Has anyone done martial arts training and bodybuilding at the same time? Were you able to stay flexible?
102438
my dad did, and he was able to stay reasonably flexible, but not as much as the less built guys. Stretching is a big thing.
1131213
are you trying to stay within a weight class and add muscle? \n\nor are you happy to add muscle and move up a weight class??\n\nat your age, height and weight you do not want to diet too hard or rreally even at all  - it will slow your growth and you will have no energy to train \n\nbut i would look at maintaining the same number of calories as you eat now but add in more protein and reduce fat and carbs - this will help without reducing actual intake\n\nat the same time I would add in another hard cardio session of some sort for 45 min and another hard muscle building session for 45 min \n\nthis will very quickly (in a month)  increase your lean mass at same bodyweight\n\nhowever ideally at you age you will actually grow and add weight \n\nto do this add in around two sessions of hard heavy weights and add around 5% protein increase to your diet - you will of course move up a weight class but with much more muscle!
1012356
Yes indeed!  By all means feel free to train with weights!  They have been proven beneficial at any age.  Start out with light weights.  I would recommend a book call Body for Life by  Bill Phillips.
677597
well i am a gym freak...lol gotta stay in shape :)
641302
though I only did it for a semester , I would say it makes you more humble and disciplined!\nthe people I met who had been doing it for at least a year are incredibly disciplined, and would never use their ability against anyone. I believe this humbled them and made them take the time out to observe more.\nIt almost like a lifestyle and takes you in, give you a different perspective on life and such.\nI took shotokan karate do
540842
I definitely don't think it's too late. I think Brad Imes who was in season 2 of the ultimate fighter....he had only done MMA for like a year before he ended up on that show and ended up fighting in UFC. I'm not sure how old he is but I would be surprised if he is younger than 25. It is possible for you to train in MMA and compete but I think it mostly depends on you. Are you a quick learner? It takes some people many years before they become proficient in their martial art and then you have some freaks of nature who pick up things in a year or less. I have a friend like that. He trained in BJJ somewhere between 6-12 months and he got his blue belt, which I think is not bad for someone who never trained in martial arts. Anyways, if this is something you wanna do, I would recommend a few things. First of all, find a really good instructor. This is important. If you can't communicate and ask questions and if the instructor isn't able to clearly explain what he's teaching you in a simple way, you will waste your time and money. So do your research on the instructors that are available to you. My next piece of advice is you should train as much as possible. Do you work full time? Married? Got kids? You may want to think about whether or not time will allow you to commit to training as much as you need to. Most people will say that you should train atleast 3 times a week. If you can train more than that, that's even better but make sure you don't get burned out. Don't train too hard to the point that you don't feel like going the next day. Also in training, you should build up your cardio too and do exercises that use your body weight. This is what Bruce Lee did as well as many other great martial artists. Dieting is also important, maybe equally important as training. Once you got the perfect instructor and the perfect training schedule and diet, you should eventually look into competing in some small scale MMA tournaments so that you can get the experience. You may want to consult with your instructor and decide on when it is the right time for you to start competing. I think if you pay a lot of attention to all of these factors that I have suggested, you will definitely be in a good position to break into the fight scene. Of course, I don't claim to be an expert, but what I know is what I have observed other MMA fighters doing. Good luck to you! Although I personally train for street fighting and may never fight in something like the UFC or Pride, I love to watch those things and I get excited when I meet people who have an interest competing.
75325
you can train and plan all you want but a plan only last till the first moment of execution then it starts slowly falling apart. but any training that you do gives you an advantage. building muscle memory is the most important thing you can do. what is muscle memory, i used to play hacky sack like five hours a day with my friends, then at work if i dropped a knife i would try and hack it. so the simple act of seeing the knife start to fall initiated the action of bringing my foot up to meet it. but it also shows the bad thing about muscle memory itll happen before you can really think about it. get a partner start a martial art/boxing/self defense course, and practise with your partner as much as possible.
1173117
My training is similar to yours.  I train BJJ, Muay Thai, and Boxing.  I also have a strong background in wrestling, having done it for over 6 years and having coached it for a short time.  Right now I'm not near any schools, as I work on a Navy base in Italy.  There are a couple of guys here with different backgrounds and we spar together, teaching each other what we can.  When I get back to the states I'm going back to my BJJ school, and looking for a muay thai gym if I can find one.\n\nI think you're training now is ideal for MMA.  Boxing and muay thai have awesome footwork and striking techniques. Combine that with the comfort muay thai fighters have in the clinch and the ground fighting prowess of BJJ and you have a very well rounded fighter.  All that's missing is the takedown ablility of wrestling or judo.  I've trained with many higher ranked (in belt)BJJ practitioners, and I've always had them off the takedown.  They eventually improve their position and get me with a submission, but that will change in time.\n\nI don't completely agree with your view on Kung Fu, though.  It's true that there aren't many MMA champions with Kung Fu backgrounds, but I don't think that is because of the stye.  I think it's more because of the training.\n\nKung Fu, traditionally, was a mixed martial art form.  The chinese brought together various famous fighters to study their styles and techniques and to develop strong fighters for battle.  It's techniques are effective and it has potential for MMA  Presently, though, I don't think Kung Fu is practiced in a way that builds great fighters. Especially in the US.  It has become more of a forms based martial art and the practitioners don't spar enough, if at all.  It's possible for a Kung Fu fighter to study for years and have less ring time than a Muay Thai boxer would get in his first few months at a gym.
980854
There is also http://www.bodyweighttraining.org/forum/. There are a lot of good info there.\n\nYou can also get Matt Fureys book Combat Conditioning. It has a lot of really good stuff in it.\n\nAlthough I do not have his book yet, you might check out http://www.rosstraining.com/. Heard a lot of good stuff about it.\n\nAnd thanks for that bodyweightculture.com/ link.
