In this second post regarding load-bearing, I'd like to talk about some of my experiences with "humping" with loads, i.e.: bearing weight and carrying it for moderate distances. This type of exercise is totally separate to Bagua, but I have found it to be an excellent supplemental activity.
The basics:
Most of my inspiration for and information regarding this practice has come from the US Navy SEAL Physical Fitness Guide (for anyone who has itunes, the guide can be purchased for 1 US dollar; certainly the best 99-cent buy I've ever encountered). The Guide's basic recommendations for load-bearing practice are these: Start with a load of 20% of one's total bodyweight; ideally carry it at least once a week (once every two weeks is okay for maintenance, and 2 times per week is ok for those who have the time). If carrying once a week, carry it 5 miles and do this for 2 weeks before attempting to carry 25% body weight. Continue on like this until 40% bodyweight is reached (the maximum weight for efficient load-bearing). Hold the 40% level for 4 weeks and instead of increasing weight, start to increase distance, e.g.: 8 miles, 12 miles etc. This does not mean that one cannot exceed the 40% limit, merely that one should not do so with one's Main load-bearing practice, as it will decrease the overall efficiency of the load-bearing performance.
What I have been doing so far:
I am 200 pounds and 40 pounds seemed a bit light to me, so I started this practice with a 25% load (50 pounds). Going 5 miles with this load the first time was utterly exhausting, but 2 days later I did another 50 pound load for 7 miles, and the next week I switched to 60 pounds, going 5 miles and then again 2 days later going 7 miles. Again, I bore the 60 pounds for only a week until jumping to 70. 70 was killer (and resulted in a slight decrease in over all speed), and I spent about 2.5 weeks working with 70, including spending 3 hours load-bearing on a mountain as the finale for 70 pounds. I have now
switched to 80 pounds (40% of my body-weight) and I originally noticed a serious reduction to my overall speed of movement the first several attempts. This last time my speed was largely improved, suggesting my body is starting to somewhat adapt. I intend to hold this level of intensity for the recommended 4 weeks, and looking back on the difficulties suffered during my first session and also my first session with 70 pounds, I have concluded that it would have been prudent to have strictly followed the Guide's recommendations from the get-go.
Why I like load-bearing:
Load-bearing is simple. You bear a fixed weight, you travel a fixed distance and at a certain speed. Hence, while this form of exercise is very intense, it is hard to cheat yourself as there are only 3 variables: weight, distance and speed. Furthermore, as the distance is fixed, the slower you are, the longer you have to bear the weight; so there is every motivation to move as fast as possible (even engaging in short small-stepped runs when energy permits) so as to complete the distance and finish the exercise. Taking off the load before one has finished is also a non-option as the body rushes into recovery mode, and having to put the weight back on is far more painful than having left it on in the first place.
For heavy individuals, load-bearing is an excellent means of shedding unproductive bodyweight (it burns a lot of calories); for weaker individuals it's a great way to build strength, endurance and mental fortitude. Load-bearing at moderate or even heavy weights (50% or more than total body weight) is an excellent exercise for strengthening the shoulders and the back; the legs also derive benefit, though they require a bit more attention. Depending on how one bears the weight, the arms & hands can also get involved.
Developing the legs:
YSB requires that the legs be strong throughout a large range of motion (consider the low-stances, low turning, the variety of stepping and kicking methods, etc.). Regular load-bearing, while it will help strengthen the legs, will not necessarily develop in accords with a large range of motion. As this is the case, one will have to specifically find appropriate environments or exercises to target the legs. The SEAL Guide recommends that one should do load-bearing in a cross-country environment and I am guessing that leg-development is at least one possible consideration that led to such a recommendation. If one is walking up hills, especially steep ones, it forces the leg to go through a greater range of motion and offers a larger degree of development. If one does not have access to an ideal environment for leg-work, exercises can be created to generate similar results. As I generally load-bear within the city of Beijing, a very flat city, I have to work in exercises to burn out the legs. I have experimented with different kinds, but my favorite two exercises are these: 1. Finding a suitable ledge that I can stand one leg on with the leg bent and slightly above parallel with the ground, then driving off that leg so that the leg straightens and the other leg hangs in the air (or, alternatively, also comes to stand on the ledge). One just keeps doing this, driving up off the leg and then setting the other foot back down, switching sides when one leg has been exhausted. This works the quads and is somewhat similar to a one-legged squat. 2. Beijing has some bridges that have fairly steep, diagonal paths for rolling bikes. I will bend the legs to adopt a low stance and then slowly walk up one of these paths on the balls of my feet. After doing this a good number of times, I will then go one step at a time, holding the posture until it becomes too painful and then switch legs. When the calves get too tired to even hold the posture, I take very small steps constantly up until I come to the top of the bridge. I generally wait until I am at least 3/4s done with the course before attempting either of these exercises as they are both highly exhausting, and when the legs become heavily fatigued, one's speed or ability to shuffle-run becomes diminished. It is also important that one pays special attention to the knees when doing such exercises so as not to injure them. Both of these exercises are actually fairly kind to healthy knees, but I have thrown out a few other exercises that were not so.
