I'm in need for some advice.

[dominate_warrior]

Hello, fellow Martial Artists!

I'm a beginner martial artist in taekwondo. I would like some feed back for good strength training exercises and stretching techniques that have helped you all improve your skill.

I don't want to become a very buff human being because that look doesn't seem right on a girls body. But I would like to become lean and quick. I am almost 5'5 about 120 Female, so nothing too difficult but challenging at the same time.

Like I said, I am new to this community, and to martial arts, but I'm tough (or at least that's what I am described as)

But please, I am up to do everything I possibly can to make myself better. I have finally found something enjoyable and exciting that I am actually good at. So daily/weekly workout options, etc. everything a person in the martial arts should know!

Thanks You!

 

[Kung Fu Wang]

good strength training exercises

Static stretch:

dynamic stretch:

 

[dominate_warrior]

I cannot open those pictures you said on the thread...I am on an iPad

 

[Dirty Dog]

Unless you're planning to be a professional full contact fighter, I don't generally advocate a lot of heavy weight training. Body weight exercises and cardio are probably the most useful the "typical" martial artist.

As far as flexibility, stretch every day. Every day. No excuses.
The areas most people have the most difficulty with are the hips and lower back.
There are countless YouTube videos showing various stretches, and frankly that's a lot better than trying to describe them.
There are some general guidelines for stretching, however.
Stretching should be done at the end of your workout. Warm muscles stretch. Cold muscles tear.
Go into a stretch and stay there. 30 seconds minimum, preferably longer. Don't bounce. Bouncing tears, it does not stretch.
Stretch to the point of discomfort, but not pain. Yes, you'll feel it pulling, but if it hurts, you're doing it wrong.

You can combine stretching, core strength exercises and balance drills. One of my favorites:
Get in whatever fighting stance you're using. Now pull your leg up into the chambered position for a front kick. Hold it there. As high as you can. Higher... Now stand there and hold it like that. Now do the same for a roundhouse. And a side kick.

When you can hold it as high as you want for as long as you want in the chambered position, do it again, but this time slowly extend the kick and hold it at full extension. Higher. That's still not high enough!

 

[drop bear]

Hill sprints.

 

[Drose427]

What Dirty Dog said is a good start, we usally do it in our class at least once a week. If your balance isnt great yet leaning on a wall is acceptable for a while, but be careful about still using it when you don't need to. For strength and accuracy, i have a tennis ball hanging from my rafters on a string with incremented knots that I can lower and raise, although it usually stays at about head level.. I do all four basic kicks 100 times with each leg. Obviously you should start lower, but its a good way to train accuracy while building muscle and honing your kicks.

 

[WaterGal]

Hello, fellow Martial Artists!

I'm a beginner martial artist in taekwondo. I would like some feed back for good strength training exercises and stretching techniques that have helped you all improve your skill.

I don't want to become a very buff human being because that look doesn't seem right on a girls body. But I would like to become lean and quick. I am almost 5'5 about 120 Female, so nothing too difficult but challenging at the same time.

It's pretty tough for a woman to get bulky muscles like men do, even if they do weight training, so don't worry about that. My understanding is that most of the time, women need to take steroids or hormones to get that effect.

 

[Dirty Dog]

What Dirty Dog said is a good start, we usally do it in our class at least once a week. If your balance isnt great yet leaning on a wall is acceptable for a while, but be careful about still using it when you don't need to. For strength and accuracy, i have a tennis ball hanging from my rafters on a string with incremented knots that I can lower and raise, although it usually stays at about head level.. I do all four basic kicks 100 times with each leg. Obviously you should start lower, but its a good way to train accuracy while building muscle and honing your kicks.

Suggestion... replace the string with bungee cord. And kick it while it's bouncing around.

 

[dominate_warrior]

It's pretty tough for a woman to get bulky muscles like men do, even if they do weight training, so don't worry about that. My understanding is that most of the time, women need to take steroids or hormones to get that effect.

