1. Weight training will slow you down
2. Weight training will lower your range of motion.
3. Weight training should only be completed with light weights and with high repetitions.
Excuse me if I seem rude but I just want to say that the lack of knowledge on resistance training in many practitioners is embarrassing. This would not bother me if these naive people didn't insist on giving out their horrendous advice to new comers to TKD.
So will weight training slow down our kicks? That's like asking "will I get fat if I buy food from the super market?" It depends on what you buy. When it comes to weight training it depends on how you lift and what you digest. There is such thing as being muscle bound but by definition being muscle bound is basically having so much muscle mass that it gets in the way of joint motion. This in itself is a difficult achievement that has only been witnessed in professional body builders.
There is also such a thing as carrying too much mass. This is more a dietary issue as oppose to a training issue. Too much of a calorie imbalance in favour of more more more will see your waist line get too big. Too much substance that the World Anti Doping Association (WADA) would consider naughty (I.e. Steroids and growth hormone) will see you struggle to pick those legs high for a kick. Participants should be encouraged to build a degree of mass. It acts as armour around the back, chest and shoulders. Lean mass is associated with speed. Just take a look at the glutes and thighs on Usain Bolt. He's the fastest man alive! He weight trains 3 timer per week for 1 hour and 30 minutes each session. Lean mass can also give a desired weight advantage to produce more power. Would you prefer to be hit by a truck or a mini Mayfair?! Muscle mass if difficult to build especially if it's coupled with cardiovascular demanding exercise. The odds of someone performing energy system training gaining too much mass whilst weight training are slim. It is important to cycle your training programme to implement speed into a periodised cycle so that the mass gained is utilised properly. You will be able to view this in part 2 which will be added to my blog shortly.
Can weight training limit my range of motion? If you don't lift with a good range of motion the answer is yes. You will also suffer with repetitive stress injuries. Just lift properly. Get a gym instructor to check your competency on exercise form. If you lift with a good range of motion your flexibility will not suffer. It has been proven that eccentric muscle contractions (the muscle contracts as it lengthens) is better for improving flexibility better than static stretching. So done properly your flexibility will improved by lifting not worsened. Watch an olympic lifter clean a bar over their head. The range of motion around their hips and shoulders is just incredible and they often lift double their body weight above their head.
Should weight training be performed with high repetitions and light weights if you do TKD? Ah this question grinds on me! In most cases the answer is no. Power is the product of strength and speed so it isn't logical to neglect heavy weights. If you want to kick hard lift big. If you want to kick fast lift fast. By the way you can lift heavy weights quickly. This is why olympic weightlifting has increased in popularity over the past decade. You can't perform the snatch slowly. It's literally impossible. Lifting light will not allow good bone density development, skeletal muscle power production or adequate skeleton re-alignment. After reading this post you should not be afraid of muscle mass but if for some reason that still concerns you and you still believe that high repetitions will lower mass development just take a look at high rep trainer and pro body builder Flex Lewis on Instagram.
https://instagram.com/flex_lewis/?hl=en
This fellow Welsh man is a tank and he lifts high repetitions. That's the rant over. If you would like to learn more on resistance training for TKD stay in tune for tomorrow's post. In the mean time you may wish to check these two articles on speed development:
Hamstring Development for Sprinting:
http://icankeepup.blogspot.co.uk/2015/09/hamstring-development-for-sprinting.html
Hill Sprints for Speed:
http://icankeepup.blogspot.co.uk/2015/09/hill-sprints-for-speed.html
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