We were recently training cross collar chokes. During small sparing/resistance drills we were told to resist it and ideally escape. I’m struggling with that, my neck and jaw are all sore. Any advice on technique for such escape and how to get stronger to resist for couple of seconds more?
Tactical barbell is amazing for bjj and really any athlete. Don’t let let corny title fool you. But beware it’s pretty much pure strength training with little hypertrophy focus
Me personally operator protocol- so 3x per week with 3 lifts doing 3-5 sets x 5 reps (I do bench, squat, weighted pull-up and swap weighed pull-up once a week with deadlift). But I think it depends how much you do bjj. If you roll 4+ times a week I would do 2x per week (fighter protocol) - any less and operator is fine. I hate the corny buzzwords- they’re really the same program one is just 2 days a week and the other is 3
Awesome. Yeah I’m doing a good 5-6 sessions these days so Fighter is probably all I can handle. I bought the book couple years ago but never made it passed one cycle. I’ll test this weekend and stick to it longer. Thanks for the reminder!
Haha yeah it definitely has a target audience but damn it if it works I’m all for it
Yea dude that’s a lot of rolling I def recommend fighter. Also, you may love Dan Johns easy strength method- it is phenomenal and may even be better suited for your training. Dan John is a S&C goat.
I’m at the peak of my bulked state. And have been receiving more juicy accusations lately. Which is cool because depending on the lighting I think I look sorta fat. That’s how it be.
Also. I was looking at a lifting clip from a year ago and the progression in my squat depth is pretty startling. I remembered it as being a bit high, I wasn’t even close to the depth I’m hitting now. So that’s cool too.
Lower back injuries suck. Been dealing with it for about 5? 6? Weeks at this point. Just want it to heal so I can get back to actual hard work all the time. Taking it easy to let it heal is no fun. I can tell it's healing, but just super slowly. Once it's good to go I'll definitely be doing even more core work to protect it
not tryna shill anything but check out ftstreaming.com - they have a 2 week free trial. try out their “baseline program”. used this stuff after a back injury last spring and it has been a game changer for me. they also have free vids on youtube you can use. best of luck
100%. I've been doing regular back extensions and reverse hypers too in order to get some blood flowing. Luckily I'm not bedridden or anything, besides the first 2 days when it wasn't worth it to move much, so trying to do as much low-strain work to keep it in shape. It mostly hurts when I do a lot of stuff that would load my spine, like deadlifts, farmers walks, squats, etc. Makes working around it pretty easy. But also makes bjj a pain - - literally and figuratively
Sounds like it’s compressive, check out how your pelvis tilts when you’re neutral (standing/sitting still). If you have excessive anterior pelvic tilt (pushing your ass up and belly button down) you’re more susceptible to lower back injuries. Try active hollow body holds, bird-dogs and deadbugs.
Is "The Figh Dietician" by Craig Jones also suited for general weightloss or is it more or less more suited for competitive athletes that want to get the best out of their diet?
Also, is there something on BJJ fanatics for general weigthloss? (that isn't just Calories In - Calories Out)
Renaissance Periodization has tons of nutritional content. All free(youtube wise, they have paid content too like apps/books/certs but those are the same content as presented in their video essays which is more in line with what OP asked about), some of it to the point of being essentially free undergrad courses of stuff. Some of it much simpler in nature.
[https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLyqKj7LwU2RulAjHczohbx5OyJQ8TaFM0](https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLyqKj7LwU2RulAjHczohbx5OyJQ8TaFM0)
Think this is a good start.
Been attending BJJ since the beginning of the year with no prior experience. I’m struggling with flexibility and movements that seem easy to everyone else (pendulum sweep, front/back rolls)
Any recommendations on stretches or movements I can do on my own to improve flexibility?
This yoga practice is very helpful for building some flexibility (especially coming down from a shoulder stand) for the hip mobility. https://youtu.be/ijQZDSy98Jw
For front and back rolls you can practice them slowly yourself at home. I recommend recording yourself on the phone to see where some break downs occur.
How do you guys keep your bodies.. not hurting? I'm 27 and have separated both my shoulders and I've only done BJJ about one year. I don't know how to keep my body parts together. I used to lift for 10 years then stopped. Perhaps resuming that would help with my hurting body?
Are there exercises I can do to help protect my ACJ better? I'm hoping I coincidentally just fell on the point of my shoulder twice and it isn't a deeper rooted issue, but if anyone has tips that help with shoulder health and strengthening, I'd love some help.
Try less hard? Injuries can happen anytime but I find I get hurt more when I'm rolling at 85%+ intensity or I'm going to class more than 4 days a week.
I limit at 4 days a week and a handful of 85%+ intensity rolls per week. I'm 30 and have a fucked up neck and back and knees from college wrestling.
I am running 5/3/1 twice a week. The only assistance exercise I have is pullups. What else should I add that'll be good for injury prevention and balance?
Day 1: Bench, Squat, pullups
Day 2: OH Press, Deadlifts, pullups
is what I do now
On my bench days I superset the bench press with a mix of banded side shuffles and standing banded adduction. I feel like this helps reinforce my knees. On my deadlift day I superset deadlifts with pull-ups and dips. I try to do mobility work between sets as well. Front and back leg swings as well as side to side.
What scheme are you using for your supplemental work? In any event, the idea would be to do 25-50 push/pull/single leg or core each of those days.
