Too Much Mass

Training Powerlifting
1

I’ve been having a pretty weird issue, I was hoping someone here could point me in the right direction.

I gain too much mass. I’m looking for a way to increase strength and explosive power, but the sports I compete in (wrestling, bjj) are all based around weight classes. No matter how I lift, I still put on mass. Even lifting once a week puts on mass (though admittedly, little.).

Now, this is all fine and dandy, but at my height, I simply cannot wrestle at 90 kilos, or box at 200 pound. My frame is simply naturally to small, and while its nice being a fire plug, there are a lot of disadvantages for me.

I managed to get my hands on a copy of the Poliquin Principles, and while it caters more toward body building, I’ve tried going with 5 or less repetitions, in order for the best strenght to size ratio, with little luck.

It seems that I am stuck growing bigger.

I’ve been stuck with a serious upper respiratory infection for the past 3 weeks, so I haven’t been training, and my weight has gone down to a much more manageable size.

Is there any way I could maintain a weight of say, 86 kilos at 5’10, while improving explosive power and strength ?(And hopefully retaining endurance…)

My current training program looks as such:

Monday
Morning:Warmup, 3 Mile run as fast as I can.
Sprints, either 100m 3X +200m 1X, 200m 2x 100m 1X or 5X 100m
Stretch

Evening: 2 hour wrestling practice
2 hour Jiu-Jitsu practice

Tuesday
Morning:Warmup
Squats: 3X4, Walking lunges: 3X4, Deadlifts (or Romanian Deadlifts) 3X4, 1 push exercise (bench, incline, declines, etc) 3X4, 1 pull exercise (bent over rows, lat pulldowns) 3X4.Finish of with cleans or snatches, also 3X4.
stretch.

Evening:2 hours wrestling practice

Wednesday are same as monday, Thursday are same as tuesday

Friday:Warmup, 30 minute run. I essentially run as hard as I possibly can for 30 minutes.
Stretch.

Saturday: 1 hour scrimmage wrestling practice (we just wrestle, no technique practice)

then about 1 hour after 1 hour technical practice.

Sunday:Pray next week is easier.

For supplements, I am currently taking a multivitamin in the morning and evening, 2grams of fish oil 3x a day,5 grams of glutamine before and after each training session. I also take a magnesium supplement( and bathe in epsom salts) at the behest of T-Nation.

I was hoping on picking up some HOT-ROX, but even if I lose some more fat, its only going to take me so far. I’m also a little worried failing a urine test due to any exotic supplements ( I’ve been eyeing Alpha Male for a while now) and being suspended from competition, so if anyone has any particular know-how, that would be great.

I’m at a loss for what to do. I simply cannot keep going up weight classes. I’ve poked around the forums and searched as best I can, so I don’t think this is a repost.

I should also add that I keep a very clean diet, with 1 cheat meal a week( also at the behest of T-Nation) and I manage to keep just below 11% body fat.

I’ve included anything I thought might be useful. Seriously guys, I’m tearing my hair out here, I’m at my ropes end. Ideas ? Advice??

2

Is there any reason you are dead set at not going up weight classes?

Usually mass gain is related to food intake in some way. So if you are training for strength and not eating in a way that would allow weight gain, I dont see how you could pack on tons of muscle…I’ve heard stranger things though.

Look up Chad Waterbury’s “Hammer Down” series for a good write up on how he trains his MMA athletes.

3

Just eat less

4

I would read up on the Waterbury as Lonnie suggested. Also, you might contact strength coach Eric Cressey. Dropping your calories should stop the gains, but as far as I can tell, that will also make it very difficult to gain stength and improve explosiveness. But Eric Cressey is a master at getting strength improvements from himself and his athletes while basically maintaining a consistent bodyweight.

5

[quote]Lonnie123 wrote:
Is there any reason you are dead set at not going up weight classes?

Usually mass gain is related to food intake in some way. So if you are training for strength and not eating in a way that would allow weight gain, I dont see how you could pack on tons of muscle…I’ve heard stranger things though.

Look up Chad Waterburys “Hammer Down” series for a good write up on how he trains his MMA athletes. [/quote]

I’m so dead set, because for my height, I should be wrestling a weightclass lower, maybe even 2 lower. In some situations its a godsend being a fireplug, but in others its a serious disadvantage. I like where I am now just because it offers a good balance for me, and lets me play to my strengths.

