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Anonymous
Ok /fit/. A question.

As a martial artist, I need a combination of speed and power and efficiency.

I've heard a lot about powerlifters building muscles that are good for only one thing: Powerlifting.

Not all muscle is the same, it varies in not only the power to weight ratio but also how much oxygen it requires while working.

People say you can put on a lot of muscle doing very heavy weights and low reps, but does this build the RIGHT muscle? I've heard it creates impressive looking puffy muscles that are actually more for show than anything else.

I don't want big, slow, inefficient muscles. Regardless of how they look, I want effective, efficient muscle.

Whats the best way, in /fit/'s experience, to achieve this?
>> Anonymous
I assume you would concentrate on how fast the motion you make is if you are looking for both strength and speed.
>> Anonymous
Crossfit
>> Anonymous
Well, there are 3 different body types.

Body builders who cut body fat as much as possible and get huge bulky muscles.

Strongman type who have very large muscles and bodies, but less defined.

Small toned quick martial artist types.

Probably the best way to train your body to do what you want to do is to do that. If you do martial arts rigorously your body will build the muscles it needs. Bulking up with unnatural protein intake is probably not going to help you.

I'd say work on your endurance, reflexes, and try to stick to exercises that reflect what you're doing. Punching bags, etc. It's far more important to be able to last in a fight than to be able to hit hard for a minute.
>> Anonymous
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pretty much just go to www.rosstraining.com or www.rossboxing.com
he teaches all about explosive strength i.e being able to do triple clap pushups etc. fuck man shit is AWESOME.
if you're looking for ways to build explosive strength then instead of hitting a one off total of 50 push ups, you should be able to do 5 sets of 20 without fail. that way its like when you're in a boxing round and you can give it all you've got each round, none of this using up all your energy in one round shit.
>> Anonymous
My grand master is not small or toned at all. He's like 60+ years old and has a gut.

But, good god, if he were to hit you full force you would not be getting up.
>> Anonymous
>>3900

>I want effective, efficient muscle

You need to focus on muscle memory and building muscle that is very efficiently connected to your nerves. This is usually done with higher reps (and therefore lower weights).
>> Anonymous
>>3928

keep in mind 'real' fights don't last as long as boxing matches. in a self-defense situation you don't need to last for twenty minutes, you need to escape or put your opponent(s) down as quickly as possible, and without the safety precautions of a sanctioned fighting match, that happens pretty quickly.
>> Anonymous
Generally you don't need a lot of muscles to perform martial arts. You need proper body movement and at least a little weight on your body. If you're trying to build muscle for the sake of increased mass that's good and really you should go for lean muscles. (low weight, high reps).
>> Anonymous
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>>3940

true, however the guy asked for efficient muscle. if I were to structure a programme around gaining effecient muscle i would go for an explosive sport i.e boxing or kick boxing. and in order to do either of the above sports you need to be able to last longer than 5 minutes.
>> ?suomynonA?
>>3928
i just tried to do a triple clap pushup and fell flat on my face.

thanks a lot
>> Anonymous
>>3954
Ok I tried it too now. I could do double, but not tripple.
>> ?suomynonA?
>>3960
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=90xhaI8TNgA

If you can do double, why not triple?

I think you're doing it wrong.
>> Anonymous
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>>3954

Lol i wouldn't reccommend trying a triple clap push up until you look similar to him. also, if you're looking at failinga t something. i double dare you to do ONE single leg squat. i bet you you can't do a single one haha god knows i cant. theres a vid of it on his H for Hardcore training video blog.
try doing a push up but clapping twice infront of you. thats quite hard but its good for training.
>> Captain Fantastic
>>3969

Single leg squat? Simple.

Want me to put an extra fifty pounds on it?
>> ?suomynonA?
>>3969
I didn't seem to have a problem with a single legged squat, except for balance and probably wasn't the best form.
>> Anonymous
>>3900
Low weight, high intensity exercise if you're gaining muscle through weight lifting. It's a lot slower to build noticeable (visible, not what you can feel) muscle but it'll build the efficient muscle you're looking for. High reps is also key, since it sounds like you want to be doing endurance training.
>> Anonymous
>>3900
"Efficient" muscle is muscle that is gained through slow repetitions. Fast, explosive repetitions build up what are called the 'fast twitch' muscle fibers, where are the least efficient fibers.

Lifting for "bulk" and lifting for "tone" are pretty archaic. What you want to do is just go right down the middle. 8-10 reps of the heaviest weight you can do 8-10 times. One second up, two seconds down. 3 sets per exercise.

Switch it up every now and then to recruit the other muscle fibers, like do a day, or a week, of fast, explosive lifts. But your bread and butter is whats above.
>> Anonymous
>>3994

well then you're not doing one lol.
thats like asking someone to bench 250 pound and them saying they can do it except it leans to one side and they cant push it all the way up :$.
>> Anonymous
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You want muscles like Fedor:

This guy is seriously strong, and has incredible endurance and cardio.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=htWaZ5BxQgk&feature=related
>> Kanader
Heavy weights at low reps will increase your strength, but won't do anything for your endurance or power. It can also lead to hypertrophy.

If you want to develop muscles for a specific skill, then your training should reflect that skill. Elastic bands are popular with martial artists for this reason.
>> Kanader
>>4047
You should focus on strength, endurance, and power as individual goals. Power is optimally built at 1/3 of your maximum weight for an exercise; at very low repetition.
>> Anonymous
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>>3900
plyometrics
and or this