weight training while doing jui jitsu--whats best

[Tapout]

i have been power training for years. power training to me is 70% powerlifting and 30% body building. this means i do bench,deads,leg press for big movements and the rest is body builder type movements. i put on a lot of size doing this and got really strong. now though i am back into jui jitsu full time and training for my black belt. i have gone from 248lbs to 238lbs and to get to 12% bf need to go to 230lbs area at 5'10". i needed to drop size so i could do the movements and have more wind.
my question
i had planned on keeping with my 3 days per week heavy weight training that i have put so much size on with in order to maintain the size as i do so much cardio. the problem is in only 3 weeks i feel over trained already and even though i have not lost much muscle size i feel my joints they hurt and i know size will drop soon
what is some suggestions to maintain as much size as possible
maybe up protein
maybe change workout a little
i have been a big supporter of heavy duty type training but instead of 1 set and 1 exercise per body part to failure i do 2 to 3 sets of 2 exercises to failure
should i continue this,drop a set or add something

[majorpecs]

bump for tapout...I think Warrior should have a good answer for this one...come on Warrior, spill your knowledge

[BIG TEXAN]

BUMP!!!!!!!

[Tapout]

i knew this would be a hard question to answer
how to maintain my strength and size when all i did was heavy lifting to now going to alot of cardio and trying to keep size.also all the muscle movements associated with grappling that will hurt recovery and basically over train

[chicamahomico]

What I do when I am hitting the mat hard is:

1) cycle the intensity of my weight workouts
monday: heavy tues: matwork wed: light thurs: matwork fri:medium
or some variation of an intensity cycling scheme that works around the matwork

2) lower the total workload in the gym. I warm up with far fewer reps and cut a set off of each exercise.

3) I wouldn't train to failure in the gym. save that for the mat.


Remember if you are a fighter, the gymwork is just a tool to improve your game. I know it's hard to backseat the weight workouts, I feel for ya bro.

[Tapout]

thanks bro
i like the idea of cutting a set out to compensate for hard grappling. same amout of stress on muscles but less recovery needed

[Andy]

When I used to compete it was hours of fit-ins that made me sweat like a hog. But todays ju-jitsu / judo players have a terrible lack of knowledge about standup, and focus too much on mat work. But... mat work is great stuff for physical conditioning. Fit-ins are great too but they suck -- IMO average competitor should be doing 1000 minimum fit-ins per week on atleast 2 throws

[Tapout]

i agree they have little striking. i was a brown belt in tae kwon do before starting jui jitsu and still do alot of striking drills

what do you mean by fit ins i have an idea but not sure if i'm right