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Query?

Frank Bullitt

Hi all,

Iv been thinking over the past few days about training goals for certain people, like me for instance, my ideal physique would be that of an MMA competitor but i only really do Thai Boxing a few times a week.

The general thing that has been running through my head is, lets say someone wants a physique like a sprinter but doesnt do sprints, can they still achieve that physique?

I know that diet plays a part in it a lot but lets just talk about training for this one.

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Dragan

Well, you can gain a "look" with gaining the attributes of the person.

However, the best way to train is with function and your body will quickly follow in step.

If you want to look like an MMA fighter....then be an MMA fighter?

Frank Bullitt

Yeah thats what i was thinking, but for other people who dont really have an interest in actually doing it but want to have the abs and pecs etc but dont want to look "bulky" like a BBer would.

StephenInsane

Can someone look like a sprinter without sprinting?

Yes! A very high percentage of sprinting is gymwork. I don't know the exact science of their training, but sprinters don't actually do that many sprints. This is because by doing lots of sprints, they're training their body to do exactly that, run lots of sprints. This is not what they want. They want to be able to run 1 sprint very, very fast, not many sprints reasonably fast. Thus it is counter-productive.

You want to look like a MMA fighter? I presume someone like Phil Baroni

http://www.newsday.com/media/photo/2007-06/30684817.gif or http://www.fight.hu/image_upload/more_2006_12_24_13_29_randy_couture.jpg

You can look like them without fighting like them. Although it is much easier for them as they have that motivation to get fit for their fight.

They all have fantastic cardio number 1. Second they have very strong core strength and are very flexible (even the guys who don't do high kicks, they need to be VERY flexible for the brazillian jiu jitsu/grappling side of the game).

They also build up the muscles to be both strong and enduring, they don't focus on powerlifting, as what good is being able to lift a very heavy weight once or twice if they're zapped after 2 minutes of a fight? Likewise what good is being toned if you've zero power. The upper and lower back, legs, chest and arms are all heavily worked on. They train intensely but also know when to rest and are looked after by a team who know their stuff.

Dragan

Gintonious wrote: »

Yeah thats what i was thinking, but for other people who dont really have an interest in actually doing it but want to have the abs and pecs etc but dont want to look "bulky" like a BBer would.

Just train and eat dude.....your best bet if you want to "sculpt" a certain type of body is normally to train in a bodypart split....applying focus to certain bodyparts until they become what you want them to be!

If i'm honest ( this is very t-nation physique clinic now that i think about it ) your best bet is to post a photo of you....and a photo of who you would like to look like and then we can over some better advice?

Frank Bullitt

Hmmmmmmmmm maybe ill do that after i go to the gym tonight,hopefully ill have one magical session.

rubadub

Dragan wrote: »

However, the best way to train is with function and your body will quickly follow in step.

If you want to look like an MMA fighter....then be an MMA fighter?

But I would imagine it is far quicker to train with hypertrophy in those specific areas. I imagine most MMA lads, and gymnasts etc are training for a very high strength to bodyweight ratio, MMA to be strong as possible in their weight division, gymnasts might not have weight divisions but basically should be strong and small to perform moves well. They are probably training for years and that body comes about from that. Put a 13stone gymnast in a chinning contest with a 13stone BBer of the same BF% and there is no contest.

If an actor was training to play Bruce Lee there would be no need to train to be his acutal strength, sure, some karate would be in the training to play the part well. But if he was an actor playing a lookalike Bruce Lee in a photo, all he would really need is the muscle and pose.

"bulky" like a BBer would

A pro BBer wants to look bulky and big, so in BBer mags they will only really show big bulky blokes. Pics have been posted here before of lads with physiques I would like and many of the serious lifters here will brand them skinny. Before they were that big, well they werent that big! they built up to it, and if you saw them in between they might have looked as you wish to. you could tailor your workout to look like that. I reckon most BBers on their way up will be nearly always "bulking" and so have a fair amount of fat until the underlying muscle is where they want it. They could stop at any stage and drop BF% though.

