10 years in BJJ and 10 lessons I’ve learned (Part 4)

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“The greatest wealth is health.”  – Virgil

 

“To keep the body in good health is a duty, otherwise we shall not be able to keep our mind strong and clear.” – Buddha

 

“Prevention is better than cure.” – Desiderius Erasmus

 

“Lack of activity destroys the good condition of every human being, while movement and methodical physical exercise save it and preserve it.” – Plato

Mobility – One thing that I’ve learned just within the past year that I wish I would have focused on more in the past is mobility. Most of us focus so much on how many hard rolls we get in a training session, how many reps we’ve performed of a particular technique or if our lifts are improving in the weight room. However many of us also fail to focus on mobility. I’m talking about keeping our joints, muscles, and our body’s movement patterns healthy.  By no means am I pointing the finger at anyone because up until this last year I gave mobility little to no thought. Sure I would stretch a little here and there, but this is much different than old school stretching. Let me give you a brief explanation of how I stumbled upon the idea of focusing on mobility and how it’s improved my BJJ and at the end I’ll give you some takeaways and resources for your own use. Alternatively, you can skip my story telling and fast forward to the bottom to get the resources and links.

 

How I found out about mobility work

Well first off, I was never blessed with ample amounts of flexibility. My muscles have always been a bit tight and wound up and in the last couple of years I’ve also began to “feel” my body much more after  hard training sessions. I wrongly attributed this to getting older. I mean I’m nearing 30 which seems to be that magical number that people fixate on when they talk about their body breaking down and becoming more injury prone.

So . . . about a year ago my friend, student, training partner and fellow coach here at the gym, Brent Weedman, turned me onto the idea. He started weight training with a very competent trainer here in Louisville and would rave about the results. What struck me as different was that he didn’t just tell me about his PR’s(personal record) in the gym but he also made it a point to share the improvements he was making in his mobility. When he first started talking about mobility improvements I was pretty ignorant to the idea but as he explained more, it made sense. Brent, like any other high level athlete, had experienced his fair share of wear and tear on his body provided to him by long hours of training and fights. Couple this with a lack of concentration on his body’s movement health and you have tight muscles and joints and poor range of motion. I remember Brent telling me that before he revamped his conditioning program he wasn’t sure how much longer his body could take the rigors of fighting professional. If you were to ask him now he would tell you he feels like a new man. He fights like one too. By using the different techniques he was learning from his conditioning coach he was able to rid himself of problems like tight shoulders, hips and back all while making great gains in strength and power.  

I hold a great deal of respect for Brent so I began using a few different techniques he shared with me and started looking deeper into the whole mobility thing. When you type in “mobility” into an internet search or Youtube you will be bombarded with information from a guy named Kelly Starret or MobilityWOD, and for good reason.  Kelly Starret is the leader of a mobility movement that is gaining momentum in the athletic world. He works most closely with the CrossFit community and uses his mobility techniques to keep athletes who are doing tons of volume healthy and in the gym instead of being sidelined due to injury. He is also helping tons of people, including myself; restore proper movement in their body.  After watching videos and reading through some of his literature I found myself buying his book, Becoming a Supple Leopard which in my opinion is fantastic. The book literally goes through and shows the proper movement mechanics to many basic and advanced lifts. The book also goes through helping its readers identify what problems they may have based on some easy to follow tests. Then the best part! The last chunk of the book is loaded with tons of corrective exercises, stretches and techniques that will help you improve range of motion, get rid of tightness and help you alleviate pain you may be experiencing. I was also lucky enough to meet with a woman who was an FMS trainer as well as a physical therapy student and she helped me identify specific areas of my body I needed to focus my attention towards. After a month of solid effort and focus on improving the mobility of my rust bucket body I began to feel some noticeable differences.

 

Alright so let’s get to the part you are actually interested in hearing about, How it improved my BJJ and training.

 1.       My range of motion improved. My squats were getting deeper, I was able to maintain better thoracic extension when doing particular exercises, and my shoulders were moving smoother during overhead presses. I was also less sore after hard lifting sessions.

