Did bulking up hurt your athleticism ?

[Fabolous]

Heard a rumor that bulking up will hinder your athleticism, speed, blah blah. True? I started training in martial arts and I don't want to lose the skill to gain the power.

 

[Dave416]

It's common knowledge anytime you get bigger you will get slower. But if you keep your training on lock, and don't get FAT get BULK you can easily keep your skills.

That's just my opinion.

 

[curtissmiller]

Well I can see that adding size to your body will naturally require more work to move your body. That will translate into slower movements, but...

Getting stronger does not mean you have to get bigger. In fact I know a lot of people who are many times stronger that HUGE bodybuilder types at my gym.

What do you think... does anybody have a story about that?

 

[NJL52]

If you build the right type of strength (3-5 rep ranges) you build powerful strength. Your power per bodyweight increases up until you can squat in the 600ish range.

IE:
200 pounds with a 300 pound squat
220 pounds with a 400 pound squat

The ratio of strength per weight increased, thus you got faster.

If you work out in 10 rep ranges and add bulky and slow mass, then yes, you will get slower.

In a 15 meter race, olympic powerlifters are faster then 100m sprinters. Sheer power wins there.

Do a 3x5 or 5x5 if you have been working out for a few years.

 

[roadwarrior]

Well I can see that adding size to your body will naturally require more work to move your body. That will translate into slower movements, but...

Getting stronger does not mean you have to get bigger. In fact I know a lot of people who are many times stronger that HUGE bodybuilder types at my gym.

What do you think... does anybody have a story about that?

Look at Tatyana's post about strength and size from yesterday or today. It's a great read.

I've trained martial arts since I was a kid and have added a fair amount of size... a bit under 6'2" at close to 240. I am slower but I am a lot stronger. I can hit pretty hard. My kicks are not what they were. My ground game is not a limber Gracie style bjj but I can put on some mean locks and chokes.

 

[Tatyana]

Everyone's body may react differently, but in general heavier weights in the 1-5 range increase strength, and higher rep ranges, 6-12, result in greater hypertrophy.

It is quite an old wives tale that weight training will hinder performance.

ALL sports now use weight training in some form as a part of their conditioning routines.

You still need muscles to perform any action, and also, depending on your bodytype, people often don't 'bulk up' (don't like that term much) as much as they think they will.

Why do you think so many also take steroids?

 

[jaybois]

Killed it for the most part.i just didn't have the gas to do much.

 

[Fabolous]

This is exactly the problem. I get so many conflicting answers. Half of people I ask (such as this forum) say it will make you slower and less athletic, but others say it will actually do the opposite.

My fear is, that being I haven't worked out much in life (except maybe a year) and I eat like a slob, I still have large chest muscles (can flex them), biceps, shoulders, muscles on my forearms and such. The marine calculator I used which is based on weight, neck size, waist size, etc, says I'm 200 pounds of lean mass. Now once I enhance my diet and step up my weight training, I see myself hitting 240 and it mostly being muscle.

I can see myself being Kimbo Slice and honestly, he's pretty stiff when it comes to knees and leg kicks, things used in martial arts. He's also somewhat slow overall. I want to avoid that. I want all of the power of a big man but the speed of a little guy.

Let me add, right now, I have waaay more fat than I would like and even with the fat, I'm still pretty athletic. I can run, jump, do all kinds of things most people wouldn't expect when you say 20%+ body fat.

 

[NJL52]

Lose the fat. You will be much faster at 10% then you are at 20%.

And hand speed will go down once you get a lot of bulk. I was assuming you were some scrawny guy as are most new posters.

 

[Style]

If you're worried about losing speed then train fast, explode every rep. Do cleans, keep to low rep sets.

 

[silver_shadow]

This is exactly the problem. I get so many conflicting answers. Half of people I ask (such as this forum) say it will make you slower and less athletic, but others say it will actually do the opposite.

My fear is, that being I haven't worked out much in life (except maybe a year) and I eat like a slob, I still have large chest muscles (can flex them), biceps, shoulders, muscles on my forearms and such. The marine calculator I used which is based on weight, neck size, waist size, etc, says I'm 200 pounds of lean mass. Now once I enhance my diet and step up my weight training, I see myself hitting 240 and it mostly being muscle.

I can see myself being Kimbo Slice and honestly, he's pretty stiff when it comes to knees and leg kicks, things used in martial arts. He's also somewhat slow overall. I want to avoid that. I want all of the power of a big man but the speed of a little guy.

Let me add, right now, I have waaay more fat than I would like and even with the fat, I'm still pretty athletic. I can run, jump, do all kinds of things most people wouldn't expect when you say 20%+ body fat.

there is a rough threshold weight, above which you might get slower. at least if you consider the simple case of running faster. in martial arts however i'm pretty sure that it's not detrimental especially because there are weight classes.

 

[b fold the truth]

I've been hit hard by people who were 150 lbs as well as those well over 300 lbs. I'm a pretty quick guy and at 290 I can still kick head level and run a 57 second 400M sprint.

The key is to do both. If you are doing Martial Arts hard and Weight Training...the Martial Arts is not going to allow your body to fully grow like it could if you were ONLY doing the weight training. It will BENEFIT you.