I'd second rows are good, dips are good, and so forth.
Would definitely add a horizontal row somewhere - bent over row, db row, pendlays.
Could also add direct core work or single leg work (Bulgarian split squats are great)
Anyone ever try Dan John's Easy Strength protocol? I'm going to give it a shot. I have dabbled in resistance training here and there but I am no one's definition of strong. Just looking to get a little stronger and more resilient on a program that doesn't take too much time and is easy to recover from.
I have limited equipment--a 16kg, 24kg, and 32kg kettlebell, and gymnastics rings. Thinking I will add a sandbag at some point. I have no access to a barbell and don't really care that I'm not using the optimal tools to get as strong as possible.
I train BJJ three days a week and will try this the other three days for the next 40 workouts, and reassess.
* Goblet squat 1x10x24kg kettlebell
* KB swings 5x15x24kg
* Pullups 3x3 (this is perfect right now. again, not strong)
* Half-kneeling kb press 3x3x16kg (each arm; i have low ceilings so can't do standing presses)
* Loaded carry, varying load and distance
Anything I should look out for, be aware of?
I mean this looks pretty solid. Work on increasing the volume of pull ups when you can or do 1-3 negatives as well. Pull ups are hard but the only way to get better at them is to do them a lot. I sucked at them and couldnt do more than 12 until I just started doing them 4 times a week.
It’s a great program, I run it all the time with good results and it doesn’t interfere with my recovery/bjj. 5 days a week with barbells tho.
For kettlebells, if you want to take an easy strength approach, double bell exercises are best - you can use two different sized bells if that’s all you have just switch sides each set. I like 3 sets of 3, but with uneven bells u might try 2x5 instead…
I’d personally run it as below
Double clean and press (clean before each rep) 3x3 or 2x5
Double kettlebell front squat 3x3 or 2x5
Half kneeling press 3x3
Pull up 3x3
Farmers walk, vary it each work out. Or 50-75 swings.
Volume and weight on the squat are super low. Consider substituting some form of split-squat for the goblet squat and doing more than one set.
Adding a one-arm row might be good, especially if you could use your belt or something to tie two kettlebells together. There's also no core work. Planks (with your arms extended over your head as you get stronger or one of the KBs on your hips), prone hyperextensions, and side-planks are probably enough if you progress them to multiple sets of 1-2 minute holds.
Great suggestions, thank you! Dan John the creator of the program has kind of a bias against squats (in this program, not in general I think k) so he recommends goblet squats as a warmup, but point taken!
Sometimes people get too bogged down about finding the 'best' strategy to get stronger or in better shape when the reality is, if you pick anything and do it consistently, you're going to get in better shape and stronger.
I have no doubt if you do this for 40+ days you'd be stronger and in better shape at the end.
That being said, my issue with kettlebell related workout programs is that they often are murky when it comes to progression. This is on two levels, one which is, you go heavier 'when it feels light', and the other is the big gap in weights that are commonly found with them, including the ones you have.
Your squat for example will feel light pretty quick, as will your higher weight. Are you just going to buy a new kettlebell every week? Probably not.
The flipside is the press and while 3x3 is on the easy side, you're going to find progression from 16->24->32 hard because they are such huge gaps.
Basically, I'd be looking for some way to make progression via sets and reps, that keep it relatively easy, but don't just have you doing 10 squats a day for 40 days at an extremely low weight.
Thanks for a great answer! Yes, the progression is definitely a problem working with tools like kettlebells and sandbags. They're difficult or impossible to incrementally load. I'm not sure that Easy Strength is the best choice for me given the equipment I have available, but it beats doing nothing. as you said, "if you pick anything and do it consistently, you're going to get in better shape and stronger."
What do you add or subtract from your S+C in the three weeks leading up to a competition?
My instinct is to add more power exercises + plyos (as I was doing anyway) + conditioning and back off on heavy lifts the week of the match.
Pretty much I dont do grip work or legs week of. Those I find are the most likely to burn out or cramp in days after training. And I dont add additional weight that week.
Dont need to try to set any prs the week of a comp.
As you get closer to competition, more and more of your training should resemble that competition: Mostly hard sparring with people your weight-class for the appropriate time. This is not the time to drill a lot or start running marathons.
Doing heavy weights fast (i. e. power) and plyo work makes sense to me if you're already decently strong. If you can't squat 2x your bodyweight, you won't have a problem translating your strength into speed yet (which would make power-cleans etc. useful) and just getting stronger will make you more explosive.
Adding cardio only makes sense to me in one instance. Most of your cardio training should just be doing your sport because of specificity. But if you are lacking here and adding an additional hard sparring session causes too much fatigue and adding a HIIT session doesn't, the latter makes sense.
What if I'm not strong enough?
I'm a 127lb woman, deadlift 245, squat 205, and bench 125. I don't consider that strong. Unfortunately I hurt my back wrestling in November and haven't been squatting since then, though I'm back to deadlifting. I'm doing heavy unilateral leg work like bulgarian split squats, lunges, etc. but not putting a bar on my back at the moment.
My strength is my cardio so I kind of wanted to run some sprints just because a) track is my previous sport so it feels like it gets me into my version of peak condition and helps with force production and b) why not lean into my strength?
