Humble, I wouldn't worry about bulk unless you are on a weight gain eating programme. Weights and other strength exercises will not cause you to bulk up, this is a common misconception. In order to make gains you will of course need to eat well (nutritionally), get some good sleep and plan in rest days. Other than that you have nothing to fear.
Who mentioned flab? If the OP wants to hit the weights to gain strength then he may have to eat a little more. This is because weights place quite a demand on the body and the extra food is fuel to aid recovery and to stop the OP feeling tired and lethargic. That little extra food though will be burnt as fuel for energy and will not necessarily add any weight.
The OP is going to gain depending on his genetics and diet, whether he likes or not. Flab? Well, I only made that comment because I'm an meso/endomorph. For all I know the OP could be an ectomorph, in that case I wouldn't worry If I were him too much about bulking, ectomorphs are natural hard gainers anyway.
From my experience, what you do is you lift weights and eat food. you'll get stronger, but it will prove embarrassingly hard to actually gain any bulk.
If you concentrate on "body unification" instead of "muscle group isolation", your muscle will function better for your MA skill. For example, when you work on weight, instead of freeze your body, and just move your arms (muscle group isolation), you use your body to push/pull your arms, and use your arms to push/pull your weight (body unification), you may not build bulk muscle, but you will build useful, long, slim, more functional muscle. Body unification: Muscle group isolation: Will you be able to tell the difference between these 2 kind of muscle?
I want to do the exact opposite of the OP. I want strength power with gaining bulk at the same time. And I am wondering if that's possible by only doing martial arts (specifically by training in an intensive pace in boxing) and by eating a lot. Should I make a new thread for my question or is anyone willing to pm me and share some of his knowledge with me? I certainly don't want to "steal" the thread from OP..
Madao the answer to bulking and gaining strength is this 1. Make sure you have a caloric intake in excess of: your BMR (base metabolic rate) + daily activities + exercise. Get about 1g/lb of bodyweight and drink about 3L of water a day. Make sure to get 8 hours of sleep a night. 2. Do basic compound lifts like bench press, squats, deadlifts, military press, pull ups/chin ups, rows, etc 3. You can do all of this with a barbell, bench, squat rack, pull up bar, and some plates. Start with an EMPTY bar to get your body acclimated to the exercises and avoid injury. Add 5 lbs every time you work out. 4. Do 5 sets of 5 reps for all the weight exercises and 3 sets until just before failure for the pull-ups. Do this 3 days a week setting up the exercises so the muscle groups you're working will have at least 2 days to recover between workouts. Honestly if you get a copy of stronglifts 5x5, follow the workout, and keep your calories/protein in order then you'll gain mass and strength. Oh and keep a chart of the exercises and write down the weight you used that week. It helps keep you motivated and committed.
Humble, I'm hoping to do the same thing as you. Coincidentally, that's exactly what Bruce Lee strove to do as well. I just started one of his better documented strength training workouts today. He posted some impressive gains in muscle mass, but as you well know, he never was a huge guy. You can view the workout, the exercises he did, the weight he used and his gains over a 44 day period, as well as my personal experiences following this routine here: http://dojotalk.com/bruce-lee-workout-bruce/ Good Luck to you!
If that's true then it's just semantics. It works multiple muscle groups and a large muscle group which will stimulate test production.
Are you pimping your subscription only blog in every thread??? No way I'll trust you with my e-mail address! OSu!
Old_kyokushin, I apologize that you got the wrong impression of my actions. First off, the blog is not subscription only, it is open for anyone to view (in fact, that is why I created it). I am not a vendor or an advertiser. I make no money providing the information that I do. I'm just a martial artist that has finally decided to put some knowledge in a public format. Additionally, every response that I make, and every post that I link, relates directly to the topic or question asked. In this case, Humble asked about building strength without bulk. I have been doing a lot of research on the very topic lately and came across one of Bruce Lee's routines. I have decided to follow that routine, with the idea of seeing if "regular" martial artists can achieve the same results he did. The blog post shares my measurements, Bruces measurements, his gains, exercises and weights he used. Basically, if Humble really is interested in gaining strength without bulk, there is no more iconic representation of that than Bruce Lee. I simply wanted to share that information and my experience following his routine. Again, no subscription is required and you get no special offers, ebooks or anything else by subscribing, it is only for those who want to be emailed when I submit new posts. I apologize if this was misunderstood or my intentions were unclear. Its simply much easier to provide a link to the article than to rewrite the entire thing in the forum. Terry
Actually, I haven't made a cent from them. Nor do I make any money as an assistant martial arts instructor. I do it because martial arts is a passion of mine. I am always trying to learn more and increase my personal performance and hope to share some of that with others. I am also a motorcycle instructor. My entire life is devoted to learning, and sharing what I learn to others. That is the premise behind the blog and my responses on this forum, to help others learn what I have learned. Unfortunately, I seem to have made an error in judgement as it is not accepted as I had anticipated. I personally love to read others articles. I am signed up to a great number of blogs from other people. I encourage others to refer me to sites or articles that they have found useful. The tips and advice given in forums, including this one, are great. However, they rarely are in depth enough to provide real answers. As I've mentioned before, I'm not trying to get anything out of what I post. I just don't want to have to rewrite the entire article here again.. Terry
If you want to build power with minimal muscle/weight gain, the best technique I have found is low reps, with high weight. 2-3 reps each set, compound lifts. I do 4 per week. Squat, Deadlift, Bench, Military/pullup. In terms of weightlifting I also add in a lot of functional and posterior chain movements. Hip thrusts and kick backs, good mornings (using hips not isolating lower back), hip rotations, etc. I will warn you, this will not develop a models body. It's like the exact opposite of the conventional body you see in magazines... big legs, big trunk, arms relatively smaller etc, but it is more functional.
