The two things I have enjoyed doing more than anything else in my life are training martial arts and spending time in the wilderness. A few years ago I undertook a 1,000 mile solo trip in the Canadian Subarctic and Arctic. Although I was way, Way, WAY out of cell phone range for that trip I did manage to upload pictures and stories from the field using a finicky satellite dish. People really … [Read more...]
Conditioning
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...]
The Limits of Human Endurance, with Endurance Athlete Mike McCastle
Mike McCastle set a new world record on Jan 23, 2021, immersing himself in ice for 2 hours and 40 minutes and surviving! He joined me on Episode 323 of The Strenuous Life Podcast to talk about this absolutely insane challenge including, The physical preparation and mental strength required to it off, The limits of the human body, Tummo (inner fire) breathing and visualisation, How … [Read more...]
Strength Training for BJJ
Brandon Morgan is a high level powerlifter who trains, coaches and competes out of the Kabuki Strength gym with Chris Duffin in Portland Oregon. In this episode we go deep into strength training and conditioning for combat sports drawing on his personal experience as a wrestler and training MMA athletes to be bigger, stronger, faster, and more injury resistant. Strength Training for BJJ with … [Read more...]
Karl Gotch, the Godfather of Japanese MMA
In this episode I'm joined by pro-wrestler Tad Murphy to talk about the legendary wrestler Karl Gotch. Karl Gotch was a German-Hungarian wrestler born in Belgium who trained at the infamous 'Snake Pit' in Wigan, England, then competed in the United States and then taught several generations of pro-wrestlers in Japan. His influence is the common link between just about every major Japanese … [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...]
Five Tips for Training During Coronavirus Lockdown
As I write this most clubs, dojos and training groups all over the world have shut down for a very noble cause; to flatten the coronavirus curve By shutting things down we're slowing (not stopping) community transmission of this virus, which in turn prevents the medical system from being overrun all at once and allows the system to manufacture and stockpile masks and other personal protective … [Read more...]
Himalayan Quality Cardio Training with Scott Loughney
In today's episode I talk to Scott Loughney about an incredible 640 km ultrarunning challenge in the highest mountain range of the world. Scott together with Ryan Wagner and Upendra Sunuwar successfully linked Katmandu, the capital of Nepal, with Everest Base Camp, a round trip distance of 640km. We really get down into the weeds with this one about the nuances of training for, and then … [Read more...]
Interview with Greg Nelson, Brock Lesnar’s MMA Coach
How do you turn 290 lb WWE superstar and human wrecking ball Brock Lesnar into a UFC champion in a relatively short amount of time? And assuming you have those skills, then how do you then pivot to train smaller fighters, including 155 lb UFC champion Sean Sherk and 115 lb 'Thug' Rose Namajunas? In this interview I go deep into fight strategy and training camp design with MMA master … [Read more...]
How Many Coaches Do You Need To Be Serious About Martial Arts?
The days of learning from just one instructor if you're a serious martial artist or MMA competitor are over. Nowadays you need at least four different coaches... A jiu-jitsu coach A striking coach A wrestling coach A conditioning coach I go into more detail on this topic, including for whom this applies and for whom it doesn't, in the following video and audio podcast episode … [Read more...]
Pain is a Universal Language, with Endurance Athlete Mike McCastle
Mike McCastle has accomplished some of the most amazing tasks of endurance I've ever heard of. In this episode we go deep into developing mental strength, maintaining commitment in the face of adversity, and dealing with physical and emotional pain. He has some amazing insights into human psychology and peak performance that I'm sure you're going to get a lot out of. I hope you really like … [Read more...]
My Solo 1000 Mile Journey from Missinipe Saskatchewan to Arviat Nunavut, Updates from the Field
I'm started this post before setting out on a 1000 mile journey by canoe, alone across the northern boreal forest and Canadian tundra. 12 days before I started the trip I shot a video answering most the questions I got before the trip (what about bears, what kind of boat, will I be fishing, etc.) and going into detail about my plans. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nrAU1acJCEM The … [Read more...]
17 BJJ Drills You Can Do At Home By Yourself
Let's face it... BJJ requires you to become adept at using many highly specialised movements that you hardly ever use in the rest of your life. The more smooth and instinctive these movements become then the better you'll be able to flow on the mats. Drilling is the secret sauce when it comes to internalising unfamiliar motions, but it can be hard to get to the dojo as often as you would like … [Read more...]
BJJ Strength Training, The Top 6 Exercises
Many jiu-jitsu students want to know about strength training exercises for BJJ. Time is precious, people want to focus on the exercises that will give them the best results fastest! To help answer this question I met up with my friend Ben Zhuang who is a strength and conditioning coach, personal trainer, nutritionist and BJJ black belt. Ben has also been a guest on my podcast - click here … [Read more...]
A Guard Passing Drill You Can Do At Home on a Heavy Bag
It's hard when you want to train but there aren't any bodies handy right at that moment. Here's how you can drill a guard pass called the kickpass (aka X pass) by yourself. This is a standing guard pass where you force your way into a loose half guard position and then use a dynamic backwards swinging kick to free your leg and come forward directly into a dominant position like knee … [Read more...]
How to Drill Your BJJ Guard Passing on a Heavy Bag
You can use a heavy bag to drill your BJJ movements! In this video you'll learn how to perfect the footwork for a powerful guard pass used all the time in high level competition... https://youtu.be/Lkt7ca5Uems While I've got you here, click here to grab my free guide to learning BJJ fast. It's completely free and has already been used by more than 100,000 grapplers to improve their … [Read more...]
How to Win Lethwei World Championships,
Today's we're talking about training a fighter to become a world champion in an incredibly intense full contact martial known as Lethwei. Lethwei is from Burma and looks a bit like Muay Thai with a few crazy additions... First of all, in addition to punches, kicks, elbows, and knees they also allow headbutts... If a fighter gets knocked out their cornermen have two minutes tor resuscitate them … [Read more...]
‘Overnight Success’ in BJJ [A Rant]
I started recording this rant as a video for my instagram channel halfway up a snowy mountain during a rest break. But then I got carried away and went over the 1 minute Instagram limit, so I turned it into a podcast for ya'all instead. Anyway, the theme of today's rant is about how willingness to work is MUCH more important than talent or genetics, regardless of whether you're talking about … [Read more...]
BJJ, Fitness and Mental Health
Liz Beaver is a fitness writer who really keeps it real, a BJJ practitioner, adventurer, mental health advocate and self-described 'cantankerous bitch'. Today we had a wide-ranging yet deeply personal conversation in which we go right for the jugular in many important topics including Optimal workout design Balancing work and workouts using time management Are there people who … [Read more...]
How to Crush the Younger Grappler
One problem with fighting younger guys is that they're like the Energizer bunny - they keep going and going and going... How can you beat them? To beat them you first need to wear them down and then break their will to fight. This is all well and good in theory, but how exactly do you do this in reality? Think of the young punk's gas tank as completely full. However unless you're in … [Read more...]