How come some fighter's bodies are ripped and others not?

[wpr101]

How come some athletes or fighters don't have ripped bodies but are extremely strong, not overweight, and in great condition? Take for example somebody like Chuck Lidell. Guy has trained real hard to get where he is at but he is not that cut. Also, I remember that in high school wrestling sometimes you would see wrestler's who were cut but not as strong as guy who were not as ripped. I'm using cut/ripped to mean the same thing... basically definition such as six pack or veins in biceps.

[delta k]

sadly, i have no veins

[Rearden]

Not all professional athletes need to have a bodybuilders bodyfat levels. Obviously carrying around a spare tire is a negative but these guys are not training to get ripped abs and look super good... theyre training to beat the [censored] out of someone. Professional athletes dont win competitions based on how they look so pretty simply... why focus on that? They focus on cardio, strength, flexibility, endurance, etc etc etc not to "be ripped". Obviously though as a consequence of such intense training they normally appear in very good shape (because they are... not because theyre just going for the look if that makes sense). If they can make the weight class and dont feel like its holding them back they may very well have a "soft" look about them and still be very good (Fedor). Fighters train to fight... not looks like the dudes in the 300.

[Rootabager]

Prolly cuz chuck lidell etc dont do tons of curls and other arm exercises that people like fitness models/bodybuilders do. He does more fighting orientated exercises that wont nec. give you huge biceps but will still make you strong as a bull.

[Colt McCoy]

Being overly cut is usually a bad sign for a fighter as it often means he had to really work, and probably took diuretics to make weight which is really tough on the body. It's a little different now in top level boxing where they weigh in well before the fight though.

[wpr101]

I was not suggesting that it was a negative for a fighter not to look jacked. But what I'm saying is the same two people can go through a similar training regimine and have their bodies look different. I was more asking along the lines like if it has something to do with people's skin, or something different like genetics.

[wpr101]

[ QUOTE ]
Being overly cut is usually a bad sign for a fighter as it often means he had to really work, and probably took diuretics to make weight which is really tough on the body. It's a little different now in top level boxing where they weigh in well before the fight though.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yeah, that is true. I know that bodybuilders try to drain all the water from their bodies to look better.

[einbert]

from this thread from the gym (http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/showflat.php?Cat=0&Number=9582580&an=0&page=4#Post 9582580) :

[ QUOTE ]
Why does this matter? When performing strength movements, particularly the big complex movements, the limiting factor is generally the nervous system rather than your muscles. Your body wants to be efficient. It will only build muscle if it has to. If possible it would rather simply develop the central nervous system to be able to recruit more muscle fiber.

But your central nervous system takes longer to recover between sets than do your muscles. Therefore, if your rest periods are too short, your nervous system will not recruit enough muscle fiber. If you’re trying to build mass this is good since it puts the stress on the muscles, which grow larger when they have to in order to do the work you give them. If the rest period is long enough, your central nervous system will be working more efficiently and will recruit more muscle fiber. In addition, as you lift heavier over time, your nervous system will learn to recruit more and more muscle fibers, making you stronger.

This is why you see gargantuan juiced-up bodybuilders that aren’t nearly as strong as smaller, natural powerlifters. The bodybuilders tend to have large muscles but relatively weak central nervous systems.

[/ QUOTE ]
I don't know if this is true or not but it's definitely an interesting area to explore. Credit for the quoted post comes goes to Lucas Was Right.

[Hendricks433]

being ripped is % of body fat, no? So he just has more body fat.

[IronDragon1]

[ QUOTE ]
I was not suggesting that it was a negative for a fighter not to look jacked. But what I'm saying is the same two people can go through a similar training regimine and have their bodies look different. I was more asking along the lines like if it has something to do with people's skin, or something different like genetics.

[/ QUOTE ]

Unlike other sports, MMA fighters tend to have wildly different training regimes depending on who they're training with/other obligations/whether or not they're lazy/natural ability, etc.

[SNOWBALL]

it's genetics mainly. however, the other reasons listed in the thread sound valid too.

I have a friend who doesn't ever work out, but looks better than chuck lidell with his shirt off.

[Blarg]

A lot of fighters don't do it for a living, so they have less control over the timing and content of their diet, how much they can rest, and how much they can work out and what kind of work-outs they can be.

Also, IronDragon's point is important. There are many very disparate types of training even within the same families of styles, and that's all the more so with people who train in different styles.

[cbloom]

IMHO it's a totally different matter for unrestricted heavyweights vs. other weights. If you're in a restricted weight class and not pretty cut then you're not maximizing the strength that you could have for your weight. There's a reason why all lower weight boxers are totally cut.

In MMA it's partly because the fighters don't make enough money to all train full time, and partly because skill is so much more important that someone slightly out of shape can still dominate.

[Colt McCoy]

[ QUOTE ]
IMHO it's a totally different matter for unrestricted heavyweights vs. other weights. If you're in a restricted weight class and not pretty cut then you're not maximizing the strength that you could have for your weight. There's a reason why all lower weight boxers are totally cut.


[/ QUOTE ]

This is just wrong. First, "all lower weight boxers" are not "totally cut". Yes, they may have more definition than heavyweights, but many lower weight boxers don't have a really cut physique. A lot of it is just genetics, and lower weight boxers are usually naturally smaller guys that just don't have much fat on them.

Second, as explained above, fighters aren't bodybuilders. Their training is not designed to make them look cut. It's designed to make them good fighters. Sometimes they're the same training but often not.

Also, arguably a layer of fat is desireable as it provides a layer of protection for the body.

Finally, a fighter's best fighting weight is a function of a number of things. But being ultra cut is definitely not a sign he's at his best. In fact, usually when a fighters is really shredded, it means he's fighting at a weight that may be a little too light for him. If they have to struggle to make weight, they're not probably not going to be at their strongest because the kind of work required to make weight is not the same as the work that will make them strongest.

I can tell you that when I boxed, if I saw a guy come into the ring looking shredded, the first thing I did was look to see how much his prefight warm-up had him sweating. If he was pretty dry, I knew he struggled to make weight and I was going to bang the hell out of his body for a couple of rounds because he was going to tire quickly.