I know it’s hard to believe right? But your coach doesn’t have all the answers. When you have a good coach and they’ve made a positive impact on your training it’s easy to start thinking they might have the answers to other problems. If you’re a coach reading this I bet, like me, you’ve been asked for everything from injury advice to relationship counseling and everything in between. Believe it or not coaches don’t know everything, in fact they probably don’t even know that much about what they do know (confused yet?) I speak from experience here, and not to insult any great coaches out there. When you set out to learn something it seems insurmountable but gradually you start to acquire new knowledge, remember things and formulate your ideas – however, this is probably the only point where you start to think you know stuff. As you continue to learn, you realise just how big the field you’re in (fitness for example) really is.

Have you ever heard of ‘leg day’? This is perhaps the most talked about day at the gym, the day everybody dreads. That day where you go to the gym and smash your legs with as many exercises as you can fit into an hour and then hobble back to your car questioning your every life choice. What if I told you I love training legs but I hate leg day… Yup, that’s right I hate ‘leg day’ just like I hate ‘arm day’, ‘back day’, ‘shoulder day’ and pretty much any day aimed at one body part. Let me give you this example of the evolution of leg day over a week:

Perhaps the most loved exercise amongst ‘gym bros’ and the most hated amongst ‘serious athletes/functional coaches’ – the humble Bicep Curl. The Bicep Curl falls into a category of exercise that a lot of coaches like to rubbish, usually under the guise that it’s ‘not functional’. I’ve heard this so many times in the gym, as well as seeing it posted on social media, I’ve even been on a training course where the coach leading the event asserted that it had no relation to any sports specific movements (we may have had a small debate about that). Attacking certain exercises seems like a good method for some to assert that their idea of what you should be doing is superior, and the bicep curl regularly comes under attack. So what is it?

There are many awesome exercises that can benefit your grappling and BJJ, a lot of people will say Kettlebells are great, some people swear by Olympic lifts, whereas others love battle ropes and sandbags. However, when it comes to supposed ‘bodybuilding’ style movements there is usually a lot of criticism about their viability and usefulness for grappling athletes. Out of all of these I think the Bench Press and the Bicep Curl get the worst press. I remember being at an open mat and hearing a guy talking about some of the lifters at a gym opposite saying “I’d like to see them try and Bench Press out of an RNC” to which he received a lot of positive reinforcement. I always wondered if someone in the bodybuilding gym was looking over saying “I’d like to see those guys RNC their way out from under this 500lbs Squat…” probably not. But those exercises aren’t “functional” – First of all I hate that term; functional for what exactly? If you’re the guy dropping that piece of ‘knowledge’ I gamble you recommend punching with dumbbells to increase punching power whilst standing 1 legged on a BOSU. Lol. Anyway, I am here to tell you that the Bench Press and Bicep Curl are awesome for BJJ!

This is a message to everyone, however I see this in abundance in combat sports athletes so a special memo to them today. First off lets get one thing straight you should be training hard, with good structure and decent intensity or your results will definitely suffer. However Training hard for the sake of it is only good for an Instagram post not your longevity or results. If you see a guy wrapped in resistance bands, jumping one legged over a hurdle, whilst throwing a Kettlebell, try and use a critical eye to determine is he working smarter than you, not just ‘harder’ than you.  It may look a lot cooler than your back squat and more badass than your deadlift but is it actually useful?

Previously I talked about training SMART not just HARD but I feel I need to clarify… YOU DO NEED TO TRAIN HARD Training intensity is incredibly important and making sure that your training is actually challenging is key to your progress. However just being hard is not enough – it must also get progressively harder over time. There are many training variables that you can alter to achieve this, but you must look to make your training gradually more challenging over a given period of time (mesocycle) in order to build muscle, increase strength or improve performance. An issue I see too often is people looking for the PERFECT program, the best exercise, the most faultless form. All of these are respectable and sensible ideas however all of the most amazing programming and science-based training will do zero for you without correct intensity.

