Weight lifting + martial arts

ThatSillyCat

Hey everybody,

Who is doing martial arts on top of weight lifting?

I'd love to know about your experience.
Do both activities complement each other nicely? Is there anything else that you do on top? Diet, running, stretching, HIIT ?
How many hours of sport do you do per week?

I have been doing Viet Vo Dao for over a year, and started weight lifting 6 weeks ago.
On top of that, I run twice a week, control my diet and do regular stretching sessions.
Hopefully more muscles should show up in a couple of months...

Previously, I tested a year of Freeletics + Krav Maga + running.
The two made me stronger, but my muscle mass didn't increase, it was really frustrating because I was very skinny and quite prone to injury.

Share your stories and feel free to add me as a friend on MFP
Cheers!

ThatSillyCat

Gracious_Plum

I do weight lifting as my main form of exercise and I'm going to my first ever kickboxing class tonight, hopefully I'l be able to give you a proper answer in a month or so if I keep going with the classes! I eat well most of the time (weekends go off the rail slightly) and I'm thinking of adding in a weekly yoga class.

How have you found it since adding weight lifting to your exercise?

I'm adding you :-)

subcounter

I've been doing Boxing and Thai Boxing & BJJ for about 10 years. They definitely go hand to hand. Cardio is definitely part of my routine as it benefits my sparring a ton. There are more specific workouts I do towards boxing punches, and pulls for BJJ as well, and thai clenches as well. Squat Jumps has been great for Thai Boxing. Stretching is definitely necessary for high kicks etc. I especially love the explosive strength benefits of the workouts.

I used to do daily steady runs up to 10k but found HIIT training, and heavy cycling to be better for me, as I would get more prone to injuries with daily runs. If I have the time, I usually do around 40 minute to an hour of cardio, after the weight training working different parts of the body every time. I stretch and do jumps, knee kick exercises on about every workout.

ThatSillyCat

@ Gracious Plum : Yeay! I did a little bit of kickboxing after krav maga, you'll see, it's awesome!
The reason I didn't carry on is that I already had it all with the Viet Vo Dao: the kicks, the punches, the crazy warmups, the stretching, and a touch of spiritual to complete it all...

Weight lifting is already making a small difference for me (it's a bit too early to be sure).
I feel that my upper body is coping better with the kicking session and pushups.
I'm also getting more definition on the abs.

Yoga definitely is an idea. I ruled it out because of a class I went to once. It was sooooo boring (I can't stand still for an entire hour like that).
Good luck for your first lesson )

ThatSillyCat

subcounter wrote: »

I've been doing Boxing and Thai Boxing & BJJ for about 10 years. They definitely go hand to hand. Cardio is definitely part of my routine as it benefits my sparring a ton. There are more specific workouts I do towards boxing punches, and pulls for BJJ as well, and thai clenches as well. Squat Jumps has been great for Thai Boxing. Stretching is definitely necessary for high kicks etc. I especially love the explosive strength benefits of the workouts.

I used to do daily steady runs up to 10k but found HIIT training, and heavy cycling to be better for me, as I would get more prone to injuries with daily runs. If I have the time, I usually do around 40 minute to an hour of cardio, after the weight training working different parts of the body every time. I stretch and do jumps, knee kick exercises on about every workout.

How I envy you! After 10 years you really get to enjoy all the technical part of boxing, and BJJ looks great fun. Do you give lessons or do competition?

Cycling is a good idea. I run, but I'm a bit concerned about my knees and back, which are already under stress with all the kicking (but the weight lifting should reinforce it all).

My teachers at the Krav Maga used to say that HIIT was better than weight lifting as a complement of krav, because I needed explosivity instead of just muscles. But I don't agree. You need the strength to give a good punch and wrestle. Especially as a lighweight woman.

And I fully agree for high kicks, stretching is a must. Any advise on specific stretches? I am working on a 30 minutes routine 3 times a week with various exercises from the web. They're mostly based on hips flexibility and stretching the psoas.
Knee kicks exercises sound interesting. Do you do them on your own or with a partner?

subcounter

ThatSillyCat wrote: »

subcounter wrote: »

I've been doing Boxing and Thai Boxing & BJJ for about 10 years. They definitely go hand to hand. Cardio is definitely part of my routine as it benefits my sparring a ton. There are more specific workouts I do towards boxing punches, and pulls for BJJ as well, and thai clenches as well. Squat Jumps has been great for Thai Boxing. Stretching is definitely necessary for high kicks etc. I especially love the explosive strength benefits of the workouts.