 

2.       Tight areas that were chronically in pain began to feel much better. Most notably my hip flexors. I remember constantly struggling and having issues with them. Which as you can imagine hindered my ability to train or compete at 100%. In addition injuries have since become less common.

 

 3.       I was able to warm up quicker. As I’ve gotten older it seems like it takes longer and longer to get my body adequately warm for BJJ training and competitions. One of the most noticeable changes after the mobility work was how fast I was able to get my body loosened up and ready to compete. What used to be nearly a 20-25 minute ritual was now condensed into about 5-10 minutes. While this may not seem like a big deal to some. Being able to get warmed up quickly on the fly is a valuable. If you’re a competitor. I want you to think about an experience you may have had where you had a tournament match and were not properly warmed up. Either due to a screw up on the tournament coordinators end or your own. Competing without having your body revved up is not a good thing, so it’s nice to be able to get warmed up on the fly.

 

4.       I could train harder and at higher volumes without being utterly destroyed the next day. Doing a heavy lifting workout, multiple hard rolling sessions and being active during my 4 hours of teaching classes a day can definitely take its toll. What a great feeling it is to be able to maintain that kind of training load and still feel physically able to do it again the next day. The mobility work enables me to keep up high volumes of training and still not “feel” it like I used to. Don’t get me wrong, I still get sore and fatigued but I don’t find my body being completely shot.

After reading above the takeaways for you, and why you should consider investing your energy towards mobility should be clear.

1. It will improve flexibility and range of motion

 

2.       You can decrease frequency of injury. Yes injuries will still happen but you can still decrease the amount, especially those that would be a result of muscle tightness and imbalance.

 

3.       You will be able to warm up faster for class or competitions.

 

4.       It will improve rehabilitation after hard training and you can maintain a high level of training for a long duration of time.

If you’re interested in learning more check out http://www.mobilitywod.com/about/faq/  or go look up Kelly Starrett on Youtube. Checking out the supple leopard book that I mentioned earlier wouldn’t be a bad idea as well. Lastly, if you’re able, get in touch with a competent conditioning coach who knows about mobility.  If this is not available then use what resources you can gather to help identify areas of your body that need help. Heck, it may not be that hard in some cases. I mean after all, you are probably aware that your shoulder range of motion sucks or that you can’t get into a deep squat to save your life.

Good luck on improving your body and your training! I hope it helps you preserve your body and helps reduce the damage caused by training.

 

As always, thanks for reading!

Chewy

 

Oh and be sure to check out the podcast on my other site at http://www.matwind.com

10 years in BJJ and 10 lessons I’ve learned (Part 1)

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I feel like it was yesterday that I took my first BJJ class. Sadly, that was over 10 years ago. That’s right; I’ve been training Brazilian Jiu-jitsu for over 10 years! Just being able to say this makes me feel proud and super old. In honor of my landmark I came up with 10 solid lessons and experiences I’ve personally learned and share them. Each lesson will have a personal story to accompany it and then I’ll give a take-away. I will share highs and lows as well as some embarrassing moments in my BJJ career. I hope that you get something out of the stories and the lessons that go with them.

“Humility does not mean thinking less of yourself than of other people, nor does it mean having a low opinion of your own gifts. It means freedom from thinking about yourself at all.” – William Temple

“There is no respect for others without humility in one’s self.” – Henri-Frederic Amiel

“Self-praise is for losers. Be a winner. Stand for something. Always have class, and be humble.” – John Madden

“Arrogance invites ruin; humility receives benefits.” – Chinese Proverb

1.Be a humble person to those around you  – When I started training BJJ I was 18 years old. After about 6 months of constant training and competing I received my blue belt. At the time of receiving the belt, there were not many high ranking belts in the area. Most of the “higher” belts were purple belts. My streak of tournament wins combined with how quickly I acquired my blue belt as well as my 19 year old immaturity made me feel like a total “bad ass”. In addition to this, my instructor at the time wasn’t the best for putting a lid on this disrespectful attitude, instead he encouraged it. When I competed, especially at local tournaments, I felt like I was some sort of fighting animal that he could brag about after a win. Sadly, I kind of enjoyed it when I was in my “bad ass” phase. I was still a nice person, but I definitely had an obnoxious streak especially when it came down to winning, losing and competing.