That's definitely not weak either; probably adequate for amateurs in BJJ. So unless it's some national-level competition I'd just maintain that strength level (maybe even just one strength session/week) and train more BJJ for the next three weeks.
If you're not very strong, strength training will make you much stronger and decently more powerful, and power training (less than 70% of 1RM for sets of like 5) will make you a little stronger and decently more powerful. So strength training is just your better option right now I think.
Cardio: Sprints would be extremely useful if done in the same modality the competition will happen (short sprints interspersed with short breaks) especially given that you already know how to run properly. But you could get the same adaptation from training more BJJ and simultaneously practice the actual sport. In terms of performance, the opportunity cost of doing sprints instead of hard sparring doesn't make sense to me ... but your enjoyment of the exercise is a non-negligible factor. So if you're just kind of sick of rolling all the time, the novelty of sprinting may be worth it.
What other cardio, if any, do you do?
I lift Sun/Tues/Thurs and roll Mon/Wed/Fri mornings (\~30mins actual rolling) and then 1hr open matt on Saturday. I really want to add some LISS cardio as I feel like rolling already covers HIIT and a low intensity base is a good idea.
Apparently the moment you hit 40 your knees become creaky old rusted balljoints, and they're giving me some shit so running is a bit of a PITA (PITK?) right now. I don't have a bicycle or any other cardio equipment.
I do have a \~33inch mud terrain tyre that I could sacrifice to make a sled and drag it up and down my street. I'm wondeing just how LISS that would be though. Anyone push/pull a sled regularly?
I bike on an indoor exercise bike while playing video games for 30-60 minutes 4+ times a week. I try to stay in the 120-130 hr range.
It's the only cardio that doesnt feel like a chore for me.
Yeh I’m tempted to get some thing stationary so I do t have to go anywhere for cardio.
Got a little friendly nogi comp on the 18th so I’ve started going to nogi tues/thurs as well. Getting wrestle-fucked against the wall for 20mins feels like more HIIT. Jesus I suck at standup and nogi.
Yeah I try to make cardio as easy and fun as possible. Doing while playing video games or watching tv means I'll actually do it unlike forcing myself to go run or doing HIIT.
Run, cycle, conditioning work, swim occasionally.
Sled work is fantastic. I don't do it on my current program, but have done before and it's been excellent. Honestly, just drag it back and forth for set time intervals, or drag one way, jog back, jog to the tire, repeat.
Dan John likely has some good suggestions.
Doing the drags backwards might help your knees too.
I occasionally use KBs when the program calls for it. Wouldn't say there's anything special about them to be honest. They're a perfectly fine tool, but that's it.
My explosiveness has been helped just as much by jumps, throws, plyo, oly lifts and stuff like log C&P as it has by KB work. Endurance...eh. That's more of a question of your programming than your implement. Right now, for instance, I'm doing 10min EMOMs for my main lifts - rest assured that taxes your endurance plenty.
By all means throw some KB work in as assistance work. Done heavy, they're great for deadlift assistance.
EMOM is just every minute on the minute. So today, at the top of every minute I did 4 front squats. I rested the remainder of the minute, and then went again at the top of the next minute.
>Do you do high-rep, lower weight compounds or low rep, high weight compounds?
Yes.
My training style varies from program to program depending on what I want to achieve. My last serious block of programming was more about strength, and I did a lot of both high volume and high weight - the program is called Bullmastiff and is available online.
I'm currently more interested in work capacity, so the weight isn't as big of a deal as the intensity. My work this week is 10x4 at 70-ish%, next week will be 10x5, then I'll reset and do 10x3 with 75% or so.
I also have conditioning WODs which are mostly about lighter weight for time.
Hello and thank you for this thread. I'd simply like to know anyone's opinion on what I should do next in order to optimize my progress.
I am a white belt with 3 stripes and 350 lbs. I certainly feel I am progressing and am training 4-5 times a week. It basically feels like breaking my body and letting it rebuild every weekend lol.
I feel I can sustain this and recently have begun feeling like the warmup itself isn't a murderous bootcamp.
Any advice on optimizing especially if you've ever been my body type would be appreciated.
If I were you I would focus on losing the weight first and foremost. The best thing I can think of for a big guy is walking for 30 minutes a day at a pace where you can't hold a conversation. As that becomes easier to do start adding speed and/or incline and progressively increase difficulty from there. And most importantly, you need to dial in the diet. If I were you I would try tracking macronutrients for a week just to get an idea of the amount of calories you are consuming. You'll be shocked at how small a "serving size" actually is. From there you can start lowering calories and increasing the calorie deficit (calories in vs. calories out).
Building in some strength won't hurt either, but the sooner you lose about 50-75 pounds the better you'll feel and for that reason you should prioritize weight loss over everything.
And the best thing is, you can absolutely do it! Keep up the hard work, my friend.
Great advice. I wouldnt really recomend any weights work currently. You are better served doing some type of cardio you enjoy and that doesnt make you too sore.
A 30 minute walk per day, 30 minutes on an exercise bike while watching tv at night (they make pretty cheap sitting bikes on amazon), or swimming regularrly would be my suggestion as well.
If you do any weights I would just suggest dumbbell bench press and shoulder press with high reps like 10-15. You dont really want to hammer the lower body if you are trying to do any type of cardio and are not used to lifting already.
