This is the third in a series of six articles on things I have learned from High-Intensity Resistance Training that have influenced my approach to martial arts.
If you missed the previous articles in this series, you can find them here:
High Intensity Resistance Training and Martial Arts – A Perfect Match (Part 1 of 6)
You Don’t Need a Separate Cardio Workout (Part 2 of 6)
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The misconception that weightlifting will make you tense is an unfortunate one. It is especially prevalent in the world of Wing Chun. Since our main training drill (Chi Sao) relies on being relaxed, the belief is that weightlifting will be a hindrance to that.
Any Sifu who tells their students not to lift weights is doing his pupils a disservice. Not only are they turning their students off from something that would make them healthier, but they are doing so based on a lie.
Well, “lie” may be a strong word. Let’s call it a “misconception” instead. Either way, it’s not true, and we are going to go over why.
The First Time I Heard of Weightlifting Being Discouraged
I still remember the first time I ever heard this sentiment. In the 1990s, I was attending a Wing Chun school in Albany. Due to schoolwork piling up on me, I hadn’t made it to class in a while. When I finally returned, Sifu asked me how I was doing.
“Pretty good,” I replied enthusiastically. “Got all my projects done a week ahead of time. Plus, I started weightlifting so I could get into better shape.”
With a disapproving tone in his voice, Sifu said, “You want to be careful of that, Steve. Lifting weights can make you tense, so you won’t be able to relax during Chi Sao.”
The enthusiasm flooded out of me all at once, like letting the air out of a balloon. I couldn’t wrap my head around what Sifu was saying. It’s not that he used big words whose definitions eluded me; he’d used straightforward language.
What I mean is: I couldn’t understand why he was discouraging me from doing something that would make me healthier. It made no sense, although at the time I couldn’t put why I disagreed with him into words.
Times have changed, and now I can.
Time Spent Being Tense During Weightlifting
I want you to check out this video. It’s only a little over a minute. Then come back to me:
Think about what you just watched. What you saw was a guy who spent less than a minute tensing his muscles to curl the weight.
Now let’s do some simple math.
- There are 24 hours in a day, 60 minutes per hour.
- 24 x 60 = 1440 minutes in a day
- 1440 – 1 = 1439 minutes not spent tensing
Think of that ratio and ask yourself this: “If his muscles were tense for one minute out of 1440, then how is it possible that he’d be tense all the time?”
Here is the answer: HE WON’T BE!!!
This holds true even if you do a full High Intensity Resistance Training (HIRT) workout. HIRT sessions last 30-40 minutes. However, when compared to how many minutes are in a day, that is still hardly a fraction of your day spent being tense.
Muscle Tension Leads to Muscle Exhaustion
Think again about what my Sifu said: according to him, weightlifting will make it so you are “always tense” and cannot relax properly for Chi Sao.
Do me a favor. Conduct this experiment:
Walk around for a few minutes, keeping your biceps tense for the entire time, like you are walking around holding two dumbbells. In fact, if you have two dumbbells, grab them and walk around while holding your arms at a 45-degree angle. (Naturally, you need to make sure it is a weight that challenges you, or else you won’t get my point.)
Now set the weights down and ask yourself: “How do my arms feel?”
If you did this right, then the answer should be “exhausted,” or some synonym thereof.
My point is that weightlifting cannot make you “always tense” because if it did, then you would “always” feel exhausted.
Think of it this way, and you will realize how silly this idea is: if weightlifting “always” made you tense, then you’d be screwed once you had your first training session. From that point on, you would “always” be tense!
Bodybuilders, Freaks of Nature, and You
This sentiment bugged me so much that I interviewed my old coach (Jay Primarolo, former owner of BioFitNY) about it. Here is a video of that conversation.
A NOTE BEFORE YOU WATCH: Some of the information in this video is outdated. Since the filming of this, Jay has moved to Florida, so there is no more BioFitNY. However, his statements about muscle and skill-based activities still hold true.
This man is a goldmine of knowledge. If you didn’t feel like watching the video, have no fear; I am going to sum up the points that he made.
When most people think of building muscle, they think of the extreme end of that spectrum, which is the appearance of your typical bodybuilder. Very few people will get that big. Not everyone has a genetic disposition to achieve that look.
Let’s say we have two guys (Tim and Jim) who start working out on the same day. They do so with the same intensity/frequency, and they both have comparable dietary habits.
Several months pass before you see Tim and Jim again. When you do, what do you think you will notice? Do you think they will both have the same physique?
SPOILER ALERT: No, they won’t. Tim might be a slightly muscular beanpole, while Jim looks like Arnold Schwarzenegger in his Pumping Iron days.
Thicker, stronger muscles don’t mean stiffer muscles. No matter how much muscle you build, its ability to relax remains the same. You will enhance muscle tone, but again, not so much that you walk around like you are under constant contraction.
Muscles are the motors that drive movement. Therefore, stronger muscles equal stronger motors. This means you will be able to perform your movements with more explosiveness and more metabolic efficiency.
Jay uses sprinting as an example. There is a certain level of skill involved in sprinting, and there are specific muscles that help propel that movement. If you can increase the contractile force in your glutes, hamstrings, and quadriceps, you will be able to sprint faster. Sprinting faster means reaching the finish line sooner.
