In dynamic strength training you gain strength by working against other muscles in your body, rather than against weights. You can control the resistance in each exercise by changing the amount of tension with which you perform each exercise. The more tension you give, the more your muscles will become stronger. Naturally, the stronger you become, the more tension you exert against your muscles, the more your power and muscle tone increases. So you can say that this exercise program increases in difficulty as you get stronger, so the program changes naturally with the progress of the practitioner. In dynamic tension, all exercises are performed with a full range of movement. The resistance which develops the muscles is dynamic, thus enhancing the muscle's range of flexibility and it's speed and power when in motion. This type of exercise is very beneficial for most sports including the martial arts.

Dynamic strength exercises instills a body and mind awareness which is an important part of martial arts training. By becoming aware of each individual muscle in your body, you will gain more control over your body, and your speed, power, balance, flow, and focus will greatly increase.

It is very important to have a positive attitude each time you begin your exercises. When starting a series of exercises imagine yourself effortlessly doing the exercises and quickly getting stronger. Tap in your mind's energy, and discipline it to eliminate negative thoughts. By doing this you will see better and faster results.

Proper breathing should be coordinated with all movements when exercising, it should be long, deep, slow and even. In doing the exercises, inhale through your nose when you relax your muscles and exhale through your mouth as you contract your muscles. The tongue should be curled against the roof of the palate. Inadequate breathing will slow your progress.

Before starting the exercise it is very important to warm up to deminish the risk of injury and to benefit fully from the exercises. You should stretch and stimulate all of the major muscle groups of the body starting form the top of the head to your feet.

An example of a dynamic strength exercise is as follows: Stand with feet shoulder width apart with your knees slightly bent. Hold your arms in front of you with palms facing up. Close your hands around an imaginary barbell and begin to slowly lift your arms up, imagining that you are lifting an extremely heavy weight. Tense your arms, shoulders, back, chest and abdominal as you would if you were lifting a real weight. When you have lifted the imaginary barbell as high as possible, with both fist close to your chest, begin slowly easing the imaginary weight downwards while keeping the same amount of tension as when you were bringing it up. Make sure to keep your back straight and to reach the full extension of your arms in the downward motion. By reaching your full extension you will increase the range of motion in the elbow joints. Start with 3 sets of 10 repetitions and work your way up to 15 repetitions as you get more advanced. As you can see both biceps and triceps muscles are being exercised here, the biceps on the upward movement and the triceps on the downward movement.

You can try the same principals explained in the previous exercise and apply them to most exercises performed with weights. If you find it difficult to believe try it for yourself. Happy training.

Written By Sifu Rino Côté