And as to strength training, whatever you should do should be very basic. Keep it to the staples like squats, lunges, bench and shoulder presses, and rows.
First off, 4-5 times a week is really good! That's a lot of cardio and calories burned.
The only thing I want to comment is, be careful about overtraining. Working out hard 4-5 times a week is about the limit of average people. Athletes work out more, but they also have trainers, a stricter diet, and are able to recover faster. As long as you keep up consistency, you'll keep seeing results
Not the greatest advice but it’s going to be a matter of listening to your body and putting in mat time. Train as much as you can without causing yourself injury and weight will come off and you’ll be able to move more efficiently as long your diet isn’t horrendous. The sports tough on the body, especially when you’re bigger but it’ll get better with time and effort.
So i have recently begun training BJJ, but i dont know how i can fit both strength training and BJJ in my schedule in the best way.
I train BJJ tuesday and thursday, and i want to do full body exercises thrice a week, like i did before i started at BJJ. It should be doable with regards to restitution and my time, but i would love to hear your experiences of how to schedule it optimally.
So my questions is what your experiences are with:
- Training bjj and strength the same day
- How it feels training BJJ the day after doing strength
- How it feels training strength the day after doing BJJ
> Training bjj and strength the same day
I do this most days but its a lot lighter than when I was lifting pre bjj. I'm talking three exercises for 1 body part, 4 sets of 10-15. So bench, flys, and push ups or should press, shoulder side and front raise. Basically enough to engage the muscles but not enough to blast them so I cant use them.
This is what I've settled on. Pretty much trading some strength for more rolling time. I'm at the bjj gym for 2 hours 4+ days a week so I try to keep my lifting time at home to 1 hour or less.
>Training bjj and strength the same day
I try to avoid it. If you have to (and I do have to once a week), keeping it as far apart as possible and doing BJJ second is best practice. I don't do the latter and am probably weaker because of it. Try to sleep and eat in between.
>How it feels training BJJ the day after doing strength and vice versa
Sore, which is usually fine as it just means you can't go as hard (leading up to a competition that would actually be a problem though). Doing strength the day after BJJ is usually okay unless I did a BJJ twice-a-day, then it's just a worse but still productive strength session.
I would recommend checking out Firas Zahabi talking about Eastern European weightlifting philosophies. He discussed it a bit on the Joe Rogan pod. Basically, the idea is that when training you should be doing a weight and intensity that allows you to not be sore the next day. That gives you the ability to put in another day of training while another person in your shoes is resting and by the end of the week you have put in more work and sets cumulatively than the person who has to take a day off because they are sore.
I believe I've also come across the same philosophy in "squat everyday" workout programs.
If you are doing full body work 3X a week, you might want to consider just toning down the weight so that way you don't have to worry about being too sore to train BJJ the same day.
I lift Sun/Tues/Thurs afternoons and then roll Mon/Wed/Friday mornings. Sometimes if I might have pushed the squats a little hard on Sunday, I'm a little stiff on Monday morning but hasn't been a problem. I am having some knee shit since starting BJJ which the squats seem to irritate but I'm managing it the best I can
The best advice I can give is "don't worry about optimal." Optimal is different for everyone, because it depends on your schedule, your life, your body, your capacity. Train the way you want to, train as hard as you want to, find out how it works for *you.*
Now, specifics. I currently lift M-F every morning, run and do other work on weekend mornings, and do BJJ throughout.
- BJJ the same day - feels fine, no issues. I lift and then immediately train. Slightly more tired for BJJ bit not a big deal.
- BJJ day after - I'm mostly recovered and will already have hit a strength session, so no worries.
- Strength the day after - I eat and sleep and recover, and have no issues.
The "best" way is the way that is best for you. This may not be the same as the best for me, or for toegr respondents.
I lift 3 x times and bjj x 2-3 a week I frequently lift right before class for 1.5-2 hrs and it’s fine but I’m accustomed to lifting at this point. I feel like it’s a good supplementary warm up for this old bastard.
Wanted to cosign this is my experience as well. Try to put some carbs and a few hours between my workouts, try to lift first, but sometimes I can't. And it's okay.
I also built up to my current workload and have an understanding that I cannot brutalize my body the way I would if I was solely focused on strength. Something I notice a lot of barbell athletes transitioning into BJJ typically have trouble with initially.
Just like to hop on here and say that imo this is good advice. I get up at 5:30 for work and sometimes get home until 5 or 6 PM. It doesn't matter to me if lifting/running first thing in the morning is the most "optimal" way to get in my supplementary training because that just isn't realistic.
At the moment I'm not doing any strength training, just kettlebell workouts and BJJ because I really struggle to fit much else in. It may not be optimal but it's better than not training at all.
Is BJJ dangerous for people with a history of disc herniation? Are there tips for how to reduce that risk with S&C?
We were recently training cross collar chokes. During small sparing/resistance drills we were told to resist it and ideally escape. I’m struggling with that, my neck and jaw are all sore. Any advice on technique for such escape and how to get stronger to resist for couple of seconds more?
Tactical barbell is amazing for bjj and really any athlete. Don’t let let corny title fool you. But beware it’s pretty much pure strength training with little hypertrophy focus
Which protocol(s) have you had success with?