3 examples of my antics

1. After being submitted I would smack the mat and drop the F Bomb.

2. I would gloat about winning constantly.

3. I would talk down about others and their BJJ.

Fast forward to early 2007 I had a conversation with my friend who would eventually become one of my BJJ coaches. He and I met up for lunch and he informed me that I could no longer train at his gym because of the negative associations that came along with my current instructor. At this point I had trained with Colin here and there for a while and considered him a friend. I didn’t want to be unable to hang out and train with my buddy! That moment made me realize the path I was on, and if I continued my path I would end up being like my instructor. He was someone who was isolated in the local BJJ community because of their brashness and poor attitude towards others. I knew deep down that I was not that kind of person, so soon after I separated from my instructor and began the “humblization” process under my new coaches. I am a confident person but I’ve done my best to rid myself of that my previous cocky, egotistical edge. I don’t think I would be a successful instructor, competitor or even liked in the community if I hadn’t done that.  This was one of the best lessons I ever learned through BJJ and has definitely carried over into other aspects in my life.

 

The take away

No one wants to be around a cocky jerk that is full of him or herself. One of the best parts about this sport is the amazing communities, and you cannot be a part of these communities if you don’t lose your ego! If you do not lose these negative traits you will find yourself more and more isolated. People will shy away from training with you. You won’t fit in with your academy because you will be “that guy” everyone loves to tap because he has a big ego. If you somehow manage to retain this nasty quality into your higher ranks you will most certainly be shunned by many of your peers and will have a hard time finding people to cross train with and share knowledge. To top it off, it will severely hinder your ability to learn and grow in skill. Trust me, you don’t want this. Take it from someone who was once “that guy” in the gym.  Just be humble to the people around you.

Competition, visualization and a look into my day

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Today was a bruiser. I didn’t have any interviews for the podcast or private lessons and I am waiting for the hosting issues to get resolved before I can finish the work on the actual website. This freed up my day so I decided to take advantage of it and work hard!

When I weighed in this morning I was 207lbs which is good considering I had a pretty relaxed diet this weekend. I went on a camping trip this weekend and ate food that I normally don’t consume in great quantities like breads so honestly I expected my weight to be up a bit. This means I need to lose about 5lbs so that I will be 207lbs or under in the kimono. Whenever I am getting ready for an IBJJF style tournament, which has you weigh in right before your match, I aim to be a couple of pounds lighter than I need to be. This lets me enjoy a good breakfast on the day of competition. I am kind of a fat kid at heart and going without a sizable breakfast isn’t an option and when the day of competitions comes I want to focus on the match not having to lose a few extra pounds.

Here is what my day looked like. . .

11am-12:15pm: BJJ Takedowns. 10 minutes total of takedown rounds and then 15 minutes of rolling starting from the knees

12:30pm-1:30pm: Heavy deadlifts. Did work with 80% of my one rep max. Then some stretching.

 

7pm-8:10pm: More gi takedowns. Again 10 minutes total of takedown rounds and then 15 minutes of rolling from the knees.

8:15pm-8:50pm: Did the “Filthy Fifty” workout.  If you’ve never done the workout before it’s a lot of fun. Here’s what it is . . .

For time:
50 Box jump, 24 inch box
50 Jumping pull-ups
50 Kettlebell swings, 1 pood
Walking Lunge, 50 steps
50 Knees to elbows
50 Push press, 45 pounds
50 Back extensions
50 Wall ball shots, 20 pound ball
50 Burpees
50 Double unders

This work out is considered a chipper workout. Meaning it’s long and tough, and you have to simply chip away at it.

8:55pm-9:20pm: Live wrestling for takedowns. Going to wrestling straight after that workout was rough, but I did well and was happy I pushed through my fatigue.

 

I felt great today. The camping trip this weekend helped me clear my head a bit and I felt really refreshed on the mats today.  That being said, it was still rough and required a lot of focus.

