Muscle Type

[DLopez]

Why can't you have both?

 

I'm muscular, and weight train, but I do cardio excercises (actully, Kuk Sool Won hyung works great for that) also as I understand the benefits of endurance.

 

To have to choose one or the other seems too limiting. That's like asking, which is more important, lungs breathing, or heart beating?

[SevenStar]

if I had to pick one or the other, brute force in a fight. endurance in the ring.

 

people always tend to mistake strength with slowness and lack of endurance. just because I'm strong - I squat over 400 and bench almost 300 - I don't lack muscle endurance at all. you can last more than a few seconds. In addition, a fight shouldn't be long and drawn out - you need to take care of business and get out of there.

[wing chun kuen man]

I suppose what it comes down to is the development of maximum power to cause maximum damage in the shortest possible time.

 

Different martial arts use different methods and concepts to develop this power. Weights are a common tool in many styles, however, in some schools such as mine, weight training in general is regarded as more of an hinderance than a plus. Weights are sometimes used, not for building muscles but for strengthning the hand grip and for resistance training e.g. holding the barbels in a certain position(no pumping) until the muscles start to "burn". But even for the above examples there are substitutes where weights are not used.

 

To conclude, you can build power using different methods and concepts that is, with or without weights - the "external" method or the "internal" - remembering the type of power developed will depend on the training concepts used, that is, external impact power or internal penetrative power.

 

Wing Chun Kuen Man

[sansoouser]

I when people bring the bench press in to try to prove their strength...

 

The bench press is good for bodybuilding, that's an isolation movement, ask almost any fighter and they will say it is useless.

 

Endurance I think still reigns supreme. No one said you had to pick one or the other, you can be strong but if you don't have endurance to use it then what good is it?

 

Why do you think almost every powerlifter who went to a fighting sport failed?

[Luckykboxer]

Both aspects are important.

 

what is more important?

 

it depends on who you are fighting.

 

If skill levels are equal, then i would place my bets on the muscle endurance.

 

If the skill levels are different then the better technical fighter would be able to end his fights alot quicker with brute strength.

 

The lesser skilled fighter would have to depend on defense and muscle endurance.

 

overall all things considered muscle endurance wins out slightly

[TheDevilAside]

Uhm.. are we talking about organized fights, such as boxing, or something like a fight in a bar? Also, how can bench press be useless? It's almost the exact same thing as a push up.

[Treebranch]

Being bulky and being strong are two different things. Endurance has more to do with cardiovascular endurance than muscle edurance. If you can't get enough oxygen to the muscles then how strong you are doesn't really matter. Learn to strike using your body structure rather than using muscle power, you will last longer in a fight. Preserve your muscle strength for when you really need it.

[sansoouser]

Here is a clip from the Mike Mahler interview with Stephen Maxwell

 

MM: What exercises would you recommend to increase muscular endurance?

 

SM: Just about any exercise that involves whole body movements is useful.

 

MM: Can you give me some examples?

 

SM:: A pushup is a whole body exercise and a bench press is an isolation exercise. A chinup is a whole body exercise compared to a lat pulldown. Thus, I prefer using exercises that involve your bodyweight due to all of the stabilizing muscles that are involved. Moreover, you have to use all of your core muscles to stabilize your trunk and that is critical for grapplers.

[sansoouser]

Also, the bench press doesn't give you full shoulder development, it doesn't strengthen muscles around it like a push up. So you are alot more likely to get injured because of the disproportion.

 

If you are training to fight, then isolation is a big mistake,

 

leave that to the bodybuilders.

[SevenStar]

I when people bring the bench press in to try to prove their strength...

 

The bench press is good for bodybuilding, that's an isolation movement, ask almost any fighter and they will say it is useless.[/b]

 

actually, you're dead wrong. the bench is not an isolation movement. all olympics lifts - cleans, deadlifts, squats, bench press, etc. are compound lifts. a fighter won't tell you it's useless. what they will tell you is the same thing I did - in the ring, you need endurance. to have both is that much better. that's why fighters have a weight training program. I love it when people say something like "ask a fighter", as if they are one, and then make a bad point...