Rob Biernacki and I have just released BJJ for Old F***s, and from that instructional here are some of the most important tips for the older grappler. Specifically in this episode Rob Biernacki (age 46) and I (age 52) discuss... The two things that change most about your training as you get older How to improve as fast as possible by limiting your training Why base, posture and … [Read more...]
On Winning a Tough Fight in the UFC by KO While Partially Blind in One Eye – Lance Gibson Sr on MMA
Lance Gibson Sr made a HUGE impression on me when he KO'd Jermaine Andre in the UFC while partially blind in one eye. That fight was a masterclass in both grit and strategy, so I was thrilled to have him on the podcast. We talked at length about, How training for MMA has changed since the early days, Whether you can operate a gym and fight professionally at the same time, What really … [Read more...]
The Dark Side of the Keto and Carnivore Diets
Kevin Bass has a background in medical anthropology, is both a medical and a PhD student, a grappler, and a weightlifter who has been deep in the trenches of the diet wars. In this episode we discuss the evidence for keto, ancestral and carnivore diets, the seed oil controversy, LDL, and a tentative protocol to help minimize brain damage from concussive trauma The Dark Side of the Keto and … [Read more...]
Chiropractic Back Care and Martial Arts (Podcast)
In episode 353 I chat with Troy Schott about martial arts, recovering from back injuries, and living healthy. In a world full of woo I really appreciate his thoughtful, skeptical and scientifically informed approach to health. Chiropractic Back Care and Martial Arts, with Troy Schott (Video Format) Here's the video version of episode 353 of The Strenuous Life Podcast Some of the … [Read more...]
Jiu-Jitsu in a Time of Omicron, with Dr Nicholas Tyau
I've spent a lot of time talking about Covid with doctors and epidemiologists these last few years. Things are finally beginning to change... On the one hand we have vaccines, boosters, and are getting better at treating Covid. On the other hand, right now we're in the middle of a giant spike of the crazy infectious (but mostly less deadly) Omicron variant. Which begs the question, to … [Read more...]
About That Diet You Just Started
I write this a few days after New Year's, and that means that people are inevitably going to be starting new diets. I don't have a problem with cleaning up your diet but many people are also going to be trying out the more extreme diets (the Keto diet, the Paleo diet, the Carnivore diet, or whatever crazy diet the last kooky guy on some Spotify podcast endorsed). Here's the thing though: not … [Read more...]
Jiu-Jitsu and Grief
The Grit to Work through Grief: How Martial Arts Gave Me the Tools to Work Through Pregnancy Loss A Guest Post by Rachel Honeyman Imagine 200 pounds of weight holding you down on the ground, compressing your ribs, preventing your lungs from expanding. You panic. You can’t move. You can’t breathe. You feel like you’re going to suffocate. And then, you remember that, while your torso is … [Read more...]
Lifting Weights to Improve Your Jiu-Jitsu, with Steph Gaudreau
In episode 339 of my podcast (The Strenuous Life Podcast) I talk with strength trainer, nutritionist, author, and BJJ athlete Steph Gaudreau about why lifting weights won't make women bulky, the 5 main exercises every grappler should include weekly in his or her training, and how to train as you get older. Here's the excerpt from our chat specifically about these 5 categories of lifts that you … [Read more...]
An Epic Rant About the Stupidity of Runaway Conspiracy Thinking
In this podcast episode I'm the one who's getting interviewed, and I go on a huge rant about conspiracism, Ivermectin, Joe Rogan, anti-vaxxers, elk meat diets and more. This is from an Instagram Live session I did with Dr Hanan Bushkin (@drhananbushkin). Dr Bushkin is a psychologist so he really knew how to wind me up and set me loose! Here is the video version of our chat... And … [Read more...]
Unaddressed Little Problems with Your Training Quickly Become Big Problems
800 pounds is a LOT of weight. Put that weight onto the shoulders of an average man and it’ll crush him straight down into the ground. Now imagine loading 800 pounds onto your shoulders and squatting down until your thighs are parallel with the ground, and then fighting your way out of the hole back to standing. Squatting this much weight is an almost impossible achievement. At most … [Read more...]
