Increased muscle mass = Decreased muscle Speed?

I heard somewhere that really bulking up will decrease your speed, is this true?

If my goal is to get as fast as possible, and I mean really fast, like Bruce Lee fast. Is it wise to build no more muscle mass, a little muscle mass, or as much as I can?

I'm not worried about power since I will get this from the speed according to the equation Ek = 1/2mv². Just worried that if I strengthen my muscles by starting to lift weights and as a side effect this in turn gives me more muscle mass, but then I'm slower than I was before... that would be a little self defeating and annoying.

I know Bruce Lee lifted weights, and Mohammed Ali definately would of.

But hmmm.... some advice?

 

The bigger and stronger your muscle is (ie from training with weights) the more force your muscle can exert, be it on a resistance or on yur bones to make your fist go burling 'thadda-way'. You can be fast and slim or fast and muscely, just when your muscley you have more potential to be fast and to do damage

 

Yeah, it really depends how you train. You can be strong and have power without putting on too much bulk. Lets look at Bruce Lee. He was quite strong, and very fast, but wasn't a huge guy.

Check out the Health and Fitness Forum here on MAP to find out what kind of weight training you should be doing to build more strength than mass. Just run a search, and you'll find plenty

*scampers off*

 

No.

Nope, that's an equation for kinetic energy, not power, and it's based on velocity, not speed.

When will MAist learn not to attempt to use pseudo-physics to 'explain' things. 'Power', as a term used in MA and sports, is not the same as the term 'power' used by engineers and physicists.

 

Don't worry, you'll be fine doing weightlifting. The idea that increased muscle mass makes you slower is limited to the minds of ignorant MA instructors who don't want to move with the times and video game designers.

 

Bruce lee started off body building, also he did alot of stretching which elongated his muscles. I say lift weights and do alot of stretching--not just 30 sec stretching--it's common sense.

 

I heard this to, wonder who first said said it :bang:

You only have to look at a sprinter packed with muscle to know what nonsense it is.....

 

no offense but you cant "elongate your muscles"... for that too happen you need to elongate the bones supporting them otherwise your muscles would sag.
you can increase the flexability within your muscles but you cannot make them longer/shorter. That is predefined by your bone structure

 

What he said. But a good stretching regime will help to ensure that as your muscle mass increases, your flexibility improves too. (I wonder if this is where the myth about greater muscle mass reducing speed comes from - loss of flexibility? I'm not sure if there is a direct correlation. )

 

ernie taylor and tom platz (top pro bodybuilders) are able to do full splits... as long as you stretch out after exercise then you will have no problem

 

I agree 110%

Stop wondering about Ek = 1/2mv² and whether or not you'll be slow if you put on muscle (which you won't) and start training. Hit things, practice against a resisting partner and you will get faster, stronger and better.. not an equation in sight

 

How true.

I think the misconception comes from people who don't stretch to stay flexible. (Although, I'm not sure how this would affect your speed...) I get funny looks from the guys at the gym when I sit down and stretch afterwards.

I think the second part is all the huge body builder types that look like they can barely clasp their hands above their heads... which I doubt is the look you're going for.

Certainly, you can be muscular and fast as pgm said. It's all about how you train.

 

Hell yes you can!

I do lots of weights and it has nade me stronger more powerful and faster. There is no doubt!

However there is some truth to the bigger the muscle they are not as fast! I think it all comes down to how you train. I dont see any huge body builders doing sprints! or jump kicking stuff! Althought if they trained their body's in a different way then im sure they would be buff and still powerful and fast.

The way i see it, is that you want to train so that your muscles remain functional. You muslces may get huge! but you may not be able to push yourself up into handstands. Or dips, and pullups.

It also all depends on body type. I been training for quite a while, and i got a good muscles size, im reasonably buff, But not huge. And it has definalty helped!

I have heard however, that muscles size does decrease speed. This was from a Kung Fu master. He trained only the museles he used, for striking. I.e pushing muscles, Tricpeps, quads etc.
His thought behind this was that the muscles on the opposite side would always be pulling the limb back, making him slower.
He was very fast!

Take from that what you want.

But in conclusion! muscles are good!

Nick

 

It's also about muscle mass to weight ratio.

 

The reason that people say gaining muscle mass will slow you down is because they workout like bodybuilders. This is not the way athletes workout. Athletes do not work body parts they work lifts. Now to say a bodybuilder type workout is wrong for a MA is not totally true. If your goal is muscle mass then this kind of work can be beneficial, but do not linger on this type of exercise to long you will need to add Olympic types of lifts (power/weight lifting type movements) to make your muscle/strength more functional

 

I workout like a bodybuilder thank you and oddly enough I'm faster than ever, oh sorry don't know that you don't do 80 sets a day? And 3*8... yes that is near the endurance benchmark.
Ok so I stretch but realistically I've sped up rather a lot

 

count... i have been agreeing with your posts damn near word for word lately...
i was about to reply from the last page with almost your exact words...
then, in finishing reading the post before replying, read your post...
so... "ditto" regarding what the count says...

 

Links

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Maybe if you workout like a body builder you do gain speed but not as much as if you worked out like an athelete, and if you work out like a kung fu master you gain even more.

Seriously though with the idea of training the triceps, isn't the tricep smaller than the bicep. Meaning that when you blast out your arm using your tricep it's fighting your bicep (to a certain degree even though you are relaxed?). But that guy trained his tricep to be stronger so that it he would have more forward force so that his arm would move faster forward. Using this same idea/logic wouldn't he have trained himself slower on doing the recovery (getting the arm back into a guard)?

 

If you want insight on his "work outs" look at Bruce Lee: The Art of Expressing the Human Body. Vol. 4. Ed. John Little; Tuttle Publishings; 1998.