Once I started training in the gym heavy...my Martial Arts performance shot through the roof. I could jump like you wouldn't believe.

 

[jnevin]

It fucked up my golf swing.

 

[coolcolj]

it's all relative - going from 150lbs to 180 could help a 6 footer, if he remains lean
he will get a lot stronger and better power to weight ratio if he train right

but going from 200-250 for a 6 footer might not be such a good idea if you want to jump 40 inches off the ground and run the 60m under 7 seconds

 

[TC2]

If you are going to lift weights and get bulkier you WILL slow down plain and simple.

 

[nyrugby]

Gaining lean mass ( assuming thats what is meant by bulk) is not a hinderance if training in the proper way. I play rugby with guys 6 240 and they annhiliate. Look at Mike Alstott of the bucaneers. It's rubbish to say adding lean muscle will diminish your speed. Keep your flexibility high, use plyos, sports specific exercise, don't focus soley on low rep ranges and you'll be fine. I have also worked with Professional football players and I have watch 300+ 6'2 athletes who can fly.....

 

[NJL52]

Adding mass will diminish hand speed, footspeed etc.

Any mass that isn't part of the muscle used to peform a movement is dead weight. Having huge forearms slows down your punch because your forearms don't help the movement.

As far as running speed goes, adding strength to your legs will make you accelerate faster but will have a slight negative effect on top speed.

 

[jumpmaster82]

when i bulk i always notice a negative affect on my cardio, ie speed endurance

 

[TC2]

Most old school trainers(boxing anyway) wont train you if you lift weights because its widely know that even the leanest UNNESSARY muscle mass gains will slow you down.

Take if from me..I use to box and I never lifted weights and I was fuckin lighting quick...I got more into weight lifting and put on 25 lbs of solid muscle and felt like I was moving in slow motion when sparring or even hitting the heavy bag.

I've since backed off the bodybuilding phase(I still lift weights since I don't compete anymore)....slimmed down to my fighting weight and like magic got my speed back.

 

[tropo]

In a 15 meter race, olympic powerlifters are faster then 100m sprinters. Sheer power wins there.

In a 15 meter race, the person with the best reflexes would win. The superheavy olympic lifters wouldn't have a chance, but perhaps the light weight classes could do ok.

 

[Scotsman]

Before anyone can really answer this question you have to define athleticism.

Depending on your idea adding mass may well increase your athleticism.

Cheers,
Scotsman

 

[NJL52]

In a 15 meter race, the person with the best reflexes would win. The superheavy olympic lifters wouldn't have a chance, but perhaps the light weight classes could do ok.

Wrong on both statements.

 

[thebadguy54]

I've been hit hard by people who were 150 lbs as well as those well over 300 lbs. I'm a pretty quick guy and at 290 I can still kick head level and run a 57 second 400M sprint.

The key is to do both. If you are doing Martial Arts hard and Weight Training...the Martial Arts is not going to allow your body to fully grow like it could if you were ONLY doing the weight training. It will BENEFIT you.

Once I started training in the gym heavy...my Martial Arts performance shot through the roof. I could jump like you wouldn't believe.

400m in 57 sec at 290 is nuts. I thought I was fast (1:10 at 205lbs).

IMO if the weight gained is quality weight it will make you faster... but only at certain things.

100m sprint, yes. 10k run, no.

 

[b fold the truth]

400m in 57 sec at 290 is nuts. I thought I was fast (1:10 at 205lbs).

IMO if the weight gained is quality weight it will make you faster... but only at certain things.

100m sprint, yes. 10k run, no.

I've got it on video somewhere...timed with a pedometer and heart rate monitor on. My heart rate was above 190 BPM and the track is a loose track. I felt slow till I heard what a decent time was. My wife ran the 200M for her country in High School (also all Euro TKD champion 2x and point guard for national basketball team in HS) and she couldn't believe that I could run as fast as I could.

But I don't look gracefull...

 

[steig]

Building up strength and size has both helped and hurt me in sports. I am faster and stronger and able to compete more. However, I lost the natural cut in my fastball as my arm strength increase and that greatly hurt my pitching capabilities.

 

[silver_shadow]

I've got it on video somewhere...timed with a pedometer and heart rate monitor on. My heart rate was above 190 BPM and the track is a loose track. I felt slow till I heard what a decent time was. My wife ran the 200M for her country in High School (also all Euro TKD champion 2x and point guard for national basketball team in HS) and she couldn't believe that I could run as fast as I could.

But I don't look gracefull...

that is freaking quick bro!

 

[rjpe99]

I've got it on video somewhere...timed with a pedometer and heart rate monitor on. My heart rate was above 190 BPM and the track is a loose track. I felt slow till I heard what a decent time was. My wife ran the 200M for her country in High School (also all Euro TKD champion 2x and point guard for national basketball team in HS) and she couldn't believe that I could run as fast as I could.

But I don't look gracefull...

Hey clint (ryan from the trybe) I didn't know you liked to run as well. I think a lot of people bulk up without focusing on speed and endurance so that is why they become "less athletic" I went from 270-290 over about 3 plus month but I did sprints 3 times a week and had two days where I put in atleast 2 miles at a decent pace. I could still go under 6 minutes for the mile and about 25 for the 200. If I didn't run every day I would have definitely gotten slower.