Trying to gain muscle mass

[patorres]

I've been cycling for the last 5 years therefore I don't have much of an upper body. I'm going to the gym now to get some more muscle upstairs. I'm currently 143 pounds but want to get an extra 10-15 pounds of muscle. I've heard that doing cardio while trying to get big doesn't work. Is this true? What can I do to keep my cardio/fitness in check?
I want to be able to hold my own while in a dangerous or physically challenged situation.
I am in the hiring process for the LAPD.
Any tips would be appreciated!
Thanks.

[Samuel]

I've been cycling for the last 5 years therefore I don't have much of an upper body. I'm going to the gym now to get some more muscle upstairs. I'm currently 143 pounds but want to get an extra 10-15 pounds of muscle. I've heard that doing cardio while trying to get big doesn't work. Is this true? What can I do to keep my cardio/fitness in check?
I want to be able to hold my own while in a dangerous or physically challenged situation.
I am in the hiring process for the LAPD.
Any tips would be appreciated!
Thanks.

Primarily, you should develop Mindset, Skill/Technique, Conditioning (fight conditioning), and make sure you're proficient with all your Equipment (and your equipment is functioning properly and readily accessible).

IMO/IME, muscle mass (size/strength) is great but you shouldn't solely concentrate on just that. I got a buddy who is about 5-9/155 and can take my milk money, eat my lunch, And make me do his homework...

[patorres]

What do you mean "skill/technique?"
I'm not trying to get huge, my body type is a ectomorph. I guess my goal is to gain strength in my upper body as equal as my legs. I want to be able to handle the push ups and pull ups and upper body workouts involved at the academy and be able to run 2-3 miles at a good pace. Any suggestions?
If you don't mind me asking, which department do work at? I see your location is LA County.

That last part about your friend was pretty funny. I need to get like that.

Thanks!

[marinepilot]

What do you mean "skill/technique?"
I'm not trying to get huge, my body type is a ectomorph. I guess my goal is to gain strength in my upper body as equal as my legs. I want to be able to handle the push ups and pull ups and upper body workouts involved at the academy and be able to run 2-3 miles at a good pace. Any suggestions?
If you don't mind me asking, which department do work at? I see your location is LA County.

That last part about your friend was pretty funny. I need to get like that.

Thanks!

Funny you say you want to get like his friend, when what he's saying is that his friend doesn't necessarily have the major upper body strength you seem to want to get. By "skill/technique" Samuel is saying that you don't need to have guns like Ahnold to be a cop. In the academy you'll be taught fighting styles that help you get the advantage on someone, even if they are bigger and stronger than you. You will need to develop those skills and techniques until they are so comfortable to you that you can use them confidently and consistently.

[Samuel]

What marinepilot said. Size and strength are good to have and size does matter but they aren't everything. I've got size and strength on my buddy but he's got the advantage everywhere else (well, mindset is about the same).

Suggestions? No quick fixes, no shortcuts, you just gotta get out there and do the exercises. Recommend you build functional/explosive strength and mix the exercises with aerobic/anaerobic activity - Crossfit type of workouts. Also recommend you build strength and conditioning doing the specific type activity you're interested in - i.e. practice MA/MMA/DT techniques, punch/kick pads, etc.

Skill/Technique are important because they enhance whatever natural attributes you already have. Skill/Technique will make you more efficient and effective. Skill/Technique can help you stop the threat and gain control of a person/situation more quickly. Leaving Equipment out of it for a moment, you gotta have all 3 (Mindset, Skill/Technique, Conditioning) - missing one of the three can negate having the other two.

Do you have a playground near you?





Also Google "coolrunning" and "runnersworld"...

Btw, if LAPD = USC, I'd be with UCLA... ;)

[patorres]

Wow! You've really opened my eyes. Thank you so much!
Hannibal is crazy!!!! Most of his workouts look like magic. Insane!!
Now. LAPD = USC. ? = UCLA
Sheriffs? You got me confused here.

[retdetsgt]

Primarily, you should develop Mindset, Skill/Technique, Conditioning (fight conditioning), and make sure you're proficient with all your Equipment (and your equipment is functioning properly and readily accessible).

IMO/IME, muscle mass (size/strength) is great but you shouldn't solely concentrate on just that. I got a buddy who is about 5-9/155 and can take my milk money, eat my lunch, And make me do his homework...

