Why Bruce Lee Turned to Weight Training
The following material has been excerpted from the Ohara
Publications Inc. book Bruce Lee: The Incomparable Fighter,
authored by M. Uyehara, who was a close friend of the late martial
artist.
--Editor
Bruce Lee never bragged about his muscular body, but he was proud
of it, especially of his highly developed abdominal muscles. When
Bruce wore loose clothing, he looked like a normally built guy. But
underneath the clothing, he was a man with extraordinary
muscles.
"I've seen many muscular bodybuilders," one of his fans said, "but
never like Bruce. He is built perfectly, not bulky. He has muscles
on top of muscles, yet he moves with the finesse of a ballet
dancer. Those men with bulky muscles can't move like that; they are
too tight and clumsy."
Fred Weintraub, the producer of Enter The Dragon, gave this
description of Bruce: "...His body never had an inch of fat; it was
pure muscle, like steel."
Bruce had to work hard to develop those muscles. "l used to have a
big, soft belly," he explained. "My stomach protruded and I looked
terrible for a young guy. I decided to streamline my waist."
From that revelation, Bruce took up weight training. He was always
a bundle of energy. He was like a small kid who would never tire.
If he had his mind set to do something, nothing could have stopped
him.
He combined weight training with his regular workout. He spent as
much as four hours in his garage, hardly taking a break, as he
worked on the equipment, built by his students to his
specifications. He designed his weight-training workout to avoid
bulky muscles that might interfere with his performance. For
instance, he did not want muscles that restricted the movement of
his elbows.
"You must tuck your elbows in quickly when a blow is directed to
your midsection," he explained. "Some bodybuilders are so bulky
that they have no way to defend the solar plexus area with
efficiency. They can't cover the area with their elbows, so when
they use another method to protect it, they leave other parts of
their body open. Weight training is supposed to help you, not screw
you.
Bruce concentrated heavily on his abdominal muscles because he
believed that the body is "the biggest target and the least mobile.
The more muscles you have around your abdomen, the more blows it
can take." Bruce's body was covered with ripples of muscles.
Broad-shouldered and narrow-waisted, he was the envy of even
bodybuilders. To Bruce, training was a full-time job. Even while
watching television, he would be in motion. He would do his sit-ups
very slowly, his body descending slower than ascending. "You'll get
more benefit by doing them slowly," he said. "It's not the number
of repetitions, but the way it's done."
When he wasn't doing sit-ups, he would be squeezing a rubber ball
or pumping a pair of dumbbells. Desiring accolades, many times he
would ask a friend or acquaintance to place a hand on his abdomen
or leg to "feel my stomach muscles" or "feel how hard my legs
are."
Bruce wasn't particular about what he ate. He avoided cigarettes,
wine and liquor, but never refused a cup of hot tea. He would eat
anything: pork, chicken, fish, beef, vegetables. His favorite
dishes were Chinese and Japanese.
Although he was small man, 5-foot-7 and 135 pounds, he had a
voracious appetite. In a restaurant, he always ordered an
additional plate of food for himself- one serving was not enough.
He also drank a lot of water, probably because he perspired so
much.
Bruce took a daily amount of vitamin pills, apparently influenced
by the body-building magazine he subscribed to. He prided himself
on being healthy.
According to various sources on the internet, a 1996 article in
Iron Man Magazine revealed Bruce Lee's workout. In addition to his
cardio and karate workouts, Lee lifted weights three times a week
and performed the following routine:
clean and presses 2 sets x 8 reps
squats 2 sets x 12 reps
barbell pullovers 2 sets x 8 reps
bench presses 2 sets x 6 reps
Good mornings 2 sets x 8 reps
Barbell curls 2 sets x 8 reps
Unfortunately, he injured his back doing good mornings, which
nearly ruined his career. Otherwise, his weight training was
successful in that it is credited with helping him add 30 pounds of
solid muscle to his relatively small frame.
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