-Eric
Wednesday, 24 February 2010
Sunday, 7 February 2010
Stockholm Workshop 2010 - Day 5
Did a comprehensive review of kicking and the cutting strike combinations and their application. Combinations of phoenix system dodging strikes were trained with a focus on both arms working together. Technique set-up performed by the supporting hand was emphasized during application. It was a great workshop, thanks to the YSB Stockholm crew for training really hard over these 5 days!
-Matt
-Matt
Stockholm Workshop 2010 - Day 4
Continued application training of cutting strike combinations. Focused on attention to detail during strike power training. It's the small things that make the difference between a technique working well or not at all. Began training dodging strikes from phoenix system to help develop shoulder power in striking. Hip kicks from the monkey system were also trained in partner drills.
-Matt
-Matt
Stockholm Workshop 2010 - Day 3
Trained cutting strike combinations that emphasize maximum power generation in a short distance. Application drills emphasized use of the combinations in both offensive and defensive situations with quick changes to neutralize the opponent's block or attack. Various stomping kicks from the Monkey system were trained, with a focus on using the whole body to generate power in each kick.
-Matt
-Matt
Thursday, 4 February 2010
Stockholm Workshop 2010 - Day 2
Today we continued applying combinations of the sweep strike. We trained use of body movement and positioning to draw out the opponent and force a commitment to attack. Various ways to move the opponent off of his center of balance were used as an attack force multiplier.
-Matt
-Matt
Wednesday, 3 February 2010
Stockholm Workshop 2010 - Day 1
I'm in Stockholm, not in Beijing. Life is good!
Today's major focus was on applied strike combinations. Skill in applying this art comes only with a solid understanding of the underlying theory behind your technique. We looked systematically at the set-up of various Lion system sweep strikes in both offensive and defensive situations. Manipulation of the opponent's reaction and advantageous body positioning were among the key points we worked to improve. Foundational saber techniques were drilled to improve strength and coordination, and we finished the day training the Bending kick of Monkey system.
One down, four to go...
-Matt
Today's major focus was on applied strike combinations. Skill in applying this art comes only with a solid understanding of the underlying theory behind your technique. We looked systematically at the set-up of various Lion system sweep strikes in both offensive and defensive situations. Manipulation of the opponent's reaction and advantageous body positioning were among the key points we worked to improve. Foundational saber techniques were drilled to improve strength and coordination, and we finished the day training the Bending kick of Monkey system.
One down, four to go...
-Matt
Tuesday, 2 February 2010
Load-Bearing Training as a Supplemental Exercise for YSB
I'm writing this post in two parts to detail some of my experiments with load-bearing exercises. The first part is on load-bearing during turning and the second part will cover "humps", i.e.: bearing weight for a moderate-to-long distance.
Part 1: Experiences of Load-Bearing during Turning
The idea of turning with weights is hardly novel. Any quick look at Bagua literature/folklore tells us stories and give us pictures of people turning with weights attached to their arms, weights held upon outstretched palms, weights placed directly on the trunk of the body, sabers of ever increasing weight held out for hours at a time et cetera. All of this is cool stuff and I've had some fun working weight-bearing practices into my turning. Here are a few things I have discovered from the process:
Weight placement: hand v. trunk.
The most basic issue to decide is, where will one place the extra weight? If one places weight on the hand/wrist, one has the benefit of added pain all the way through the arm and into the body, but the weight that an outstretched arm can bare is certainly less than what the trunk of the body can bear. Furthermore, while weight on an outstretched arm allows for an opportunity to develop the arm while holding to the stipulations of a Bagua posture, adding a moderate-to-heavy weight can easily compromise the posture, inclining one to contract the arm or resist back with the body in a way detrimental to the posture. I personally had to give up adding weights to my phoenix posture, because the weight-load I was using gradually became inappropriately high, resulting in detrimental habits that affected my posture even when turning without weights. I do not take this to mean that weight on an outstretched arm is a bad idea, but a light weight is probably preferable to either moderate or heavy (these classifications all being relative to the arm's strength).
