I remember watching Bruce Lee in Enter the Dragon (actually it was only the trailer) I was 11 living in Scotland at the time and the movie was R rated or whatever the ratings were in those days. I remember seeing this larger than life man on the screen and saying to myself I want to be like him. I have now studied Karate for 31 years and still find Bruce Lee to be a huge inspiration, especially when it comes to his workout and philosophy. He was a man way ahead of his time and able to do things that most of us thought impossible.
You want the ripped body of a fighter, therefore who could be a better model than the late great Bruce Lee to copy your workouts, nutrition and training philosophies after?
Bruce Lee was only 5’7 ½” tall and 140 lbs, and had a fairly small, compact frame that looked powerful because of his lean muscle mass and great body symmetry. This is a great example of how being ripped and well-proportioned can give the illusion of being bigger than you are.
Not only was Bruce Lee ripped, but he could do some pretty amazing things. For example, it was reported that Lee could do body weight push-ups on just two fingers – his index finger and thumb.
He could also do single arm dumbbell curls with 80 lbs for three sets of eight reps. That’s mind blowing for a guy that weighed 140 lbs.
Statistically some people think that Bruce Lee may have been one of the pound-for-pound strongest men ever…and he was definitely one of the quickest.
After Bruce Lee defeated Wong Jack Man in a match that would allow Lee to continue teaching non-Chinese students martial arts, a major turning point came in his training philosophy.
Despite him beating Wong Jack Man and finishing him in about 3 minutes, Lee was surprised at how tired he got during their fight. He realized that his workouts would need a lot more focus on physical conditioning.
One of the main reasons I am doing this Bruce Lee workout review is that his training style included all the elements of total fitness, including muscular strength, muscular endurance, explosiveness, cardiovascular conditioning and flexibility. And to think this was almost 40 years ago!
The vast majority of people only focus on one or two of these training elements and that’s why they never achieve the lean, ripped fighter’s body they were going for. Let’s look at some highlights of Bruce Lee’s workout routine.
Bruce Lee’s Workout:
–> Bruce Lee’s base was built on weight training. He typically performed 3-4 sets of 6-12 reps for most exercises. This heavy lifting favors more type II muscle fibers (or fast twitch muscle fibers), which leads to larger muscles and faster punches and kicks.
–> By varying his workouts often, Lee focused on pushing his body to the absolute limits. By constantly improving with each workout and focusing on performance, a ripped body was just a byproduct of being in great shape.
–> Bruce Lee’s workout consisted of very few isolation exercises, most of Lee’s weight training focused on compound movements, like clean and presses, barbell squats, pullovers, bench presses, good mornings, pull-ups and dips. This is key for adding lean muscle and boosting metabolism to burn off body fat.
–> Lee worked out every day for approx. 2 hours in the morning, exercising core muscles to help with his martial arts, stretching to increase flexibility and running to increase cardiovascular endurance.
–> Later in the day Lee would spend an hour weight training and cycling. Sometimes he added jump rope or longer interval runs, where he’d switch up his speed every 3-5 minutes.
Bruce Lee’s workout routine is the definition of a well-rounded and balanced regimen. Therefore it was no accident that he had the incredible physique that he did!
If you want to have a similar body that makes you look like a fighter, you’re going to have to work hard and NOT cut corners.
This means using heavy, compound weight lifting, doing intense intervals, stretching to improve your flexibility and at least one longer cardiovascular conditioning workout each week.
On top of that, you’ll want to put in extra work on lagging body parts. For example, if you want to have a killer peak on your biceps, you’ll need to add some isolation exercises to accomplish this…but it’ll have to be done in addition to the majority of your training.The foundation of your workouts need to rely on the things that’ll give you the most bang for your buck.
It is not necessary to start working out 3 hours a day, like Bruce Lee did. But you will need to focus on all the elements of total fitness to achieve the same lean mean look.
Bruce Lee’s workout only gave him a ripped fighter’s body because of his diet. He still would’ve been in great shape, but he wouldn’t have looked as lean and sculpted without the correct nutrition. Let’s take a look at Bruce Lee’s diet plan.
Bruce Lee’s Diet:
–> Lee spent a lot of time studying training and nutrition. He knew that a diet full of junk food would not produce the body or the performance he was after.
–> Bruce had a strong interest in healthy eating, especially when it came to high protein drinks and supplementation with vitamins and minerals.
–> Bruce Lee’s diet contained 1-2 protein drinks every day, along with homemade smoothies made from fruit and vegetable juices and lots of fresh green vegetables.
–> One of the best indicators of a healthy diet is your waist measurement. Bruce Lee’s waist was between 26 and 28 inches throughout most of his adult life. Compare that to the average male’s waist size today of about 38 inches…now that’s impressive.
–> Bruce Lee’s healthy eating habits shouldn’t surprise you. Building a lean, mean fighter’s body will require plenty of protein, fruits and veggies and you’ll have to lay off the junk food about 90% of the time.
Hopefully you found this review of the Bruce Lee workout to be helpful and inspiring.
Studying a guy like Bruce Lee is a good reminder of what’s possible. Don’t set your goals too low…
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