If you have little strength can you even do some damage?

[kehcorpz]

This question concerns me cause I have very little strength. I don't even know if this is "normal".
I have always been weak, I remember that. Back in school around 15 or so I was the worst in the entire
class when it came to exercises where you needed strength like shot put. I don't know if the girls were
better, too.

I also can't do even one regular pushup, no chance. And I'm not overweight, that's not it.

Around 20 I went to the gym for 2 years and tried to gain strength and muscle mass and I hardly made any progress.
I was worst at exercises which involve chest,shoulder,triceps. At back exercises like rowing or lat-pull on a machine I
was a bit better.
The highest weight I ever pushed on a bench was 110 lbs! And I did this after almost 2 years of training!
But when I was pressing 110lbs I already felt like this is pretty much the maximum my body can take. My shoulders
felt totally instable and I felt like it's simply too much weight.
If I had gone on steroids for example and then gotten more strength then I don't know if my body could even have
handled it if I had tried to press 150lbs for example.

Later I had to leave the gym cause my body just couldn't handle it. I had too many problems with different joints.
I really liked lifting and having to leave was awful cause this was the only hobby I enjoyed.
I really wish I could go back to the gym but it wouldn't make any sense I'd only end up with more pains and aches.
For example I have been having pain in my knee (when bending it) for over 1 year now. I didn't injure myself and I
don't know where it comes from. But I was never able to squat down for example without pain. If I try to squat
and go down to 90 degrees and then get back up it always stings in my knees.
If I now started to go back to the gym and then did leg exercises it would only make it worse in no time.

At my current state where I do not have the "strength" anymore from back then I'd probably be able to press
45lbs!

If I can only press ridiculous weights then this means I also cannot punch hard right? I mean how can you punch hard
if you don't have a strong chest,shoulders,triceps? These are the muscles needed for punching.
I have had nightmares about this when I tried to punch someone and it had absolutely no effect! It was terrible.

 

[Ironbear24]

That doesn't make any sense to me. Unless you have some sort of medical issue or something. Anyway, muscle size and lifting strength does not equal how hard you can hit.

It is more about technique than muscle strength. It's all about how you push off the floor and distribute that force to the punch or kick.

I can lift 300 pounds on a bench press and I have that same nightmare you have. My punches move slow like molasses and my kicks and punches do nothing when they hit. It is caused by terrible self esteem. Your self esteem sucks, you have to change that.

More importantly it is caused by low self confidence.

 

[geezer]

First, let's be honest: Sure, some martial arts depend much more on muscular strength than others. But, if you can't do even one push up, you are going to have a heck of a time generating punching power ...regardless of what art you train.

Just curious. When you went to that gym, did you work with qualified trainers and follow a solid training regimen, chart your progress, monitor your nutritional intake, etc? Because if you did and really made so little progress, you probably should see a physician, have a complete physical with lab-work and see if there is a metabolic problem.

I have some of those issues now -- namely joint pain, difficulty losing weight and putting on muscle, etc. But I'm over 60. You are a young guy. Get to a doctor, find out if you are OK first. If the problem isn't physical, consider seeing a therapist. Or, get into a training program. Then find the answers for yourself.

 

[mograph]

I mean how can you punch hard
if you don't have a strong chest,shoulders,triceps? These are the muscles needed for punching.

This is very true if your punching doesn't use your legs. However, if you bring your legs into it, your upper body needs to do less work.
Can you practice pushing a heavy door by aligning your body and pushing with your legs? Get your upper body aligned so it acts as the tool doing the work directed by your legs.
To get the arms aligned for that, practice leaning against a wall (facing it) in such a way as the muscles in your arms to the least work. So they need to be spread just right, angled just right. You could eventually try it on the floor -- no need to push up, just use gravity to test your alignment -- the effort should feel distributed, not focused on triceps or chest. Once you get that, try it with heavy doors. You can practice this during your normal day as you go through doors. Check and see where the effort is: if it's in your arms, they're not aligned right. When you start to feel it in your tailbone or your legs (ideally, the soles of your feet) as you push, you're better aligned.

