Muscle Gain or Fat Loss for a Martial Artist

[GeoGiant]

When I mentioned myself seeking muscle, I was thinking a Bruce Lee type not a big WWF wrestler. I'm thinking either build would be good as long as one maintains high levels of cardio & flexibility. Personally, I don't have the genetics to become a hulk type, my body isn't built that way.

[bushido_man96]

Bulky doesn't always mean slow. Just like anyone, you have to train to learn how to move your body and weight. Sumo Wrestlers can be very explosive, and are quite agile for big men. There are football players that weigh close to 300 lbs and can run a 40 yard dash in under 5 seconds. Bulky=slow is not a sound arguement, in my mind.

[sensei8]

I've always got a kind of a kick when students and/or exchange partners will say to me..."How can someone as big/tall as you, move so fast and agile?" To me, I'm just me. I move in the manner that I do because I'm not concerned about my size as others might be, therefore, to me, it's not a minus.

[ps1]

Many people here say that big muscle can slow you down.

I don't know from where this opinion comes from. It's probably very old one since the birth of weight lifting.

Your speed is determined by muscle fiber type and your training regimen. It is a fact that slow twitch muscle fibers are...well...slower than fast twitch. The problem is each person is born with a pre-determined ratio of slow twitch to fast twitch muscle fibers. There is no training you can do to change your particular ratio.

That said, through training, you can take advantage of the particular ratio you do have. Plyometrics and power lifting techniques (among others) are commonly used by high level athletes in order to capitalize on this. But what's good for the goose isn't necessarily good for the gander. A power lifter wants to develop that huge barrel chest in order to minimize the distance between the bar and his chest for the bench press event. However, that body type is not the best for...say...a boxer. This is because it's bulky and, though powerlifters tend to be very fast, gets in the way of fluid movement through a more full range of motion.

This is what I'm talking about when I say that muscular bulk isn't necessarily the best thing for a martial artist and slows the person down. Especially since the goal of a good martial artist should be to be fluid and effective.

Hope that helps you better understand where the statement tends to come from.

Sincerely,

Bill Jones

Exercise Physiologist, CSCS

[ps1]

Bulky doesn't always mean slow. Just like anyone, you have to train to learn how to move your body and weight. Sumo Wrestlers can be very explosive, and are quite agile for big men. There are football players that weigh close to 300 lbs and can run a 40 yard dash in under 5 seconds. Bulky=slow is not a sound arguement, in my mind.

Steroids and HGH can do some very amazing things. It's sad to say that most of the professional strength and conditioning coaches in the country find 300 lb men moving that fast as very suspect. Testing can be tricked and avoided. When there's hundreds of millions of dollars on the line, certain things get overlooked. I'm sure some are natural....but that would be the exception, not the rule.

[mr_obvious]

To say generically that muscle bulk slows you down, isn't 100% true. Overdeveloped "fast-twitch" musculature, will most certainly contribute to both power and speed as well.

Problem is that there's no way to control the ration of type 1 v type 2 musculature we have. It's genetic. So while on person may gain 15lbs of muscle and be tremendously explosive another may gain the same amount and end up being really slow. I think their time would be better spent doing plyometrics in order to take advantage of what they do have. Don't get me wrong, I think traditional weight lifting is necessary too. Balance in the workout regimen is a must.

Yes, true. You in the biz? (seems like you know your stuff)

What we want, for striking MA applications, is to develop FT fibers, thus creating a higher potential instantaneous force than if left untrained / unstimulated. Similar in concept to, say.....the Biceps. Bi, meaning two actual muscle heads in the group. No amount or training technique is going to develop a third, fourth.....indefinite head. But we can develop it's power.

A byproduct of course, is hypertrophy and hyperplasia ("bulkiness"). It is said that plyo's tend to stimulate 'plasia in greater proportion (more strength with less size), but bulk nevertheless.

So for all those lost in the jargon, the takeaway here -- muscle gain doesn't necessarily equal slowness.

[bushido_man96]

Bulky doesn't always mean slow. Just like anyone, you have to train to learn how to move your body and weight. Sumo Wrestlers can be very explosive, and are quite agile for big men. There are football players that weigh close to 300 lbs and can run a 40 yard dash in under 5 seconds. Bulky=slow is not a sound arguement, in my mind.

Steroids and HGH can do some very amazing things. It's sad to say that most of the professional strength and conditioning coaches in the country find 300 lb men moving that fast as very suspect. Testing can be tricked and avoided. When there's hundreds of millions of dollars on the line, certain things get overlooked. I'm sure some are natural....but that would be the exception, not the rule.

If that is the case, then that is too bad. Lots of kids with heros out there.

A power lifter wants to develop that huge barrel chest in order to minimize the distance between the bar and his chest for the bench press event. However, that body type is not the best for...say...a boxer. This is because it's bulky and, though powerlifters tend to be very fast, gets in the way of fluid movement through a more full range of motion.

This is what I'm talking about when I say that muscular bulk isn't necessarily the best thing for a martial artist and slows the person down. Especially since the goal of a good martial artist should be to be fluid and effective.

So does that automatically determine that a powerlifter who wants to be an MAist isn't going to reach full potential because of his bulkiness? I see Joe Lewis in my head, who was never really slow.

[straightblast]

Joe Lewis may not have been slow but Bruce lee was faster.

I personally would concentrate on weight loss and at the same time do body weight exercise to reduce the amout of musscle loss. If your going to loose weight its not just fat. I would work on core strength over anything. Your core is the base foundation.

[Sibylla]

Imo the way many train weights doesn't help MA training. Quite a few of the strong guys I've trained with are all upper body and often have problems with connecting with their legs, footwork and coordination suffers. The skinny guys or small girls often end up having a better learning curve, because it's not natural for them to try to power trough everything using upper body strength.

[bushido_man96]

Joe Lewis may not have been slow but Bruce lee was faster.

Ok, so.... Bruce Lee was faster than a lot of people. Probably faster than both you and me, so I don't know what that really proves. And he also believed in weight training for strength and power. He was amazingly strong for his size. I know of a guy who Wrestles for our college here, and also fights in MMA fights, weighs around 150 lbs when he isn't Wrestling, and can bench press 400 lbs. And you wouldn't know if by looking at him. Some people can carry more weight than others, and strength comes in all sizes.