Whenever I have rough days like this when I am leading up to a tournament I try to use visualization as a motivation.  When I am drilling my takedowns I am not taking down my partner, I am taking down an unnamed opponent in the competition. When my grip starts to fade during a heavy set of deadlifts I think about my opponent finishing their rep and clinch the bar tighter. When I am exhausted after a hard workout I think about my opponents training past discomfort and head back to the mats for wrestling.

This may sound silly but visualization is such a powerful technique that comes in handy when I am training for a competition and need an extra boost of motivation during hard sessions. Even if I am not preparing for a competition, if I have a goal I want to achieve, then visualization is something I use. During the hard work that is necessary to achieve any worthwhile goal (BJJ or otherwise) if I find my motivation waning, I start to visualize. Visualize overcoming the obstacles that stand in my way. Visualize how my hard work will aid in my road to attainment, and visualize the satisfaction of achieving my goal. No matter how tired I might be. When I think about these three things I get fired up to get after whatever it is I need to do.

I am tired so if this post came across as poorly thrown together I do apologize. I am a bit wipe so I am going to head to bed and get ready for another tough day tomorrow!

As always, thanks for reading.

If you have any questions or comments, feel free to leave them below or send an email to chewjitsu@gmail.com

Balancing work and hard training leading up for competition.

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(That’s me on the right at my first tournament in 2003!)

 

 

It’s Monday and that means it’s a post about leading up to the competitions. I figured I would share what a typical Monday looks like for me and then talk about planning your days to get the most out of them.

Since starting the podcast, Monday, has become my lightest day of training and probably my busiest actual day of the week.  I’ll give an idea of what it looks like.

7-8:30AM: Wake up. I know this is going to sound silly but I’ve actually found that a side benefit of drinking lots of water is that I wake up to use the restroom earlier than the time my alarm clock is set. The benefit of this is that I don’t wake up to a nasty alarm clock sound and feel much better when I open my eyes.  During this time period I eat breakfast, goof around on the computer for a bit, maybe watch BJJ videos or something. If the weather is pleasant, which is has been, I’ll sit out on the deck and drink my morning cup of coffee and relax. This is my “holy hour”, a little chunk of time to just be alive without having to worry about anything and do whatever I want. If you currently don’t have a holy hour, you should find a little bit of time in your day to schedule one. Doing this does wonders for me personally.

8:30-9:40AM: Answer emails and social media messages I have, glance over my to-do list, review over the techniques I’m showing that day, and then work on any projects I might have going. I will usually head to the gym around 9:40am and get there at 10am.

10:00-10:45AM: Lifting or Metcon

10:45-12:30PM: Stretching followed by my morning class. Mondays are always takedown days. After class I will chat with everyone, get a couple extra rolls in or help students with questions they might have.

12:30-3:00PM: Protein shake with a snack followed by working on my podcast website. Then around 1:30 I start interviews for the show.

3:00-4:00PM: Lunch with a coffee/tea break then I pick up one of my students and bring him to the gym.

4:00-6:45PM: Blog and website stuff, customer service work for the gym.

6:45-9:30PM: A light warm up then BJJ class from 7-8 with wrestling starting at 8. Wrestling is always fun and I love the analogy of calling it “fighting without punches” because it is such a rough sport. If you’re gym offers wrestling you should definitely take advantage of that opportunity!

9:30-12:00ishAM: Head home to relax, eat a light dinner and finish any small work I might have. Then I try to always read for an hour before I head to bed. More often than not it’s something history or non fiction. I just finished a book called Mastery and another called The Last Lion.

 

Now I am not sharing the schedule because I am gloating about being busy or because I am trying to show you how much I train. Rather the reason is because everything I did today was scheduled. I’ve found that for me personally when I am well rested and relaxed I am in a much better state of mind about planning out what I should do with my time. However, if I am run down by a long day or consumed by work I need to get done. Having to make the conscious decision to train becomes more difficult and I tend to slack a little.

Routine and accountability to the rescue

Sitting down on a Sunday night and making out a schedule helps me get the things I need to get done. . . DONE! Now most people aren’t as fortunate as me to teach and train for a living, but mapping out a schedule still applies. I remember working 60 hours a week in IT and being exhausted after work. After leaving work following a 10+ hour day, training didn’t seem quite as attractive as normal. I’m sure you’ve felt this way before, right?