If you want another opinion, check out the tai chi classics: strength is "rooted in the feet, developed in the legs, directed by the waist, and manifest in the hands.” It's not rooted in the chest, shoulders or biceps.

 

[Monkey Turned Wolf]

From this and other posts by you, it sounds like you might have some sort of muscular disorder. As has been stated multiple times however, that's something you should bring to your physician rather than on here (not that I'm suggesting this is one of those posts...you weren't asking us to diagnose this time around, and your question was directly related to MA).

As an answer to your question: my general answer would be yes. Even without much strength you can do some damage, especially in a self-defense scenario. However, if there is an issue where you can't even do one pushup, I am not sure this would be the case. If you can lift 110 ibs, that's more than enough strength to be able to protect yourself, although as you stated that's no longer the case. Where your punches stop being effective due to lack of strength would depend primarily on the art, and the target of the punches. With throws, I have no clue how the lack of strength might affect you.

Regarding the nightmares, like Ironbear said he can lift 300 and still has the nightmares. I've been in fights where my strikes were effective, and I still get those feelings. It's unrelated to your actual ability, and more than likely a self-esteem issue above all else.

Are you able to kick with any power?

 

[Prostar]

So if you can strike with precision you can be very effective.The knees are great targets. There are also some nice nerves to strike in the legs. Pressure points can be lots of fun also.

The point is that you don't need great strength to be effective.

 

[kehcorpz]

Now I'm scared. Muscular disorder?!
I wouldn't even know which doctor to go to for something like this.

If it was a muscular disorder then why for example am I better at back exercises than at chest exercises?
I was only using machines but on the back machines I could use relatively much weight.

I'm also skinny. On my chest for example there really isn't much it's mostly skin and bones. I can see the ribs under the skin.
So it's not like I have a lot of muscle and little strength. The question is should I be able to do pushups even when I'm skinny?!
What shall I do? Go to my GP and tell him I can't even do 1 pushup?! What if he thinks I'm crazy? I don't want to make myself look
stupid.

I get blood works done regularly but it's the ordinary stuff.

My triceps are also really weak and they quickly exhaust.
For example when I'm laying in bed on my back and holding up a book or a cellphone
then my tricep muscle quickly starts to burn and exhaust! I can't even read a book in bed
very long cause my arm exhausts!

I used supplements back then like whey protein,amino acids,creatine.
What I didnt do is count calories. I didnt really know how many calories I needed per day but
let's say I ate a little too less (which I dont even know) then should I not still have improved?
I mean most people likely press more than me without ever touching a dumbell....

Also today I'd definitely NOT be able to push 110lbs. I haven't worked out in years and logically
I'm much weaker than back then when I pressed 110lbs.

I don't know how much power my kicks have. I can't measure this.

-> However, if you bring your legs into it, your upper body needs to do less work.

Do you mean twisting your body and using the core muscles to generate more power?
Cause other than that I don't know how to use the legs.

-> So if you can strike with precision you can be very effective.The knees are great targets.

Isn't the knee a bit low for striking? Or do you mean kicking?

 

[Kung Fu Wang]

Try to find a street sign and see if you can do this. If you are serious, spend 3 years on this training with 10 times (hang on the pole until you can't hang on any more) daily.

 

[kehcorpz]

What's so great about pole hanging? This exercise doesn't even train the entire body.

 

[Midnight-shadow]

I feel that this is a rather irrelevant question as at the start of your training (assuming you start your training) you will be focusing on technique above everything else. You start slow and light to develop the technique and muscle memory, so strength isn't necessary. Once you have developed the good technique you will start to put in more speed and power, but that could take months or even a year of training. By that point you will have naturally gained more strength and stamina just from training regularly. Nobody is going to expect you to do full contact sparring right off the bat (I hope!) so strength doesn't play a part in it at the start.