The advantage of placing weight on the trunk is that a moderate weight ("moderate" for the trunk being about 20-40% of one's overall body weight) can be used, which ultimately allows one to work the legs harder. As turning offers a very unique way to develop the knees as they arch in and out during turning, the added weight allows one to amplify this development. Of course, the advantage of this method can also be its disadvantage, if one is not careful. When I turn absent-mindedly, I tend to not make my circle tight enough; when this happens and I turn for a decent amount of time, my right knee starts to bother me; when I add weight to the torso, therefore, I have to be extra careful of my stepping, or my potential for injurious pain is even more severe.
Balance:
How one balances the weight on one's body is significant, because awkward balancing can adversely affect posture if not compromise it entirely. Generally, if placing an excessive weight at the hand, posture will be compromised before balance, because the arm's strength is insufficient to compete with that of the legs. Even so, the extra weight, especially when placed at the center of the circle, will affect the balance of the entire body to compensate with the added weight. When moderate weight is placed on the torso, the method of placement becomes very important; if one places it all on the back or all on the chest, the result becomes a very unbalanced method of weight-bearing, where the balance and posture are tugged in one direction rather than simply staying centered.
Duration: If one adds weights to one's turning, how long should one add them? I suppose the answer of this question is really up to individual practitioners, their overall habits, the condition of their practice, and what they are trying to do. Personally, (with the exception of the opening turning posture with both hands on the circle, palms up) I prefer to add weights in at the end of a long turning session, when I'm ready to burn things out. If turning in the regular fashion for 1-2 hours, I may add 10 -20 minutes of the weight at the end, depending on the posture/goal. Generally, I also do a short period (about 5-10 minutes) of no weights after using the weights so as to confirm the posture is correct, restore regular bloodflow & make sure I close the practice in the most accurate way possible. Turning with the saber is an exception, because the saber has its own unique turning postures, so it seems more natural to me to turn exclusively with the saber for a period of time.
Turning with the saber:
The saber is a well-balanced way of adding weight and a full-proof way to practice weight-bearing exercises as the postures were specifically created for bearing weight. The only difficulties are, if one doesn't have the space to turn and/or if one wishes to increase the weight. Of the two, the first is the most problematic, as the second can always be addressed by lengthening the duration of the exercise. I have the former problem as I generally turn indoors due to convenience, the horrendous environmental conditions outside and a necessary avoidance of the local population who look upon & address a non-Chinese practitioner of anything Chinese as if a retarded monkey from their favorite laugh-at-the-foreigner's-expense TV shows.
Postures:
Obviously, there are many different turning postures and each will affect the way weight can be beared, presenting its own unique results. Recently, my two favorite weight-bearing postures have been these: 1. the opening posture for turning where the arms are extended at shoulder height, palms up--This is a fun posture as one can place weights atop both palms (or attach weights to the wrists) and both hands are on the circle. By both being on the circle itself, and weighted in two places, the posture is very well-balanced, gives a nice bit of development pain, and gives me a chance to hold a posture that I generally use as a mere transitional movement. Furthermore, the natural extension of the arms allows for a decent amount of weight without easily compromising the posture of the arms. Starting with this posture, I find I can get pre-emptively sore before going into a serious session of regular turning. 2. A modified "lower palm" posture where the hands hold weights--As the arms are straight down at the sides, it becomes easier for the arms to bear weight that would be considered moderate for the entire body. This means it can offer many of the same benefits of placing weights directly on the trunk. Furthermore, like the prior posture, it allows the weights to be placed in two positions, assisting balance. Depending on the type of weight and the method by which they are held, it also gives the practitioner the additional perk of adding in some finger/grip/forearm training.
-Eric
Part 1: Experiences of Load-Bearing during Turning
The idea of turning with weights is hardly novel. Any quick look at Bagua literature/folklore tells us stories and give us pictures of people turning with weights attached to their arms, weights held upon outstretched palms, weights placed directly on the trunk of the body, sabers of ever increasing weight held out for hours at a time et cetera. All of this is cool stuff and I've had some fun working weight-bearing practices into my turning. Here are a few things I have discovered from the process:
Weight placement: hand v. trunk.
