Sounds good. I thought I would do the squats with just my body weight untill I could do around 75 or 100 then add weight. My legs at this point are my weak point, so you think working with weights would be better?
Thanks,
Mendel
Dynamic Leg Raises
Depends in what way your legs are your weak point and how you want your final workout regime to look.
For example,if you want to eventually be performing 3 sets of 10 reps in the heavy squat then 1 set of high reps won't necessarily help you achieve that.It will provide you with some conditioning,but if you want to use multi sets of low reps then you should do that from the start:-
Use a low weight(or bare bar if you have to) and perform your desired number of sets/reps,then work on adding weight.
Dragon.
For example,if you want to eventually be performing 3 sets of 10 reps in the heavy squat then 1 set of high reps won't necessarily help you achieve that.It will provide you with some conditioning,but if you want to use multi sets of low reps then you should do that from the start:-
Use a low weight(or bare bar if you have to) and perform your desired number of sets/reps,then work on adding weight.
Dragon.
I do not wish for you to stop doing hindu squats. I just wanted to make sure you knew that these types of squats are generally not used for gaining strength so you can understand your training progession better. Usually when you go past 12 to 15 or so reps you are working on endurance and endurence training does have its benefits but it does not include strength gains for muscles.Mendel wrote:Sounds good. I thought I would do the squats with just my body weight untill I could do around 75 or 100 then add weight. My legs at this point are my weak point, so you think working with weights would be better?
Thanks,
Mendel
I felt that you should know because you were trying isometrics after coming back from a very long layoff from training and you should be working on many things including muscle endurance to prepare you for your martial arts training, strength training and stretching program. I just got worried when you refered to hindu squats as a strength exercise for your legs.
Hindu squats can be very useful in preparing you for strength training. They help give you more muscular endurance, they strengthen the knee joints and help improve your lungs (http://www.stadion.com/column_stretch22.html).
In my opinion, I would keep doing the hindu squats. It definitely won't hurt your Tae Kwon Do training(unless you do them sloppy or your school is working you to hard). If you still want to work on isometrics, do strength training and follow kurz's method then you should start by learning more about proper strength training and endurance training. Maybe start reading the columns if you have not done so already and if you have read them all then study them. They give alot of information to help you get started on your goal.
To get back on topic, if you want to improve your side leg raises more then try doing your side leg raises with slapping your extended hand to the side. This really helped me in finding the right position of my body, hips and legs when perfroming side leg raises. At first your probably are not going to be able to hit your feet so try extending your arm and have your fingers touch your ankles when you do your side leg raises or at least the side of your leg. Pay attention to your posture and leg momentum. you do not want to be leaning to far forward and throwing your leg in front of you istead of the side. Your bottom heel should be generally pointing toward your target. keep trying to hit your palm and find the angle that does not hurt your hip plus stays close to the proper form of the side leg raise and remember it.
hope some of this helps,
jrlefty
"If you love life do not waste time because time is what life is made of"-Bruce Lee