What is Strength and Conditioning and how does it fit into your grappling training? Strength and Conditioning is a term often thrown around in grappling circles but rarely understood. There seems to be two camps on the matter; one is a strong advocate of this training whilst the other says ‘technique conquers all’ and S&C (Strength and Conditioning) is a waste of time. To put it quite simply, this latter group is wrong. Well they have one thing right, in that I agree with technique being the most important facet, however, it is undeniable that a stronger, fitter and more powerful athlete with similar technique will likely win most encounters. All serious athletes, in all competitive sports will have a Strength and Conditioning routine – fact.

Disclaimer: I am not a doctor or medical professional and you should always consult a physician before stating any exercise program. The following post contains ideas and methods I have used with myself and a multitude of clients when dealing with injury. If you’ve lifted or trained hard for any period of time then you have likely encountered injury. Injury can happen for a number of reasons and often doesn’t necessarily mean you did anything wrong, unfortunately pushing our bodies to change and adapt, as well as the current parameters of our abilities mean that injury may always ‘be on the table’ despite our best efforts. For those of us that ‘lift’ the most common injuries will be to the shoulders, knees or lower back, if you partake in full contact sports then include ankles, hands, neck and pretty much everything else. So you got injured – to quote the Witcher ‘Fuck.’

Daniel Strauss AKA The Raspberry Ape recently dropped his DVD ‘Ape Strong’ Grip Training for Grapplers. Anyone that follows his social media will know he posts a whole host of interesting and innovative training techniques from bending horseshoes to lifting stones to swinging axes in the snow! But how good is ‘Ape Strong’? Will it actually be useful to grapplers and does it deliver on improving your grip…

Ever heard of Milo of Croton? He is a very interesting character who lived in 6th Century BC Greece. Milo was a six-time Olympic champion. He won the boys’ wrestling title and progressed to win five men’s wrestling titles between 536 and 520 BCE. He also won seven crowns at the Pythian Gamesat Delphi, ten at the Isthmian Games, and nine at the Nemean Games. Milo was a five-time Periodonikēs, a title bestowed on the winner of all four festivals in the same cycle. In short Milo was a bad motherf**ker. If you think his training and competition was legit you should hear about his nutrition – it is said his daily diet consisted of 9kg of meat, 9kg of bread, and 10 litres of wine. Wonder if he tracked all of that?

5 tips to set you on course for success 1. Ask if you don’t know ‘Oh, I’m Sorry. I don’t know how this machine works ‘– Starlord It’s ok to ask, it really is. Most people in the gym, even those going for the last 10 years, have little to no idea about what they’re doing – so you’re not alone. One of the big differences between those making great progress and those ‘spinning their wheels’ is that they sought help and advice. Now if you’re at the type of gym with good quality gym staff then these guys will be ideal to ask  ‘how do I use this?’ , ‘how can I improve that?’. If you’re not at that type of gym, then I highly recommend reading, listening and watching some coaches online to get advise and guidance.

If you’ve been lifting for any serious amount of time you have likely encountered a lifting plateau. This is not characterized by one bad session, or an off week, but rather a series of sessions where you are unable to progress your lifting as your program would suggest. Now, there are a variety of factors at play, and humans are not robots (yet) so adding weight or reps every session isn’t practical or possible or else we would all end up with 700kg deadlifts. There will be natural limitations and ceilings you may reach, however, you should be able to continue to progress your lifting for a very long time if you approach your training in a smart way. Everything else aside we must also remember stress, lifestyle, big events, injury, illness, cut/bulk cycle, body weight and a whole host of other factors can impact your lifting and cause setbacks or stalls.  It goes without saying that when something more important than the gym (is there such a thing) springs up you may need to look at maintenance being the best course of action temporarily. If though life is going well, no injuries, no issues, no additional stressors, but you are still struggling to get more weight on the bar; Here are 5 things I always consider with myself and clients when working to break a plateau.