Weight training and mixed martial arts?

mynameischristie

Okay, so I have a lot of weight to lose, & I have quite a few worries, the biggest one is getting loose skin, I know loose skin is better than being over weight but I've always hated the way I look and just want to be moderately happy with myself, I've researched into this and noticed that the odds are kind of in my favour with me being only 19 and already drinking quite a bit of water. So anyway getting to the point, I've started doing martial arts and weight training and was wondering, that obviously mixed with a healthy diet, if this is a good idea for someone with a lot of weight to lose or if it is more for people only looking to tone, I absolutely love the feeling I get from doing both forms of exercise, I'm just hoping this will work for me, sorry if this post doesn't make any sense and any tips are greatly appreciated, Thanks!

hdrenollet

Martial arts is a great way to get into shape. Weight training just kinda goes hand-in-hand with martial arts (in my opinion).

I don't think you'll have to worry much about having loose skin. Don't lose weight too fast. You're young, and your skin will still have a lot of elasticity so I wouldn't worry about that too much. If you start losing 5-10 lbs per week, then you'll probably have some loose skin. Stick to 1-2 lbs per week at the most. Drink lots of water. At least half of your body weight in ounces per day. Also - use a good moisturizer on your skin - this will help your skin adjust to the changes as well.

Stick with it and I'm sure you'll be happy with the results! Let us know if you have any other questions. This is a great community of people willing to help you out!

Lofteren

I recently swapped from powerlifting/strongman to MMA. I shifted my schedule from lifting 4 days to going to Muay Thai 2 days a week, BJJ 2 days a week, lifting 2 days a week and doing at least 4 conditioning sessions a week which could include bag work, road work, calisthenics, shadow boxing and jump rope. Obviously this is a pretty heavy work load for someone who is just getting into it but you could work up to it gradually as you develop work capacity.

Sam_I_Am77

I think Loftren's response is perfect. You have to choose one training goal and it's not fat loss, fat loss is largely nutrition and enhanced through exercise. So what's the training goal? If your primary goal is to focus on MMA, then the strength training is just a supporting tool of the MMA and strength training should be limited to 2 days just as Loftren is doing. You could make a case for 3 if you're not doing as much MMA training and you're not prepping for a fight, but try 2 for a while.

CapnVillainBLK

I've been on basketball, soccer and swim teams, lifted weights and been in the Army for four years. Martial Arts (specifically Muay Thai) has been the hardest workout I've done. Last year I lost 40 lbs in 4 months by doing Muay Thai twice a week and eating better. So yes, martial arts is a great way to burn calories, learn something, and have fun overall.

Lofteren

To expand on what I said earlier, the weight training sessions should be kept simple and short while only utilizing the most effective lifts. You really need to get rid of fluff since you're going to be spending most of your time doing other things. I do:

Sunday:
Clean and Press Variation (Barbell clean and press, log clean and press, dumbbell clean and press) work up to 3 heavy sets of 3-5 reps, then 1 or 2 back off sets with less weight and 10-20 reps

Deadlift Variation (Deadlift, block pulls, farmers handle pick, hex bar deadlift)
work up to 3 heavy sets of 3-5 reps, then 1 or 2 back off sets with less weight and 10-20 reps

Wednesday:
Bench Press Variation (Bench press, incline bench press, narrow grip bench press, etc..) work up to 3 heavy sets of 3-5 reps, then 1 or 2 back off sets with less weight and 10-20 reps

Squat Variation (Squat, front squat, squat w/ chains)
work up to 3 heavy sets of 3-5 reps, then 1 or 2 back off sets with less weight and 10-20 reps

This is just what I've been doing recently but it would work pretty well for anyone.

mynameischristie

Thanks guys, yeah I'm planning on focusing more on MMA at the moment and just really doing weight training to get my workouts/week up, and to mix it up a little, focusing on low weights and high reps as I'm not wanting to bulk out or anything, and yeah I drink a lot of water already but there's always room for improvement, figured ill probably lose quite a bit at first with my body being shocked into it and then it should steady out to about 2 lbs a week, that's the plan anyway

Lofteren

Don't worry about getting bulky. If you are in a caloric deficit and training mma there is no way you're going to get big. You'll get a lot better results lifting heavy than you will with light weights and high reps as far as strength is concerned. Also, training with higher rep ranges is how you build muscle mass so if you don't want to get big then lifting that way doesn't make any sense.