| According to various sources on the internet, | | | | requiring a partner: |
| a 1996 article in Iron Man Magazine revealed | | | | |
| Bruce Lee's workout. In addition to his | | | | Hitting bag with upper elbow and side of |
| cardio and karate workouts, Lee lifted | | | | elbow - 200 times each |
| weights three times a week and performed the | | | | |
| following routine: | | | | Practicing jumping kick with bag |
| | | | |
| clean and presses 2 x 8 | | | | Exercises for neck (with partner) |
| | | | |
| squats 2 x 12 | | | | Leg exercise (squat with partner on back) |
| | | | |
| barbell pullovers 2 x 8 | | | | Back and Abdomen exercises with |
| | | | partnerElsewhere in the book, Oyama said that |
| bench presses 2 x 6 | | | | he would bench press 175 pounds 500 times a |
| | | | day.Then there are karate-specific exercises |
| good mornings 2 x 8 | | | | such as straw striking and exercises that are |
| | | | specific to board and stone breaking |
| barbell curls 2 x 8 | | | | abilities. All this was in addition to |
| | | | practicing forms, sparring, etc.Comparing Lee |
| Unfortunately, he injured his back doing | | | | and OyamaNow, what strikes me as the |
| good mornings, which nearly ruined his | | | | essential difference between Lee's and |
| career. Otherwise, his weight training was | | | | Oyama's workout styles is volume. Lee's |
| successful in that it is credited with | | | | weight training routine is relatively brief, |
| helping him add 30 pounds of solid muscle to | | | | and he avoided lifting on days of heavy |
| his relatively small frame.Although Lee is | | | | martial arts training.While Lee might do an |
| the most famous martial artist ever, it may | | | | exercise for 2 sets of 8 reps (which is |
| be that the strongest was a man named | | | | fairly typical), Oyama would do it for |
| Masutatsu Oyama. Therefore, it will be | | | | hundreds of reps. Clearly, Oyama's is a more |
| interesting to contrast Lee's workout with | | | | time-consuming approach that would require a |
| Oyama's.The Karate Bull-FighterOyama was one | | | | lot of dedication.If you look at pictures of |
| of the first to bring Karate to America and | | | | these men, they have quite different builds. |
| founder of the Kyokushin style of Karate. | | | | For Lee, his training goal was apparently to |
| His 1958 classic "What is Karate?" was one of | | | | add bulk. Before the weight training, he |
| the first books on the subject written in | | | | weighed only 135 pounds, and he added 30 |
| English, and designed to make the subject | | | | pounds of solid muscle.Oyama, on the other |
| accessible to westerners.Oyama initially | | | | hand, was obviously a stockier fellow, and |
| became famous with stunts such as | | | | talks in his book about losing weight during |
| bull-fighting Karate-style. Unlike Mexican | | | | periods of intense training. Judging from |
| bull-fighters, he would actually wrestle the | | | | pictures of him with other people, I would |
| bull to the ground and break off one of its | | | | say that he was probably slightly taller than |
| horns. (He wasn't too popular with animal | | | | Lee (who was 5' 8"). Although Oyama was of |
| rights activists in Tokyo.)Oyama's Strength | | | | average height, he doesn't look like a small |
| TrainingAccording to Oyama's 1958 book, | | | | guy when standing next to American |
| strength and speed are more important than | | | | professional wrestlers, boxers, and |
| skill for Karate, and speed more important | | | | strongmen.Possible ConclusionsThe point is |
| than strength. Also, he said it was very | | | | not to compare them as saying one was better |
| important to practice jumping.Here are some | | | | than the other. I do wonder what affect |
| recommendations he gives in "What is Karate?" | | | | their training style had on the way they |
| (He doesn't give an exact workout.)Running - | | | | looked and how much was just genetic.At any |
| 4km per day | | | | rate, if Oyama struggled to keep his weight |
| | | | down, it sounds like high volume training |
| Rope-skipping - 20 minutes per day | | | | helped him to achieve that. Lee, on the |
| | | | other hand, seems to have been naturally lean |
| Dumbell arm exercise (shoulder press?) - 200 | | | | and wanted the weight training to bulk up |
| times | | | | (probably to look better on camera). Too |
| | | | much volume (without steroids anyway) might |
| Dips - 100 times | | | | be counter-productive to that goal.So, maybe |
| | | | the lesson in this is that if you want to |
| Push ups (with hands in fist) - 300 times | | | | lose weight while simultaneously getting |
| | | | stronger, it might be worth considering an |
| Inclined push ups - 100 times | | | | old-fashioned high volume workout routine, |
| | | | assuming you can make that kind of |
| Jumping side kick over 4 foot vaulting horse | | | | dedication. On the other hand, if your goal |
| | | | is to look like Bruce Lee... well, all I can |
| Inclined dumbell bench pressExercises | | | | say is "good luck"! |