you can do most exercises that are movement based that you would use in everyday life.

So obviously you have to take whatever people say here with a grain of salt because they will talk from personal experience about what works best for them.

[bushido_man96]

Weight training can be very beneficial to Karate training. You would probably want to include some conditioning training later on, but for the most part early on, Karate training itself should provide adequate levels of conditioning while you use weight training to get your strength up.

[Alan Armstrong]

All types of exercises are beneficial when done correctly. Then gradually other factors come in to play such as increasing weights or speed. Poor body postures such as in Wing Chun, curving the back and hunching the shoulders, maybe good for fighting but from an exercising point of view can lead to health issues over time. Tai Chi practice leads to correct body postures and improved balance, without proper posture and balance all types of exercising will over time cause damage to the joints. keeping a straight lower back when doing any kind of stretching is a must. Correct posture cannot be over stated. Using weights without proper or correct posture will also cause problems in latter life. Mobility implies movement. Circular movement once again points towards practicing Tai Chi. This is why Tai Chi is the most popular martial art in the world. Adding some resistance with weights could make Tai Chi more popular with the younger generations.

[Nidan Melbourne]

Weight training can be very beneficial to Karate training. You would probably want to include some conditioning training later on, but for the most part early on, Karate training itself should provide adequate levels of conditioning while you use weight training to get your strength up.

That is true, many schools will provide sufficient conditioning on a regular basis to assist. Especially in the first months of training because you are learning how to move and is activating muscles that you don't normally use or rarely use.

But all training when it comes to physical health should be done correctly because if you don't there will be an injury. Even executing say a Reverse Roundhouse Kick (Ura Mawashi Geri/Ushiro Mawashi Geri etc) correct form and knowing your body will be safer than doing it incorrectly.

I have seen too many people at the gym or even in class performing skills or exercises incorrectly and injure themselves. Usually that comes down to either loss of focus or in a way arrogance or they get too comfortable in what they're doing.

[Alan Armstrong]

What ever exercise you practice start off slowly. Pushing one's limits too quickly can cause pain, discomfort and downtime due to injury.

Age, agility, and over all health are contributing factors also.

Listening to your body's reactions to exercises is important also.

Exercising with quality is far better than quantity.

Not forgetting that Karate is also an exercise!

[JackD]

>>For Karate, what do you think is the healthiest and most beneficial form of exercise

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