THE IMPORTANCE OF STRENGTH TRAINING FOR MARTIAL ARTS

It boogles the mind, but in this day and age I am still hearing martial artists say “strength training will make you slow”, “it will make you muscle-bound”, and “all you need is technique and do a million reps with light weights."

Times have changed!

It is now accepted that high levels of strength are a prerequisite to superior speed, power, strength endurance and overall performance. Coaches and trainers now recognize that proper strength training will make their athletes stronger, faster, and more resilient to injury.

Unfortunately, when most martial artists think of strength training, they think of the massive muscles of a bodybuilder, and that scares them, because they do not want to lose their speed, power or flexibility.

Typically you will see most practitioners of the martial arts doing tons of pushups, skipping rope and maybe some “functional training” stuff like tire flipping, sledge hammer, med balls drills… all typically conditioning drills, but none of that stuff really develops their strength. But a properly done strength training program can make a martial artist faster, more powerful, more flexible, and resilient to damage.

If martial artists focus only on developing maximum strength and muscular size, the benefits of strength training become limited. Martial artists must react with power to opponent's attack and maintain that power over numerous rounds. Simply lifting weights is not the best approach.

Martial arts-specific strength training programs are fundamental to an martial artists development and success.

Unfortunately, most strength training programs fall well short of what an athlete requires...

Bodybuilding and Olympic weightlifting programs still dominate many athletes' training regimes. While these types of training have their place, strength training for martial arts consists of a more refined approach than just following your favorite fitness magazines program of the month.