Fixing Martial Arts Back Pain, with Dr Stuart McGill
Back pain is incredibly common in sport, including all martial arts and combative sports. That's why I was thrilled to talk to Dr Stuart McGill, one of the world's leading experts on back pain. Dr. McGill is considered to be one of the world’s foremost experts on the spine, back pain and rehabilitation. He is an author, scientist, clinician and was a professor emeritus at the University of … [Read more...]
Covid Epidemiology 101 with Colin Furness, PhD
What exactly is herd immunity? How can we be sure that the vaccine companies aren't lying to us? What is this 'R0' value and why does it matter? What are the proven methods to stop outbreaks? Are what are some reasons for hope? These are just some of the topics I cover on today's podcast with Colin Furness, PhD, a epidemiologist at the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation, … [Read more...]
So You’ve Been Jabbed: Now What? BJJ After Vaccination with Dr Nicholas Tyau
Dr Nicholas Tyau is a BJJ Black Belt and an internal medicine specialist who worked in NYC hospitals during Covid Ground Zero in 2020. Today we cover the 5 key factors you need to consider after you've been vaccinated but before you decide to return to normal training. We discuss the effectiveness of vaccines in preventing you from getting Covid-19 (good but not perfect), ending up in the … [Read more...]
BJJ Training Pods
APRIL 18 2021 UPDATE (Originally published August 5th, 2020): With the advances in vaccination I believe there is a role for 'vaccinated training pods' to exist in the BJJ landscape. Essentially these are small groups of fully vaccinated people who are willing to accept the much smaller risk posed by training with other vaccinated people rather than training out in general population. This … [Read more...]
Risk, Science, and Who to Believe with Nini Munoz
Nini Muñoz PhD does risk and failure analysis for a living. She has used these skills and a background in biology to make the science around the Covid-19 pandemic easy to understand and digest on her amazing Instagram feed @niniandthebrain. Today, on episode 318 of The Strenuous Life Podcast, we go deep into the actual process of risk analysis used in aerospace engineering and how it applies … [Read more...]
Covid-Safe Jiu-Jitsu Teaching with Dan ‘TrumpetDan’ Lukeheart
In this episode of The Strenuous Life Podcast I chat with Dan "TrumpetDan" Lukeheart from Brea Jiu-Jitsu in Orange County about The steps he's taken to keep his school open in a responsible manner during the Covid-19 pandemic, How to improve your BJJ skills during a training layoffs Match strategy to win more often tournaments, And much more... Here's the video of my conversation … [Read more...]
The Balance Between Stress and Recovery in Training
Your health is like a credit card.. You can definitely put things onto your credit card once in a while. You can even use a credit card to help bridge the gap when you're short on funds. But sooner or later you need to pay it off. But if you keep on making withdrawals against your card without ever putting money back into it then you're going to end up in serious trouble. Your health is … [Read more...]
Top Five Diet Tips for BJJ
I often get questions about diet and nutrition from grapplers and martial artists. People want to eat correctly because they think it will make them more effective in BJJ class, allow them to recover faster after training, and provide them with better health overall. Well, it's true. What you eat can have a HUGE effect on your performance. Nutrition is a super-important piece of the … [Read more...]
Guidelines for Opening Up Jiu-Jitsu Academies During the COVID-19 Pandemic (Last Updated Sept 10, 2020)
Everyone is itching to train again, and for many jiu-jitsu school owners opening up is a matter of financial survival. But just to make things even more complicated, as we learn more about this virus it means that the science, policy and best practice need to keep on evolving That's why I talked to Dr Chris Moriarty who has published a 6 phase process for reopening schools and getting back … [Read more...]
How to Talk to a Covid Denialist
I've been a first responder for more than 20 years, have a Masters of Science in Biology, and have trained in BJJ for almost 3 decades. This has put me smack dab in the middle of the Covid-19 controversy within jiu-jitsu. In the past year I've been pretty outspoken about taking science seriously, fighting against conspiracy theories, and how to teach and train BJJ more safely during a … [Read more...]