I used to do daily steady runs up to 10k but found HIIT training, and heavy cycling to be better for me, as I would get more prone to injuries with daily runs. If I have the time, I usually do around 40 minute to an hour of cardio, after the weight training working different parts of the body every time. I stretch and do jumps, knee kick exercises on about every workout.

How I envy you! After 10 years you really get to enjoy all the technical part of boxing, and BJJ looks great fun. Do you give lessons or do competition?

Cycling is a good idea. I run, but I'm a bit concerned about my knees and back, which are already under stress with all the kicking (but the weight lifting should reinforce it all).

My teachers at the Krav Maga used to say that HIIT was better than weight lifting as a complement of krav, because I needed explosivity instead of just muscles. But I don't agree. You need the strength to give a good punch and wrestle. Especially as a lighweight woman.

And I fully agree for high kicks, stretching is a must. Any advise on specific stretches? I am working on a 30 minutes routine 3 times a week with various exercises from the web. They're mostly based on hips flexibility and stretching the psoas.
Knee kicks exercises sound interesting. Do you do them on your own or with a partner?

I used to do competitions before work gotten too busy. Sparring is also definitely humbling. You get to see so many different skilled, smart, focused, determined people.
There is always something new to learn though, thats what I love about BJJ, and boxing.

I mean its not like you are going to instantly make 24 inch biceps or something that would hinder your mma skills , and I've met a lot of female fighters that can kick *kitten*, and lift heavy. You can always do both, unless you are simply going for the purely physique aspect.

Hmm its kind of hard to explain here but somewhat facing a wall, opening your legs, sitting straight. You can push in further and further has you get better. Center splits, and side splits as well. Make sure you warm up properly before all this though.

Knee kick exercises depends on which one you wanna focus. Jumping knee kicks usually need a partner with proper guards so you can jump in properly, usually long distances, and you need a good explosive strength for that.
You can also do continuous knee practice, its a great workout as well, you can check it here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xDZ1jFeC0vI

Gracious_Plum

ThatSillyCat wrote: »

Good luck for your first lesson )

I did my first kickboxing session - I really enjoyed it!
The warm-up was kicks/punches/squats in a cardio kind of routine, then we took it it turns holding the pads and punching. I didn't get as much of a sweat on as I'd have hoped because I was more focused on trying to remember the punching combos, but next time I will be trying harder :-)

ThatSillyCat

subcounter wrote: »

I mean its not like you are going to instantly make 24 inch biceps or something that would hinder your mma skills , and I've met a lot of female fighters that can kick *kitten*, and lift heavy. You can always do both, unless you are simply going for the purely physique aspect.

Hmm its kind of hard to explain here but somewhat facing a wall, opening your legs, sitting straight. You can push in further and further has you get better. Center splits, and side splits as well. Make sure you warm up properly before all this though.

Knee kick exercises depends on which one you wanna focus. Jumping knee kicks usually need a partner with proper guards so you can jump in properly, usually long distances, and you need a good explosive strength for that.
You can also do continuous knee practice, its a great workout as well, you can check it here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xDZ1jFeC0vI

Haha indeed, I don't think I'll look like the Hulk anytime soon, even if I lift heavy, and that's a good thing!
But I find that a good muscle structure definitely is a must for a woman. It's easier to take the blows. It's also less hard on the body when I throw punches.

Yes, I see which stretching exercise you mean. I'm working on splits (humbly, but consistently ), and I'll add the wall exercise.

Thanks for the video!
All this is really helpful ^^

ThatSillyCat

Gracious_Plum wrote: »

ThatSillyCat wrote: »

Good luck for your first lesson )

I did my first kickboxing session - I really enjoyed it!
The warm-up was kicks/punches/squats in a cardio kind of routine, then we took it it turns holding the pads and punching. I didn't get as much of a sweat on as I'd have hoped because I was more focused on trying to remember the punching combos, but next time I will be trying harder :-)

Oh, don't worry, you'll pick up the combos very quickly...and then you'll work a sweat (and it's awesome!)