591364
it depends on what you are training for (health, competition, self defense). judo and jujitsu involve a lot of mat work and grappling. boxing is very good for cardio. karate is a good combo of most aspects. krav maga is great for self defense. aikido involves some mat work and joint manipulation. it also depends on how far you are willing to travel to learn. some people would travel 100 miles for class. most would only travel 10-15 miles. see what is offered in your area and watch a few classes. usually schools want you to sign a one year contract, so be sure you like what you see before you commit. some places offer seminars. some high schools and colleges offer community programs after hours for several weeks. expose yourself to as much as you can. good luck.
81562
You should try strength training instead.  Using weights would help build muscle.
588878
Here's an answer I've given other people I hope it helps. You might want to take a look at www.mattfurey.com and try his combat conditioning course. It uses body weight exercises. Make sure you get 30-45 minutes of Cariovascular exercise(biking, running, skipping rope, martial arts, etc.) everyday. Take a look at this:\n\n\nYou might be doing a little too much. Especially if you are talking about gaining muscle mass. Gaining muscle mass is a combination of exercise, nutrition, and recovery. If any one of those is out of whack you won't experience the best possible gains. In some cases you won't see any.\n\nMy advice would be:\n\n1. Cut you workouts down to three full body workouts a week. Either Mon,Wed,Fri or Tues,Thurs,Sat. This schedule will allow your muscles to recover and grow. Remember to increase the weight on all your lifts by 10% every two weeks. Try this for about six months. \n\n2. Get a gram of protein for every pound of bodyweight or your lean body mass. Try to get it from lean sources. Eat about six small meals per day.\n\n3. Try creatine and HMB.\n\n4. Drink plenty of water. If you divide your bodyweight in pounds by two that is the number of ounces of water you need to drink in a day.\n\n5. Remember to stretch.\n\n6. Do at least a half hour of cardio three times a week. For some fun cardio take up a martial art like Karate or Tae Kwon Do.\n\n7. Take a good multivitamin.\n\n8. Find out what your body type is. Are you a mesomorph, endomorph, or ectomorph? Are you a combination of any of these. These bodytypes determine how you should workout. Look them up on www.bodybuilding.com for a full explanation.\n\n9. Get as much quality sleep as you can. Eight hours a night is good. You grow while you are sleeping.\n\nHere's a sample three day workout:\n\nWORK OUT PROGRAM \n3 X WEEK\n\n\nLEGS\nSquat 3x8\nStraight Leg Deadlift 3x10\nStanding Calf Raise 3x10-15\n\nCHEST\nBench Press 3x8-10\nFlyes 3x8-10\n\nBACK\nPulldown 3x10-15\nBent Over Rows 3x6-10\nDeadlifts 3x10-12\n\nSHOULDERS\n\nMilitary Press 3x8-10\nUpright Rows 3x10-15\n\nBICEPS\n\nStanding Barbell Curls 3x10-12\n\nTRICEPS \nLying Tricep Extensions 3x10-15\n\nSTOMACH\n\nCrunches 3x50\n\n\nMon., Wed., Fri. or Tues., Thurs., Sat.\n\nEvery two weeks increase the weight on each exercise by 10%. If you can’t don’t worry about it. Keep trying until you can.\n\nAfter a while you can move back up into heavier workouts. Hope this helps! \nSource(s):\nBodybuilding 101 by Robert Wolff\nSuper Squats by Randall Strossen\nStretching by Bob Anderson\nThe Education of a Bodybuilder by Arnold Schwarzenegger\nArnold Schwarzenegger's Encyclopedia of Modern Bodybuilding
48984
I have always battled weight gain but when I was modeling I couldn't afford to put on a few extra pounds, and I hated "exercising" and I love eating! The only way I could effectively keep my weight down was to find way that I really enjoyed that would burn off those calories. My friend turned me on to boxing. Not kick boxing aerobics (not that theres anything wrong with that) but it was training with a real boxing trainer. Three times a week I would go into the gym for an hour and half and cover my self in abaleen (makes you sweat more) and then put on a sauna suit and get in the ring. He would hold mits and make me punch until my arms could punch anymore. He would put me through the same kind of training as he would if I was training to really fight. (Even though I have no intention of ever doing that) We would weigh in at the beginning of every work out and then again at the end and on average you left about 1 to 2 pounds lighter from sweating so much. It was an amazing stress releaser, and very cool from a self defense aspect as well. sorry to get off on a tangent about boxing as boxing isn't for everyone but my point was find a way to work out that you enjoy and that doesn't feel like a chore. And you'll have no problem maintaining.
408644
Check out Ronnie Coleman. He's a very great bodybuilder. Click here - http://forum.bodybuildingpro.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=79&stc=1
270130
Im into bodybuilding too. I compete in figure. \n\nhttp://www.leeapperson.com\nhim and his girlfriend are my trainers. They use herbalife and have all their clients use it as well. It WORKS. You can have him train you from even the PHONE! Or just get his contact and get information about the products and how you can lose it. Trust me, these guys are awesome. Visit the herbalife site to know more about what you may get into. Its great.\n\nhttp://www.herbalife.com
656475
Once you have the routine down pat, it's great.  But it does take a while to learn and it takes patience too.\n\nI used to do a type of chi-gung which wasn't as ritualistic as tai-chi and I really enjoyed it.  It's great for slowing down the mind and becoming more aware of the body.
445879
I dunno but it sounds fun! \n\nTry batching out (mast3rbat1ng) a couple of times a week and see if that helps (you might just be rollin with a surplus)