I will look up Hammer Down though, thanks.

6

[quote]Nian wrote:
Just eat less[/quote]

I’m eating pretty light as it. I could stand to maybe cut out 200, 300 calories from my diet.Maybe.

I’m just not sure what I’d cut back on though. Just eat a little bit less of everything in general, or should I could down specifically on carbs or fats ? I’m only getting 3 serving of (whole) grains a day as is.

EDIT: Thanks jsbrook, I’ll start harrassing him ASAP

7

fats man…You dont want to cut carbs cause you need energy.

8

[quote]Quartey wrote:
Lonnie123 wrote:
Is there any reason you are dead set at not going up weight classes?

Usually mass gain is related to food intake in some way. So if you are training for strength and not eating in a way that would allow weight gain, I dont see how you could pack on tons of muscle…I’ve heard stranger things though.

Look up Chad Waterburys “Hammer Down” series for a good write up on how he trains his MMA athletes.

I’m so dead set, because for my height, I should be wrestling a weightclass lower, maybe even 2 lower. In some situations its a godsend being a fireplug, but in others its a serious disadvantage. I like where I am now just because it offers a good balance for me, and lets me play to my strengths.

I will look up Hammer Down though, thanks.[/quote]

I’m obviously out of my league here because I have no idea what a “fireplug” is, nor do I see an advantage for weighing less, provided the weight you gain is pure muscle. I stick with my recommendations to read Waterbury and Cressey as above.

9

[quote]Lonnie123 wrote:
Quartey wrote:
Lonnie123 wrote:
Is there any reason you are dead set at not going up weight classes?

Usually mass gain is related to food intake in some way. So if you are training for strength and not eating in a way that would allow weight gain, I dont see how you could pack on tons of muscle…I’ve heard stranger things though.

Look up Chad Waterburys “Hammer Down” series for a good write up on how he trains his MMA athletes.

I’m so dead set, because for my height, I should be wrestling a weightclass lower, maybe even 2 lower. In some situations its a godsend being a fireplug, but in others its a serious disadvantage. I like where I am now just because it offers a good balance for me, and lets me play to my strengths.

I will look up Hammer Down though, thanks.

I’m obviously out of my league here because I have no idea what a “fireplug” is, nor do I see an advantage for weighing less, provided the weight you gain is pure muscle. I stick with my recommendations to read Waterbury and Cressey as above.

[/quote]

Leverage. Among other things. Even if you are strong, it simply does not do and does not work well to be wrestling someone 6 inches taller than you.

10

[quote]Quartey wrote:
Nian wrote:
Just eat less

I’m eating pretty light as it. I could stand to maybe cut out 200, 300 calories from my diet.Maybe.

I’m just not sure what I’d cut back on though. Just eat a little bit less of everything in general, or should I could down specifically on carbs or fats ? I’m only getting 3 serving of (whole) grains a day as is.

EDIT: Thanks jsbrook, I’ll start harrassing him ASAP
[/quote]

No problem. Good luck.

11

Haha…Your looking for someone to point you in the right direction ? I’ll point you to the right direction, Whichever way the gym is from where your at now is the right direction.

12

[quote]triple-10sets wrote:
fats man…You dont want to cut carbs cause you need energy.[/quote]

Fats also give you energy. They even give you more energy than carbs.

13

Quartey, if you want to get in combat shape, look no further than here:

www.rosstraining.com/infiniteintensity.html

And Nian’s response, short as it was, is spot on. Hypertrophy is largely a function of diet. If you’re gaining, just eat a bit less until you stop.

Also, you could try decreasing the volume of lifting. It’s not the lifting itself that cause hypertrophy, it’s the volume of lifting.

14

[quote]triple-10sets wrote:
Haha…Your looking for someone to point you in the right direction ? I’ll point you to the right direction, Whichever way the gym is from where your at now is the right direction. [/quote]

haha

I’m killing myself in the gym pretty regularly, I don’t think more volume is the solution here…

15

[quote]Dark_Knight wrote:
Quartey, if you want to get in combat shape, look no further than here:

www.rosstraining.com/infiniteintensity.html

And Nian’s response, short as it was, is spot on. Hypertrophy is largely a function of diet. If you’re gaining, just eat a bit less until you stop.

Also, you could try decreasing the volume of lifting. It’s not the lifting itself that cause hypertrophy, it’s the volume of lifting.

