I need to lose musle mass.

[bigrobbierob]

I'm quite familiar with many aspect of many things in our chosen hobby, but I have made a decision and at a loss the proper manner to do it.

What would be the best way to start dropping muscle mass without sacrificing strength, while at the same time gaining quickness?

Should I drop the weights and add reps?

Increase cardio?

The problem is I am into RBSD and the muscle mass is really hurting my speed.

Any advise would be appreciated. Hell, talk me out of it if you can convince me I can be massive, strong AND fast. I worked too hard to get 18" arms and wanted 19"....I hate to stop now! But if I gotta I gotta.

 

[Gonzo14]

theres no reason you cannot be strong, massive and fast. While you might not be the fastest as a little guy could be if you work on your cardio, sprinting, and agility using ladder drills, sprints, ect ect you will increase your reaction speed as well as your total speed. Consider incorperating weights into cardio sessions, barbell complexs are great for this also.
The most important way to increase speed and still be big is being flexible. Your speed is generally (stride length) x (strides/min) most of the time I see guys who look like their chugging it down field, but really aren't going anywhere this is because their legs aren't flexible enough resulting in shorter stride length. Yoga is great as well as just some static and dynamic stretching. Really work on your legs and back, but dont neglect stretching your arms and chest which do play an important role in speed.
What i'm trying to say basically is that dont throw away all your hardwork to get the body you have, try to adapt it to becoming faster. And slowly lean out and slim down to achieve your speed goals.
but if you have 18inch arms, and your body is in proportion to that, and your BF% is some what low, i think thats your biggest asset in RBSD, i dont know many people who'd try and f*ck with that. lol

 

[bigrobbierob]

The thing that has messed with my head most is my best friend came over the other day. I hadn't seen him in 3 years. Now we have know each other 21 years but took totally different paths in life. He's a criminal :shrug:. Anyway we sparred and he just blazed me like I was standing still. He admitted he didn't want me to get a hold of him (my size plus my wrestling and BJJ training) so he just kicked a knee and as I feel popped me in the jaw.

Now, considering I am thinking about law enforcement or at the least bouncing again, and he is the typical perp, I see my speed as a weakness that I need to take care of. He's my best friend and wouldn't hurt me, another guy like him may not have that sense of comradeship.

But your right, my size is my number one weapon...I just don't like the lack of speed. At the very least I need to alter training to be explosive.

I have decided to incorporate yoga though..."Yoga for Regular Guys" to be exact. I just started today.

 

[Flaw]

What you need to do is increase your flexibility not drop muscle mass! Why would you want to lose that hard earned muscle?! Blasphemy! I'm 5' 11'' between 225 and 220 pounds at the moment. Probably around 13% bf. The more flexible you are the better and easier you will move. What is your body fat by the way?

 

[bigrobbierob]

What is your body fat by the way?

About 15ish...so it sounds I'm about your size.

Another reason I thought about dropping mass was because on fights they always talk about weight classes and how "so and so" is so much faster now ect.

I'm already looking into "explosive" training and kettlebells as potential speed building tools.

 

[Gonzo14]

About 15ish...so it sounds I'm about your size.

Another reason I thought about dropping mass was because on fights they always talk about weight classes and how "so and so" is so much faster now ect.

I'm already looking into "explosive" training and kettlebells as potential speed building tools.

yeah but that "so and so" definitely didn't drop muscle mass or else they wouldn't stand a chance, most of those times they improved their cardio and endurance training drop BF and water for weigh ins.
I'm still pretty sure you can get away with explosive training and stretching so you can keep most of your good mass, lose the bad and be able to move in general better

 

[Flaw]

About 15ish...so it sounds I'm about your size.

Another reason I thought about dropping mass was because on fights they always talk about weight classes and how "so and so" is so much faster now ect.

I'm already looking into "explosive" training and kettlebells as potential speed building tools.

You can compensate with the proper training and good flexibility. I worked with a guy with a martial arts background. He was 260lbs. About 6'3" or so. Beast. He could do a split and had tremendous flexibility. He could also spin through the air like a guy half his weight. Everyone is gonna have their strengths. Yours might be your strength and size and guys are gonna think your slow. In MMA try Wrestle you down. Expose your weaknesses. That's ok.. let them think that. Work on your weaknesses. Once they realize your a "BIG" dude who is also quick the intimidating factor becomes huge. Let the illusion become your advantage. I'd get in a heavy flexibility routine. For resistance I'd stick with explosive/power moves. Power lifts/training. For cardio get into Football drills. Keep cardio to intense explosive intervals. If you get well rounded at your size you become scary to a lot of people

 

[Rodja]

Start doing Olympic-style training and focus on explosive lifts. BBing can slow you down, but this can be easily corrected with proper training adjustments. I find that I am much more explosive and quicker when I'm around 195 than when I'm around 185 because they extra muscle is all type IIx fibers, which are the big, powerful fibers. The difference is how I train in that I like to do an amalgam of training in the same session. For example, I'll do a 3-5 rep set on squats followed by 3 box jumps. This helps to develop both strength and power and this principle can be applied to every big lift.

 

[tops2heavy]

x2 on ladder drills, sprints etc

you need to train more functionally .. plyo boxes, ladders, dynamic stretches, dot drills, hurdles etc

train for what you want.. if you want to be faster and more agile.. gear your training exactly for that

 

[Rodja]

I'm also wondering this: how's you cardio? Combat cardio is a different beast and 60 seconds can seem like an eternity if you're not conditioned for it.

 

[Knowbull]

I dont think you can decrease mass without losing some strength, that would generally apply to lifting weights per se though. Less weight, more reps will maintain volume some what. Supplement with 250 mgs of Resveratrol (licap) and 250 mgs of Quercetin with MCT (licap) daily, from the same company, and you will attain your goal. JMO