How to put on some Popeye arms...

[BackFistMonkey]

I am not really sure what your point is here... It depends on what your goals are. Personally I like weightlifting. I am new to MA and weight lifting is still my priority. I also get exercise outside my gym - rock climbing, ma, soccer, etc. Through it all, lifting was my priority.

Exercise comes in many forms and each has its own benefits.

no no it was your muscle imbalance comment ...

... wouldn't a healthy active lifestyle fix your muscle imbalance issue ?

Using a professionaly designed program (whether it utilizes isolations or not) will help ensure that the OP's program meets his goals (whatever they may actually be) and will help prevent muscle imbalances that can result from adding random lifts to your routine.

so yeah ... what ?

Is this a serious issue with most people ?

[M.C.]

To OP:

It is a little strange that as a WT guy you need advice from strangers on how to build up your forearms.

Your sifu should be able to point you to dozens of traditional wing chun exercises that will do just that.

Wrist strength has always been a very important part of wing chun training.

Looks like his sifu doesn't have the "real" _ing_ung :icon_roll

[Jack Rusher]

From there, it was deadlifts and towel pull ups that helped me develop greater endurance (support grip strength).

++. At Alliance, we do a bunch of pull up variants using an old gi jacket hanging from a loop in the ceiling. This is very like a towel a pull-up -- fantastic for grip endurance.

I have also suffered from different conditions at one point of another (and still do), retroversion on my right shoulder, weakened external rotators and other ****, and for each and every one of them, the prescription has been an isolation exercise.

++.

[Emevas]

Holy **** my eyes are bleeding.

[Jack Rusher]

Holy **** my eyes are bleeding.

You didn't read that compound vs isolation ****, did you? :jerkit2yf

[Teh El Macho]

****! golgo, you have to excuse me. I though I was replying back to you, but in reality, I ended up editing your post.

-- edit --

here is what I was trying to post as a reply:

Macho,

You will have to excuse me if I dont respond, to everything you have written, but you seem to keep coming back to the point that isolation exercises are good for hypertrophy, bodybuilding, and rehab/recovery. While I might have overstated my "isolation exercises are a waste of time" comment, but you seem to be making a similar argument to mine.

A) The OP is not a bodybuilder
B) The OP does some form of Martial Arts
C) The OP has pain in his hands and wrists

I would contend that the first suggestion is that the OP take a week off from training before adding new lifts to his routine. He stated that he had been working extra hard lately. My first thought is that he is overtraining. [/quote]

Well, I hope then that you take the time to read what I just wrote so that you understand it before you attempt to reply back.

1) No, I'm not making a similar argument to yours. Your first argument, the one I replied to, was that isolation exercises are a waste of time. I presented to you several counter-arguments to which you have not addressed yet. If you chose to replace your first argument (isolation=waste of time), that's fine, but then that's neither the argument that I replied to, nor is a reply to my counter-argument.

You don't get to address a counter-argument by revisiting your original argument. You either address them successfully, or provide a revisited version while addressing why of it. That's how it's done.

2. Yes, the OP has pain in his hands and wrists, and the usual PT response (unless there are specific reasons to do the contrary) is to prescribe an isolation exercise of the hand extensors, which is a) what the climber suggested, b) what the picture I included in my previous post shows and c) provides a counter-argument to your original claim (the one I'm replying to.)

Now, before you reply back, please explain why an isolation exercise of the hand extensors is not the correct approach to dealing with hand/wrist pain which is usually an imbalance of having hand flexors too strong in relation to the extensors.

3. Yes, he is overtraining... the hand flexors. This is typical overtraining of the forearms and hands. As you said, muscles do not work in isolation. Flexors and extensors of any joint, every muscle and its antagonistic(s) must retain a certain balance of strength.

And by balance I don't mean any nirvana, be-one-to-nature hippy **** balance. I refer to specific strength (or flexibility) ratios.

- Hamstrings must be no less than 80% as strong as the quadriceps.
- Feet must retain sufficient dorsiflexion (at least 45 degrees) regardless of how deep they can go on plantar flexion.
- external shoulder rotators must be both strong and internal rotators be flexible to avoid protracted shoulder syndrome.
- internal shoulder rotators must be strong and not be eclipsed by the larger chest muscles to make sure they keep the head of the humerus doesn't grind itself to **** against the scapula.

Now, in this particular case, as it is typical of people who exercise, hand flexors get over trained and far stronger than the hand extensors. It is overtraining. And the climber suggested him:

1) stop working the hand flexors (sensible suggestion for avoiding over training of the hand flexors)
2) work your hand extensors (to bring muscular balance).

Do you have a problem with this? Is there anything wrong with this approach?

Make sure that you read this post and the one I made previously before you reply back.

[Emevas]

You didn't read that compound vs isolation ****, did you? :jerkit2yf

Yes, and sadly, I'm going away on business for 6 days, or else I'd actually post something. Thankfully, you, Russ and Macho are in this thread.

But goddamn.

[theotherserge]

I would just like to chime in that my favorites are hammerwork, jacket pull-ups and the windlass.

My grip strength has always been weak and I never improve it with compound exercises as I can compensate with the stronger parts of my body.

Its funny how much my wrists/hands hurt after deadlifts, powercleans and the like...

[Portillo]

The El Macho, im curious to know how long do your bodybuilding/gym sessions go for. Why? Because i want to be like you.

[BackFistMonkey]

++. At Alliance, we do a bunch of pull up variants using an old gi jacket hanging from a loop in the ceiling.

duh ... I can't believe I haven't read ( or remembered ) or thought of that before

Brilliant yet simple .