Lard Bucket seeking advice before training

[MuMuGuy]

Hi all, I'm currently a lard bucket (about 5'7'' and 260 lbs) who is seeking to train in martial arts now that I've graduated from my university. I'm currently looking for styles that would give me a good physical workout to help me build turn some of my fat into muscle. I don't care for competition at all since I plan on starting graduate school in a couple years (2-4 years), but wouldn't mind learning practical self-defense techniques while I'm at it, although exercise is primary for me.


I did the research for my area and found that the only styles readily available to me are

Wing Chun
Tai Chi Chuan
Judo
Aikido
Kickboxing
Brazilian Jujitsu
Silat
Tae Kwan Do

I'm interested mostly in Aikido because its not only the closest to my house (I have no car right now), but I also like the type of techniques I read that Aikido focuses on. Any suggestions for good fat burning styles or should I marry myself to to a treadmill first?

[ember]

I think you'll see on here that people who try to get in shape BEFORE starting an MA often end up never starting the MA.

IMO, the important thing is to find an MA that you like and that encourages you to practice. Build up your exercise program as your fitness improves.

For fat burning, I think most people on here will point you to weight training and/or HIIT (high-intensity interval training). I get some HIIT in my MA classes.

When I started, I joined a gym and a dojang at the same time. I did weights on Tuesday, Thursday, and some Saturdays. I did MA classes on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday, with some Friday trainings. In the summer, while working full time and taking a graduate course.

I continued the same basic schedule that fall, with two grad school courses. Come that spring (that ~6 month mark...), I quit showing up at the gym, but continued my MA practice. I found a variety of complementary exercises that I enjoy (swimming, horseback riding, bicycling, yoga, pilates) and generally worked on keeping my activity level up.

The first 15 months, I lost 35 pounds. Two years later, I have not been able to keep it off, but that's partly because I'm very pregnant. You won't have to worry about that ;)

[Gussigan]

yeah just get started.... i started doing jujutsu recently as even though i've been motivated to go to the gym it gets fairly boring... if you find something that interests you then you're far more likely to stick at it.. plus now it's given me more motivation to get to the gym so that i can achieve more in my classes

[bwhite55]

yeah, the key to stayin in shape after getting in shape is having fun. i'd recommend seein if you can easily afford a local gym membership and find a good one w/ lots of aerobic classes and stuff. there's a program that i've heard of called body pump(its been around for a while but its new to my area) that my gym started offering. it's supposed to be a fun aerobics thing w/ weights or something, i dunno. also, i'd work on nutrition. what are your eating habits?

[Ad McG]

The opinion you will get from many is that BJJ and kickboxing are 2 of the most effective arts in self defense and ring situations. Although this is a debate for another thread, I would tend to agree with this, but the other styles will still give the physical benefits you are looking for. If you fancy aikido and it's the most convenient, choose that because you are more likely to stay consistent. Aikido takes a long time to master many of the techniques and actually make use of it. You will get faster results with kickboxing IMO because there are fewer basic techniques that are more readily practiced.

A few tips -

You can't turn fat into muscle. You can lose fat and put on muscle, but one won't turn into the other.

Diet before exercise. You can do all the exercise you want but if your nutritional intake is poor, you won't get anything out. Check out the comprehensive Health and Fitness section we have here for more advice.

[Mr Punch]

I'm sure other people will address the self-defence aspects, and the other training aspects, but let's have a look at your list simply in terms of good exercise based on HIIT being the best way to go:

Wing Chun - hopeless for exercise. Most schools don't do any, and after the first couple of months the standing pretty still or making two-three steps and flapping your arms are going to have plateaued in terms of useful fat-burning exercise. If you're really bad you'll put on some muscle with chi sao, but the better you get the less strength you're supposed to use.

Tai Chi Chuan - Again, standing pretty still in various poses will help you burn a bit to start with but won't do you much good after a couple of months.

Judo - Very hard work. If you don't die you might make it slimmer! However, watch your knees if you're that heavy.

Aikido - Surprisingly hard work: a lot of getting up and getting thrown again. Again, watch the knees - I know a lot of aikido people who've had trouble with their knees (myself included), but it should be easier on them than judo as there's less torque.

Kickboxing - varies a lot, but should be a lot of HIIT-type work with pads, bags and two-people drills plus of course whatever degree of sparring.

Brazilian Jujitsu - very hard work at first (and that could be a couple of years!) as it seems to work every muscle you have and some you didn't know about. But, again, as you get better you SHOULD be using less and less force.

Silat - no idea... seems like a lot of waving hands around so probably not as good as some of the others for weight loss.

Tae Kwan Do - depends on the class but should be a good enough workout... though from my experience more constant work than the kind of stop-start intensity akin to HIIT you get from kickboxing, BJJ, Judo, and Aikido.

Other people may have different opinions - fair enough. Just a couple of ideas.



AdMcG is of course right about diet: eat more times, smaller amounts a day; make sure you eat a piece of fresh fruit/veg with every meal, pref raw; make sure you get enough protein especially immediately after training,(a lot - most rec 1 g for every 1 kg of bodyweight a day, but bear in mind that most people can't digest more than 20-40g per two hours) which also acts as an appetite suppressant; keep fluids up, esp water, esp after and during training... everybody else is right about finding something and sticking with it.

Good luck and keep us posted! :)

[Mr Punch]

BTW, :topic: but as for saying 'the only styles available to' you are... and that long list... you look pretty lucky to me! ;)

[MatsunoCj]

if u looking for something mainly to lose weight then id probably say like a kick boxing class or somehting even if its focused more on being a cardio workout than self defense, id say that BJJ or grappling would be the best workout but it will probably be harder to do if ur really out of shape

[MuMuGuy]

BTW, :topic: but as for saying 'the only styles available to' you are... and that long list... you look pretty lucky to me! ;)


I'm in a major city so I have a lot more available to me.