Bruce Lee's Size.

[Jowan]

I asked this question on a few other forums but got no actual scientific reply-
Why was Bruce Lee so light?
At the time of Enter The Dragon being filmed he was 125 Lbs.
He did a lot of weight circuit training every day, every 2 days he did a bodybuilding routine for half an hour, not to mention every day he would train his arms for trapping and pulling, using weights- even after this his biceps were small, though his upper forearm musculature was quite large.
I know he had very little fat, but there are others with little fat, that are larger than him, and do less work than him.
Some people have said it's because of his metabolism. Metabolism burns fat quickly as i understand it, it does not burn muscle or stop muscles from growing.
he also took protein shakes often.
it boggles my mind!
Does anyone have an actual scientific answer why he was so small?
-Jowan-

[moromoro]

i think it was OVERtraining!!!!!

[Thai Bri]

Genetics and overtraining probably.

[Tim Mousel]

A high metabolism can definitely interfere with muscle growth. He was a light weight because of genetics, a high metabolism, too much cardio which results in burning a lot of calories and yes, perhaps overtraining.

Tim

[Great Sage]

Re: Bruce Lee's Size.

Originally posted by Jowan
I asked this question on a few other forums but got no actual scientific reply-
Why was Bruce Lee so light?
At the time of Enter The Dragon being filmed he was 125 Lbs.
He did a lot of weight circuit training every day, every 2 days he did a bodybuilding routine for half an hour, not to mention every day he would train his arms for trapping and pulling, using weights- even after this his biceps were small, though his upper forearm musculature was quite large.
I know he had very little fat, but there are others with little fat, that are larger than him, and do less work than him.
Some people have said it's because of his metabolism. Metabolism burns fat quickly as i understand it, it does not burn muscle or stop muscles from growing.
he also took protein shakes often.
it boggles my mind!
Does anyone have an actual scientific answer why he was so small?
-Jowan-

Bruce Lee was very light because he was more interested in lean muscles and not bulky mass. His exercise routines consisted of polymetrics and cardiovascular training. Bruce did not resort to traditional “body building” techniques to build mass, he was more interested in muscle strength and contraction. Hence, he did high reps and developed strategies to increase muscle tension and resistance.

I don’t necessarily think Bruce Lee was overtraining, but by yesterday’s standards perhaps he was. He was developing training methods that are used today, while most people were still doing kata, traditonal weights, etc...

By today’s standards, Bruce Lee’s physique is not too unusual in athletic competition. At 5’7” a boxer today could easily maintain 125 lbs. A case can be made that today’s fighters train as hard as Bruce Lee did. Simply put, Bruce Lee was ahead of his time in training and knowledge.

Here are the modern weight classes for boxing. Bruce’s weight puts him at the Featherweight Class. Guys in that class are not much different in size and stature from Bruce Lee.

Light flyweight/48 kg/106 lbs
Flyweight/51 kg/112 lbs
Bantamweight/54 kg/119 lbs
Featherweight/57 kg/125 lbs
Lightweight60 kg/132 lbs
Light welterweight/64 kg/141 lbs
Welterweight/69 kg/152 lbs
Middleweight/75 kg/165 lbs
Light heavyweight/81 kg/178 lbs
Heavyweight/91 kg/201 lbs
Super heavyweight/91+/201+ lbs

[Jowan]

Re:

Although Bruce practiced weightlifting using a lot of the traditional bodybuilding ways, i.e. clean and press, bicep curls etc (shown in virtually every Bruce Lee book, especially Expressing the human body, by John Little), it is not said how he preformed them, he could have pushed the weights with maximal force, creating plyometrics.
-Jowan-

[Disciple]

Bruce Lee likely did so much cardio that he had a hard time maintaining any large amount of muscle mass. That and his naturally high metabolism and small bone structure. Think of wrestlers. They try to maintain as low a weight as possible but are still usually very strong compared to the average population.

[chris davis 200]

I think alot of it is to do with diet.

You can train like crazy n still not pack on much size if there is not a possitive nitrogen balance and a sufficient protein intake.

His musculature was very compact and i would say close to maximum efficiency for its size.

the difference now is that there are pure protein, amino acid and creatine suppliments available, that enable the serious athelete to pack on heavy amounts of lean muscle relatively quickly. The type of scientific diet available now was not really readily available then.

cheers
chris

[Thai Bri]

But there were still massive body builders around though, so it couldn't have been that.

Anyone heard the rumour that Lee experimented in steroids? No disrespect to him, I don't think they were frowned upon then like they are now. And, anyway, maybe it isn't true.

[Great Sage]

Originally posted by Thai Bri
But there were still massive body builders around though, so it couldn't have been that.

Yeah, so what?... Body Builders consume 1-3 grams of protein per pound and at least 2 grams of carbohydrate per pound. They also limit their cardio and work on heavy sets. It's about how you work out. The average individual will not bulk up to a body builder's status without proper training and a huge meal plan.

I doubt Bruce Lee was doing pyramid sets with really hight weights. More likely, he ate a good proportion of protein and carbo and did lots of cardio with polymetric weight training. High and polymetric sets equals lean, strong muscles, not mass.

Originally posted by Thai Bri
Anyone heard the rumour that Lee experimented in steroids? No disrespect to him, I don't think they were frowned upon then like they are now. And, anyway, maybe it isn't true.

