Thread: Drop Fat, Gain Muscle?

Hey guys, I'm new to the forum so any constructive criticism is a real plus. I currently weigh 150lbs I was thinking shall I strip my whole body of fat doing cardio and get down to around 140-145lbs and then pack on muscle to either 155 or 170. What do you guys think? (I have attached a photo of me that was taken on Monday 29/03/2010.)

I'd say you are probably lean enough to start adding muscle and strength.

Are you wanting to gain weight for MMA performance or for other reasons? I ask because extra weight doesn't always equate to extra strength. If its stength and power for MA you want, then you can gain plenty without afdding too much weight. You want to make sure you'll be in a weight class that is comfortable for you after all.

Everything Justin said is true.

Plus bear in mind the more weight you gain, the bigger the change in the game etc.

Although, to be really honest with you (I started at 65kg as an 18 year old, I now weight 90kg+) - when your weight is put on well and as lean muscle, you function a lot better than if that weight was largely fat. You do however need time to develop your game and skills with a different body. You will be more explosive, stronger and larger which generally helps, but at the same time - if you do not train how to make your body so with larger mass, you'll be slower, less explosive and get out of gas a lot quicker, as shifting the extra weight with general movement takes up a hell of a lot more energy!

Whatever you decide, may I suggest aiming to hit a weight 5kg over your current weight bracket, that way if you go to fight, you can take off the 5kg of fat and water, and be top of your game. You can then see if you want to move up a weight class, which would take a lot of hard work to put on that kind of lean mass!

To be honest, big country nelson is fat as hell and he does ok, but he's a freak with a dirty strong chin and a massive wolloping haymaker punch (funny, it's only his right arm he punches properly and a lot with!)

Ha yeah lol about Roy Nelson, there's always one exception to the rule!


Another thing is that you'll eventually reach your 'sweet spot' as I call it in weight and body composition.

When I used to compete, I would usually take part in striking competitions in the summer months and ground-based fighting in winter/early spring months. Now I found that my typicaly body weight that I always end up at if I dont try to gain or lose weight is usually around 11.5 stone.

Thats like my body's favourite baseline weight. I found that when I trained to compete for striking I needed to be lighter on my feet and have more speed, and cutting down to betewen 11 -11.5kg, and 12% BodyFat worked well for me to do this.

But I did lose some strength at this weight. So when I was then in training for wrestling I would go up to about 12.5 stone, which I managed to do at around 14-18% body fat (If I had known then what I do now about sports nutrition I would probably have got to that weight at a better BF% ratio though) At that weight I have great relative strength and I resembled Matt Hughes' way of lifting and throwing opponents off me with relative ease.

Unfortunately, MMA wasnt very big back then so I wasn't aware of anywhere I could cross train, so had to do the arts seperately, but the point is that for MMA you should work to find that sweet spot as you gain weight.

You may find a 'tipping point' where you'll get a bit too heavy for your musculoskeletal structure and inevitably lose some speed or power. Conversly, if you don't go heavy enough (whilst monitoring BF% to keep it low as possible) your strength training may not transfer as well to competition and training.


So thats just based on my experience. The point is that as you are gaining weight, keep a close eye on measurables such as your vertical jump height, sprint speed (or some other agility drill) and relative strength levels (i.e - press ups and pull ups will transfer a lot better than bench pressing).

Hopefully you'll find your 'sweet spot' where performance (strength / power and speed) is optimal for your weight.

Thanks guys, this information is extremely helpful and I'm very grateful there are guys like you on this forum. I will definitely take all this information into account when making my choice on my weight. Once again thanks allot, your information has helped me a considerable amount.

:welcome ...top advice - I have just seen your other post about 30lbs in 3-5 months (sorry but that made me laugh...you will be a small Roy Nelson putting that on in such a short time).

You are young and your body will grow and like the guys said you will find a natural weight your body settles at...every guy when they are young are keen to just get big and trust me it means nothing especially when fighting - I've weighed in anywhere from 10.7st to 15st - I can hit harder at 11 stone than 15st - as speed equals strength and big muscle need more oxygen so your aerobic and anaerobic capacity falls if you force lotsa extra weight on....if I ate like and everyday person and did not exercise I would probably settle around 13st with a body fat aroun 20% - in training I am 11st to 12st with 11-13% bodyfat - although working on getting to single digits at the moment - you can stay the same weight and be alot stronger and again only so much carries over to martial arts - so focus on your martial arts anaerobic capacity and 1-3 days maximum (2 is probably the best) on weights etc.

Thanks for the input Si, I have a schedule that I'm making that will have me doing, 2 sessions of heavy weights per week, 2 cardio sessions, 1 muscle endurance session and 1 core session. All of this is on top of my mma training.

(Just to add - )

You know being bigger, and more cut as well - i.e. more muscular...

Does have incredible advantages outside of directly doing it for combat/fitness.

1) It boosts your confidence exponentially.

2) You will probably get laid more often (if this is a goal for you).

3) It will boost your motivation to train EVEN MORE and EVEN HARDER.

It's certainly a win win win situation, you just have to do it!

It will be tough- bare in mind if you are trying to mass up or develop your body in this way, it's one of the ways where you must put in the time and the effort and the gains aren't going to be amazingly fast like when practicing technical skills. Like I said, stick to it and it will be worthwhile.

Thank you all for the advice, I'm thinking of going up to 180 and dropping to 170 when fighting. The reason behind this is I love pumping iron in the gym and like to see the progress so I figure if I go 30lbs up I can see the gains whilst still pumping the iron. I'm having 2 sessions heavy lifting, 2 cardio sessions, 1 core session and 1 muscle endurance session.