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Techniques, Tutorials and Gear for BJJ, MMA and Submission Grappling

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Home » Strength Training

Strength Training

BJJ Training and Conditioning Myths

April 5, 2025 by Stephan Kesting

james deirmedjian interview

On episode 421 of The Strenuous Life Podcast, I'm joined by three-time IBJJ World medallist James Deirmendjian and elite personal trainer to discuss optimal training methodologies and the science behind strength and conditioning for sport. We cover hacks to improve recovery, debunk common myths in the Jiu-Jitsu community, and go deep into the need for a more scientific approach to training and … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Competition, Conditioning, Interviews, Podcasts, Training Tagged With: BJJ, Competition, Conditioning, james deirmendjian, Podcast, Strength Training, The Strenuous Life BJJ Podcast with Stephan Kesting

Training BJJ as an Older or Smaller Grappler

January 2, 2025 by Stephan Kesting

Jesse Walker, Episode 414 of The Strenuous Life Podcast

There are WAY too many injuries in jiu-jitsu, especially for older, smaller, and less athletic grapplers who end up going against young and explosive superathletes. The answer to minimising injuries and maximizing learning lies in having the correct training methods AND developing the right culture within a club. To help understand this better I had  Jesse Walker from Rough Hands BJJ in … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Podcasts, Training Tagged With: Conditioning, Injuries, Kalle Beck, Strength Training, The Strenuous Life BJJ Podcast with Stephan Kesting

The Secrets of Strongman Training, with Kalle Beck

November 25, 2024 by Stephan Kesting

Kalle Beck, Strongman

Fundamentally Strongman training is about lifting and moving heavy, ungainly objects, and when you think about it, that's not so different from what we do on the mats every single day. So, maybe we can learn a thing or two from the experts in applied strength! Kalle Beck has competed, coached and commentated in Strongman events and has helped thousands of people become much, much stronger. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Conditioning, Podcasts, Training Tagged With: Conditioning, Kalle Beck, Strength Training, The Strenuous Life BJJ Podcast with Stephan Kesting

Strength vs Endurance Training, with World Record Holder James Pieratt

August 15, 2023 by Stephan Kesting

Strength vs Endurance, with James Pieratt

James Pieratt is a hybrid athlete who does things like deadlifting 520 lbs in the morning and then running fifty miles in the afternoon. I caught up with him shortly after he completed a 500-mile, self-supported mountain run along the Pacific Crest Trail. In this interview, we went deep into... How to balance strength, endurance, and skill training, The role of prehabilitation and … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Conditioning, Health & Nutrition, Interviews, Podcasts, Training Tagged With: BJJ, Conditioning, James Pieratt, Strength Training, The Strenuous Life BJJ Podcast with Stephan Kesting, Video

A Simple Hack to Double Your Guard Passing Percentage

July 31, 2023 by Stephan Kesting

Guard passing hack

Let’s do a quick mental experiment. Think about your favourite guard pass; your go-to passing technique you use when you want to pass the guard of a tough opponent. Visualise the steps one by one. Now tell me, did you a) Pass to your left and end up on your opponent’s right side, or b) Pass to your right and end up on your opponent’s left side? If you’re like 70% of people, you … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Grappling Techniques, Training Tagged With: Guard Passes, Guard Retention, Strategy, Strength Training

Judo and BJJ Injuries

October 20, 2022 by Stephan Kesting

The 5 Most Common BJJ and Judo Injuries and What to Do About Them, with Joshua Arellano

Joshua Arellano is a physiotherapist with a black belt in Judo and a brown belt in BJJ. He works with combat athletes on rehab, prehab, and injury prevention, and - since injury is the enemy of progress - I was thrilled to pick his brain on the podcast to help everyone have a healthier grappling career! The 5 Most Common Judo and BJJ Injuries and What to Do About Them with Joshua Arellano (Video … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Conditioning, Health & Nutrition, Interviews, Podcasts Tagged With: BJJ, Injuries, Joshua Arellano, Judo, Neck Strengthening, Podcast, Rehab, Strength Training, The Strenuous Life BJJ Podcast with Stephan Kesting

Lifting Weights to Improve Your Jiu-Jitsu, with Steph Gaudreau

October 1, 2021 by Stephan Kesting

Steph Guadreau on the Essential Weightlifting Exercises for BJJ

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...]

Filed Under: Conditioning, Health & Nutrition, Interviews, Training Tagged With: Interviews, Steph Guadreau, Strength Training, The Strenuous Life BJJ Podcast with Stephan Kesting, Video, Weightlifting

The Limits of Human Endurance, with Endurance Athlete Mike McCastle

April 26, 2021 by Stephan Kesting

The Limits of Human Endurance, Ice Immersion with 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...]

Filed Under: Conditioning, Interviews, Podcasts, Training Tagged With: Breathing, Conditioning, Interviews, Mike McCastle, Strength Training, The Mental Aspect, The Strenuous Life BJJ Podcast with Stephan Kesting, Training, Video

Strength Training for BJJ

April 12, 2021 by Stephan Kesting

Brandon Morgan Strength Training for BJJ and MMA

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...]

Filed Under: Conditioning, Interviews, Podcasts Tagged With: Brandon Morgan, Chris Duffin, Conditioning, Injuries, Interviews, Strength Training, The Strenuous Life BJJ Podcast with Stephan Kesting, Weightlifting, Wrestling

Five Tips for Training During Coronavirus Lockdown

April 14, 2020 by Stephan Kesting

5 strategies for training BJJ during covid

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...]

