Quote from: He Man on January 11, 2011, 03:40:09 PM
I'm starting to do a lot of bag work, and when i hit the pads with a partner, i feel like my kicks have no power at all. even though my partner says they are strong, it doenst feel strong and my legs are FAR from being as well developed as my upper body is.

the guys at my gym say that if you want more raw power you have to lift weights. but i dont want monsterous legs. i just want powerful legs that can last 3x5 rounds.

is there a way to do that? or would u say just go all out on the bags?

one thing that i HAVE to figure out how to do is get my obliques stronger. Your power punch and kick comes from your side abs and i think its more important to have a good core then powerful quads.

Do CrossFit or Military Athlete workouts.

www.crossfit.com

www.militaryathlete.com

Quote from: He Man on January 11, 2011, 03:40:09 PM
I'm starting to do a lot of bag work, and when i hit the pads with a partner, i feel like my kicks have no power at all. even though my partner says they are strong, it doenst feel strong and my legs are FAR from being as well developed as my upper body is.

the guys at my gym say that if you want more raw power you have to lift weights. but i dont want monsterous legs. i just want powerful legs that can last 3x5 rounds.

is there a way to do that? or would u say just go all out on the bags?

one thing that i HAVE to figure out how to do is get my obliques stronger. Your power punch and kick comes from your side abs and i think its more important to have a good core then powerful quads.

One thing that was learned by the Soviets and the East Germans (besides how to get the most out of steroids) was that weight lifting in some form will improve performance in almost every sport.  Absolute power lifting is not likely the thing.  But I'm sure  a weight workout has been developed for your sport.  I wouldn't worry about getting tree like legs.  You kick workouts will keep that from happening. 

Ill try to look up some books for workouts.

Ill check out crossfit too. Ive tried to keep up with the workout of the day when I was younger but couldnt find the time to really commit to it. But now i have all the time in the world + free access to gym.

Quote from: He Man on January 12, 2011, 12:19:07 PM
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Ill check out crossfit too. Ive tried to keep up with the workout of the day when I was younger but couldnt find the time to really commit to it. But now i have all the time in the world + free access to gym.

CF translates well to fighting. When I'm doing weight training, that's what I do.

I'd ask your instructor if your kicks are really weak.  Betcha a dollar they tell you the kicks are fine and ask you to improve something else.  It just seems like that's always how it goes with me...

Well, I stand by saying to much lifting will cause muscle tightness that does not translate well into kicking and striking. You can use weights to strength train for any sport and you will see improvements, but it's obvious when it's too much. 

He Man - I agree, core connection and movement is esential to any fighting. Look at any type of fighter - boxer, MMA, traditional all move from the center and create power from the center/core. Any exercise you can incorporate hip twist and oblique connection is going to help both kicking and upper body techniques. Crossovers and straight arm torso twists are great for developing that type of power.

You can do side bends with weights.. start light highest id go with is 45lbs.. 

Registered for a 2mi forecast race on Sunday.

Winner is the one that finishes closes to his/her predicted finish time.

No time/gps devices allowed and no clocks on course.

I predicted my time at 18:47.  It was a huge shot in the dark as I haven't run a timed event in almost a year.

I'll let you know how close I get.

Good luck! 

Race was this morning.

It was a balmy 10 with a wind chill just under 0. 

The course was snowy and slow (think sand). 

I finished in 19:46.  Less than a minute off my predicted time.   

I'm happy.

Congrats on coming in so close to your projected time!

I've been sick since Friday, the sitting around is killing me. I think I'll be ready to return to my routine this week - whatever I had has gradually downgraded over the past few days and turned into a cold.

I hate getting sick.

you can do super sets.. where say you do curls for a set then with out rest go straight to tris for a set then with out rest go to shoulders with out rest etc..  it's like cardio weight lifting.. keeps ya heart pumping and muscles going.. it's a great work out.. also cuts down your time in the gym significantly..

Quote from: He Man on January 11, 2011, 03:40:09 PM
I'm starting to do a lot of bag work, and when i hit the pads with a partner, i feel like my kicks have no power at all. even though my partner says they are strong, it doenst feel strong and my legs are FAR from being as well developed as my upper body is.

the guys at my gym say that if you want more raw power you have to lift weights. but i dont want monsterous legs. i just want powerful legs that can last 3x5 rounds.

is there a way to do that? or would u say just go all out on the bags?

one thing that i HAVE to figure out how to do is get my obliques stronger. Your power punch and kick comes from your side abs and i think its more important to have a good core then powerful quads.

The power for punching or kicking does not come from your obliques in any significant way. It comes from the ability to produce power through hip rotation. While core and even some upper body strength is useful, more than anything you need to develop posterior chain strength/power and than learn to transfer it through rotation into sport specific movement. Posterior chain strength can be accomplished with various exercises, including, romanian deadlifts, stiff-legged deadlifts, box squats, weighted good mornings, glute-ham raises, one-legged (weighted) hyper extensions, and a number of other exercises. The transfer of power through rotation basically takes repition, repition and than more repetition of perfect form of the desired movement.

You can try crossfit if you like, and it's a fine workout if the crossfit games are your goal, but despite the claims, there is very little carryover to fighting skills or generalized power, for that matter. For that to occur, crossfit would have to defy the laws of specificity which is assuredly does not. You can tailor some crossfit routines to particular sports with some success, but inefficiently. Simply put, a random routine (the definition of CF) does not compare to a specific goal oriented, periodized program.

Wrong, crossfit workouts are far more effective than just use for the games, suck it up and train the system for a year...a year, then report back. Most folks don't have the balls.

Quote from: pitbull on January 19, 2011, 04:37:49 PM
The power for punching or kicking does not come from your obliques in any significant way. It comes from the ability to produce power through hip rotation. While core and even some upper body strength is useful, more than anything you need to develop posterior chain strength/power and than learn to transfer it through rotation into sport specific movement. Posterior chain strength can be accomplished with various exercises, including, romanian deadlifts, stiff-legged deadlifts, box squats, weighted good mornings, glute-ham raises, one-legged (weighted) hyper extensions, and a number of other exercises. The transfer of power through rotation basically takes repition, repition and than more repetition of perfect form of the desired movement.

you're 100% right about hip rotation. All our power comes from rotating the hip but your hip rotation power comes from your core doesnt it? After hours kicking punching kneeing and what not, the more sore part of my body is always my obliques and quads.

Quote from: He Man on January 21, 2011, 08:22:43 PM
you're 100% right about hip rotation. All our power comes from rotating the hip but your hip rotation power comes from your core doesnt it? After hours kicking punching kneeing and what not, the more sore part of my body is always my obliques and quads.

Most of the power comes from your legs and is transferred through to the upper body via the hips. The breakdown is something like 78% from the lower body and 22% from the upper body.

Core training is the new gimmick at the moment. If you're squatting and deadlifting you will develop "core" (abdominal and lower back) strength far more than set after set of all the targeted core exercises combined.