Kung Fu girl wants to get stronger & see some abs

[stubborn_girl]

Hi everyone,

 

I stumbled across nerdfitness in my despair for success stories (and inspirational pics) to help me stay motivated this time. I saw Stacis transformation and got some hope that I could succeed with my plan.

 

I'm a 29 year old woman who did some weight lifting in the past. But never longer than three to six months, often combined with some running, then paused some time just to start over again. I like barbells and don't like running any more since I got  injured and can't run a mile without pain. Shit happens. My last attempts were NROL4W in 2009 (4-5 months) and some other program I don't remember (Mens Health Power Training maybe?) in 2011. Then I started Kung Fu and stopped due to the lack of time and energy for anything else.

 

But I did get older (yeah, surprise, surprise!) and as I sit at my desk all day in the office and slowly started eating crap again most of the time, my weight increased (not much, but it did). And even worse, my body fat percentage increased, too.

I'm not too heavy, but I'm afraid of my scale and avoid measuring or weighing myself. So I don't have any exact numbers, but I'm 5' 6" and something about 135 pounds with approximately 23% body fat.

 

Now I'm three months away from my next birthday and I have one wish - to see my abs again when I turn 30!

 

So I picked up my very appreciated NROL4W book and started reading again. And I did some research about paleo, as a colleague of mine had terrific success with it two years ago (and still has).

 

Im three weeks into my program (stage 1) and eating paleo most of the time. But I'm afraid to fall of the waggon again. I train Kung Fu up to four times a week (but at least three times plus one beginner's course I teach) so I already have something like four to seven hours training each week. I don't know how to keep that all in line with additional two to three workout days with weights and some streching/yoga (which I need for recovery).

 

But I want too!

 

We do a lot of push ups & squats during Kung Fu class, so I already have some strength and endurance when it comes to pushing exercises. I totally lack pulling strength as I can hardly do one pullup. I want to get in shape (to see my abs again), but I also wanna gain some strenght for my sport.

 

Is there anybody out there who also does Kung Fu, BJJ, MMA or something similar and has advice on how many session a week I can add without exhausting too much? Is it bad for me not to have an "off" day? Not every training is really exhausting, we also have classes which are more technically, some are more like metabolic workouts, most are in between.

 

What keeps me motivated for now is knowing I started with much heavier weights I ended my program last time - so working out for nearly three years, even if it wasn't with weights - did make me stronger

 

And if you're wondering about my nerdiness - I love games, mainly 80s/90s stuff like NES with Legend of Zelda, Super Mario and Snake Rattle'n'Roll (my favourite when I was a kid). I do like my PS3 - but nothing beats those good old video games.

[JPrev]

Welcome!  Sounds like you've got a good plan.

 

I used to do MMA and judo.  I did about 4 sessions a week, and for the first few months, I was usually too banged up to hit the gym on top of it all.  I wasn't too bothered by that, because the majority of the strength I needed would come more from training my technique - not pumping iron.  It was better if I didn't rely on my strength, anyway.  Eventually I could tolerate the gym, but even then I never did more than 2 quick sessions a week.  It was just a matter of priorities.  Most of what I needed I was getting on the mat, and I found I fought better if I let my body have some time off.

 

So, I'd say listen to your body.  If you're still sleeping well, fighting well, and lifting well, you can probably get away with some added strength training.  If any of those begin to suffer though, that's your cue to ease off.

 

As for the abs, that's more of a nutrition thing than strength training thing.  Cut your calories responsibly, and you'll see your abs.

[Kishi]

Howdy! Good to see you!

 

JPrev hit it all pretty squarely on the head. In general, when the topic of integrating strength training with martial arts comes up, strength training is considered to be the 'harder' part while martial arts is considered 'active recovery.' I don't know how much I buy that, given that fighting can be really, really hard.

 

If I remember my NROL series correctly, they have a tendency to be flexible and permit two days of training as to the full three. That would put you at up to six days of training total, with one day of rest. Which, if you can handle that, is plenty. If you can handle strength work and then martial arts on top of that, then all the better too.

 

Listen to your body and train smart so that you can train hard!

[Donar]

You can do it!

 

If you want abs....I have one thing you need to *nail*: nutrition.

 

Seriously, its all about the nutrition.

