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Gaining muscle through Martial Arts? Possible or waste of time?

post #1 of 37
4/26/09 at 8:11pm
Thread Starter 
I want to gain some muscle, but I also want to learn a martial art. My time is limited, so I figured If could pick up something like Muay Thai and kill two birds with one stone I should. Something tells me however, that the large amount of cardio work might not lead to muscle gain. My question is, have you gained muscle though the practice of a martial art WITHOUT the lifting of weights?


I'm really thinking about getting into Muay Thai (because it seems like the most useful martial for self defense*) but I'm not sure that it will help with muscle gains. Also, all NYC dojo's seem to charge around $200, which is twice what I want to spend.








*BJJ is good for the UFC, but UFC has rules and it's not a street fight. If I find myself in a bar fight, the last place I want to be is in the floor. Even if the floor was glass free, nobody else is going to kick you, and it was just you and your opponent, BJJ does not allow you to properly kick ass. Your options are to break the guys arm or not do much. Breaking the guys nose is much more sensible IMO. The "9 out of 10 fights end in the floor" BS I don't buy. I would like to do BJJ eventually though.
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post #2 of 37
4/26/09 at 8:12pm
Not IME or IMO. there are 3 long-time MMA guys in my gym and all lift in pretty much the same manner as me.
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post #3 of 37
4/26/09 at 8:40pm
Most martial arts I've seen will not result in significant gains in size.
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post #4 of 37
4/26/09 at 8:57pm
Yes and no.

Yes: no doubt, all that kicking and punching will build you up (anyone who has ever gone a round on a bag knows that the next morning the lats, shoulders, quads are sore).

no: it won't last long - your body will quickly become accustomed to it.

Solution: 1 - drop the cardio (if you mean cardio as seperate from the martial art activity) - why do you need cardio when you'll be getting enough cardio from the martial arts? 2 - do your muay Thai for the 30-45 minutes (or whatever) and hit the weights at the gym (the same gym that you're doing the muay Thai) - either before or after the MA session for quick, but heavy, 20-30 minute sessions.

Might this not work?
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post #5 of 37
4/26/09 at 9:05pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by somatoform View Post
Yes and no.

Yes: no doubt, all that kicking and punching will build you up (anyone who has ever gone a round on a bag knows that the next morning the lats, shoulders, quads are sore).

no: it won't last long - your body will quickly become accustomed to it.

Solution: 1 - drop the cardio (if you mean cardio as seperate from the martial art activity) - why do you need cardio when you'll be getting enough cardio from the martial arts? 2 - do your muay Thai for the 30-45 minutes (or whatever) and hit the weights at the gym (the same gym that you're doing the muay Thai) - either before or after the MA session for quick, but heavy, 20-30 minute sessions.

Might this not work?



I'm counting the Muay Thai as cardio.
Your plan might not be possible in all gyms (haven't pick one yet) since some are only for Martial Arts.
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post #6 of 37
4/26/09 at 9:37pm
If you count the martial art as cardio, then just lift on days you want to exercise but aren't doing martial arts. Not everyone is a huge fan of them, but if you want to build some muscle in a way that'll really help your martial arts performance, get some heavy kettlebells and learn to use them at home.
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post #7 of 37
4/26/09 at 9:39pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by blackplatano View Post
*BJJ is good for the UFC, but UFC has rules and it's not a street fight. If I find myself in a bar fight, the last place I want to be is in the floor. Even if the floor was glass free, nobody else is going to kick you, and it was just you and your opponent, BJJ does not allow you to properly kick ass. Your options are to break the guys arm or not do much. Breaking the guys nose is much more sensible IMO. The "9 out of 10 fights end in the floor" BS I don't buy. I would like to do BJJ eventually though.

Decent Strength + Grab opponent + EXTREMELY BAsic BJJ has yet to fail me in a fight with someone close to my size. If you don't know any grappling at all you basically will always lose to a grappler in a fight nless you are exceptionally strong.

Also I'd rather choke out/break an arm then hit somebody in the face and potentially go to jail for killing them.
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post #8 of 37
4/26/09 at 9:59pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Deluks917 View Post
Decent
Also I'd rather choke out/break an arm then hit somebody in the face and potentially go tojail for killing them.