Forgive me if I’m wrong, but isn’t the whole point of sprint racing to get to the finish line sooner than the other runners? Therefore, wouldn’t stronger muscle be a good thing?
Plus, think of the sprinters you see on television in competitions. If it were true that more muscle made you “always tense” and slowed you down, why would they waste their time developing such ripped musculature in their legs?
One other benefit of having more muscle: it helps reduce your chance of injury because muscle tissue helps to support the joints.
In short, there is no downside to resistance training as it relates to athletic performance.
Conclusion
We may never know where the myth that weightlifting leaves you always tense got started. However, there is one thing I do know: it has not had this effect on me. I have been doing HIRT since January 2020, and I’ve seen no negative impact on my Chi Sao.
Sometimes I wonder how many Sifus have turned their students off from weight training because of this silly myth. That’s another question I can never answer.
The good news is, out of all things that I cannot do, there is one thing that I can: use this forum to help spread the truth. Sure, some will still believe what they want, and that’s okay. I’m happy just to have the chance to share these words with you.
Hopefully, you will read them with an open mind. If you do, and you get into a weightlifting routine, you will be a better martial artist for it.
Stay tuned for the next article in this series, which I’m sure is bound to cause a stir.
It’s all about how a stretching routine is not a martial artist’s best friend.
~~~Steve Grogan
NOTE – Steve Grogan is looking for people to coach through this exercise program. If you don’t live near him, the workouts can be done via Skype or some other video chat platform. Contact him with the subject line “saw your Martial Journal article on HIRT.”
geekwingchun@gmail.com
His YouTube channel (Geek Wing Chun) gives free training tips and ideas for people who want to get better at Wing Chun but can't make it to class as often as they'd like. Check it out by simply typing "Geek Wing Chun" into the YouTube search field!
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Relaxation is the most bizarre thing in martial arts. It’s not easy. And the concept is mostly incorrect by most people. My understanding is letting go of unnecessary tension through every fiber of your body. Weight lifting is different from bodybuilding. Lifting weights should compliment, not hinder. It’s finding the yin yang balance of tension and letting it go. And during our training through the years it will change for all kinds of reasons. Anyhoo, just my thoughts. Nice article.
Jon,
You are 100% correct here. Weightlifting and bodybuilding have separate goals and, therefore, have separate methods. The former is what the average public wants to do so they can have better physical health, while the latter is for muscle gains (which usually, but not always, means it is a person who wants to enter competitions).
Also, there is something else your comment made me think of: the tension we might feel during sparring or Chi Sao is DIFFERENT from what we feel during exercise. That tension comes from fear. Maybe it’s because we haven’t done much sparring or Chi Sao and are nervous about our performance, or maybe it is simply a fear of getting hit. Either way, that kind of tension is NOT the same as the tension caused by lifting weights.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts!
~~~Steve
Interesting article. I’ve never heard of weight lifting making one tense or not able to relax. I’m of a different generation than you likely but I would argue that being muscle bound slows one down. In fighting speed equals power so while I have always done some weight lifting or sword drills – I’ve always done high repetitions for toning.
When I was fighting tournaments at 180 pounds I was always able to stop matches with body strikes if I had a clean shot. While I think muscle bound fighters can relax just fine – the loss of flexibility hinders the kind of whipping torque needed to fully extend and retract an inverted reverse punch. For that reason I’ve always did lighter weights with high reps or sword drills (basically the same thing as lifting weights for toning).
A routine with stretching, cardio and weights are ideal I think.
John,
Thanks for the reply. I don’t know your age so I can’t speak to the “different generation” remark. However, I will say that I’m glad you never encountered this silly myth. Although it is one that is mainly perpetuated by Wing Chun teachers (because the drill we do called Chi Sao is absolutely dependent upon our ability to relax), I have occasionally heard it from people who practice other styles.
I’m going to quote some part of your reply (in italics) and then reply with my thoughts.
1) “…being muscle bound slows one down…”
Yes. However, as my coach Jay Primarolo said in the video link, the muscle bound types are genetic “freaks of nature.” Not everyone who lifts weights will wind up looking like that. Their appearance is a combination of genetics and (sometimes) steroids.
2) “…I’ve always done high repetitions for toning…”
I believe what you mean here is that you go for a ripped, physically fit look instead of going for muscle size. In other words, you would prefer to look like Bruce Lee did in ENTER THE DRAGON, where he was clearly fit but wasn’t bulging, versus Arnold Schwarzzenegger in his prime. While not 100% related, your statement did made me think of another exercise myth that I did not plan on addressing in this series, but maybe I can shoehorn it in somewhere, or write an article that stands on its own, and that is the myth that you can do exercises to “shape” your muscles or make them look a certain way. There are NO exercises that can achieve this; your muscles are going to look the way they look based on your genetic makeup.
3) “While I think muscle bound fighters can relax just fine, the loss of flexibility hinders the kind of whipping torque needed…”
The loss of flexibility has more to do with the way our bodies change as we age. Actually, there is a later article in this series that addresses many myths around stretching.
4) “A routine with stretching, cardio, and weights are ideal…”
For the cardio part, you should go back and check out my previous article in this series. Stretching will be addressed in an upcoming article.