Danaher & Askren on Jiu-Jitsu Training Styles

John Danaher and Ben Askren talk about the differences between training for jiu-jitsu and training for wrestling and how the former can benefit from adopting aspects of the latter.

"It's my personal belief that jiu-jitsu sees enormous technical change year-by-year. Every year there are new techniques coming in, there's fascinating, new stuff coming in all the time. But jiu-jitsu almost never sees innovation in training methodology. You see massive innovations in technique. Zero innovations in training. And that's got to change. If jiu-jitsu is going to mature as a sport, that's got to change."

--Danaher on building a jiu-jitsu program in the image of amateur wrestling.

Strong Guys (and Gals) Don't Get Hurt (as Much)

BEST EXERCISE INTERVENTIONS TO PREVENT SPORTS INJURIES?

O Minotinho

With the 2017-2018 season just ended a little while ago, I'll have to post some updates on what training has been like this year.

My workout log is now at the T-Nation forums, for folks who like to follow that sort of thing. I'm big into weightlifting these days, both in and of itself as well as a supplement to my jiu-jitsu training. I'm learning a lot - in addition to trying to get a little bit bigger, and a lot stronger.

Burien Top Team Training Log: Making the Minotaur

I'm following a seasonal approach to weight training right now. From now until late December, I am in Autumn or Hypertrophy phase. Emphasis here is on getting bigger and stronger (in that order, more or less). At a maximum, I don't want to get above the IBJJF lightweight no-gi max of 162 (about 12-15 pounds more than my current weight). But I'm not trying to be a "walk around featherweight" any more.

The program I'm following is one I've done before: Boring But Big #2 by Jim Wendler. I'm weight training 4x/week for three weeks, then taking the fourth week off as a deload (and also because I've got to travel for work).

Here's the short version on my thinking. There's no point in getting significantly smaller - and staying that way - if I'm not competing (and maybe not even if I were). The guys I train with at the gym who are my toughest partners are (almost) all above 150 - most above 160. And every now and then, especially when I'm teaching, I end up matched with a 185+ pound white or blue belt.

I've got no problem dialing it down on the strength side when training with smaller folks. But for longevity's sake, being as big and strong as I can be while staying within "cutting range" of 148 (the IBJJF featherweight no-gi limit) should be a much a better plan going forward.

I'm estimating that means a top side weight max of 162. That's no target. But if I like the strength and body composition changes, I'll allow myself to gain up to that point.

See you on the mat and in the gym!

Image By Marsyas - Own work, CC BY 2.5, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1524909

From Lo to Santana

I've been spending the past several months taking my guard passing cues from Leandro Lo, whose attacks against the DLR remain invaluable to me. But the more I train and try to implement his approach, the more I realize that his approach to guard passing is a little too dynamic for my game at this point.

It's a little similar to my recent realization that, when it comes to sitting guard, strategies of both Rodolfo Viera (a heavyweight) and Otavio Sousa (a middleweight) suit me better than the strategy of someone like Cobrinha, who shares my weight class (featherweight, 149 lbs or less) and uses a lot of arm drags and scrambles. Again, the issue is dynamism and the level of aggressiveness required to secure the pass.

I should point out, ironically, that tonight's lesson was a version of Cobrinha's attack: a near-side arm drag from sitting guard. So maybe the Pena Approach to sitting guard is not yet dead to me.

In any event, while I'll continue to use some of Lo's innovations against the DLR - particularly the post/knee slide and pin/backstep strategies - I need something with more control, more precision, and more pressure when it comes to guard passing broadly speaking.

That pretty much leaves one particular set of skills and at least one particularly skillful practitioner.

Personal Record Week in the Weight Room

I've been lifting weights seriously again since the beginning of the year, following the 5/3/1 program. I've finally made it through a few cycles and, with another business trip and break from heavy lifting coming up, thought this would be a good time to chase a few personal records.

Here's where I stand with a bodyweight average of about 148. BF approx 12-14%.

Squat
275

Bench Press
190

OHP
130

Deadlift
280*

My goal is still to get to a combined total of 1080 pounds.  Ideally, that means another 40 pounds in my squat, another 35 pounds to my bench, just a handful of pounds to my OHP, and a relatively daunting additional 125 pounds to my deadlift. For this year, I'd like to cut those in half with a goal of getting to 1080 by Christmas 2019.

*Technically speaking, this wasn't a 1RM test. Rather it was the final Joker set during the third week of Cycle 4. So my deadlift PR is probably at least a few pounds heavier. Unfortunately, I won't do another PR test until the fall at the earliest.

