This is part two in a series on strength training specifically for KSW and other martial arts, if you haven’t read part one, it’s best to start there. If you want to be notified when new blog posts, including the next part of this series, subscribe to our blog.

Disclaimer: This article is meant for information purposes only. If you decide to start resistance training, you do so at your own risk. You should seek a qualified personal trainer or fitness professional before starting training to teach you safe lifting technique and ensure you are using an appropriate load for you.

The options for programming strength training are almost endless but I have some tips which will save you time and get you better results for the effort you put in.

It is a good idea to choose multi joint compound exercises like squats, deadlifts and bench press as your program foundation. These will save you time due to training more of your body in a single exercise and they tend to mimic the basic patterns we often need in all sorts of sports training and everyday life. There is no point reinventing the wheel or changing your program drastically every few weeks. Stick to some basics and make sure you are consistently training every week! Once you have a routine and are becoming more aware of your strengths and weaknesses, you can start adding in other exercises or trying different variations of these basics.

When you start training, I encourage you to start with a lighter weight than you think you are capable of lifting and doing 3 or 4 working sets of around eight to twelve reps. Your muscles can adapt very quickly to weight training, however your tendons and ligaments take a bit longer due to not having as good blood supply as your muscles. Injuries can happen when you demand more from your body than it is conditioned for. Staying in this rep range should reduce your chances of injury whilst exposing your muscles and connective tissue to enough training stimulus to adapt and condition your body for more training in the future.

I like to program training splits (a single session) around one main compound exercise, then add in some extra accessory exercises to train specific muscles or movement patterns. Aiming for somewhere around 5 to 10 working sets of exercises per major muscle group. Doing more sets could get you faster results but will mean your sessions take longer and you will likely struggle to recover, especially if you are new to resistance training. Some recent studies have shown as few as 3 working sets per muscle group is enough to maintain muscle mass and 5 will start to build muscle (and therefore, strength!)

Once you have completed a couple of training blocks (around 6 weeks per block) at this rep-range and sets, you can start to change your programming to focus on the qualities you wish to train. If you want to build strength, you should aim to reduce your reps per set and increase the weight you are lifting.

But, as a beginner to weightlifting, you will see great results in both strength and muscle tone just sticking to 3 or 4 sets of 8 – 12 reps for a long time, don’t rush to increase the weight you lift! Sticking to less than 5% increase in your total load each week should make sure you are giving your body time to adapt and reduces your risk of injury. So that you can work out your load increases it is vitally important you record your workouts and how much you lift each session. If you get a program from me, the spreadsheet I give you will work this out for you!

An example beginner program for KSW training would be something like this:

• Split One – Upper Body
  • Barbell Bench Press (5 x 8 reps)
  • Pull Up (3 x 8 reps, band or jump assisted)
  • Seated Overhead Press (3 x 12 reps)
  • Bent Over Row (3 x 12 reps)
• Split Two – Lower Body
  • Back Squat (3 x 8 reps)
  • Seated Good Morning (3 x 12 reps)
  • Cossack Squat (3 x 12 reps)
  • Calf Raise (3 x 12 reps)
• Total sets per muscle group:
  • Chest – 5
  • Back – 6
  • Shoulders – 3
  • Quads – 6
  • Glutes – 9
  • Calves – 3

This program incorporates all the major movement patterns: squat, hinge, push, pull and overhead press. We have also added Cossack Squat as it mimics many of the positions in KSW like stances and kicks. After completing this program you may want to add a third training day to increase total sets or target your weaknesses.

I find it best to keep sessions short, less than 45 minutes, this prevents you from getting too fatigued to complete each exercise with strict technique and high effort. For weight training alongside KSW training it also means you can fit in a workout right before we start class and not be too fatigued to train at class.

If you would like help tweaking this program to your own needs and choosing your weight and rep range, get in touch! I offer personal training, where I can give you specific advice and teach you safe lifting technique for each exercise as well as help you with goal setting and your diet.