There’s are many reasons that traditional martial artists have historically shied away from weight training.
One of the most commonly stated reasons is that they don’t want to be tight or “musclebound.”
Another reason is that the bigger your muscles, the greater the likelihood, especially when you get older, that you will suffer from insufficient qi flow to the vital organs and extremities.
But there’s one reason you’ve probably never heard before. It is this: Weight training strengthens and tones the muscles by shortening them whereas isometrics stretch and strengthen the tendons and ligaments. Therein lies the most valuable reason of them all.
When the body begins to break down, it is usually when the tendons and ligaments cannot handle the pressure being exerted. The muscles may be able to handle the stress, but something somewhere has to give.
Oftentimes you start off with aches and pains, then the pain becomes chronic and turns into tendinitis. After this you get tears or ruptures. Sometimes the tear or rupture is the first sign of something gone seriously wrong.
Achilles tendons, patella tendons, medial collateral ligaments, ulna collateral ligaments, torn rotator cuffs… these are some of the more common injuries that happen to “the best of the best” and the strongest of the strong.
But your chances of incurring these type of injuries are minimized dramatically when you plug isometrics into your workout regimen.
There are many forms of isometrics, but the most advantageous form of them is getting into specific postures or stances and holding them for time.
Take the traditional horse stance posture, for example. You lower your buttocks as though you are mounted on a horse, and you stay there until your legs are shaking and quaking. Truth be told, most people cannot hold a good horse stance for one minute without trembling. The same is true of the wall-chair position.
But when certain postures and stances are practiced over a period of several weeks, your tendons and ligaments get stronger and you are able to hold for longer periods of time. This increased tendon strength then lends itself to greater speed, power, mobility and springiness.
I was a freshman in college when I first learned the horse stance in a class on “relaxation techniques.” Despite being a collegiate wrestler, I was unable to hold the position very long. But over a period of weeks I was able to hold a low horse stance for two minutes, and this led to me becoming super fast and explosive.
Twas a shock to witness my ability to shoot in on an opponent and take him down with ease going to the next level. At the time I didn’t realize what gave me this explosiveness, but years later, when I began training in martial arts, I got the answer. And that is why, at almost 60 years of age, I am still quick, nimble and explosive.
When you practice isometric postures and stances, instead of relying solely on your muscles to push and pull, you teach your tendons to take over, giving you a coiling, whip-like springiness that others cannot muster. As the bodies of the weight trained get bulkier and tighter, you become much more agile and mobile, capable of exerting strength in positions that others cannot generate any force in.
You can fall to ground and spring off it, even from your belly or back while the muscle-bound are still struggling to get into position.
This whiplike springiness is what you develop in my new Power Postures program. And it pays huge dividends regardless of your age, your current level of physicality, or what sport or martial art you practice.
Currently I am accepting 17 more students at the current fee for this course, then it is going UP.
So spring into action NOW, my friend. Grab your share of the health that is waiting for you.
Get your spring on – and keep it going.
Go to PowerPostures.com and order NOW.
Matt Furey
