I just recently got home from a difficult solo canoe trip in the Canadian Arctic where I didn’t see anyone for weeks. Bears, storms, icebergs and exhaustion, this adventure had it all. Since I was alone, I had a lot of time to think. A big takeaway was how relevant some aspects of this wilderness stuff were to jiu-jitsu. Here are the three big lessons I learned from that trip, and how they … [Read more...]
Weightlifting
BJJ Longevity with Mike Mahaffey (Strenuous Life Podcast Ep 396)
In episode 396 of The Strenuous Life Podcast, I talk about BJJ longevity, weight training, practicing at home, and optimal training methods with BJJ old-timer Mike Mahaffey. There are a TON of valuable take-home lessons here for anyone who trains jiu-jitsu, and ESPECIALLY the over-40 crowd! Longevity in BJJ with Mike Mahaffey - Audio Only This conversation was also published as episode … [Read more...]
Vanished Civilizations and Lost Human Lineages, with Patrick Wyman
Patrick Wyman from the amazing Tides of History Podcast joins us today to discuss Large civilizations that disappeared (12:22) The human evolutionary family tree and paleogentics (17:41) The explosion of agriculture on different continents (28:16) Different species of hominids (40:20) 40 years that shook the world (43:57) The pivotal role of the printing press (48:30) … [Read more...]
Combining BJJ and Muay Thai, with Tyson Larone
I really enjoyed talking with Tyson Larone today on episode 360 of The Strenuous Life Podcast. He's a badass Jiu-jitsu black belt who also teaches Muay Thai and is a certified strength and conditioning coach. We went deep into developing effective training methods for the two arts, how to avoid injury, which experts we should listen to, training against resistance, and how to build a good mix … [Read more...]
Lifting Weights to Improve Your Jiu-Jitsu, with Steph Gaudreau
In episode 339 of my podcast (The Strenuous Life Podcast) I talk with strength trainer, nutritionist, author, and BJJ athlete Steph Gaudreau about why lifting weights won't make women bulky, the 5 main exercises every grappler should include weekly in his or her training, and how to train as you get older. Here's the excerpt from our chat specifically about these 5 categories of lifts that you … [Read more...]
Strength Training for BJJ
Brandon Morgan is a high level powerlifter who trains, coaches and competes out of the Kabuki Strength gym with Chris Duffin in Portland Oregon. In this episode we go deep into strength training and conditioning for combat sports drawing on his personal experience as a wrestler and training MMA athletes to be bigger, stronger, faster, and more injury resistant. Strength Training for BJJ with … [Read more...]
Measure Your Training To Improve Your Training
Peter Drucker, the godfather of modern business management, once said, “You can't manage what you can't measure.” Now I don't think that Peter Drucker did Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (or any other form of martial arts) but the idea of measuring things in order to improve them applies to every field of athletic endeavour. So let's look at some concrete ways that we might quantify our training and … [Read more...]
In-Depth Interview with Chris Duffin, The Mad Scientist of Strength
Chris Duffin is a super-smart, analytical, and incredibly dedicated BEAST of a human being. He's an ultra-elite powerlifter who has deadlifted 1000 lbs for reps and is now closing in on his grand goal of also squatting over 1000 lbs. I spent almost 1 1/2 hours chatting with him about his insane feats of strength at his gym and manufacturing facility and got a ton of insights into his … [Read more...]
BJJ Strength Training, The Top 6 Exercises
Many jiu-jitsu students want to know about strength training exercises for BJJ. Time is precious, people want to focus on the exercises that will give them the best results fastest! To help answer this question I met up with my friend Ben Zhuang who is a strength and conditioning coach, personal trainer, nutritionist and BJJ black belt. Ben has also been a guest on my podcast - click here … [Read more...]
A Weight Cutting Plan for BJJ, MMA, and No Gi Competition
Weight cutting is a fact of life in modern MMA and also in many jiu-jitsu and submission grappling competitions. And the person who does it correctly usually has an undeniable advantage. But it can also be very dangerous if done wrong - people have sabotaged their performance, gone into kidney failure, and even died after cutting weight badly. So if you're going to cut weight you need to do … [Read more...]