[/quote]

I’ve heard really good things about Ross from friends who box/kickbox, but I have no idea how much crossover it would have to grappling based sports.

I’m sure there would be some, but if I get a chance I’ll pick up some of his stuff.

EDIT: Disregard that, evidently I’m retarded. I poked around his website, there’d be a lot of crossover.

[quote]blazindave wrote:
triple-10sets wrote:
fats man…You dont want to cut carbs cause you need energy.

Fats also give you energy. They even give you more energy than carbs.[/quote]

I honestly can’t see myself cutting out more carbs and not passing out during practice. Bye bye egg yolk I guess.

16

A high fat diet has worked well for me in the past. Can’t claim as much about you, but since we seem to be of the same bodytype, I’d give it try atleast. And if you really need your complex carbs, take them after training.

Dr Berardi claims that insulin (which if I got it right is a byproduct of the body breaking down complex carbs)is THE most anabolic hormone in the body. He also writes that insulin not anabolic so much in terms of muscle gain, but that it’s physiologically impossible to burn muscle as fuel when insulin is around. That means your natural protein synthesis will simply explained only work one way (in this case, building more than it’s breaking down).
Insulin is however, very anabolic when it comes to fat.

That would be one of my main arguments in cutting down complex carb intake to minimize unwanted weight-gain. With that said, fat works very well for mass gains too, it’s just harder to take in the same amount of calories with fat as carbs.

Also, like Dark_Knight said, cut out on the volume, and crank up the intensity. And, if you feel that your strength levels are up for it, shift gears into a more explosive oriented weight training, which won’t yield you, comparatively speaking, as much muscle damage and subsequent weight-gain.

EDIT: Duh, I even forgot my mainpoint: if carbs in=carbs out, you wont see much, if any weight gain. A side effect of a lower calorie intake would be that you’d probably have to decrease the volume of your training, which in turn would decrease your potentional hypertrophy even more.

17

[quote]blazindave wrote:
triple-10sets wrote:
fats man…You dont want to cut carbs cause you need energy.

Fats also give you energy. They even give you more energy than carbs.[/quote]

Do they come with goggles,too?

18

1 set of no more than 5 reps for each bodypart every 7 days (every 14 days if you STILL gain too much weight). Food intake at maintenance level.

This is what I do and I’ve got reasonable relative strength - I can nearly military press bodyweight for 5 reps now.

19

Quartey,

I think you are right…more volume is not the solution. I have (had) the same issue that you do. I have a pretty small frame naturally given the size of my joints, but my metabolism allows me to pack on weight incredibly easily.

I went from 175lbs Freshman year of college to 220lbs, Junior year WITHOUT the strength to go with it. Yes, I got stronger, but not in a way that you’d expect for someone who was 220lb.

Despite all my complications of this issue with my opinions of carb tolerance, the ideal amount of protein to take in, etc, I realized that it comes down to one thing. Calories in versus calories out. Body composition is another thing that takes more playing with to find the optimal levels of leanness and muscularity, but in terms of absolute weight, calories is the main consideration.

Just as a “hardgainer” can’t gain weight without adding calories, “easygainers” like us can’t lose or maintain their weight without watching their calories.

Personally, I find that I cannot let my appetite govern me eating, because I’d rapidly be approaching the superheavyweights :slight_smile: I’ve had success with weighing myself every morning to keep a close eye on where I am. I also went onto FitDay.com and tracked my calories for a few weeks and was often surprised by what I found.

I am now competing a weight class lower after having dropped 20lbs (a good amount of it being muscle as well) but am about to match or perhaps exceed my previous competition bests in the squat, bench press, and deadlift.

As for your training, you need to find out what is most important for you improve upon in general and at certain points. Do you need to be in tip top shape endurance-wise all year long, is your technique your biggest weakpoint, are you too weak, too slow, etc.

If you’re only going to do 1 strength training day a week, why wouldn’t you do it on Monday? Strength is not a quality that is trainable under fatigue, so you’d probably see better results placing it after Sundays (your day off) when you are most fresh during the week.

Post a sample of your diet once you’ve resumed your normal eating habits. Include the macro breakdown and calories as well.

-Matt

20

[quote]triple-10sets wrote:
Haha…Your looking for someone to point you in the right direction ? I’ll point you to the right direction, Whichever way the gym is from where your at now is the right direction. [/quote]

Stop giving advice