· Lee’s devotion to fitness gave him a body that was admired by many of the top names in bodybuilding community. Joe Weider, the founder of Mr. Olympia, described Bruce’s physique as “the most defined body I’ve ever seen!” Many top bodybuilding competitors have indicated Bruce as a major influence on their bodybuilding careers including Flex Wheeler, Shawn Ray, Rachel McLish, Lou Ferrigno, Lee Haney, Linda Murray and 6 time Mr. Olympia Dorian Yates. Arnold Schwarzenegger was also influenced by Bruce, and said of his body,
“Bruce Lee had a very–I mean a very defined physique. He had very little body fat. I mean, he probably had one of the lowest body fat counts of any athlete. And I think that’s why he looked so believable.”
A doctor who knew Lee once claimed that he was “Muscled as a squirrel, and spirited as a horse” and fitter than anyone he had ever seen.
Lee was known to have collected over 140 books in his lifetime on bodybuilding, weight training, physiology and kinesiology. In order to better train specific muscle groups, he also created several original designs of his own training equipment and had his friend George Lee builds them to his specifications.
Lee’s phenomenal fitness meant he was capable of performing many exceptional physical feats. The following list is the physical feats that are documented and supported by reliable sources.
· Lee’s striking speed from three feet with his hands down by his side reached five hundredths of a second.
· Lee could spring a 235lb opponent 15 feet away with a 1-inch punch.
· Lee’s combat movements were at times too fast to be captured on film at 24fps; so many scenes were shot in 32fps to put Lee in slow motion. Normally martial arts films are sped up.
· In a speed demonstration, Lee could snatch a dime off a person’s open palm before they could close it, and leave a penny behind.
· Lee could perform push-ups using only his thumbs
· Lee would hold an elevated v-sit position for 30 minutes or longer.
· Lee could throw grains of rice up into the air and then catch them in mid-flight using chopsticks.
· Lee performed one-hand push-ups using only the thumb and index finger
· Lee performed 50 reps of one-arm chin-ups.
· From a standing position, Lee could hold a 125lb barbell straight out.
· Lee could break wooden boards six inches thick.
· Lee performed a side kick while training with James Coburn and broke a 150-pound punching bag
· Lee could cause a 300-lb bag to fly towards and thump the ceiling with a sidekick.
· In a move that has been dubbed “Dragon Flag”, Lee could perform leg lifts with only his shoulder blades resting on the edge of a bench and suspend his legs and torso perfectly horizontal midair.
· Lee could thrust his fingers through unopened steel cans of Coca-Cola, at a time before cans were made of the softer aluminum metal.
· Lee would use one finger to leave dramatic indentations on pine wood.
I can believe some, but I’d like to have people post an opinion on just how much of this that you believe. I believe certain stuff about his speed but some of this sounds rediculously impossible even with lifetime training. I believe the part about sticking his fingers into pinewood because I understand the science of growing bone density like those guys who breaks bricks with their hands and head. But some is just hard to believe.
