alright I know that progressivley adding weight to your strengthening excercises works a lot better then not doing so,but something that had made me curious is, from my knowledge the shaolin monks,samurai and a lot of other warriors along time ago were very in shape but I don't think they used weights(they may have used something but I dont know) anyway I was wondering how they managed to be so strong with just doing bodyweight excercises....by any chance could it just be there lifestyles?

Ever taken a hardcore kung fu class? Body weight exercises can go a long way. Still I think some of them may have used weights, though not in the same way we do.

Google "hojo undo" and learn, my son.

Repetition also works well at building strength and endurance and doesn't make you look like a body builder.

In my classes we don't do any weights, but will do 50-100 push ups, 40 squat/kick combos, 1000+ air punches, 20+ minutes in form stance, lots of leg lifts, an hour of combo drills, etc. Do that kind of workout 4x a week (each class is 2 hrs) and you'll be in awesome shape. I go 2x a week and I'm steadily getting stronger but leaner.

The difference is that while the monks were probably in pretty good shape a long time ago, I doubt they were nearly as strong as athletes these days. Bodyweight stuff works, just not as well as weight training.

plus the fact that they had extremely good technique probbaly made them hit a lot harder then your average joe...whats hojo hundo or whatever?

HE SAID TO GOOGLE IT!!!!

*shaking head at floor* "the future is doomed"

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The difference is that while the monks were probably in pretty good shape a long time ago, I doubt they were nearly as strong as athletes these days. Bodyweight stuff works, just not as well as weight training.

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This is totally correct. Don't forget that strength and speed are measured relative to general abilities at the time. For instance, a great warrior in 200BC might have been just 5 foot 6, but compared to others, he would be a giant. As I'm sure you've all noticed, people are getting steadily bigger, probably due to better diets.

So, my point is that a samurai warrior wasn't some kind of great warrior virtuoso - often they were cruel despots, just like the knights in England. And people exaggerated the abilities of these warriors in order to make them look more powerful.

And also, as time goes on, old records in athletics are continually being broken - as a result of better training methods etc.

The Monks did Isomectircs (sp?) which is reasonably good at strengthening, though nothing compared to weights.

Who cares what they did 1000 of years ago, technology and knowledge has improved, use it.

Im sure standing in horse riding stance (LOL) is painful, but squats will deliver 100 times the strength.

Technique...I'm a weight lifting buff myself, but I know where the true strength comes from.Bruce Lee never weighed more that 140 LBS as far as I know and this was with almost no body fat percentage,pure muscle.140 pounds isnt much compared to someone like say Chuck Noris who is a master of Karate and at his peak was probably almost twice Bruces size muscle wise.Yet at the same time, Bruce could kick a guy his size across a room.As always Bruce Lee is an extreme example but an example of near flawless technique nontheless.Its a scientific...thats why martial arts is a science.