Choking someone has the potential to result in death. You could collapse someones windpipe and kill them.
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post #9 of 37
4/26/09 at 10:09pm
I only know of one guy who takes his martial arts seriously. He trains in Kung Fu and is the most ripped guy I've ever seen. He is extremely quick and strong. He can punch more than 10 times per second and is extremely vascular and defined. I would not cal him big, but he has more size than a lot of gym trainees I see.

They do alot of hitting work and resistance exercises, using each other to provide resistance. For example, they do lateral raises with a partner pulling your arms down while you go up. They also do alot of push-ups, pull-ups and squats. He was as strong as me, though no where near my size. Would not mess with him...

Funnily, his master is a 60 year old guy who looks like he's have trouble wiping his own ass. Apparently he regularly demonstrates to the class how to defend and destroy 10 guys. My friend says that none of the 10 can even get a finger on him...
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post #10 of 37
4/26/09 at 10:25pm
That's nice, I can punch 10 times a second also, but do any of those 10 punches have any power on them? No, MA's won't gain you much muscle, but they'll definately train your CNS and you'll get some 2 week strength gains through that. You'll get a total drop-off at that point, though. It isn't resistance training, it's mostly endurance training, so you're not going to build muscle like it was resistance training. Many gyms have strength/conditioning classes in them, like Straight Blast Gym, however, and I'd recommend finding a gym with those.
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post #11 of 37
4/26/09 at 10:31pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Eason View Post
That's nice, I can punch 10 times a second also, but do any of those 10 punches have any power on them?

No, MA's won't gain you much muscle, but they'll definately train your CNS and you'll get some 2 week strength gains through that. You'll get a total drop-off at that point, though. It isn't resistance training, it's mostly endurance training, so you're not going to build muscle like it was resistance training. Many gyms have strength/conditioning classes in them, like Straight Blast Gym, however, and I'd recommend finding a gym with those.

You can't feel them during the onslaught, the pain comes about 30 seconds later. Sharp pains and burning followed by couple of weeks of bruising.

I personally think you can get strong with Kung Fu.
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post #12 of 37
4/26/09 at 10:35pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by aleeboy View Post
You can't feel them during the onslaught, the pain comes about 30 seconds later. Sharp pains and burning followed by couple of weeks of bruising.

I personally think you can get strong with Kung Fu.

Is this a parody of something?
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post #13 of 37
4/26/09 at 10:41pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by somatoform View Post
Yes and no.

Yes: no doubt, all that kicking and punching will build you up (anyone who has ever gone a round on a bag knows that the next morning the lats, shoulders, quads are sore).

no: it won't last long - your body will quickly become accustomed to it.

Solution: 1 - drop the cardio (if you mean cardio as seperate from the martial art activity) - why do you need cardio when you'll be getting enough cardio from the martial arts? 2 - do your muay Thai for the 30-45 minutes (or whatever) and hit the weights at the gym (the same gym that you're doing the muay Thai) - either before or after the MA session for quick, but heavy, 20-30 minute sessions.

Might this not work?

this means nothing. go run a marathon. your legs will get sore, that doesnt mean your legs grew.
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post #14 of 37
4/27/09 at 4:43am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Deluks917 View Post
Is this a parody of something?

LOL must be. Just like the Dim Mak.
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post #15 of 37
4/27/09 at 11:09am
Quote:
Originally Posted by blackplatano View Post
I want to gain some muscle, but I also want to learn a martial art. My time is limited, so I figured If could pick up something like Muay Thai and kill two birds with one stone I should. Something tells me however, that the large amount of cardio work might not lead to muscle gain. My question is, have you gained muscle though the practice of a martial art WITHOUT the lifting of weights?

I'm really thinking about getting into Muay Thai (because it seems like the most useful martial for self defense*) but I'm not sure that it will help with muscle gains. Also, all NYC dojo's seem to charge around $200, which is twice what I want to spend.

You won't gain any size without resistance training but a martial art can make for great cardio training.

In regards to your choice of MA, I would think that traditional western boxing would be an excellent choice. You seem to be more interested in striking than grappling, and boxing is the quickest striking art to gain proficiency in. Also IME boxing gyms are cheaper than Muay Thai or MMA dojos to train at. DC is similar to NYC in the training costs for MMA or Muay Thai, but my coworker trains at a boxing gym for ~$75/month and has access to both the boxing classes and the weights. Boxing also makes an excellent foundation should you eventually decide to move to another martial art.
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