All that will also give you the confidence you need. Just bulking up doesn't do that alone. I've seen body builders, when confronted with someone their own size get a little weak kneed. They generally get so used to getting by by bluff alone, they don't know how to do the real job. I've witnessed that more times that I like to think about.

Bad guys are excellent in determining if you are someone they can mess with or not and if you know you have the skills mentioned by Samuel, they will pick up on that too.

I worked out my whole career, but I worked on conditioning and endurance. I wanted a decent BMI and be able to last in a fight or foot chase.

[Switchback]

Add another vote for functional workouts. You don't need to be huge to be strong. Also, what good is there in a great bench-press or curl. They both focus on isolating 1-2 muscle groups and working in a single plane. THAT is not real world. Real world uses multiple muscle groups in multiple planes.

I used to be very thin, too. I made it through Army boot, our academy and even our special operations training when many muscle-heads around me had harder times and/or failed out. So, I never felt insubstantial, but I always wanted to bulk up a little. It wasn't until I let off on my running a bit, that I was able to pick some weight up (I ran track in college and did a lot of recreational running).

I started to focus on lifting and worked on my diet (I ate a ton of calories with a pretty clean diet). I gained some good weight (from 175 up to about 210 or so) and strength. It was when I started cross-fitting that I got some good tone and got even stronger, all while losing a few pounds. It is very intense and has more real-world functionality than most traditional weight-lifting programs.

I've started running a little again (2-3 times a week). These days, I do it more for relaxing and the "me time" out on the trails. I'm still sitting around 200lbs or so, but am content with the fact that I will (hopefully) thin out as I age... and I'm getting about that age to where it starts. LOL

[retdetsgt]

Gymnasts, who are rarely very big are the strongest men around, pound for pound. We had a guy in my platoon in basic who was about 5-5 and weighed maybe 135 lbs at most, but he could do a horizontal iron cross between two upper bunks. I can't even imagine being able to do that.

If you look at military special ops people, they look pretty normal and usually aren't huge people at all. But I wouldn't pick a fight with one.

[Switchback]

There has to be a balance, though. No one cares if you can do an iron cross if you can't carry your ruck in the army... or push the 200lb guy off your chest.

All the SOCOM guys that I have met tend to be "substantial" in size. While not big, they re rarely thin. This of course, unless you are talking about the guys who are still fresh out of their selections... and they tend to look like POW camp survivors.

[retdetsgt]

I didn't say they were thin, I said they looked fairly normal in street clothes. You've been around more lately than I have, but the SF ones I worked around didn't look all that huge and we had several come on to our department, several SF and one SEAL and they didn't stand out in a crowd. One of my ex partners in uniform was Army SF, A team. He was barely 5-10, if that, weighed maybe 165 lbs. He fooled a lot of people when push came to shove.

Don't get me wrong, I'm all for size, probably more so than a lot of people here. At 6-2, 190 when I started, I was pretty average size for my department. But I've also seen a couple of former college football linemen get intimidated by someone who was their build.

I agree, strength isn't the total answer, but if the guy who can do the iron cross has some fighting skills, you're going to have your hands full. I've seen that type a lot too.

[Switchback]

Oh, I got ya, RDS. If I were going to err, I would lean towards the thin side. NONE Of them are big muscle heads. It's just too much weight to carry around.

I'd agree with you in saying that these guys would not stand out in a crowd of fit people. They look relatively thin in loose clothing. But they are very muscular in a bulky competitive swimmer kind of way... lean muscle mass.

[retdetsgt]

Of course, finding a crowd of fit people is no easy task either!

[Switchback]

Of course, finding a crowd of fit people is no easy task either!

I think we may have to settle for a photo-line-up.

[retdetsgt]

I think we may have to settle for a photo-line-up.

So true....

The SEAL we had was a character. Again, talking to him, you wouldn't think, "Wow, this guy must be SOG!" As we said, he was fit, but didn't appear to be anything special. But the goofy sumbitch used to swim back and forth across the Columbia river just for kicks. Bear in mind that the Columbia here is at least 300 yards across (I think more), is cold as hell and runs fast! I'd hate to try to row a boat across it w/o ending up a mile downstream.

He was retired from the Navy, E-9. I was told he had been SEAL team 6 and that was before I knew what SEAL team 6 did. That was verified later by a SEAL I met that knew him. When he retired from us, he went to Iraq and died there. Nobody knows why he was there or how he died, of course. Sad, great human being, everyone liked him a lot.