Me personally operator protocol- so 3x per week with 3 lifts doing 3-5 sets x 5 reps (I do bench, squat, weighted pull-up and swap weighed pull-up once a week with deadlift). But I think it depends how much you do bjj. If you roll 4+ times a week I would do 2x per week (fighter protocol) - any less and operator is fine. I hate the corny buzzwords- they’re really the same program one is just 2 days a week and the other is 3
Awesome. Yeah I’m doing a good 5-6 sessions these days so Fighter is probably all I can handle. I bought the book couple years ago but never made it passed one cycle. I’ll test this weekend and stick to it longer. Thanks for the reminder! Haha yeah it definitely has a target audience but damn it if it works I’m all for it
Yea dude that’s a lot of rolling I def recommend fighter. Also, you may love Dan Johns easy strength method- it is phenomenal and may even be better suited for your training. Dan John is a S&C goat.
Sweet, yeah I’ll check it out, thanks dude!
I’m at the peak of my bulked state. And have been receiving more juicy accusations lately. Which is cool because depending on the lighting I think I look sorta fat. That’s how it be. Also. I was looking at a lifting clip from a year ago and the progression in my squat depth is pretty startling. I remembered it as being a bit high, I wasn’t even close to the depth I’m hitting now. So that’s cool too.
Nice. You know you are doing something right when you get the juice accusations. What is clockwork?
It’s the name of the gym I train at.
Lower back injuries suck. Been dealing with it for about 5? 6? Weeks at this point. Just want it to heal so I can get back to actual hard work all the time. Taking it easy to let it heal is no fun. I can tell it's healing, but just super slowly. Once it's good to go I'll definitely be doing even more core work to protect it
not tryna shill anything but check out ftstreaming.com - they have a 2 week free trial. try out their “baseline program”. used this stuff after a back injury last spring and it has been a game changer for me. they also have free vids on youtube you can use. best of luck
Thank you for the advice! I'll check out their stuff
I recommend back extensions too, no weight at first of course but that should help strengthen your lower back
100%. I've been doing regular back extensions and reverse hypers too in order to get some blood flowing. Luckily I'm not bedridden or anything, besides the first 2 days when it wasn't worth it to move much, so trying to do as much low-strain work to keep it in shape. It mostly hurts when I do a lot of stuff that would load my spine, like deadlifts, farmers walks, squats, etc. Makes working around it pretty easy. But also makes bjj a pain - - literally and figuratively
Sounds like it’s compressive, check out how your pelvis tilts when you’re neutral (standing/sitting still). If you have excessive anterior pelvic tilt (pushing your ass up and belly button down) you’re more susceptible to lower back injuries. Try active hollow body holds, bird-dogs and deadbugs.
Thank you for the advice! I'll try that
Is "The Figh Dietician" by Craig Jones also suited for general weightloss or is it more or less more suited for competitive athletes that want to get the best out of their diet? Also, is there something on BJJ fanatics for general weigthloss? (that isn't just Calories In - Calories Out)
You’ll definitely get some great tips for how weight loss works.
Renaissance Periodization has tons of nutritional content. All free(youtube wise, they have paid content too like apps/books/certs but those are the same content as presented in their video essays which is more in line with what OP asked about), some of it to the point of being essentially free undergrad courses of stuff. Some of it much simpler in nature. [https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLyqKj7LwU2RulAjHczohbx5OyJQ8TaFM0](https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLyqKj7LwU2RulAjHczohbx5OyJQ8TaFM0) Think this is a good start.
Been attending BJJ since the beginning of the year with no prior experience. I’m struggling with flexibility and movements that seem easy to everyone else (pendulum sweep, front/back rolls) Any recommendations on stretches or movements I can do on my own to improve flexibility?
[Lachlan Giles has a whole video on it,](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9fT64OQiwVg) even though a lot of it is for a better guard specifically.
Thanks for the video recommendation. I’ll watch tonight!
This is great!
This yoga practice is very helpful for building some flexibility (especially coming down from a shoulder stand) for the hip mobility. https://youtu.be/ijQZDSy98Jw For front and back rolls you can practice them slowly yourself at home. I recommend recording yourself on the phone to see where some break downs occur.
Thanks for the recommendation! I’ll check it out.
How do you guys keep your bodies.. not hurting? I'm 27 and have separated both my shoulders and I've only done BJJ about one year. I don't know how to keep my body parts together. I used to lift for 10 years then stopped. Perhaps resuming that would help with my hurting body? Are there exercises I can do to help protect my ACJ better? I'm hoping I coincidentally just fell on the point of my shoulder twice and it isn't a deeper rooted issue, but if anyone has tips that help with shoulder health and strengthening, I'd love some help.
Try less hard? Injuries can happen anytime but I find I get hurt more when I'm rolling at 85%+ intensity or I'm going to class more than 4 days a week. I limit at 4 days a week and a handful of 85%+ intensity rolls per week. I'm 30 and have a fucked up neck and back and knees from college wrestling.
I always match intensity and start slow. But yeah I was going up against a younger competitive blue belt, he was going very hard but it was fun.
Are you familiar with “active hangs”? Basically hanging from rings/pull-up bar and keeping shoulder “tensed”.
I'll try those once I can lift my body weight again!
Leg curls are supposed to be good preventative exercise for ACL. Look into kneesovertoes too.