This is where the schedule comes into play! You must take the choice away from your weary self and place it into the hands of your well rested self. With a written schedule you don’t have to weigh the options of either exerting yourself in training or just taking it easy for the night after work. Instead you can look down and see what you planned for yourself and follow the guide.  Now there is something to be said about listening to your body, and if you are feeling absolutely terrible then maybe you should take a night off. But, have you ever skipped a work out only to get home and regret the choice, or have you ever went to the gym a little groggy only to leave pumped up about your training? I know I’ve personally done both.

 

The reason I put this “schedule talk” into this competition post is because getting ready for a competition can sometimes be tough, and it’s easy to get side tracked by life and skip a workout. The problem with this is, each day you skip a workout a day of preparation is lost, and when you’re getting yourself ready for a competition you have a fix amount of time to get ready. A wasted day of training is simply something you cannot afford.  By giving yourself a schedule to follow you make sure that you’re getting your training, work, and other responsibilities and obligations taken care of, as well as finding time for yourself. Plus, there is a bit of accountability.  It’s a little more difficult to skip out on things when you look down and see the goals you set for yourself staring back at you.

 

You may not experience the same problems I have and this may not be necessary for you. But if you are having issues training on some days, or find yourself slacking sometimes because of laziness. Then try giving yourself a schedule so that you make sure you get done, what it is, you want done. Make the schedule realistic and focused around the goals you have. If the goal is competition then it better consist of lots of hard training and drilling!

 

As always, thanks for reading, and if you have any questions or comments feel free to send them to chewjitsu@gmail.com

Tips For Recovering In BJJ!

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Here is a video of me showing a few pieces of equipment I use to help fight off my sore body after hard training sessions. Recovering in BJJ is important to keep training hard and making progress.

Something high level Wrestlers, Judoka and BJJ players do, that you may not be doing.

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BJJ is such a complex and technical grappling art, overflowing with techniques. Every move seems to have a variation . . . and every variation seems to have a variation. This complexity can be a double edge sword though.  The technical prowess of BJJ allows it to work for anyone. Big, small, short, tall, it doesn’t matter, if you train . . . you can become proficient at BJJ.  However, this can backfire when you try to acquire too much too quickly.

I’m sure we’ve all heard the phrase “jack of all trades, master of none” and I think this has some relevance to BJJ as well. Many people get very distracted by “fun looking” techniques or techniques that seem to be in style at the time. They hop from technique to technique, position to position. Never mastering any particular area of the game and instead being mediocre across the board. You don’t want this!!

 

Coming from a wrestling background we were always taught that . . .

you don’t have to do much, you just have to do it better than everyone else.

I’ve heard similar phrases come from other wrestlers, judo players and high level BJJ practitioners. This is something I always stress with my guys when it comes time for competitions or when they are newer and trying to develop an “A” game.

Now there is nothing wrong with playing around with new techniques and positions. Nothing wrong at all, but you have to understand that when you do this you will be making yourself a bit vulnerable. When you work a new move or position you’re going to be a bit shaky with it at first and after drilling and attempting it during rolling sessions for a while you will gradually become adept with that move.  Right when this move is beginning to develop is where many people make the mistake of moving on to something new that doesn’t necessarily fit with what you were just working on.

You just spent all this time making this solid position or technique and now you’re going to move on???

My advice would be to continue with the position or the move. For example, if you were working butterfly guard. . . well. . . add another butterfly guard into your drilling list. Maybe you were working on kimuras. Well instead of moving on to a whole new submission, expand upon the kimura and learn additional setups or transitions from it.

This kind of chaining-things-together mindset can really help you develop areas of your game quickly.

So what is it that high level grapplers do that most average BJJ players do not?

They own a position, a technique, a movement. They master the ins and outs of their desire moves and become brutally efficient with them.

