Training with heavy materials for strength?

[JeffGentry]

Hey David
pretty much if it work's you thigh's it will help to stabilze the knee most muscle's of the thigh are attached to the upper fiba or tiba with ligament's running through the knee either in front or behind.

Jeff

[TimSheetz]

Hi Dave,

One motion up and down in about one second's time. Not explosive but not slow.

I use Matt Furey's combative conditioning book for exercises. I do unweighted squats for my knees.

The 50 year old I trained with last year had knee problems.. after doing these exercises with me (even having some doubts) his knees got stronger and more stable. Now he can do 180 squats without stopping. Everyone has thier own issues. My knees creak less when I keep them well trained and I use squats to do that. It seems to work for me.

Tim

[Douglas S]

Gary: You'll do fine, I'm sure. Most trainers I know have the ACE cert in addition to whatever else they've picked up. <img src="/forum/images/icons/smile.gif" alt="" />

[Douglas S]

David, do you have "bad" or injured knees? It might help to know your age. Do you have pain in your knees?

Or do you want to know how to strengthen your legs in general?

[GaryGrzybek]

Thanks Douglas <img src="/forum/images/icons/smile.gif" alt="" />

[David Kite]

Douglas,

I'm 27.

My knees aren't injured or "bad" per se. I think I may have a touch of arthritis in them though. Depending on the weather they may ache (suddenly cold and/or humid or dry), and after a considerable time riding horses with a saddle they feel as though they've got pins jabbed through them and it takes a moment to be able to stand straight.

I can't sit on them for long (in JSA's seiza). I can't even cross my legs for more than a minute or two. And unless I keep my shin bone in line with my thigh bone climbing a ladder can get a little uncomfortable.

I'm not crippled and the above isn't debilitating yet, just a little painful and uncomfortable. I can do swordwork for extended periods and run around through the woods and creek beds and ride bikes and horses bareback, etc with no pain or discomfort whatsoever.

Leg exercises I think would do me some good (I think; I have no knowledge of sports medicine or anything), though squats do give me some discomfort just below the kneecaps. Ligament strain, maybe? And they pop a lot too.

David "old before my time" Kite
ARMA in IN

[David Craig]

I use Matt Furey's combative conditioning book for exercises. I do unweighted squats for my knees.

The 50 year old I trained with last year had knee problems.. after doing these exercises with me (even having some doubts) his knees got stronger and more stable. Now he can do 180 squats without stopping. Everyone has thier own issues. My knees creak less when I keep them well trained and I use squats to do that. It seems to work for me.

Tim

Tim,

A different David here... About two months or so ago, I started doing an routine incorporating a number of the Farmer Burns exercises, both unweighted and with light dumbbells. Burns has that same "Hindu squat," although the arm motion is different. I just started doing small numbers of them (without the weights).

I was concerned that they might have a negative effect on the knees, since I've always heard that squats can be bad. I am 40 but have never had any knee or leg problems and I don't want to create any <img src="/forum/images/icons/smile.gif" alt="" />. But from what you say it appears that they are actually helpful in strengthening the knees. How many repetitions did you do when you were first starting out? Can you recommend a rate of increase in repetitions? Right now I have never done more than 20. Thanks for any advice,

David Craig

[JeffGentry]

Hey David C.

The thing with squat's is you can create alot of problem's if you us excessive weight, other than body weight unless you are a very big person, just doing squat's with lite weight you should be fine, i was a runner and cycler for year's and have never had any knee problem's, i was alway's careful though so i would not have knee problem's i am 37 now and have done alot of damage to other part's of my body, i think some of the reason i have not injured my knee's is because i tried to keep my leg's strong and tried to becareful not to injure my knee's.


Jeff

P.s David Kite, relax don't sweat it let those knee's stiffen so i can kick your butt at the 1.1 in april, lol.

[Douglas S]

You don't have to go down all of the way to get a conditioning effect from squats. There's a fad in fitness recently, to follow the programs of the oldest Victorian strongmen, which I think is misguided.
Look into variations of the lunge exercise, this is very similar to what we use in the WMA (to bring it back on topic). <img src="/forum/images/icons/smile.gif" alt="" />

[JeffGentry]

Hey David S.

You have a good point there my leg's were stiff and sore for the first few week's of practice when i first started practicing this, all the leaping and thrusting and such, i had forgotten about that.

Jeff

[brian phillips]

just "weighing in" on the weight training... <img src="/forum/images/icons/tongue.gif" alt="" />

Sand-filled pipes are very useful. Be careful to
start easy, keep it nice and slow, and DO NOT SNAP
the strikes.. blow out your joints that way.

Done properly weighted blunt training is a great
way to build power without increasing your chances
of "swordsman's elbow".

I've been using them for FMA for years with great
success and they seem to work in a similar
fashion for holding the ARMA-style "guards"
(at least thus far... ).

One thing that is also really good for power
training is to use the extra weight to
isolate sections of your body (say do
the cut with "mostly" your shoulder, or
"mostly" the step.. etc.). Then when you
go back to doing full power full speed
cuts your effective strength just improved.

[TimSheetz]

Hi Dave C.,

I am not a certified physical trainer. That being said, I have trained a lot of people.

The thing about squats based on MF's book, is that they do not go down all the way - your thighs go til they are parallel with the ground/floor if you can.

I started with 50 and It really got my attention! I was sore for some time after... but it is important to start at an appropriate number and not hurt yourself. I think that starting a little low but consistently working it up will help make gains faster in the long run. You can look at it as really doing one set til temporary muscle failure sets in (not recommended for starters), or set a time limit and keep count, or do a set amount. You can do them in sets. I do not add any weight at all. The biggest weights I use are 5 pounds (not including my 20 pound weight vest for 'armor' workouts). No making fun of me!

Doing these got my knees to stop creaking and cracking. Like I said before, my friend had knee issues and could barrely do certain things cause of knee pain. He is up to 180 squats without stopping. I helped him prep for Airborne school, which at almost 50 years old was a challenge for him.

On the other hand, I know folks who are unaware of their limitations and try to jump into this and hurt them selves on the first step.

That's my two cents.

Tim

[Douglas S]

The thing about squats based on MF's book, is that they do not go down all the way - your thighs go til they are parallel with the ground/floor if you can.

<img src="/forum/images/icons/laugh.gif" alt="" /> Now you know which book I haven't read.

[TimSheetz]

Hi Doug,

I do like Matt Furey's combative conditioning book. What I don't like is some of his marketing.. but everyone has to make a living.

Some of the testimonials about the exercises are pretty compelling.

Anyway, it is worth reading I think.

Peace,

Tim

[Chris Readle]

Hi Tim,

You may not remember me, but we met briefly the last time you were here in VA Beach. I was the tall long hair other than Joel <img src="/forum/images/icons/wink.gif" alt="" />.

At any rate, I was curious about your training regimen. I've recently become interested in bodyweight/calisthenic based exercises and I'd like to hear from someone who's clearly "getting it right" as to what they do.

Now, I realize that with my current fitness level (which is to say, not very) I won't be able to do anywhere near your reps, but just as a general outline to follow would be nice.

Thanks,

crr