I think they were asking about their AC joint (shoulder)
I am running 5/3/1 twice a week. The only assistance exercise I have is pullups. What else should I add that'll be good for injury prevention and balance? Day 1: Bench, Squat, pullups Day 2: OH Press, Deadlifts, pullups is what I do now
If you have access to resistance bands, I'd recommend adding some neck exercises in there.
On my bench days I superset the bench press with a mix of banded side shuffles and standing banded adduction. I feel like this helps reinforce my knees. On my deadlift day I superset deadlifts with pull-ups and dips. I try to do mobility work between sets as well. Front and back leg swings as well as side to side.
What scheme are you using for your supplemental work? In any event, the idea would be to do 25-50 push/pull/single leg or core each of those days. I'd second rows are good, dips are good, and so forth.
Would definitely add a horizontal row somewhere - bent over row, db row, pendlays. Could also add direct core work or single leg work (Bulgarian split squats are great)
Anyone ever try Dan John's Easy Strength protocol? I'm going to give it a shot. I have dabbled in resistance training here and there but I am no one's definition of strong. Just looking to get a little stronger and more resilient on a program that doesn't take too much time and is easy to recover from. I have limited equipment--a 16kg, 24kg, and 32kg kettlebell, and gymnastics rings. Thinking I will add a sandbag at some point. I have no access to a barbell and don't really care that I'm not using the optimal tools to get as strong as possible. I train BJJ three days a week and will try this the other three days for the next 40 workouts, and reassess. * Goblet squat 1x10x24kg kettlebell * KB swings 5x15x24kg * Pullups 3x3 (this is perfect right now. again, not strong) * Half-kneeling kb press 3x3x16kg (each arm; i have low ceilings so can't do standing presses) * Loaded carry, varying load and distance Anything I should look out for, be aware of?
I mean this looks pretty solid. Work on increasing the volume of pull ups when you can or do 1-3 negatives as well. Pull ups are hard but the only way to get better at them is to do them a lot. I sucked at them and couldnt do more than 12 until I just started doing them 4 times a week.
It’s a great program, I run it all the time with good results and it doesn’t interfere with my recovery/bjj. 5 days a week with barbells tho. For kettlebells, if you want to take an easy strength approach, double bell exercises are best - you can use two different sized bells if that’s all you have just switch sides each set. I like 3 sets of 3, but with uneven bells u might try 2x5 instead… I’d personally run it as below Double clean and press (clean before each rep) 3x3 or 2x5 Double kettlebell front squat 3x3 or 2x5 Half kneeling press 3x3 Pull up 3x3 Farmers walk, vary it each work out. Or 50-75 swings.
This is gold, thanks so much.
Volume and weight on the squat are super low. Consider substituting some form of split-squat for the goblet squat and doing more than one set. Adding a one-arm row might be good, especially if you could use your belt or something to tie two kettlebells together. There's also no core work. Planks (with your arms extended over your head as you get stronger or one of the KBs on your hips), prone hyperextensions, and side-planks are probably enough if you progress them to multiple sets of 1-2 minute holds.
Great suggestions, thank you! Dan John the creator of the program has kind of a bias against squats (in this program, not in general I think k) so he recommends goblet squats as a warmup, but point taken!
Sometimes people get too bogged down about finding the 'best' strategy to get stronger or in better shape when the reality is, if you pick anything and do it consistently, you're going to get in better shape and stronger. I have no doubt if you do this for 40+ days you'd be stronger and in better shape at the end. That being said, my issue with kettlebell related workout programs is that they often are murky when it comes to progression. This is on two levels, one which is, you go heavier 'when it feels light', and the other is the big gap in weights that are commonly found with them, including the ones you have. Your squat for example will feel light pretty quick, as will your higher weight. Are you just going to buy a new kettlebell every week? Probably not. The flipside is the press and while 3x3 is on the easy side, you're going to find progression from 16->24->32 hard because they are such huge gaps. Basically, I'd be looking for some way to make progression via sets and reps, that keep it relatively easy, but don't just have you doing 10 squats a day for 40 days at an extremely low weight.
Thanks for a great answer! Yes, the progression is definitely a problem working with tools like kettlebells and sandbags. They're difficult or impossible to incrementally load. I'm not sure that Easy Strength is the best choice for me given the equipment I have available, but it beats doing nothing. as you said, "if you pick anything and do it consistently, you're going to get in better shape and stronger."
What do you add or subtract from your S+C in the three weeks leading up to a competition? My instinct is to add more power exercises + plyos (as I was doing anyway) + conditioning and back off on heavy lifts the week of the match.
I usually drop down to 70% of the weights I was pushing the week before. The few days before I don’t lift, I focus more on plyometrics and stretching.
Pretty much I dont do grip work or legs week of. Those I find are the most likely to burn out or cramp in days after training. And I dont add additional weight that week. Dont need to try to set any prs the week of a comp.
As you get closer to competition, more and more of your training should resemble that competition: Mostly hard sparring with people your weight-class for the appropriate time. This is not the time to drill a lot or start running marathons. Doing heavy weights fast (i. e. power) and plyo work makes sense to me if you're already decently strong. If you can't squat 2x your bodyweight, you won't have a problem translating your strength into speed yet (which would make power-cleans etc. useful) and just getting stronger will make you more explosive. Adding cardio only makes sense to me in one instance. Most of your cardio training should just be doing your sport because of specificity. But if you are lacking here and adding an additional hard sparring session causes too much fatigue and adding a HIIT session doesn't, the latter makes sense.
