Bruce Lee Workouts

There are a lot of articles about Bruce Lee's workouts, but they are useless. Most of them contain articles written about his workouts but never talk about the one's he specifically did. I'm going to list some of the workouts he did and tell you why he did them. They are very general and I feel are disrespectful towards Mr. Lee for there low quality and unresearched information. Many contain opinions about what Bruce did, but I will focus on what he actually did instead. One article I read at Ezine was stated he had a one workout routine and had a "karate" routine. The author further limited Bruce by comparing him to another Martial Artist and said that this other martial artist was the strongest.

Bruce never had one workout that he stuck to through his life time and he certainly never took "karate". If you know even just a little bit about Bruce you would know he started with Wing Chun, which turned into Jun Fan Gung Fu, which later evolved into Jeet Kune Do. The most important concept Bruce mastered was the one of constant change. He never did one set workout routine that he never changed. He mastered a constantly changing routine so that his muscles never got used to the wear and tear of the same old exercises. A lot of the information I provide can be found in the book The Art Of Expressing The Human Body and I highly recommend you pick it up if you want the exercises explained in greater detail.

Hong Kong 1965 Routine

When Bruce was about 25, he made a record of his gains in weight training. While Lee always changed what he did he didn't write down all his measurements. Probably because measurements don't prove how strong or fit someone is. A man with a beer belly can still have arms like a python, and even then there's no guarantee he can even use the muscle he has developed. Just like a Martial Artist could have some of the best techniques but no muscle and power in which to use these techniques.

Bruce got his first weight lifting tips from friends and bodybuilders Yimm Lee and Allen Joe. Allen Joe actually wrote the forward for Bruce's book The Art Of Expressing The Human Body. This spark was the what started Bruce Lee down the path of bodybuilding. He trained for speed, flexibilty, muscularity, power, and strength. Most bodybuilders trained for big muscles that may look intimidating but would often times slow a person down. Lee started with a 3 day a week routine to help support his martial arts training. In Bruces book The Art Of Expressing the Human Body Bruce made these gains:

1. Chest: 2 1/2 inches(relaxed)
2. Neck: 1/4 inch
3. Arms: 3/4 inch
4. Forearm(left): 3/4 inch
5. Forearm(right): 1/2 inch
6. Wrists: 1/2 inch
7. Thigh(left): 1 1/2 inches
8. Thigh(right): 1 1/4 inches
9. Calf(left): 5/8 inch
10. Calf(right): 1/2 inch
11. Waist: 1/2 inch decrease

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These were taken after about a month and half and very good regardless of whether one has former training or not. Not all people will see the same results but these are very impressive nonetheless and no doubt you will see a dramatic change if you adopt a similar routine. Lee was already into physical exercise so if you decide to attempt this routine make sure you build up to by lowering reps or weight if necessary. If you think your man enough and you can take it, than you will be seeing some amazing changes in your body. With that said here's the routine.

Exercise	Sets	Reps	Weight
Squats	3	10	95 lbs
French Press	4	6	64lbs
Incline Curl	4	6	64lbs
Concentration Curl	4	6	35lbs
Push Ups	3	10	70-80lbs On Upper Back
Two Hand(Barbell) Curl	3	8	70-80lbs
Triceps Stretch	3	6-8	3lbs
Dumbbell Circles	4	As Many As You Can	16lbs
Reverse Curl(Barbell)	4	6	64lbs
Wrist Curl(seated)	4	As Many As You Can	64lbs
Reverse Wrist Curl(seated)	4	As Many As You Can	10lbs
Sit Ups	5	12	Body Weight Only
Calf Raises	5	20	Body Weight Only

This 3 day bodybuilding routine will strengthen many if not all muscles you would use in Martial Arts and is good even for a beginner who's looking to get in shape. This is what built the muscle mass that Lee later refined more and more throughout the rest of his life. If your just starting to lift I highly recommend this routine for it's efficiency in building size and raw strength.

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