Filed Under: Grappling Techniques, Health & Nutrition, Podcasts Tagged With: BJJ, Cardio, Conditioning, Grapplearts DVDs, Grappling Dummies, Martial Arts, Nutrition, Self Defense, Solo Drills, Strength Training, The Mental Aspect, The Strenuous Life BJJ Podcast with Stephan Kesting, Video

Measure Your Training To Improve Your Training

February 21, 2020 by Stephan Kesting

Hexbar Deadlifts and Neck Harness Work

Peter Drucker, the godfather of modern business management, once said, “You can't manage what you can't measure.” Now I don't think that Peter Drucker did Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (or any other form of martial arts) but the idea of measuring things in order to improve them applies to every field of athletic endeavour. So let's look at some concrete ways that we might quantify our training and … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Health & Nutrition, Podcasts, Training Tagged With: Cardio, Nutrition, Sparring, Strength Training, The Strenuous Life BJJ Podcast with Stephan Kesting, Training, Training Modalities, Weightlifting

Creating Your Optimal Training Environment, with Jon Thomas

February 20, 2020 by Stephan Kesting

Your Optimal BJJ Training Environment

In this conversation BJJ black belt Jon Thomas and I go deep into training and drilling methodologies that give you results as fast as possible. Jon is originally from the US but teaches at a school in Sweden. He still competes at a high level, so he has had to take extreme ownership over his results using reverse-engineering and a very analytical approach to his training. In this episode we … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Interviews, Podcasts, Training Tagged With: BJJ, Competition, Interviews, Jon Thomas, Strength Training, The Strenuous Life BJJ Podcast with Stephan Kesting, Training, Training Modalities, Training Schedule

Pain is a Universal Language, with Endurance Athlete Mike McCastle

November 4, 2019 by Stephan Kesting

Strenuous Life Podcast - Stephan Kesting interviews 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...]

Filed Under: Conditioning, Interviews, Podcasts, Training Tagged With: Conditioning, Interviews, Mike McCastle, Strength Training, The Mental Aspect, The Strenuous Life BJJ Podcast with Stephan Kesting, Training, Video

Recovery from BJJ Training

October 15, 2019 by Stephan Kesting

Training and Recovery chart

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...]

Filed Under: Conditioning, Health & Nutrition, Training Tagged With: Injuries, Overtraining, Strength Training, The Strenuous Life BJJ Podcast with Stephan Kesting, Training, Training Schedule

Do This Now To Ensure You’ll Still Be Training BJJ in 10 Years

September 16, 2019 by Stephan Kesting

How to Improve Your Longevity in BJJ

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...]

Filed Under: Conditioning, Health & Nutrition, Podcasts, Training Tagged With: Injuries, Strength Training, The Strenuous Life BJJ Podcast with Stephan Kesting, Training Modalities, Video

BJJ Strength Training, The Top 6 Exercises

August 14, 2019 by Stephan Kesting

bjj strength training 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...]

Filed Under: Conditioning, Training Tagged With: Ben Zhuang, Conditioning, Strength Training, Video, Weightlifting

What Grapplers Can Learn From The Best Rock Climber in the World.

March 1, 2019 by Stephan Kesting

Adam Ondra, the world's best rock climber

I recently watched an amazing documentary about how Adam Ondra clawed his way up literally the world's toughest climb. After FOUR YEARS of preparation he finally pulled off the hardest, most technical climbing challenge ever mastered, on September 3rd, 2017. There are a lot of lessons in this documentary for BJJ athletes!  In fact it'll help you with ANY seemingly impossible athletic … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Conditioning, Training Tagged With: Adam Ondra, BJJ, Grip Training, MMA training, Rock Climbing, Strength Training, The Mental Aspect, Training, Video

BJJ, Fitness and Mental Health

February 21, 2019 by Stephan Kesting

Liz Beaver - Fitness, BJJ 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...]

Filed Under: Conditioning, Female Grapplers, Interviews, Podcasts Tagged With: BJJ, Conditioning, Fitness, Interviews, Liz Beaver, Strength Training, The Mental Aspect, The Strenuous Life BJJ Podcast with Stephan Kesting

Sport-Specific Conditioning for Athletes, with Red Sullivan (Strenuous Life Podcast, Episode 193)

January 31, 2019 by Stephan Kesting

sport specific conditioning with Red Sullivan

Red Sullivan is a strength and conditioning expert who has worked with athletes in many different sports to help them realise their athletic potential. Some of the jiu-jitsu black belts I know have followed his programming and have really liked it, which is how he came to my attention! Beyond that I just like his message. In this podcast we go deep into Acquiring skill vs physical … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Conditioning, Interviews, Podcasts Tagged With: Cardio, Competition, Conditioning, Interviews, Red Sullivan, Strength Training, The Mental Aspect, The Strenuous Life BJJ Podcast with Stephan Kesting

Strength Training and BJJ with Daniel Strauss, AKA The Raspberry Ape!

January 29, 2019 by Stephan Kesting

The raspberry ape - strongman and BJJ competitor

Daniel Strauss (aka The Raspberry Ape) is a BJJ black belt under 10x World Champion Roger Gracie.  But he's also a very serious advocate of strongman training including the development of crazy levels of grip strength. In today's podcast we start with Daniel's victory over Olympic gold medalist Satoshi Ishii at Polaris 8 and his BJJ competition strategy.   View … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Competition, Conditioning, Interviews, Podcasts Tagged With: Competition, Conditioning, Daniel Strauss, Grip Training, Interviews, No Gi, Polaris, Raspberry Ape, Strength Training, The Strenuous Life BJJ Podcast with Stephan Kesting

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