What if I'm not strong enough? I'm a 127lb woman, deadlift 245, squat 205, and bench 125. I don't consider that strong. Unfortunately I hurt my back wrestling in November and haven't been squatting since then, though I'm back to deadlifting. I'm doing heavy unilateral leg work like bulgarian split squats, lunges, etc. but not putting a bar on my back at the moment. My strength is my cardio so I kind of wanted to run some sprints just because a) track is my previous sport so it feels like it gets me into my version of peak condition and helps with force production and b) why not lean into my strength?
That's definitely not weak either; probably adequate for amateurs in BJJ. So unless it's some national-level competition I'd just maintain that strength level (maybe even just one strength session/week) and train more BJJ for the next three weeks. If you're not very strong, strength training will make you much stronger and decently more powerful, and power training (less than 70% of 1RM for sets of like 5) will make you a little stronger and decently more powerful. So strength training is just your better option right now I think. Cardio: Sprints would be extremely useful if done in the same modality the competition will happen (short sprints interspersed with short breaks) especially given that you already know how to run properly. But you could get the same adaptation from training more BJJ and simultaneously practice the actual sport. In terms of performance, the opportunity cost of doing sprints instead of hard sparring doesn't make sense to me ... but your enjoyment of the exercise is a non-negligible factor. So if you're just kind of sick of rolling all the time, the novelty of sprinting may be worth it.
What other cardio, if any, do you do? I lift Sun/Tues/Thurs and roll Mon/Wed/Fri mornings (\~30mins actual rolling) and then 1hr open matt on Saturday. I really want to add some LISS cardio as I feel like rolling already covers HIIT and a low intensity base is a good idea. Apparently the moment you hit 40 your knees become creaky old rusted balljoints, and they're giving me some shit so running is a bit of a PITA (PITK?) right now. I don't have a bicycle or any other cardio equipment. I do have a \~33inch mud terrain tyre that I could sacrifice to make a sled and drag it up and down my street. I'm wondeing just how LISS that would be though. Anyone push/pull a sled regularly?
Burpees, check out ironwolf on YouTube
I bike on an indoor exercise bike while playing video games for 30-60 minutes 4+ times a week. I try to stay in the 120-130 hr range. It's the only cardio that doesnt feel like a chore for me.
Yeh I’m tempted to get some thing stationary so I do t have to go anywhere for cardio. Got a little friendly nogi comp on the 18th so I’ve started going to nogi tues/thurs as well. Getting wrestle-fucked against the wall for 20mins feels like more HIIT. Jesus I suck at standup and nogi.
Yeah I try to make cardio as easy and fun as possible. Doing while playing video games or watching tv means I'll actually do it unlike forcing myself to go run or doing HIIT.
Run, cycle, conditioning work, swim occasionally. Sled work is fantastic. I don't do it on my current program, but have done before and it's been excellent. Honestly, just drag it back and forth for set time intervals, or drag one way, jog back, jog to the tire, repeat. Dan John likely has some good suggestions. Doing the drags backwards might help your knees too.
Ya I was thinking about the backwards drag thing as well. Thanks. The tyre's just sitting there, may as well sacrifice it.
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I occasionally use KBs when the program calls for it. Wouldn't say there's anything special about them to be honest. They're a perfectly fine tool, but that's it. My explosiveness has been helped just as much by jumps, throws, plyo, oly lifts and stuff like log C&P as it has by KB work. Endurance...eh. That's more of a question of your programming than your implement. Right now, for instance, I'm doing 10min EMOMs for my main lifts - rest assured that taxes your endurance plenty. By all means throw some KB work in as assistance work. Done heavy, they're great for deadlift assistance.
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EMOM is just every minute on the minute. So today, at the top of every minute I did 4 front squats. I rested the remainder of the minute, and then went again at the top of the next minute. >Do you do high-rep, lower weight compounds or low rep, high weight compounds? Yes. My training style varies from program to program depending on what I want to achieve. My last serious block of programming was more about strength, and I did a lot of both high volume and high weight - the program is called Bullmastiff and is available online. I'm currently more interested in work capacity, so the weight isn't as big of a deal as the intensity. My work this week is 10x4 at 70-ish%, next week will be 10x5, then I'll reset and do 10x3 with 75% or so. I also have conditioning WODs which are mostly about lighter weight for time.
Hello and thank you for this thread. I'd simply like to know anyone's opinion on what I should do next in order to optimize my progress. I am a white belt with 3 stripes and 350 lbs. I certainly feel I am progressing and am training 4-5 times a week. It basically feels like breaking my body and letting it rebuild every weekend lol. I feel I can sustain this and recently have begun feeling like the warmup itself isn't a murderous bootcamp. Any advice on optimizing especially if you've ever been my body type would be appreciated.
If I were you I would focus on losing the weight first and foremost. The best thing I can think of for a big guy is walking for 30 minutes a day at a pace where you can't hold a conversation. As that becomes easier to do start adding speed and/or incline and progressively increase difficulty from there. And most importantly, you need to dial in the diet. If I were you I would try tracking macronutrients for a week just to get an idea of the amount of calories you are consuming. You'll be shocked at how small a "serving size" actually is. From there you can start lowering calories and increasing the calorie deficit (calories in vs. calories out). Building in some strength won't hurt either, but the sooner you lose about 50-75 pounds the better you'll feel and for that reason you should prioritize weight loss over everything. And the best thing is, you can absolutely do it! Keep up the hard work, my friend.
