After almost losing a fight, Bruce Lee sat down gasping for breath. In that moment he realized that his cardiovascular training was not up to the Bruce Lee workout standard.
After that fight he concluded that aerobic or cardiovascular training to be “real world power.” Today most mixed martial arts fighters, have realized the importance of proper cardio training.
Tito Ortiz, a well-known Ultimate Fighting Champion has gone so far as to train at Oscar De La Hoya’s training Camp at Big Bear Lake. And recently has gone even further by purchasing the property for a reported $2.1 million.
Why is this important?
Because of the altitude at Big Bear Lake– it makes it an ideal location to train for any event. Running in high altitudes is one secret to building endurance for any fight. It is well-known that Bruce Lee preferred running to any other type of endurance exercise.
He ran everyday rain or shine determined to maintain his fighting edge.
The Bruce Lee workout applied the same principle of progressive resistance to cardiovascular training as it did to resistance training. Bruce felt that all endurance related activities should be performed on a progressive basis. He even went so far as to incorporate weight training in his running to make the workout even more demanding.
This type of workout was the beginning of what is known today as powerwalking or heavy hand exercises, where the individual would engage in aerobic exercise but with weights either in their hand or using a weighted vest to increase the difficulty in performing the cardiovascular workout.
One of the easiest ways to develop your fighting endurance in the Bruce Lee workout was to do stepping.
Essentially what you do is you step up and down from a chair to the floor and back. The chair should be approximately 17 inches high for men and 14 inches for women.
To properly execute this exercise, you would lead with your left foot for one minute — then change to your right foot for another minute — then stop stretch a little– take a couple deep breaths.
Then you would perform an arm exercise or an abdominal exercise.
Repeat the routine again with the chair– as you build endurance and strength increase the repetitions as the weeks go by until you’re finally able to perform it for a full 30 minutes.
Jogging — A Bruce Lee Workout Favorite
Jogging could be called Bruce Lee’s passion. He loved to jog early in the morning and Lee always carried a pair of running shoes with him to make sure that he never missed a day of jogging.
Bruce Lee’s workout focused on jogging for several reasons.
He felt that jogging provided very little stress on the body and was an exercise that required no equipment and that anybody could do.
In the Bruce Lee workout he spelled out all the reasons why you should jog and exactly how to jog. In future articles I will spell out these components.