The most basic issue to decide is, where will one place the extra weight? If one places weight on the hand/wrist, one has the benefit of added pain all the way through the arm and into the body, but the weight that an outstretched arm can bare is certainly less than what the trunk of the body can bear. Furthermore, while weight on an outstretched arm allows for an opportunity to develop the arm while holding to the stipulations of a Bagua posture, adding a moderate-to-heavy weight can easily compromise the posture, inclining one to contract the arm or resist back with the body in a way detrimental to the posture. I personally had to give up adding weights to my phoenix posture, because the weight-load I was using gradually became inappropriately high, resulting in detrimental habits that affected my posture even when turning without weights. I do not take this to mean that weight on an outstretched arm is a bad idea, but a light weight is probably preferable to either moderate or heavy (these classifications all being relative to the arm's strength).
The advantage of placing weight on the trunk is that a moderate weight ("moderate" for the trunk being about 20-40% of one's overall body weight) can be used, which ultimately allows one to work the legs harder. As turning offers a very unique way to develop the knees as they arch in and out during turning, the added weight allows one to amplify this development. Of course, the advantage of this method can also be its disadvantage, if one is not careful. When I turn absent-mindedly, I tend to not make my circle tight enough; when this happens and I turn for a decent amount of time, my right knee starts to bother me; when I add weight to the torso, therefore, I have to be extra careful of my stepping, or my potential for injurious pain is even more severe.
Balance:
How one balances the weight on one's body is significant, because awkward balancing can adversely affect posture if not compromise it entirely. Generally, if placing an excessive weight at the hand, posture will be compromised before balance, because the arm's strength is insufficient to compete with that of the legs. Even so, the extra weight, especially when placed at the center of the circle, will affect the balance of the entire body to compensate with the added weight. When moderate weight is placed on the torso, the method of placement becomes very important; if one places it all on the back or all on the chest, the result becomes a very unbalanced method of weight-bearing, where the balance and posture are tugged in one direction rather than simply staying centered.
Duration: If one adds weights to one's turning, how long should one add them? I suppose the answer of this question is really up to individual practitioners, their overall habits, the condition of their practice, and what they are trying to do. Personally, (with the exception of the opening turning posture with both hands on the circle, palms up) I prefer to add weights in at the end of a long turning session, when I'm ready to burn things out. If turning in the regular fashion for 1-2 hours, I may add 10 -20 minutes of the weight at the end, depending on the posture/goal. Generally, I also do a short period (about 5-10 minutes) of no weights after using the weights so as to confirm the posture is correct, restore regular bloodflow & make sure I close the practice in the most accurate way possible. Turning with the saber is an exception, because the saber has its own unique turning postures, so it seems more natural to me to turn exclusively with the saber for a period of time.
Turning with the saber:
The saber is a well-balanced way of adding weight and a full-proof way to practice weight-bearing exercises as the postures were specifically created for bearing weight. The only difficulties are, if one doesn't have the space to turn and/or if one wishes to increase the weight. Of the two, the first is the most problematic, as the second can always be addressed by lengthening the duration of the exercise. I have the former problem as I generally turn indoors due to convenience, the horrendous environmental conditions outside and a necessary avoidance of the local population who look upon & address a non-Chinese practitioner of anything Chinese as if a retarded monkey from their favorite laugh-at-the-foreigner's-expense TV shows.
Postures:
Obviously, there are many different turning postures and each will affect the way weight can be beared, presenting its own unique results. Recently, my two favorite weight-bearing postures have been these: 1. the opening posture for turning where the arms are extended at shoulder height, palms up--This is a fun posture as one can place weights atop both palms (or attach weights to the wrists) and both hands are on the circle. By both being on the circle itself, and weighted in two places, the posture is very well-balanced, gives a nice bit of development pain, and gives me a chance to hold a posture that I generally use as a mere transitional movement. Furthermore, the natural extension of the arms allows for a decent amount of weight without easily compromising the posture of the arms. Starting with this posture, I find I can get pre-emptively sore before going into a serious session of regular turning. 2. A modified "lower palm" posture where the hands hold weights--As the arms are straight down at the sides, it becomes easier for the arms to bear weight that would be considered moderate for the entire body. This means it can offer many of the same benefits of placing weights directly on the trunk. Furthermore, like the prior posture, it allows the weights to be placed in two positions, assisting balance. Depending on the type of weight and the method by which they are held, it also gives the practitioner the additional perk of adding in some finger/grip/forearm training.
-Eric
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