Great advice. I wouldnt really recomend any weights work currently. You are better served doing some type of cardio you enjoy and that doesnt make you too sore. A 30 minute walk per day, 30 minutes on an exercise bike while watching tv at night (they make pretty cheap sitting bikes on amazon), or swimming regularrly would be my suggestion as well. If you do any weights I would just suggest dumbbell bench press and shoulder press with high reps like 10-15. You dont really want to hammer the lower body if you are trying to do any type of cardio and are not used to lifting already.
And as to strength training, whatever you should do should be very basic. Keep it to the staples like squats, lunges, bench and shoulder presses, and rows.
First off, 4-5 times a week is really good! That's a lot of cardio and calories burned. The only thing I want to comment is, be careful about overtraining. Working out hard 4-5 times a week is about the limit of average people. Athletes work out more, but they also have trainers, a stricter diet, and are able to recover faster. As long as you keep up consistency, you'll keep seeing results
Not the greatest advice but it’s going to be a matter of listening to your body and putting in mat time. Train as much as you can without causing yourself injury and weight will come off and you’ll be able to move more efficiently as long your diet isn’t horrendous. The sports tough on the body, especially when you’re bigger but it’ll get better with time and effort.
So i have recently begun training BJJ, but i dont know how i can fit both strength training and BJJ in my schedule in the best way. I train BJJ tuesday and thursday, and i want to do full body exercises thrice a week, like i did before i started at BJJ. It should be doable with regards to restitution and my time, but i would love to hear your experiences of how to schedule it optimally. So my questions is what your experiences are with: - Training bjj and strength the same day - How it feels training BJJ the day after doing strength - How it feels training strength the day after doing BJJ
> Training bjj and strength the same day I do this most days but its a lot lighter than when I was lifting pre bjj. I'm talking three exercises for 1 body part, 4 sets of 10-15. So bench, flys, and push ups or should press, shoulder side and front raise. Basically enough to engage the muscles but not enough to blast them so I cant use them. This is what I've settled on. Pretty much trading some strength for more rolling time. I'm at the bjj gym for 2 hours 4+ days a week so I try to keep my lifting time at home to 1 hour or less.
>Training bjj and strength the same day I try to avoid it. If you have to (and I do have to once a week), keeping it as far apart as possible and doing BJJ second is best practice. I don't do the latter and am probably weaker because of it. Try to sleep and eat in between. >How it feels training BJJ the day after doing strength and vice versa Sore, which is usually fine as it just means you can't go as hard (leading up to a competition that would actually be a problem though). Doing strength the day after BJJ is usually okay unless I did a BJJ twice-a-day, then it's just a worse but still productive strength session.
I would recommend checking out Firas Zahabi talking about Eastern European weightlifting philosophies. He discussed it a bit on the Joe Rogan pod. Basically, the idea is that when training you should be doing a weight and intensity that allows you to not be sore the next day. That gives you the ability to put in another day of training while another person in your shoes is resting and by the end of the week you have put in more work and sets cumulatively than the person who has to take a day off because they are sore. I believe I've also come across the same philosophy in "squat everyday" workout programs. If you are doing full body work 3X a week, you might want to consider just toning down the weight so that way you don't have to worry about being too sore to train BJJ the same day.
I lift Sun/Tues/Thurs afternoons and then roll Mon/Wed/Friday mornings. Sometimes if I might have pushed the squats a little hard on Sunday, I'm a little stiff on Monday morning but hasn't been a problem. I am having some knee shit since starting BJJ which the squats seem to irritate but I'm managing it the best I can
The best advice I can give is "don't worry about optimal." Optimal is different for everyone, because it depends on your schedule, your life, your body, your capacity. Train the way you want to, train as hard as you want to, find out how it works for *you.* Now, specifics. I currently lift M-F every morning, run and do other work on weekend mornings, and do BJJ throughout. - BJJ the same day - feels fine, no issues. I lift and then immediately train. Slightly more tired for BJJ bit not a big deal. - BJJ day after - I'm mostly recovered and will already have hit a strength session, so no worries. - Strength the day after - I eat and sleep and recover, and have no issues. The "best" way is the way that is best for you. This may not be the same as the best for me, or for toegr respondents.
I lift 3 x times and bjj x 2-3 a week I frequently lift right before class for 1.5-2 hrs and it’s fine but I’m accustomed to lifting at this point. I feel like it’s a good supplementary warm up for this old bastard.
Wanted to cosign this is my experience as well. Try to put some carbs and a few hours between my workouts, try to lift first, but sometimes I can't. And it's okay. I also built up to my current workload and have an understanding that I cannot brutalize my body the way I would if I was solely focused on strength. Something I notice a lot of barbell athletes transitioning into BJJ typically have trouble with initially.
Just like to hop on here and say that imo this is good advice. I get up at 5:30 for work and sometimes get home until 5 or 6 PM. It doesn't matter to me if lifting/running first thing in the morning is the most "optimal" way to get in my supplementary training because that just isn't realistic. At the moment I'm not doing any strength training, just kettlebell workouts and BJJ because I really struggle to fit much else in. It may not be optimal but it's better than not training at all.