Page 32 - Martial Science Magazine Apr/2015 #8

STRENGTH AND MARTIAL ARTS,

SOME OF ITS PRINCIPLES, AND

GENERAL TRAINING TIPS

By: Angel Montes de Oca

Illustration By: Henry Binerfa C.

endurance types of exercises, such as jogging for
a long time, swimming, walking, lifting weights to
failure, etc., or white cells, also called fast twitch
fibers. White twitch fibers are responsible with
actions that require very fast and explosive mo-
vements and maximum force, such as Jumping,
lot has been said about strength, striking sprinting, heavy lifting, throwing, etc.
A power, and weight lifting methods. I have
heard many opinions at my gym regarding number The predominant type of cells is inherited and can-
of sets, repetition, and ideal weight to pump up and not be changed by training.
down for conditioning. Now, out of all that…, who
should we listen to, and who is right or wrong? 2-TYPE OF TRAINING: Focusing on right kind
Let’s begin by saying that there are many, many, of exercises designed for your goals, combined
many different strength training methods and divi- with the correct planning which covers volume,
ded personal opinions in between professional coa- intensity, rest, proper nutrition, etc. It is possible
ches. They all could be correct or wrong depending to increase the numbers of cells involved in the ac-
on what your purpose, the specific needs of your tions, resulting in an increment of force the athlete
combat discipline, and the time you have to pre- is voluntarily able to exert.
pare for the event you are training for. This means
that what is best for weight lifter who is trying to Strength itself manifests in three different ways
break a record in squat, or sprinter, is not the best depending on the type of actions being done at a
for a bodybuilder who intends to gain muscle mass, time, they are:
or get ripped. And what is the best choice for the
bodybuilder, is for sure, the wrong one for a martial MAXIMUM FORCE: Is commonly seen in sports
artist or a combat sport practitioner. like Power lifting, and weight lifting, in which they
work close to the limit capacity of the practitioner,
By definition, strength is the capacity to apply force sometimes referred as 1RM (one repetition maxi-
on an object, using the body muscles, and is deter- mum), It’s the maximum amount of weight a per-
mined by two main factors: son can lift or move in a single repetition, of any
exercise, and is rarely seen in between the actions
1-GENETIC FACTOR: which presets the most of martial arts sports, neither street fight. Unless
abundant type of cells (fibers) in the muscle mass, somebody uses raw strength to push, pull or lift his
either way red, also called slow twitch fibers. This opponent off the floor, which is exactly what tech-
type of fibers play their main roll during aerobic nical preparation teaches not to do.

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