bodybuilding & martial arts

[AUSSIE]

I'm kind of at a crossroads right now. I wanna be a muscular but I don't wanna sacrifice my martial arts skills. And I wanna be a martial artist but I don't wanna sacrifice my physique in the process. Do you think both can be done successfully? I'm gonna try. People have done it before like Jean Claude Van Damme and Phil Barroni. Is anyone else on here a bodybuilder?

[Warp Spider]

Being bigger will sacrifice some of your flexibility and such, but the strength gains are more than worth it, in my opinion. Who would you rather be - Mike Tyson or a Russian gymnast, both with the same level of training?

[Breakdancer]

my kung fu is true kung fu, unaltered from chinese communism, from Grandmaster liu, it emphasizes to use your tendons, and keep everything else relaxed, only muscle movement is to execute actions. They told me not to do pushups or too many situps, or powerlifting actions because the muscles are useless in ma and just doing kung fu will give me nice muscles, so my advice to you is just do karate alot in stead of powerlifting, maybe even some bag work and you'll acheive long muscles, not short ones without flexibility, but thats up to you, long muscles are more compatible to some karate and such though

[monkeygirl]

I'm moving this to the Health, Training and Fitness forum.

[Malkosha]

Bodybuilding and MA go great together.

 

Contrary to popular belief, muscle size will not hinder your flexibility unless of course you are really … really … HUGE! I mean steroid use huge. Most people can get great results from BB, but the chances of getting Pro-bodybuilding huge are almost impossible to achieve.

 

The days of “Lifting weights is bad for sports performance” are over and have been for a long time. While some arts don’t require great strength, if you think about it logically, what’s the worse that can happen? You get stronger?

 

I say go for it, but remember that only MA practice can build skill.

[Ben]

As far as i understand, doing weights wont harm your flexability. but as with all things it depends on the amount you do it. i mean... take eating fatty foods for example. if done occasionally it wont harm you, infact in some ways its good for you - but in excess it may well end killing you. you sacrifice your health and end up having a heart attack or something similar.

 

in this case, the same applies with weights. doing a reasonable amount will help with your power. but if you do it too much, and neglect other factors like your stamina, flexibility, and technique, you'll be unbalanced and wont be so effective.

 

treat it as an aid, not an essential

[Tibby]

Franco Colombu was a National Champion in Italy in Boxing. You are not going to be the next Mr. Olympia without steroids. Look at guys like Vandam, as you said, and take a look at Shamrock! Look at those Wrestlers in the Olympics. Weightlifting isn’t going to hurt your Fighting skill at all!

[AUSSIE]

What I meant was, I wanna be a good BODYBUILDER and I wanna be a good MARTIAL ARTIST, independantly of each other. My reason for lifting weights is not to improve my martial arts ability. My reason for doing martial arts is not to improve my physique. Because when your trying to bulk up and stay extremely agile/supple/flexible, it doesn't work that way. The MA training burns calories. If your a bodybuilder, that's not good. MA doesn't build muscle, it may make you harder and more defined because you lose bodyfat and become leaner, but that's the opposite of what i'm trying to achieve...i'm trying to bulk up - just increase my overall muscle size. And when i'm big enough, i'll start cutting up. Plus the muscle soreness that you get from the intense weight training sessions is counter-productive when you get into the dojo...you're too sore to give it your all, and you're trying to get your body to recover but you're being made to do all these drills and crap, and you don't wanna do pushups/squats/situps at MA training because the muscle is sore and you're trying to rest and recuperate...not tax the muscle even more.

 

Now can you see the dilemma i'm talking about. I think maybe wrestling is the only true example of MA and BB being able to gel together really well. The bodybuilding training is going to help you when you wrestle, bodybuilding is PART OF wrestling training. It's like killing two birds with one stone. But i'm doing karate, not wrestling. That's why I admire and respect people like Vandamme and Phil Barroni so much who've done both.

[Ben]

It all depends on what stage you are at now. The best thing to do is get yourself really lean and into great shape. Then build on that. Having a lead house on weak foundations will never be all it can, whereas a lead house on solid foundations will be what you want it to be.

 

if you do it the wrong way around, you'll be stronger, but you will never be as fast, or as "technically sound" as someone who took the above approach

 

(i cant explain things very well, but i hope you get what i mean!)

[Tibby]

What I meant was, I wanna be a good BODYBUILDER and I wanna be a good MARTIAL ARTIST, independantly of each other. My reason for lifting weights is not to improve my martial arts ability. My reason for doing martial arts is not to improve my physique. Because when your trying to bulk up and stay extremely agile/supple/flexible, it doesn't work that way.

 

Says who? Maybe you should watch a Few body building shows before making that assumption. Watch the free posting, some of them add full splits into there routines, and many take Ballet to make there posing better. Remember the Opening seen from Pumping Iron? Arnold and Franco are taking Ballet lessons. Watch Sumo wrestling, all that bulk, and they are still flexible and fast!

 

 

The MA training burns calories. If your a bodybuilder, that's not good. MA doesn't build muscle, it may make you harder and more defined because you lose bodyfat and become leaner, but that's the opposite of what i'm trying to achieve...i'm trying to bulk up - just increase my overall muscle size. And when i'm big enough, i'll start cutting up.

 

This is all assuming that you will burn muscle. When you lose weight you are not just burring calories, you are burning energy, in the form of Carbs and Fat. The only way you are going to burn muscle is if you are either starving your self, or overtraining. You normally don’t “burn” muscle. The protein that make up muscle take almost as much energy to burn as it uses, you almost break even. The body knows this and only burns muscle in extreme circumstances.

 

 

Plus the muscle soreness that you get from the intense weight training sessions is counter-productive when you get into the dojo...you're too sore to give it your all, and you're trying to get your body to recover but you're being made to do all these drills and crap, and you don't wanna do pushups/squats/situps at MA training because the muscle is sore and you're trying to rest and recuperate...not tax the muscle even more.

 

How long have you been lifting? After while, you will not feel it any more. You muscle don’t get sore. Your muscle will still be a little weak, but your Sensei will understand and go easy on you if you explain the deal to him. My Sensei goes easy on me when I’m in pre-meet mode.

 

 

Now can you see the dilemma i'm talking about. I think maybe wrestling is the only true example of MA and BB being able to gel together really well. The bodybuilding training is going to help you when you wrestle, bodybuilding is PART OF wrestling training. It's like killing two birds with one stone. But i'm doing karate, not wrestling. That's why I admire and respect people like Vandamme and Phil Barroni so much who've done both.

 

Oh, now I get it. By “body building” I assumed you meant the sport. You just mean weight training, right? Wrestlers mostly weight train off season, the training for in-season wrestling is very different from a Body Builders routine. Most people who do weight training and an other sport choose which one comes first. You will have to choose eventually. As you get close to going to a tournament for you MA, you may want to back off the weights, if you get close to a weightlifting meet, you may want to take a break for a week or 2 from MA so you can focus on the meet ahead. You don’t have to ever give up either, but if you want to go competitively, you are going to have to learn when to take a break from one for the sake of the other.