If you preparing to take your life into your own hands, or even if you are a seasoned athlete, there are still areas of fitness that will be of benefit to you for future consideration.
Those of you who are serious about training properly, have no doubt heard of plyometrics. For those of you that havent, you are missing out on one of the best ways of improving strength and speed. The principle behind plyometrics came from the former Eastern Bloc, and involves training at high intensity with slow actions, followed by high intensity and quick actions. This results in the muscle contracting at its lengthened stage, thus causing it to create more power. An example of this is jumping over a hurdle, and jumping immediately again once landed.
This form of training greatly improves strength and speed, and as martial artists, this makes for stunning improvements. The ability to beat the opponent to the punch, evade punches like Naseem Hamed, and deliver stunningly venomous blows are all too much to be missed out on.
To develop the arms, plyometric push-ups can be utilised. The press-ups, much like those seen in the Rocky movies, involve the person pushing himself or herself off the floor during the push up phase. To add rhythm to the exercise, a clap can be added to the movement. On the decline, the person would control their landing to absorb the shock, and at the same time, they would begin to launch themselves up again. A standard arm width would work the front deltoids, the mid pectorals and the forearms. Altering the arm positioning would work different muscle groups.
If your are trying to develop and enhance muscle growth, then it is worth knowing that when lifting weights, the 'lowering' stage of the exercise is the real muscle builder. The pushing stage involves exerting a high force, which is easier on the eccentric contraction (lengthening/stretching) than on the concentric contraction (shortening/bending). The lowering stage is often referred to as the negative stage, and if this is done slowly and controlled, then the muscle is doing more work than when it is performed quickly and uncontrolled. Be warned, the negatives will cause muscle soreness, so don't overdo them at first. (Fitnesslink, Aug 2000)
Given that stomach crunches are best for abdominal building, there is a reverse version, that will have the same effect, with less strain on the back. Laying on your back, with your palms flat on the floor, curl your hips towards you chest, and straighten again. without putting your feet on the floor. Done slowly, and controlled (see above article), this will place all the strain on the lower abdominal area. (Latimes.com Aug 2000)
Before you start interval training there are things to consider. The four main principles are distance, reps, intensity and rest, and it is unwise to perform this type of exercise more than three times a week. This type of training involves performing repeated exercises at set distances and times. This helps the body move at faster speeds, by training the nervous system to react quicker, increasing the hearts ability to pump blood and helping the cells to cope better with metabolism. A good example of interval training would be for a kickboxer to hit the bag for 15 one-minute intervals, with 1 minute of rest between bouts. (Davis et al, 1995)