I would never consider doing that. That is a bit much and like really dangerous. I just want to train like a pro!

 

[Touch Of Death]

Duck walking, Horse Stance while watching TV, make it hurt.

 

[Xue Sheng]

body weight exercises, cardio and stretching

 

[Rachel2012]

Plyometrics....do you have p90x? That will really work you out to get stronger....

 

[BeeBrian]

Hello, fellow Martial Artists!

I'm a beginner martial artist in taekwondo. I would like some feed back for good strength training exercises and stretching techniques that have helped you all improve your skill.

I don't want to become a very buff human being because that look doesn't seem right on a girls body. But I would like to become lean and quick. I am almost 5'5 about 120 Female, so nothing too difficult but challenging at the same time.

Like I said, I am new to this community, and to martial arts, but I'm tough (or at least that's what I am described as)

But please, I am up to do everything I possibly can to make myself better. I have finally found something enjoyable and exciting that I am actually good at. So daily/weekly workout options, etc. everything a person in the martial arts should know!

Thanks You!

Hi. I'm gonna play the devil's advocate here and say that you should really lift weights.

Like what was said, women generally can't get big. Natural or added, there's just not enough testosterone in their systems.

You're young and you should capitalize on that by lifting weights while you're still growing.

As far as which specific training programs to do, look up Madcow 5x5. It's a great program for building overall body strength. Once you hit a 225-pound squat, 135-pound bench press and 5 strict pull ups, put yourself on maintenance mode. Those stats are strong for a woman, but never masculine.

And eat. Eat a lot. 2500-3000 calories of nutrient-dense food will build you up. Soon you'll be the next Gina Carano.

 

[Shai Hulud]

Hello, friend!

Finding the balance between stretching and strength training is a sticky issue. Whether you choose to find a balance or lean more toward either spectrum largely depends on your goals. A gymnast, for example, may opt to train with body-weight and weights in the similar range rather than power-lift double his/her body-weight or more. Flexibility in this case is of paramount importance. A strongman or powerlifter however, will try to overload himself/herself and may choose to focus more on joint mobility, since excessive flexibility beyond the standard may compromise performance in this second case.

That being said, most combat sports are fascinating because they require remarkable flexibility in the legs backed by powerful explosive movements from the core (Taekwondo, Muay Thai, Karate, and Savate among many, many more!). There is a wonderful book on plyometric and flexibility training by Marc de Bremaeker called "Plyo-Flex" (c/o Turtle Press) that may interest you. You will have to develop functional, sport-specific strength alongside with flexibility. Plyometrics training will help you achieve this explosive power. I highly recommend this book, or another titled "Relax into Stretching" by Pavel Tsatsouline at Dragon Door. That one features forced relaxation techniques, a personal favorite of mine.

You will also have to work on your general conditioning (cardiovascular conditioning) and an appropriate strength training program to complement it. The stuff from Martin Rooney like his books "Training for Warriors", "Ultimate Warrior Workouts" and "Warrior Cardio" is very interesting and insightful into training for combat sports. You may want to look into him as well. I also highly recommend training with kettle-bells and/or jump rope. Body-weight training is also a viable option for anybody. The roads to Rome are many. Just pick your path and stick to it!

One may argue that all the research and effort that goes into martial arts training is burdensome, especially if you wish to be informed and educated about what you're doing, and that even then it's going to take a while. Yes, training for martial arts does take a while.

Rome wasn't built in a day, but it can be and was built nevertheless.

Enjoy Taekwondo, and happy training!

 

[drop bear]

Here is a fun one we did. Five minute sets one minute off. Just keep repeating untill the time runs out.
Set one.
20 mountain climbers.
20 jump squats.
20 jumping split lunges.

set 2
farmers walks with 10 shoulder shrugs.
20 tuck jumps.
20 v snaps.

set 3.
with a barbell. Hold the bar at your chest jump and push it straight out. 20 times

20 spring pushups.

get a medicine ball squat,throw it as high as you can catch,squat. 10 times.

we do 2 rotations as a warm up.