Andi-in-BKK
Level 5 Valued Member
To clear up a few things from what I said before:So, I have read all of your replies and done some thinking, here are the conclusions.
I vastly overestimated the time that it would take for me to get basic proficiency with kb's. It's definitely not 3-4 years, but more like 6-8 months, at least to reach a more or less effortless Timed Simple. I also realized that bells wouldn't cost me as much as I thought, and I'm not that tight on money anyways, so I can keep my old equipment. However, for me to do barbell moves like @Andi-in-BKK and @Coyotl suggested, I'd need to build a lifting platform from plywood and horse stall mats.
Yes, that's right, but that's not really what I need or what is best for my goals, like @Steve Freides said, kettlebell work might suit better for what I want to do than building a lot of muscle and maximal strength with barbells.(might even hinder MA progress(?)) And to what Andi said about the deadlift giving a good hip hinge and core strength for bjj, swings and TGU's deliver that as well, right? And yes, I have a pull-up bar for LEO/mil tests.
I agree with @North Coast Miller on the fact that I should prioritize on MA training. Kettlebell training would fit this quite well, as the sessions are short and wouldn't take much out of me. I'm also intrigued by the idea that Miller said about learning good movement mechanics with kb's to then learn barbell lifts effectively and safely. I might also dabble with @Kev 's recommendation of training with sandbags.
There is also a possibility that I could train at my schools gym affordably, but it wouldn't be available on holidays and such, so I won't count on it.
Final conclusion. I will not sell my barbells(at least yet), I will take up S&S until I reach a solid Timed Simple. Then I'll maintain that with 2-3 sessions a week, and add one day of barbells. Later I'll maybe increase barbell time to get some strength from there, and then start chasing after Sinister. Obviously somewhere in there I need to do mobility/stretching as well. Any thoughts on all of this? And thanks to everyone who replied, amazing to have people help a young bloke in the beginning.
In my years of realistic martial arts (BJJ, MMA, Judo and Muay Thai) I’ve never run into someone who was so strong that it was a problem for themselves(weight classes are a different thing). The issues arise with mobility and not musculature or strength. The things to pay attention to are your mobility, dexterity, and cardiovascular capability, so balancing strength and hypertrophy training cycles, with both intense and long steady state cardio cycles is crucial to staying functional as a martial artist. If you have the time, take a 3 month block, 4 times a year, and make that the focus of your physical training outside of martial arts (maintain martial arts training and mobility work the entire time) while reducing the other to one day a week to maintain, (example: Jan-Mar: LSD(long slow distance) cardio, April-June: strength cycle, July-Sept: Interval Cardio cycle, and Oct-Dec: Hypertrophy Cycle) In you plan, S&S can be reached and done for maintenance as you work on other stuff, the barbell lifts, etc, so it’s a good plan.
Saying that, having a strong deadlift, strong clean, and strong back squat build the hip hinge and core strength better, IMO, than most TGU. The specific application I’m talking about for this kind of strength is pairing up when someone is fighting against you to break your posture down, it’s almost entirely a posterior chain strength that makes this successful. TGU is important as a loaded version of the technical stand up(up) and sit out(down) in BJJ. The deadlift specifically also builds grip strength in a way that few other lifts can match, and that’s huge in BJJ (particularly gi BJJ).
Lastly, I used to be a huge fan of stretching, but have since changed my mind on it, as I can see the problems it can create. I would recommend grabbing a copy of “Supple Leopard” and reading on mobility work as opposed to stretching (stretching can lead to loss of stability under load, particularly in the knee joints and hip joints).