Tripping the Lighter, Less Mentally Traumatic

There are a few transfers from my weight training practice to my jiu-jitsu practice. This essay from strength training coach Christian Thibaudeau, which talks about training protocols based on neurological type, is one of them

TYPE 3 

Type 3 are the most anxious neurotype. For that reason, they don’t like novelty/variation and do better when they follow a static routine or a precise plan. Weight lifting creates more anxiety and stress than for the other neurotypes. Anxiety is simply an excessive neuronal activity, so the last thing you want to do with a Type 3 is to increase neuronal activity even more. In fact, they need to reduce it to train properly. Type 3 also tend to be “tighter/less mobile” because of their anxiety (anxiety increases muscle tightness, especially in the flexor muscles). 

What they need
Type 3 should focus on the parasympathetic nervous system when preparing for a workout. They actually need to reduce neuronal activity. For them, mobility work and self myofascial release (even flow work) are very effective pre-workout, as they decrease anxiety and improve mobility, which are the two main problems for a Type 3. Type 3 also have an increased perception of pain, so self-myofascial release and mobility work will also help in that regard. One last thing they can benefit from is adding “rehearsal work”: a lighter and less mentally traumatic version of the main lift of the session. For example, doing some slow goblet squats before back squats.

I've been getting in some drilling over the past few weeks with a few blue belt training partners (thanks Jesus and Peter!). This has been a great way to deal with the fact that I only train twice a week and that there is little "mid-range" work. I help teach (or teach) and I train full speed, with little in between.

This reinforces something I realized after another Tuesday night of lackluster training. When Tuesday rolls around, I've been off the mat for four days. There is no flow, no rhythm, and my performance is typically subpar. By Thursday, with a little recent jiu-jitsu under my belt, I'm usually in much better form.

I think the trick is to add more "mobility work" and "rehearsal work" as Christian Thibaudeau calls it, in the form of flow rolling Tuesdays before class. "A "lighter and less mentally traumatic version" a few hours beforehand might help me transition more readily into Tuesday evening's live training.

Profesor Carlos Sievert Dominates at SUG 7

Skip to 5:25:00 for Professor Carlos' match against Straight Blast Gym's John Diggins

Back from Travels, Back on the Grind

Maybe I'll switch to weekly updates. We'll see. I'm tracking my weight training over at T-Nation, and I'm not sure of the value of tracking my jiu-jitsu classes - though I can think of a few different ways to do it that might be more worthwhile for all involved.

I've been back on the mat and in the gym for about four and a half weeks. Because of work travel, I was off the mat for three weeks, and away from heavy lifting for two. I only missed a week of cardio.

Right now, my cardio is OK. I've backed off doing four sessions of 30-minute LSD treadmill walking after two weeks and have bumped up the pre- and post-jiujitsu conditioning. The pre-training workout is a 9-minute matwork routine (three rounds of 10 sets of 8 reps of different grappling solo drills) and the post-training workout is a 15-minute mashup of HICT and Tempo intervals (five rounds of hipscapes, ab wheel rollouts, hip thrusts, jump squats, tempo pushups).

My heavy lifting is actually going kinda great. I squatted 235 for a triple on Monday, the heaviest squat I've ever done. Today I benched 170 for a triple, which I also think is the heaviest bench press I've ever done. Add to this the fact that I'm doing this on a fat loss diet that has me at my lightest weight since I moved to Seattle in 1999, and you've got one happy prick.

Jiujitsu is another story. Although my four-week attendance average is back up to 2.0 (nothing impressive, but the best I've been able to do since moving to Kent in the fall of 2016 and doubling the travel time between home and the academy), I am not feeling it at all. It's one thing to be fighting to stay ahead. It's quite another to be fighting to keep up. Without putting too fine a point on it, if I can't figure out a way to perform better on the mat, I'm not convinced I'll keep trying.

My last strategy is going to be adding a training day on Sunday. Currently, all I do is help teach (or teach) and Live Train. I never practice and it's starting to show. It's always 100% or nada. And that's not conducive to betterment at all.

So I'm going to spend the next few months getting in some flow training on Sundays and see if that helps patch the hole in this bucket.

