Old, stiff and overweight, now what?

[SBN Doug]

You've already got lots of good suggestions for an art. My 2 cents is not to get into a muscle building program. Bulky muscles can reduce your speed, and most of those arts are better with fast execution.

 

Oh yeah, and I could take offense at your calling yourself old at 32.

[Karateka_latino]

All good advices here,

 

I'm agree with the NO weight lifting yet... you'll GAIN weight with that kind of training.

 

Lose weight, and when you have lost some pounds Then you can start to pack some solid muscle.

 

The Martial Arts training will work all your muscles of your body so I wouldn't mind holding the weight training for a while. Since when 32 is Old??? you are YOUNG.

 

Now Cardio is vital so is Flexibility but Martial arts will work on those too. but if you'll work on a program for that, good, just don't over do.

 

The thing is don't do TOO much specially if you are comming back from a lay off. Take it step by step and while you progress you add more.

 

As far as Martial Arts goes.. Judo/Jiu Jitsu is good, Karate? well, id say look for the Okinawan styles of Karate (Goju, Shorin, Isshin, etc..) they are better for your knees.

[Kirves]

[quote="SubmissionFighter"]All good advices here, I'm agree with the NO weight lifting yet... you'll GAIN weight with that kind of training.[/quote] That's old school advice, nowadays people think it's the other way. If you weight train, you gain muscle (yes more weight) but the more you have muscle the higher your maintenance calory need will rise, i.e. the muscle ends up eating the fat for fuel. And if you train with weights but don't compensate by eating more food, you'll lose weight because of the basic rule: you need intake over maintenance line to add weight. Weight training rises your maintenance calory need.

[BonnyBoy]

Yes, lifting weights should gain weight, but you'll lose fat faster. 1 pound of muscle burns between 35-50 calories a day, so there is nothing wrong with adding a few pounds of muscle.

 

Oh, and lifting weights won't make you slower, it'll make you faster if done correctly along with stretching.. : - )

 

You might like Brasilian Jiu Jitsu (keep in mind, I'm biased since I study it), I find the heavy guys really hard to grapple with. Except, BJJ is all ground fighting and there are no strikes, only some take downs. Your strong legs could be put to good use with the guard.

 

Go with a style that appeals to you though, if you pick the wrong one, you could turn away from MA like I did when I was younger and waste valuable training times. Knowing what you want out of your training also makes it easier to pick a style, whether you want self defense, or just sport, etc.

[Kamidake]

Hi Big Orange, I hope you are still there. Due to being sidelined for 3 years because of a chronic foot problem, I gained a LOT of weight, and got stiff, AND I'm old (43). I started martial arts 2 weeks ago and have lost 4 lb already. It's at least as much exercise as fast dancing (I was a dancer before).

 

I expressed concerns to my teacher about whether I could do the things before I started, and he said that I could go at my own pace and still learn, and we could make any necessary modifications. For example, if I don't feel I'm flexible enough to do a somersault-type roll, we can start by rolling sideways from a kneeling position, and so forth, until I'm ready to do it correctly. So I would look for somebody who takes that approach to training. This particular school is called Jinenkan, but I'm sure it's not the only one that modifies for the old, fat, and stiff. Or at least it SHOULDN'T be. Good luck and please report back.

[Kamidake]

P. S. My teacher also allowed me to watch several classes before joining, to see if it was something I thought I'd eventually be able to do. So I'd look for somebody who'll give you a preview, too.

[MSPav]

Something that others haven't mentioned is Southern Praying Mantis style. I'm not sure that you could find anything near you, but I can recommend it quite highly. It's a strange style in a way; it isn't very aerobic, like most Karate styles, but there is a lot of intensity nonetheless. It focuses primarily on hand attacks rather than kicking (there are some low-body kicks, and it depends on the school how much they incorporate them). However, it's not at all like boxing. It is also a very effective "combat" style. That is to say, it's a "hard" martial art: I think their motto is something like 'Within three steps contact, control and strike the enemy until he is destroyed'.