I recently read The Art of Expressing the Human Body, edited by John Little. It was excellent and outlined many of the workouts that Bruce Lee used throughout his life. Bruce wanted to engage in activities to support his martial arts and designed his workouts to promote endurance, weight training, and flexibility.
Not surprisingly, Bruce was a pioneer in the concept of circuit training. He designed workouts that included going from station to station for short periods of time. This supported his three goals of endurance, flexibility, and weight training.
Here are two examples of his circuit training. He would do each activity for one minute and then quickly switch to the next one. He would alternative between A and B (Art, page 56-63).
Monday, Wednesday, Friday
| A | B |
| Rope jumping | Waist twisting |
| Forward bend | Palm up curl |
| Cat stretch | Roman Chair sit up |
| Jumping Jack | knee drawing |
| Squats (no weights) | Side bending |
| High kick | Palm down curl |
Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday
| A | B |
| Groin stretch | Leg raise |
| Side leg stretch | Reverse curl |
| Jumping squat | Sit-up twist |
| Shoulder circling | Leverage bar twist |
| Alternate splits | Alternate leg raise |
| Leg stretch | Wrist roller |
Remember that this information is for general informational purposes only. You should always consult a medical professional before engaging in any kind of exercise program. What do you think? Is this something you think would be helpful? He didn’t do this every day but would rotate between this with other workouts.
Resources:
The Art of Expressing the Human Body, John Little, Editor, Tuttle Publishing, 1998. Volume 4 of the Bruce Lee Library, commissioned by the Bruce Lee Estate. Includes workouts, circuit training, weight lifting, and stretching. Put together by John Little, Bruce Lee historian.
Pixabay (Squat shadow).
AI Narration provided by elevenlabs.io. Bruce Lee quotes read by AI voice over.
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