In this episode I go DEEP with Commonwealth Games gold medalist and 5 time National Team member Nick Ugoalah about the physical conditioning and mental training it takes to become a world class wrestler. It's a fascinating conversation because what Nick shares is applicable to any combat sport and not just wrestling. (It also shows you how damn hard you have to work to become an elite … [Read more...]
Podcast Episode #66 – Functional Training
Regardless of whether you train BJJ, MMA or a self-defense oriented martial art you're faced with the same dilemma: how do you take a technique you're shown in class and actually make it work against someone who is resisting you 100%? The key is progressive resistance, and in this episode I go into the 5 training modalities you should use to functionalise your techniques. You can listen to … [Read more...]
Podcast Episode 138: NFL Yoga and BJJ with Jessica Huneycutt
Jessica Huneycutt is the yoga instructor for the New Orleans Saints football team. Yes, you read that right. A professional NFL team, full of gigantic athletes who make a career of smashing into one another, has it's own yoga instructor! Oh, and did I mention that Jessica also trains BJJ? In this episode we go deep into how Yoga and other techniques are used at an elite level to help … [Read more...]
Podcast Episode 59 – When Short on Time, What’s the Most Effective Cardio?
Endurance is the most important physical attribute in combat sport, but it can be time consuming to develop. In this short episode I talk about some of the most efficient cardio protocols that I've used during periods of my life when I had no time for long, leisurely cardio. To listen to this conversation you could press play on the embedded audio player below, but then you might miss out on … [Read more...]
BJJ Exercises with Coach Ben Zhuang
I've long been an advocate for weight training and additional conditioning to improve BJJ performance and a skeptic of most sports supplements. So given all that I really enjoyed picking Ben Zhuang’s brain for his suggestions for exercises, supplements, recovery and other information that is going to benefit you. I’ll summarize and break down our discussion into different topics. Let's start … [Read more...]
Podcast Episode 134 – Conditioning for Combat Sport with Jason Kapnick
In this episode I talk with elite powerlifter, kettlebell instructor and BJJ practitioner Jason Kapnick about optimal exercises, program design, building a balanced body, functional movement screening, injury prevention, and training for optimal athletic performance. It was a great conversation, and I hope you come away from it having learned as much as I did! To hear this podcast episode in … [Read more...]
Sitting is the Devil – Go and Sweat!
Sitting is the new smoking my friends - it's really, really not good for you. So if you're doing a lot of travelling, otherwise known as sitting on your ass, then you've got to offset it with some exercise. So go to your hotel, check in, and before you go for dinner and before you dive into your emails... GO GET A SWEAT ON! It doesn't need to be an epic workout, immortalised in poetry and … [Read more...]
Breathing, Oxygen and Exhaustion
I've previously discussed breathing but have concentrated on unusual situations, like conscious hyperventilation and the Valsalva Maneuver. I should probably have started out by talking about something that is a bit more universally applicable. Let’s talk about this: no breathing equals no oxygen equals total exhaustion. Storytime: I once talked with a very frustrated and discouraged … [Read more...]
Staying Fit When You’ve Got No Time
Almost everyone is busy these days; jobs, girlfriends, wives, families and other adult responsibilities really get in the way of the full time training lifestyle! But sometimes one's life goes to ludicrous speed for a while and it becomes even harder to train, exercise and stay in shape. At that point it's not so much about making fitness and martial arts progress, but rather trying to not … [Read more...]
Kettlebell Conditioning for BJJ with Jason C. Brown
Kettlebells are a very popular tool for conditioning these days, with people doing all kinds of crazy exercises. In episode 111 of The Strenuous Life Podcast I talk to kettlebell expert (and longtime BJJ practitioner) Jason C. Brown and get a ton of relevant and useful tips for the combat athlete! From how to do the basic exercises, to program design, to carryover from exercises to BJJ … [Read more...]
On Starting a Conditioning Program for BJJ & Submission Grappling
There are lots of reasons to start doing a conditioning program if you're training in BJJ or submission grappling. The most important (yet often overlooked) benefit is to injury proof your body and allow you to train longer, harder, and more often. Other benefits can include increased strength, improved muscular endurance, elevated aerobic and anaerobic capacities, and more explosiveness, all … [Read more...]
Are You Just Not Getting Any Better? Here are 3 Steps to Bust Your Training Plateau
When you're training hard, hitting a training plateau can be incredibly frustrating. But first of all, let's hit on an important distinction. A training 'slump' and a training 'plateau' are two different things... I go into detail about the differences between slumps and plateaus in this article here, but basically a slump is a relatively short-lived event, one to four weeks long, in … [Read more...]
How to Safely Strengthen Your Neck for BJJ
As I talked about in a recent article, having a strong neck is super important in jiu-jitsu because it helps prevent injury, makes it harder for you opponent to break your posture and choke you, and allows you to use your head offensively as a fifth limb. Essentially there are three directions that you need to strengthen your neck: Forwards and Backwards Side to Side (ear to shoulder … [Read more...]
Neck Harnesses to Get a Strong Neck for Grappling
Why would you want a stronger neck for grappling? Well, there are a number of different reasons. First, and most importantly a strong neck is more resistant to injury. Unfortunately accidents happen in grappling, and if you get planted on your head, or someone twists your neck unexpectedly, then the stronger your neck is then the less likely it is to get bent in half and injured. A … [Read more...]
The Best Mountaineer in the World and a Brand New Podcast…
I originally started my podcast - then named 'The Grapplearts Radio Podcast' - because I wanted to share some of the amazing conversations I was having with the athletes, competitors and coaches in the BJJ, submission and mixed martial arts space with my audience. The format of this podcast has evolved over the years. For example it now includes Q&A sessions and rants as well as interviews … [Read more...]
BJJ and Combat Sports Conditioning with Pshemek Drabcynski
I'm thrilled to bring you guys my interview with Pshemek Drabczynski. Pshemek was my very first 'official' BJJ teacher and I learned a ton from him. He's a BJJ black belt, a WKA North American kickboxing champion, and a physical conditioning guru. In this episode we talk about martial arts specific fitness, getting stronger, improving endurance, eating properly preventing injuries, fasting … [Read more...]
Pull-Ups for Grapplers
I'm a huge believer in the importance of doing pull-ups if you're a grappler. Regardless of whether you're doing BJJ or Submission Grappling, Judo or Freestyle Wrestling, Sambo or Catchwrestling there's a lot of pulling, clinching and holding in grappling. There's no better exercise to develop your pulling that pull-ups, and you can do them anywhere: the gym, the park, on … [Read more...]
The Key to Getting Better and Tougher
BJJ makes you tougher because it’s a difficult activity that challenges you physically, mentally and emotionally. At first, when you’re getting slaughtered by a 2 stripe white belt, escaping from mount seems impossible. Yet a few years later, fighting your way out of the bottom of mount, passing the guard, and finishing with an armbar is just another day at the office. Over time … [Read more...]
Staying Fit During a BJJ Training Layoff
BJJ is a marathon, not a sprint. The average Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt takes at least 10 years of hard training, so if you miss a week of training here or there it's not going to make a difference in the long run. But in some scenarios you're not looking at just missing a week of training. Let's say that you've got a sick kid at home, or that you have to recover from a surgery, or that … [Read more...]
Overtraining in the Martial Arts
How to Avoid Bringing Your Martial Arts Training to a Screeching Halt... Overtraining is a major problem for the serious martial artist, and especially for competitors who have to balance technical training sessions with sparring and additional conditioning, often in the course of a single day. All this hard training can result in the body breaking down faster than it can repair itself, which … [Read more...]