Strikeforce’s Cung Le, a guy many say is today’s Bruce Lee, has demonstrated an amazing amount of athletic ability. How does someone like Cung Le maintain such a fit body? Ask Men.com got a chance to interview him and find out. Here it is:
Strength conditioning
When training for an upcoming fight, what do you do for strength conditioning?
For strength conditioning I do a lot of high repetitions in weights. Instead of just doing one machine, I do supersets or giant sets on multiple machines, and I try and get my whole upper body done. The following day I will do my lower body. I always try to do cardio at least five times a week and the weight training four times a week. I’ll do two upper-body days and two lower-body days.
Do you take an opponents weight into consideration when training for an upcoming fight?
No, when I weight lift and when I do my conditioning, its strictly for muscle conditioning. When I wrestle is when I lift another person the same weight as myself, a little bit heavier or a little bit lighter, depending on my partner, to get that feel of picking up someone who weighs the same as me.
What other fighting styles do you train with when going into a fight?
Well, I incorporate everything in my training. I train in boxing, kickboxing, Sanshou, wrestling, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, and then I incorporate all my strength and conditioning along with all the arts that I practice in order to find that balance during the week to get everything in without burning my body out.
What exercises do you do in order to work out your legs?
There’s a lot that I do to get my legs in shape — a lot of sprints, hill climbs or hill charges. I also do a lot of stretch kicks, which is swinging my legs straight up. My kicking techniques also include front kicks and roundhouse kicks. In-between lifting leg weights, like leg extensions, and as soon as I’ve done about 25-30 repetitions, I get off and do some stretch kicks. When I do squats, I stop to do side kicks — I do things like that to try and confuse the muscle, and I get my best results that way.
Training and bulking up
How would someone go about adding more bulk to their frame?
The best way to get bigger and put on that extra mass is to lift a little heavier and try to confuse the muscle as much as you can, especially when your body does not respond to the workout that you do on a regular basis. If you’re used to a routine and after five or six weeks you feel like you plateau in your workout, then you change up your sets or change your routine to confuse the muscle. You also need to have the right diet, the right nutrition and the right amount of calories to add on the weight.
How many hours do you normally train in a day?
It all depends on how my body feels; I try to listen to my body. If I’m feeling good then my workout can be two to two-and-a-half hours in the morning and then two hours at night. If I’m feeling a little sluggish, then I make sure my workout is quality instead of quantity. In the morning I get done within an hour to an hour and a half. If I feel OK at night, I will do another hour, and if I don’t feel good at night then I’ll take the night off. I always listen to my body to get the best results and, of course, getting the proper amount of rest and sleep to ensure a good