Was there any “secret” in Bruce Lee’s workouts?
Although Bruce Lee discontinued his bodybuilding workouts, in favor of circuit training and isometric exercise. (He felt circuit training and isometrics were more effective at building functional strength rather than just muscle mass.) I felt it was important for everyone to have an idea of what their free weight workouts were like.
His initial weight training program was prepared for him with the help of two bodybuilders who were close friends and were studying Jeet Kune Do. (Bruce Lee’s style of martial arts.) He was initially on a three-day-a-week bodybuilding program.
The program consisted mainly of basic exercises. Like barbell curls, pullovers, clean and jerk, as well as full squats. This program was nothing spectacular, but it served Bruce well from 1965 to 1970. Bruce Lee realized that working out every other day would allow for the most important aspect of all training, which is rest and recovery. With this program, his body weight went from about 130 pounds to a maximum of 165 pounds. This program worked wonderfully and Bruce’s body responded very quickly to resistance training.
Unfortunately, Bruce Lee didn’t like the new added muscle mass. He felt it slow him down and his weight gain made him feel very heavy. Bruce’s motivation for taking up weight training was not to build a big, bulky physique, but rather to increase his strength and agility for use in martial arts.
Here is a small sample of Bruce Lee’s workouts:
clean and press
squats
bench presses
Hello
bar curls
Unlike what we all saw in the Bruce Lee the Dragon movie, it wasn’t a blow to the back that landed him in the hospital. Actually, it was an injury that he suffered while doing “good morning”, which is quite a dangerous exercise. Good morning puts stress on the lower back. In fact, most personal trainers will no longer allow you to do this exercise due to the high incidence of injury from its application.
In future articles I will give you a deeper insight into Bruce Lee’s workouts.