Go watch some judo highlights. You won’t have to watch long before you see a highlight showing a particular judoka executing the same throw over and over again using different setups against different opponents. Wrestlers are the same. Go do a Google search and put it “John Smith Single Leg.” The guy is synonymous with that damn move. When he wrestled, his opponents knew what he was going to do but they couldn’t stop him. He had drilled and worked his single legs to a level of ability that is awe inspiring. Imagine going to a high level competition and hitting everyone with the same move even after they knew what you were going to do. This happens in BJJ too! One easy example that comes to mind is Roger Gracie. Mount to cross collar choke. . . are you kidding me? Cross collar chokes? What seems to be such a basic and easily defended move becomes dangerous in the hands of a person who masters it and believes in his ability to execute it.

 

If you are already in possession of your A game then feel free to do as you please, but if you feel as though you lack a go-to area, may I share a piece of advice? Own something. Find a position or technique that you are decent at or wish to be proficient with. Then, drill drill drill and attempt it during your training. Make your name synonymous with whatever it is you want to be good with. Be the person that has the nasty half-guard that guys talk about in the locker room, or the person with crazy submissions that makes everyone feel uneasy during their roll. Then continue to build upon it and add to it.

I guess this post is similar to the last post, Training with a purpose, but I encourage you to remember, you are the architect for your BJJ. You’re instructor will supply you with the raw materials to build it, but ultimately it falls on you to better yourself and devise the blueprint for your BJJ game.

In short, try and get really good with a few things before you start introducing a bunch of new techniques to your repertoire.

 

What are you waiting for??? Take out a pen and write down a flow chart and start plotting out the direction you want to take your game! 😉

Training with a purpose

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Just finished another interview for the podcast project I have coming up. I’m having so much fun and learning so much about these awesome people. I hope everyone has as much fun listening to these podcast episodes as I’m having making them. The launch date for the podcast is September 1st, 2013 in case you’re interested. Even though the podcast is still a little over a month out, I figured I would take a minute and share 1 little chunk of advice that seems to keep coming up during these interviews, and its something I’ve blogged about before. The reoccurring tip that these black belts talk about when it comes to improving at BJJ is . . .

“to train with a purpose”

I know sometimes its fun to roll and not focus on anything, but If you feel like you’re not growing on the mat or that you are hitting a plateau. Then take some advice from some high level guys and train with a purpose! Give yourself a goal to achieve during your training session, try to hit a new move you’re working on or try and improve the weak areas of your game. If you’re a good bottom guy, try and work your top game. If you’re a good sweeper, try and submit from the bottom. You get the idea. Hitting those goals will build some positive momentum mentally and improve your game by focusing on improving in a particular area.

Hope everyone’s training goes well and I hope you hit whatever goals you set for yourself!

Make sure you get the most of your training

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Almost every week I have students that complain about lagging performance on the mat(its more common in summer). They say they felt overly fatigued and just zapped of energy during training. When a student comes to me complaining about lack of energy and just missing that umph that they normally possess, I always ask two questions.

The first question is “did you eat enough today?” Almost every time their reply comes back as something like “no, I missed lunch” or “no I didn’t eat much today.”

The second question is “how much water did you drink today?” Again their reply usually alludes to a lack of consumption.

Now these seem like simple things . . . eating food and drinking water, but I’ve seen plenty of higher level BJJ players step onto the mat without taking in adequate amounts of food and water. Heck, one of my high level blue belt competitors nearly passed out on the mat recently because of not having enough in his body. Now this doesn’t mean you should stuff your face with whatever sort of food you can find and gulp down a half gallon of water 30 minutes before you step on the mat. You’ll probably spend the rolling session of class mopping up your puke if you choose to do that. You have to be kind of “strategic” about these things. That’s the fun word for the day! Now I know strategic sounds like a funny word to use when you are relating it to your eating habits, but when you look at the definition it makes sense.

Strategic : “of great importance within an integrated whole or to a planned effect”

Think of your body during training as a high performance vehicle. The food that you put into your body is the fuel for this vehicle. Imagine putting garbage fuel or no fuel at all into a high performance car. . . it wouldn’t run very well or run at all. This holds true with your body. When you eat junk or nothing, you’ll perform in a way that reflects as such. With that said, we want to eat in a way that gives us the planned effect of having plenty of energy so that we are able to get the most out our training. I mean if you are going to spend time driving to the gym, paying your gym dues, buying a kimono, caring for your kimono, purchasing dvds, reading BJJ related books, spending countless hours watching videos online and making your significant other angry because you’re obsessed with BJJ. Then why would you allow your training sessions to be sub-par because of lazy / poor eating habits?