Rumors will be rumors and I don't care for them. I only care for what has been proven and what I feel is an honest assessment. Bruce Lee had some profound ideas regarding training in the martial arts. Although I don't train in JKD, I admire the principles and concepts he advocated. That's how I like to think of Bruce Lee, a martial arts innovator.

[Tom Yum]

Bruce was about 5'7" and 147 pounds - that puts him in the welterweight category. From what I read in Tao of JKD, he didn't use heavy weights. Please correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought I saw somewhere that he did military presses with 75 lbs for 12 reps. Also read that he lifted weights 2-3 times a day (overtraining)

Bruce's power was another story. You must have seen the photos and heard Wally Jay's story about Bruce nailing the 300 lb heavy bag and sending it flying. His punching power was 600+ PSI?, which is where most heavy weights are. This little guy had tremendous power!

I think his power is from the thousands of kicks and punches that he threw every day. You see the same thing with light weight thaiboxers who fold bags with their kicks; sure they look boney, but they can nail the piss out of anything with those shins and knees.

He is small because of genetics, lots of cardio and overtraining.

[Great Sage]

Originally posted by Tom Yum
Bruce was about 5'7" and 147 pounds - that puts him in the welterweight category. From what I read in Tao of JKD, he didn't use heavy weights. Please correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought I saw somewhere that he did military presses with 75 lbs for 12 reps. Also read that he lifted weights 2-3 times a day (overtraining)

Tom,

As I said before, by yesterday's standards Bruce Lee was overtraining, but today weightlifting twice in one day is NOT unusual. Consider Arnold Shwarzenegger — he lifted twice a day, sometimes 3 times a day after consuming tons of protein. Many Body Builders still go by the 2 a day workout. The key is consumption of protein and complex carbohydrates.

I used to lift twice a day for several months while wrestling. It's very typical of weight lifters today. But again, it's how you lift. Big Guys will do heavy sets at low reps, whereas lean guys tend to do medium to light weights with high reps.

There was also a popular method that faded fast. A person lifted for 12 hours straight while consuming 22 grams of protein each hour. The key is to work on only ONE muscle group: chest, bicep etc... You do maybe 3 or 5 sets of reps one the hour, then consume protein and wait for the next hour... Repeat the process for 12 hours. This was chit chat in the gym I worked out, but the only person who really tried it was - ME, ofcourse, I'll try anything. The goal is to gain 1/8" of muscle in one day. I don't think it worked, but it was a great challenge.

[Great Sage]

Originally posted by Thai Bri
Thats so much horse shit. Weight training twice a day. EEEEeeeee AAAaaaaaaaw.

You don't grow when you train, you shrink! Youre breaking down muscle, thats why it hurts. You grow when you recover. Thats when mother nature puts it back, along with a little bit extra. How can you recover if you're training every day?

Okay genius, I’ve read several articles including askmen.com that confirms this:

“He [Arnold] would mix things up -- sometimes he'd even work out twice a day. He did a lot of forced reps and pyramids by adding weight to each set. He preferred doing 6 to 10 reps...”

Furthermore, you don’t work on the same muscle group everyday. It’s more like back/biceps Monday, Chest/lats Tuesday, etc...

Originally posted by Thai Bri
And big guys don't do heavy weights and low reps. Strength trainers do that. Big guys keep their reps to about 10 ish. Thats why you never see body builders in those strongman contests.

Big guys are big because they can bench more. You can only increase your bench by doing low reps with heavy weights or pyramiding. And you can only get bigger with a bigger bench. Anyone who’s ever benched over 300 knows this. Arnold could bench over 500 lbs in his prime. The same with Lou Ferrigno, among most body builders. Are we to assume that these men got big by doing 200 lbs 10 or 15 times... That’s a load of shiet, man. And it’s obvious you don’t have a clue about weight lifting. BTW, Lou Ferrigno was in the first Strong Man contest on espn.

I max at 310, but I usually work at 240 x 10 or 12 reps to maintain strength. I’m not getting any bigger, but I can get leaner muscles. If I wanted to get bigger, I’d have to go heavier with lower reps to force my muscles to grow. We’re talking 4-6 reps, not 10 or 15...

Originally posted by Thai Bri
How can you be over training "by yesterdays standards" but not todays? Has the human race metapmorphisised in the last 30 years? I know there's a bit more protein powder on the market, but don't be ridiculous. The example you gave (Arnie) was training in the 70s, the same time as Bruce, you knob.

I hate it when someone seems to think they are an expert in something that they obviously know nothing about.

Dick head.

Well, obviously you aren’t aware of weight lifting today. Today, they train harder and with more scientific knowledge. Arnold set the tone for weight lifting today... He became the standard after winning 7 Mr. Universe titles. Guys these days are much bigger and work out much harder. We haven’t morphed, but we do know what works better and we do more of that.

Have a nice day,
Dick Head.

[retired]

Bri, thats true what you say about steroid's, every person i ever knew who was massive always said "im not on steroids i just train hard" but a few years down the line when they gave it in and shrunk back they would admit to me then that it was the steroids that made them so big.
I know 1 or 2 people who train bodybuilding without steroids but these have a totally different and more natural look to themselves.
OK it may not win them a competition but they seem more happy in themselves.

And for anybody to say that the bodybuilders in the 70's were not on steroids (yes the big names) then they know diddly squatt because an old friend of mine used to work in the catering business in london which covered all the big bodybuilding competitions at the time and he said it was well know inside closed circle's about steroid usage.

[salamat po]

What are plyometrics?