 

[kehcorpz]

But in order to gain strength isn't lifting weights most effective? But if I wasn't able to gain much strength through lifting then
other things will be even less effective imo.

 

[Midnight-shadow]

But in order to gain strength isn't lifting weights most effective? But if I wasn't able to gain much strength through lifting then
other things will be even less effective imo.

Weight lifting alone doesn't make you an effective fighter. It can help, but it's not the be-all and end-all of it. Also you'd be surprised how much damage you can inflict with little strength. I'm not very strong either compared to a lot of people, but I know that if I hit the correct spot on my opponent, I can cripple them very easily. That's why good technique will trump strength any day of the week.

 

[Tames D]

How tall are you and how much do you weigh?

 

[kehcorpz]

But how do I know which spots to hit to cripple people?

6 feet, 160lbs. I lack at least 40lbs muscle mass in order to look halfway normal.

 

[Jaeimseu]

But how do I know which spots to hit to cripple people?

6 feet, 160lbs. I lack at least 40lbs muscle mass in order to look halfway normal.

Why do you need to cripple people?


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[Chris Parker]

But how do I know which spots to hit to cripple people?

6 feet, 160lbs. I lack at least 40lbs muscle mass in order to look halfway normal.

Go to a damn school and find out.

Frankly, all your doubts, concerns, worries, and problems are based in the fact that you don't have the first clue about what martial art training is actually like. Muscular strength is not the be-all end-all. It will likely not even be any focus of most arts you might train in. I have students who out-weigh me by 20-30 kilos of muscle… and they don't have much chance with me. I have a student who's 4'9", maybe (maybe!) 45 kilos if she's lucky (probably less), and the other guys know that when she hits, she hits.

Get to a school. Find out that all of your concerns are out of place.

 

[Skullpunch]

If I can only press ridiculous weights then this means I also cannot punch hard right? I mean how can you punch hard
if you don't have a strong chest,shoulders,triceps? These are the muscles needed for punching.

Those are all secondary muscles in punching. The primary muscles are in your hips. That's how Mike Tyson was able to generate such insane power from such close range, it's not that he could bench press 1000 lbs but he had tremendous rotational power throughout his hip structure and used all of it when he torqued his body behind his best shot.

Clearly barbell training isn't really for you, so do something else man. I'm not real big on barbell training either. I made the switch from barbells and nautilus machines to kettlebells and olympic gymnastics rings a couple of years back and I'm still getting stronger, still getting faster, and my stamina and core strength and stability are at a higher level than ever. And on top of that my joints feel fantastic (wrists, low back, and elbows were chronically bothering me when I was doing heavy barbell training).

Most importantly, if you're not exaggerating then it seems most likely that there is some medical issue going on that you need to have checked out. I know one poster mentioned muscular disorder, that's possible, but it could also be low testosterone - have you ever had your hormone levels checked? If not then do so asap. One way or another you need to get your *** to a doctor about this.

 

[WaterGal]

Dude. You don't need to bench press 200lbs to study martial arts. If you did, few women and no children would be able to do it. If you have good body mechanics you can hit hard even without a lot of upper body strength. So stop worrying so much and just go try it out.

 

[MAfreak]

force = mass * acceleration.
so if you are light but therefore fast (because the muscles don't have to accelerate many weight) than you can compensate (a little bit. weight classes aren't there for nothing). if not, lets be honest, even with magical martial arts, there will be not much damage UNLESS you train the most dangerous techniques to hit areas where no one has muscles or at least not strong enough, for example "karate chops" to the throat etc.
i could also recommend a cane for everyone who has physiological issues and wants something to compensate that for self defense.

 

[Blindside]

But how do I know which spots to hit to cripple people?

6 feet, 160lbs. I lack at least 40lbs muscle mass in order to look halfway normal.

You go and train. You have a ridiculous number of excuses to not to go to actually visit anywhere. Go train, at this point you should almost randomly pick one, because you clearly can't make a decision.