I am not going to dive too deep into diets and nutrition but I will share some of my my pre training favorites and my typical diet routine during an average weekday. My pre training favorites are sweet potatoes (personal favorite), oatmeal, smoothies, fruit and a protein shake.

I typically space my solid meals out at least about an hour and a half to two hours prior to training. A meal like this would be something like sweet potatoes, asparagus and chicken. Sweet potatoes are a fantastic source of complex carbs and it is an incredibly nutrient dense food. When I eat a sweet potato for lunch I almost always feel energized during my training sessions.

In the mornings I usually have oatmeal with some fruit and honey, which gives me energy for my morning training sessions. Oatmeal is easier on my stomach and digestion than the sweet potato meal listed about, but I still try and have the food eaten no later than an hour before training.

When I find myself running late in the mornings or get knocked off my schedule during the afternoon I make a smoothie (protein, fruit, honey, sometimes oats) ,again, no later than an hour before training.

Should my schedule get really off track, I will at least throw back a protein shake and a banana 30-45 minutes prior to training.

 

I also don’t take any pre workout supplements. I have in the past, but when I did I would find myself in the middle of a hard roll with what felt like a humming bird trying to escape from my chest. I usually just have a small cup of coffee or tea for a boost.

 

My eating schedule during the week is pretty structured. Because I train and teach a lot during the week I can’t really afford to have a big fat meal during the day. Bad food will make me lethargic and I’ll do a crappy job of teaching my students and training myself.  That being said I still have my share of ice cream and cheeseburgers. I follow the 80/20 rule most of the time, 80% good and 20% whatever. I love having a burger and a beer with the guys, or sometimes on Thursdays we will go to the Mexican restaurant across the street and have a cheat meal AFTER training.

 

Anyways, here’s what my average diet looks like during the week, it’s not for everyone but it keeps me energized during the day.  Just as a note, I have fixed AM and PM training sessions, but I will also do extra training, privates and gym work during the day that’s not listed. I say this because I don’t want anyone to get the impression that I’m eating and sleeping between training sessions. Believe me, I’m not. I get up at 7-8am and don’t leave the gym till 9:930pm.

-Morning: Eggs, oatmeal (plain no sugar), piece of fruit and honey to put into the oats and a cup of coffee or tea

AM Training if I lift (Teaching, rolling, and a lift)

-Lunch(right after training) Sweet potatoes, asparagus, chicken.

-Lunch 2: usually the same thing as my first lunch with a cup of tea or coffee.

PM Teaching and Training

-Post workout protein shake

-A light dinner: veggies and some sort of protein source

 

 

 

Recap:

  1. Eat enough food and drink enough water. Your body is a vehicle and it needs fuel.
  2. Make sure you’re eating the right foods. You will get out of your body what you put in.
  3. Structure your diet so that its part of a conscious effort to enhance your training, not just eating to eat.
  4. Enjoy the energy boost you will feel during training if you are not currently eating consciously.

 

Thank you for reading the post! I hope that you were able to take something away from it and that it might help you get the most out of your training sessions if your eating habits are a little suspect right now. Also, if you have any BJJ related questions that you might want help with, feel free to send them to me in an email at chewjitsu@gmail.com.

 

Keep training hard!

—Chewy

7 methods to drilling and adding new techniques to your BJJ (Part 6)

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I wrote previously about restrictive rolling with a partner of lesser skill. Now let’s look at restrictive rolling with a partner or similar or higher skill. It’s essentially the same thing. . . only better. Again, all this really means is rolling with a definite goal against someone who is as good or better than you by restricting yourself to a select group of techniques and positions you wish to improve upon.

Seems pretty simple right? It is. . . sort of.

