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...]
Injuries
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...]
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...]
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...]
When to Hang Up the MMA Gloves
Full contact fighting is inherently risky, especially when you consider the traumatic brain damage that's so common in boxing, kickboxing and MMA. And competing in sports where head shots and brain trauma is abundant ramps those risks up exponentially. While I totally support your right to take risks (and have taken many myself) there comes a point when the risk outweighs the reward. So what … [Read more...]
Interview with Yuri Simoes, 2 x ADCC World Champion
Yuri Simoes is a two time ADCC World Championship, a two-time IBJJF black belt Absolute No-Gi World Champion, and a two-time Pan American Champion. In our chat we go deep into developing the motivation required to train at such a high level, recovering from 2 horrific knee injuries and winning ADCC, the importance of self defense training, how he took down a Olympic Judo champion in … [Read more...]
Training While Sick and Tired
NO DAYS OFF!!! It's a meme, it's a hashtag, and it's a point of honour among many advocates of fitness and martial arts training. But this approach can really get you into a heap of trouble if you take it too seriously. I know this because I've been there many times, most recently on my 1000 mile solo canoe trip in the Arctic. On that trip I absolutely crushed myself. Driven by the … [Read more...]
In-Depth Interview with Chris Duffin, The Mad Scientist of Strength
Chris Duffin is a super-smart, analytical, and incredibly dedicated BEAST of a human being. He's an ultra-elite powerlifter who has deadlifted 1000 lbs for reps and is now closing in on his grand goal of also squatting over 1000 lbs. I spent almost 1 1/2 hours chatting with him about his insane feats of strength at his gym and manufacturing facility and got a ton of insights into his … [Read more...]
Recovery from BJJ Training
You can train super hard and kick the crap out of your body but that doesn't make you stronger - it's only after you RECOVER from training that the benefits of training manifest themselves. Too many athletes focus entirely on the training component and neglect recovery, but ultimately you need to be as focussed and diligent on your recovery, recuperation and rehabilitation as you are on what … [Read more...]
Do This Now To Ensure You’ll Still Be Training BJJ in 10 Years
BJJ is a fantastically fun sport that's also undeniably hard on the body. The key to getting better is to train consistently. To train consistently you need to avoid injuries as much as possible. And in this video (and podcast) you'll learn my single biggest tip for people in their 30's and 40's who want to keep on training into their 50's and 60's Check it out - I'm sure it'll help you in … [Read more...]
How Often Should You Train BJJ to Get Really Good?
Historically I've always said that doing something is better than doing nothing, and that training BJJ one day a week is a million times better than not training at all. But we're NOT talking about bare minimums today... Let's say that you're super serious about jiu-jitsu, a competitor or super dedicated student. Then how often should you train to get really good? 4 days a week? 5 days a … [Read more...]
7 Tips for Maintaining Motivation
Do you ever find yourself struggling to stay on track and complete a task that you've wanted to do for a long time? Of course you have, and it's completely normal! We all have moments where we just can't seem to find any motivation. Let's talk about how to maintain motivation over the long haul. How to Achieve Big, Hairy, Audacious Goals Here's the truth of the matter... Achieving any … [Read more...]
A Detailed Account of my Kidney Transplant and Recovery
In 2015 I was dying of a kidney disease. I was down to 12% of normal kidney function, my blood pressure was soaring out of control, and my electrolytes were completely haywire. But then on June 8th I had a major, life-saving surgery. The red bag in the picture above was sitting on the shelf as I was rolled into the operating room. It contained my brother's kidney which had been cut out of … [Read more...]
It’s the Ego, Stupid! How to Prevent (Most) BJJ Injuries
I'm just getting over an injury that was completely, utterly, absolutely my own fault. I was taking it easy during a sparring session with an older, lighter lower belt and ended up in caught in a crazy omoplata/kimura/crucifix position. I should just have tapped out and carried on, but instead my ego got in the way and I kept on holding on, looking for a way out for far too long. Yes, I got … [Read more...]
Vanessa Wexler, Black Belt BJJ Champion, Mother, School Owner, and Model
Vanessa Wexler is a BJJ black belt and a multiple no-gi world champion, PanAm champion, and Masters champion. She's also a mother, a school owner, and a model. I caught up with her shortly after she won Gold in the Pan Ams competing with a completely destroyed ankle. We talked dealing with injuries, pre-competition visualisation, how running a school does NOT give you unlimited training … [Read more...]
Monty Collier, Keanu Reeve’s Judo Instructor for John Wick 3, Parabellum
Today's guest on The Strenuous Life Podcast is Monty Collier, a black belt Judoka who worked with Keanu Reeves to get him ready for the amazing fight sequences in the movie John Wick 3, Parabellum. This conversation was fun and we really went detail about stuntwork and gun fu movie fighting including how he taught Keanu highly technical Judo throws that have bedevilled me for years. We … [Read more...]
One-Armed BJJ with Para-Athlete Jess Munster
Jess Munster was born with a severe brachial plexus injury which left her with only one functional arm. But this disability hasn't stopped her from training BJJ, competing against able-bodied fighters, and travelling the world to compete in para-athletic championships! In this episode I talk with Jess about what drives her past the limits of her disability, how she modifies her training and her … [Read more...]
Rosi Sexton on Fighting in the UFC, Neck Training, the Art of Learning, and More…
Rosi Sexton is Cambridge educated and has a PhD in Theoretical Computer Science. And she's a musician, a writer and a physical therapist. Plus she's fought in BodogFight, EliteXC, Cage Warriors and was the first British Woman to fight in the UFC. But she's also I was thrilled to have her on the podcast where we went deep into her background, her training, and her approach to learning and … [Read more...]
BJJ, Sport, and Philosophy with The Philosograppler
Daniel Bohigian is a Guerrilla Jiu-Jitsu Black Belt under Dave Camarillo, competes actively, and also teaches 'Philosophy of Sport' at San Jose State. Here's a video on passing the half guard that this fighting academic did for my Youtube channel! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vYhkl2Xb98U Daniel recently appeared on my podcast (The Strenuous Life Podcast). It was a blast and has … [Read more...]
Endurance Sports and BJJ, with Paul Kindzia
Paul Kindzia was immersed in the world of marathon and triathalon for many years before immersing himself in BJJ, even going so far as to write a book on the topic called 'Master Jiu-Jitsu, Master Life'. He's got a really interesting story because he went from a fat 220 pound accountant living on soft drinks and fast food to a 13 time elite Ironman. And now he's a highly ranked BJJ masters … [Read more...]