[stubborn_girl]

 

 

So, I'd say listen to your body.  If you're still sleeping well, fighting well, and lifting well, you can probably get away with some added strength training.  If any of those begin to suffer though, that's your cue to ease off.

 

As for the abs, that's more of a nutrition thing than strength training thing.  Cut your calories responsibly, and you'll see your abs.

 

Thank you. Yeah, I was too tired to do anything else. But my body seems to have adepted to our type of training as I'm not as sore as I used to be nearly three years ago when I started.

 

Yesterday I sat down and wrote a plan for the next few weeks to see how many rest days I can get in. And it seems I can have two days off every two weeks. I'll try and see how my body reacts. If I get too tired I can still change my schedule, can I?

 

 

 the majority of the strength I needed would come more from training my technique - not pumping iron.  It was better if I didn't rely on my strength, anyway. 

 

I know Kung Fu should be more about technique than strength. But I'm a girl and I like having a nice punch and a nice kick - in the end, it's all about winning the fight, isn't it?

 

 

JPrev hit it all pretty squarely on the head. In general, when the topic of integrating strength training with martial arts comes up, strength training is considered to be the 'harder' part while martial arts is considered 'active recovery.' I don't know how much I buy that, given that fighting can be really, really hard.

 

Yeah. As I mentioned before, we have some days that are harder than others. We rarely spar and when we do it's mostly on a Friday and then I really need a day off. I know what you're talking about: I'm often mentally fatigue after Kung Fu but never after stregth training.

 

 

 

 

Seriously, its all about the nutrition.

 

"Abs are made in the kitchen", right? Right now I'm trying to clean out my diet, which is the hardest part for me.

I live with my boyfriend who doesn't want to cut out the carbs. So I'm eating paleo all day except for the evenings when we cook together. I try to eat mostly meat and salad and veggies at dinner and less carbs than he eats, but it's not so clean as it has to be.

 

My nutrition is something like:

 

7:30 one cup of quark (do you say quark? didn't find a better translation) with a sliced banana, two tablespoons of oats, one scoop vanilla protein powder, some nuts

 

10:00 protein shake

 

12:30 lunch: meat (beef, chicken, lamb) or salmon with veggies and/or salad and egg or avocado

 

14:30 snack (fruits, yoghurt, eggs - whatever I have on hand)

 

between 19:00 and 22:00 dinner: meat with salat/veggies or pasta, rice etc. I try to eat carbs mostly after workout and not on my rest day, but it's difficult. Yesterday I had pasta and no workout and wasn't too happy about it.

 

Do you think I should try to eat more snacks? It's a long time from 14:30 pm to 20 pm, but I'm either in Kung Fu class (19-22:30) or weight room (19-20:00) after leaving work at about 18 pm.

Or should I have my protein shake in the afternoon?

I'm not really hungry til an hour or two before dinner, so I don't think I eat too few calories.

[Kishi]

Well, carbs aren't necessarily bad, provided that you're using them. There's a bunch of science out there to say when you should eat them, and almost none of it agrees, but one thing that seems to be right is that you should eat some after working out. After that, it gets weird - some folks think you should eat them all in the morning to boost your liver glycogen and let you burn all day, while others think you should do it at night to let the insulin spike coincide with HGH release when you sleep.

 

Ultimately, it's down to what you can do and what you can stomach when.

 

Also, there is no translation for quark. I tried to find it. It wasn't there. Sadness.

[stubborn_girl]

Also, there is no translation for quark. I tried to find it. It wasn't there. Sadness.

 

Yeah, it's a shame. Espacially because It's the only breakfast I can eat regularly.

[Basement Cat]

Welcome and good  luck!

 

Keep at it, watch what you eat and you'll see those abs appear! Keep us posted!

[Phlox]

Yeah, it's a shame. Espacially because It's the only breakfast I can eat regularly.

I'm thinking we Germans (? Swiss? Austria?) should start to put the Wikipedia-Link to "Quark" in our signature. Or Quark = "cottage cheese, smoothly mixed and without the salt"?

[stubborn_girl]

I'm thinking we Germans (? Swiss? Austria?) should start to put the Wikipedia-Link to "Quark" in our signature. Or Quark = "cottage cheese, smoothly mixed and without the salt"?

 

German.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quark_(dairy_product)