Physical training, fitness, and Nutrition

Bruce Lee cared deeply about his physical fitness. Lee typically exhibited a muscular and very lean appearance in his films, particularly in his upper body. Bruce Lee felt many martial artists of his day lacked the necessary physical fitness to back up their fighting skills.

Bruce Lee used every known technique and resource in aiding his physical fitness, including the use of electric current as an aid to strength training. However, this muscle stimulator was only one of many pieces of equipment and exercise routines Lee used to achieve his fighting ability. 

Footage of Lee performing a fighting scene, was often slowed down because it would only show as a blur on screen. Lee developed a trick for showing off his speed: a person held a coin and closed his hand, and as he closed it, Lee would take it and could even swap the coin for another.

The weight training program Lee used during a stay in Hong Kong in 1965, indicated bicep curls of 80 pounds and 8 repetitions for endurance. This translates to an estimated one repetition maximum of 110 pounds, placing Lee in approximately the 100th percentile for the 121 to 140 pound weight class.

Bruce Lee was light because he was more interested in lean muscles and not bulky mass. His exercise routines consisted of alot of things, for example weights and cardiovascular training. Bruce did not resort to traditional "body building" techniques to build mass, he was more interested in speed and power. He developed strategies to increase muscle strength and speed.

Lee believed the abdominal muscles were one of the most important muscle groups for a martial artist since virtually every movement requires some degree of abdominal work. Perhaps more importantly, the "abs" are like a shell, protecting your ribs and vital organs.

Bruce Lee's washboard abs did not come from mere abdominal training; he was also a proponent of cardiovascular conditioning and would regularly run, jump rope and ride a stationary bicycle. A typical exercise Lee would be to run covering a distance of two to six miles in 15 to 45 minutes.

Nutrition: Another element in Bruce Lee's quest for abdominal definition was nutrition. According to Linda Lee, soon after he moved to the United States, Bruce started to take nutrition seriously and developed an interest in health foods and high-protein drinks. He ate lean meat sparingly and consumed large amounts of fruits and vegetables. In later years, he studied vitamin supplements.

1964 Long Beach International Karate Championships

At the invitation of Ed Parker, Lee appeared in the 1964 Long Beach International Karate Championship and performed repetitions of two-finger pushups (using the thumb and the index finger) with feet at approximately a shoulder-width apart.

In the same Long Beach event he also performed the "one inch punch," the description of which is as follows: Lee stood upright, his right foot forward with knees bent slightly, in front of a standing, stationary partner.

Lee's right arm was partly extended and his right fist approximately an inch away from the partner's chest. Without retracting his right arm, Lee then forcibly delivered the punch to his partner while largely maintaining his posture, sending the partner backwards and falling into a chair placed behind the partner to prevent injury.

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