Frank Bullitt

Here is another thing i was thinking off, would you say that most of the MMA guys get their physiques from doing BJJ,Boxing etc or the conditioning like weight circuits and other training not directly related to the martial arts that they do?

Roper

You'll get a great physique form boxing, MT and wrestling, but you wouldn't build muscle so you'll look like Baroni. But then, you probably won't take his roids either.

I go through phases of training due to interest or learning something new. So I'll concentrate much more on stand-up for a couple of months and just maintain my BJJ, then focus on my BJJ (like at the moment I'm rolling 5/6 times per week or so) and just maintain my stand-up in other periods. From personal experience, I don't gain when I focus on stand-up, and maintain what I gain from resistance training when I focus on Jiu Jitsu. My wife, who is of course the best judge (she might see this so I have to say that) reckons I'm a bit more fanciable when I do BJJ a lot, which I think means I don't look scrawny but it's hard to tell with that baffling woman. Anyway, she might lie (she does) but the scales don't and I'm definitely heavier when I don't do a lot of stand-up which would seem to imply that I maintain muscle mass more on a strict BJJ diet.

Also, it would really depend on the athlete. I saw Rich Franklin's weights routine on a UFC all access one night and he does a lot- I mean volume! iirc you were talking high rep, intense resistance machine work for 45mins or so. Savagery. Some of what GSP does with Chad Waterbury is available on t-nation and it is the polar opposite. Speed and power work. Randy Couture uses plyo routines mixed with light weights and so on...

However I would say that it's hard to tell because a lot of guys would keep stuff to themselves as well. I doubt any fighter or coach is going to go out and say "aw yeah we been busting out 3 sets of 8 reps on all the major lifts to get stronger". They're more likely to show the super-human stuff they do.

thirtyfoot

StephenInsane wrote: »

Can someone look like a sprinter without sprinting?

Yes! A very high percentage of sprinting is gymwork. I don't know the exact science of their training, but sprinters don't actually do that many sprints. This is because by doing lots of sprints, they're training their body to do exactly that, run lots of sprints. This is not what they want. They want to be able to run 1 sprint very, very fast, not many sprints reasonably fast. Thus it is counter-productive.

.

Sprinters do lots of sprints. Very different types of 'sprints'. You don't get fast or sprint fast in the gym, thats just wrong. You get strong in the gym and get fast on the track. Sprinters can be 100m-400m, and the training for a 400m athlete involves a lot of running. Speed work, speed endurance, special endurance I, special endurance II, tempo and on and on. The training for a 100m involves a lot of running too. Don't get me wrong, you need to be strong and yes spend time in the gym but its not a 'very high percentage' and much of it will be drills, plyos, core work. Only 3 days max will be spent lifting - and at that probably only the olympic lifts.

What is the body of a sprinter anyway - Ben Johnson or Usain Bolt? Gail Devers or Allyson Felix? Very different, all sprinters.

Your point is right though that yes you can look like a sprinter without being a sprinter, whatever looking like a sprinter is.

Frank Bullitt

Just for the record im not interested in looking like Baroni, i think he looks a bit...ehhhhhh..."unnatural" shall we say.

Id be more after this

Some of the photos dont really get across my point but if anyone has seen his UFC all access episode then you would get me,he aint too big but is well toned etc,its achievable.

Roper

You'd have to be mental too. Babalu is a crazy dude! My mate met him in Brazil a few years back. Says he's a nice guy... but nuts!

Frank Bullitt

What do you mean by nuts? I know he trains crazy.

Frank Bullitt

http://www.sherdog.com/videos/videos.asp?v_id=565
there is a vid of him,its better than the pictures.

Frank Bullitt

Sorry to drag this **** up again, but out of interest,would it be best to got for a training regime like crossfit or something rather than just BBing free weights?