In theory, taking techniques that you aren’t incredibly familiar with and trying them out during rolling is simple. Rolling this way is rather easy with people that you out match. You can try and go for a move and if you expose yourself you can simply recover and control the situation again. However, against a person of similar skill, if you make a mistake they may submit or out position you. Combine the competitive nature of BJJ and the competitive nature of most people, and the thought of “losing” can hinder someone from opening up.  But taking risks, getting out of your comfort zone and opening up are all things that you need to do in order to improve your game, so forget about “losing” when rolling this way.  

Now, you don’t have to tell your partner you are working on anything in particular. Just roll with them and try to go after the techniques and positions that you are focusing on. This will be a bit stressful on your body since you will be against an opponent who is better equipped to deal with whatever you’re working on. Often, when using a new set of techniques you will find yourself having to muscle through it, or because of unfamiliarity, you will be more exhausted than usual. This is caused by both your body’s lack of efficiency with the movements and the stress brought on by engaging with a skilled opponent.  Because you cannot consider a move fully implemented until you can perform it under high pressure situations, the sooner you start attempting new moves against higher level guys, the better.   

Rolling this way will also have the side benefit of creating scrambles and at times leaving you in a less desirable position. By doing this you will be forced to become better at scrambling which is important (ever roll with a good wrestler?), and it will push you to work out of bad positions, effectively improving your defensive abilities. Just be sure to figure out the mistakes or weakness of the move that allowed you to end up in those positions and correct them.

Finally, if you should use the techniques against a higher belt level and they successfully defend or counter them. Don’t be afraid to ask them what they did or what you could have done.  Don’t ask them in the middle of the roll or anything, but grab them after class and just ask about what happened during the roll and if there is anything you might be able to improve upon. I have yet to meet a BJJ practitioner / instructor unwilling to share a tip here and there.

Again, what I am writing about isn’t some sort of secret way to get better. The idea is simple and effective, but implementation can be difficult because you will be forced out of your comfort zone. That being said, the sooner you lose the fear and experiment, the sooner your game will grow.

 

Benefits of Restrictive Rolling with people of similar skill

  • Helps improve your defensive techniques and scrambling ability since you may lose positioning while trying to perform the newer techniques.
  • Gives you more exposure on the techniques you’re perfecting in a live setting.
  • Helps you find new ways to get the same techniques or positions.
  • If you are going against someone of a higher level they may be able to give you helpful tips on what you’re working on.
  • Breaks training plateaus by giving you clear goals to achieve
  • Hitting a newly added move on a person who’s game you respect is a huge confidence booster.

7 methods to drilling and adding new techniques to your BJJ (Part 3)

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Back to passive drilling!

So now that you have been doing reps of your techniques and you’ve also been doing some situational rolling you have probably become much more comfortable with the position and techniques you are trying to use. Along with being more comfortable you have also probably hit some snags during training. When I say snags I mean that you’ve experienced someone countering or defending your techniques.  Maybe you go for a pass and your opponent brings his legs in to counter, or maybe you go for a triangle and the person shoots their head and body up to deny you the lock. Whatever it is, these situations can prove aggravating and unless you address them your techniques will be somewhat ineffective.

A solution

Once you encounter problems and the moves stop working by themselves, its time to move onto chain drilling. Wrestlers would be familiar with this as chain wrestling. This is where you do repetitions, much as we talked about in part 1, but instead of drilling them as standalone movements you will combine them with other techniques. Thus creating a sequence that will prepare you for possible obstacles you may face when executing your moves.

Here’s how to do it

  • Take a move that you are using but are having some problems with. (i.e a counter, defenses, etc)  
  • Next consult with your instructor or research a solution to your problem.
  • Once you have the technique you need to combat the issue you’re having, drill it just like you would any other move. Just perform it as part of a sequence with the other techniques.

This is pretty much just a modified version of part 1. I consider the first post to be about introducing a move into your repertoire. This post is more about refining the techniques or adding to them after you’ve used them. Lets face it, you have to use a technique before you can be sure about the kind of problems you will run into.  Consider this type of drilling as the next stage of a moves progression.

 

Benefits to chain drilling

  • Further develops the techniques you are trying to build up.  
  • Develops solutions to problems you are having during live training.
  • Allows you to combine multiple movements for a dynamic BJJ game.

Thanks for reading!