What muscles should I work on for self defense?

Everyone has their goals at the gym - lose weight, buff up upper body, etc. Mines is increase the muscle strength in case I get into a fight or have to defend myself. What muscles should I focus on, and what exercises can I do?|||I pretty much go to the gym 2wice a week, and in both those days i work on everything i use when i go Kickboxing which is 1: Legs and thighs (Calf and upper leg muscles front and rear and then the thighs regardless of how many women use it as apposed to men).


2: Abdominals.





3: Lower back.





4: Pec%26#039;s (chest)





5: Shoulders (back and front)





6: Arms (lower and upper front and back)





I find that these exercises are good for stamina when you are training for martial arts (remember to warm up first though!) But i think that nowadays, self defence is an art of its own and corporates a mixture of various systems that mainly focus on pressure points which at the best of times takes very little strength at all but timing and focus.





Most martial arts will take you through various strength/power workouts which include most cardio vascular and partner assisted exercises (one is clenching your fist and holding both arms out whereby you have to throw jabs and crosses and at the same time have a partner apply force against them in three stages starting with light pressure, then on to half pressure, and then on to full pressure whilst at the same time try to keep consistency) The biggest obstacle in any street fight is keeping your witts about you for the simple reason being that just because you have a martial skill, it by no means means that you will win the fight! The best weapon in any situation is your mind and that is where you need to focus most of your strength work.|||All of them, except for the bad ones.|||The leg muscles and your lungs. Why? Because in my opinion, the hundred meter dash is the best all around self defense there is and you need strong legs and good lungs to do that.|||Muscles strength or tone are not as impotent as technique, with out technique it%26#039;s like you are standing in front of a charging bull standing only on one leg. That leg is represents your strength but you need two legs to stand and the other leg is technique. Without technique you have less then nothing, by all means build up and buff up but if you want to learn how to defend yourself join a Martial Art school and learn the technique and knowledge that is what is going to save you not muscles strength or tone.|||You can%26#039;t gain fighting skill or correct muscle training in a gym. Take up a martial art, that%26#039;s why they were invented.|||To follow on from what others have answered I would agree that you need to train your whole body. Swimming is a particularly good exercise to supplement martial arts training. Running and cycling are also good for your stamina. I see what Mr Jass is getting at in that it is no use having the strength of a power lifter but no idea how to stike or how to avoid a strike from an opponent or even worse a an attack with a weapon. However if you want to be able to defend yourself in the %26#039;real world%26#039;, rather that in on a mat or in the ring, then you need to bear in mind that there are no weight divisions, no rules and no referee. You may have to face more than one attacker who may be larger and heavier than you and may be armed. I tend to agree with the saying that %26quot;A good big %26#039;un will usually beat a good small %26#039;un%26quot;. I%26#039;m not saying that a smaller, weaker fighter can never beat a larger, stronger one but if these factors made no difference then the UFC and other mma events would have no weight classes and Floyd Mayweather would be demanding his shot at the Heavy weight title!





Two books that cover the subject of supplementary training for martial arts are Weight Training for the Martial Artist by Geoff Thompson (published by Summersdale) and Fit to Fight: Manual of Intense Training for Combat by Peter Consterdine (published by Protection Publications). There are probably others that also cover this subject well.





If you go to train at a club that specialises in modern street self defense as opposed to one that focuses on sport or the spiritual side of the arts the instructor/s may well be able to guide you in terms of supplementary training or may be able to point you to someone who can. I stress that I am in no way saying there is anything wrong with training at a club that is geared towards the sport or spiritual aspects of martial arts. I am just saying that if self defense is your primary reason for training at present then look to train in ways that most suit your objective.





Regards TM.|||Have a little of everything in fighting you use all of them.|||Work on your Brain. That the best tool you have for fending off attackers.|||You want to work on speed, power, and endurance to augment whatever martial art you are studying. Gym time won%26#039;t make you a better fighter, but you can train to be a stronger, faster, and more in shape fighter.


Focus on big, compound movements executed quickly. Work on power cleans, thrusters, swings, and box jumps for the lower body, pullups, benchpress, and one arm snatches for the upper body. Train the body as one piece rather than isolate muscles, you don%26#039;t fight with just your bicep or just your abs.


Jump roping and sprints are good for developing your endurance. You can get good workouts by combining exercises, like doing 3 sets of 25 swings and 400m sprints or 5 sets of box jumps and pullups.