                                                                                                                                                            

Duck Season A: Cycle 3

Deadlift

150 x 3

170 x 3

190 x 7

Joker (supersetted w/DB rows 20 x 8 3)

200 x 3

210 x 3

220 x 3

FSL

150 x 8 x 3

+

LSD treadmill

9.0 cal/min for 30 minutes

Training Day: Thursday

See Training Day: Tuesday for Today's Lesson

+

16 minutes Live Training

+

Upper body/Lower body stretches

Duck Season A: Cycle 3

OHP

60 x 3

70 x 3

80 x 7

Joker (supersetted w/DB hammer curls 20 x 8 3)

85 x 3

90 x 3

95 x 3

FSL

60 x 8 x 3

+

LSD treadmill

8.70 cal/min for 30 minutes

Training Day: Tuesday

Pummeling drill / Pummel to Ankle Pick / Pummel to Ankle Pick to Half Guard Pass with Crossface and Kickback / Pummul to Ankle Pick to Half Guard Pass with Crossface and Kickback to Breadcutter Choke / Pummel to Ankle Pick to Half Guard Pass with Crossface and Kickback to Lapel Katagatame from Knee on Belly

+

32 minutes Live Training

+

Upper body/Lower body stretches

Rabbit Season B: Cycle 3

Bench (supersetted w/DB rows 20 x 8 x 3)

95 x 3

110 x 3

135 x 7

Joker 

140 x 3

145 x 3

150 x 3

FSL

95 x 8 x 3

+

LSD treadmill

8.80 cal/min for 30 minutes

Rabbit Season A: Cycle 3

Squat (supersetted w/DB hammer curls 20 x 8 x 3)

135 x 3

155 x 3

175 x 7

Joker 

185 x 3

195 x 3

205 x 3

FSL

135 x 8 x 3

+

LSD treadmill

8.86 cal/min for 30 minutes

Duck Season A: Cycle 3

OHP

55 x 5

65 x 5

75 x 9

Joker (supersetted w/ DB hammer curls 25 x 8 x 3)

80 x 5

85 x 5

90 x 5

FSL

55 x 8 x 3

Deadlift

140 x 5

165 x 5

185 x 9

Joker

195 x 5

205 x 5

215 x 5

FSL

140 x 8 x 3

Training Day: Thursday

See Training Day: Tuesday for Today's Lesson 

+

25+ minutes Live Training 

+

Upper body/Lower body stretches

Congratulations to Professor Carlos Sievert!

Master 1 Heavyweight Division IBJJF 2018 Pan Am Champion

Watch the final at FloGrappling!

Training Day: Tuesday

Armdrag from sitting to back take to corner takedown from rear / Guard pull to Spider Guard to Pass spider guard with leg drag / Half Guard Pass vs Standing Half Guard Pull (with and without leg triangle)

+ 

20+ minutes Live Training

+

Upper body/Lower body stretches

Rabbit Season: Cycle 3

Squat

125 x 5

145 x 5

165 x 9

Joker

175 x 5

185 x 5

195 x 5

FSL

125 x 8 x 3

Bench

90 x 5

105 x 5

130 x 9

Joker

135 x 5

140 x 5

145 x 5

FSL

90 x 8 x 3

Cardio!

LSD

8.77 cal/min for 47:29 minutes

Rabbit Season: Deload

[squats only]

215 x 3

FSL 170 x 8 x 3

Training Day: Thursday

10 minutes matwork

+

See Training Day: Tuesday for Today's Lesson 

+

12 minutes Live Training 

Duck Season: Cycle 2, Day 6

5/3/1  "Jack Shit Protocol"

OHP (max set/rep) 105 x 5

deadlift (max set/rep) 245 x 5

Training Day: Tuesday

Cross collar grip takedown / Cross collar grip takedown to collar drag / Standing guard break to single under guard pass / Standing guard break to Lazy Boy leg staple guard pass

+

15 minutes Live Training

+ 

8 minutes Open Mat Training

Cardio!

LSD

8.4 cal/min for 47:30 minutes

Rabbit Season: Cycle 2, Day 5

5/3/1 "Jack Shit Protocol"

squat (max set/rep) 215 x 7

bench (max set/rep) 160 x 7

Training Day: Thursday

Cross collar grip takedown / Cross collar grip takedown to collar drag / Side control escape: keylock trap / Side control escape: Arm trap rollover

+

0 minutes Live Training (TA)

Cardio!

LSD

8.02 cal/min for 47:29 minutes

Duck Season: Cycle 2, Day 4

5/3/1  "Jack Shit Protocol"

OHP (max set/rep) 95 x 9

deadlift (max set/rep) 230 x 9

Training Day: Tuesday

Cross collar grip takedown / Cross collar grip takedown to collar drag / Side control escape: high leg to guard recover / Side control escape: Arm trap rollover

+

16 minutes Live Training

+

BJJ Circuit

Cardio!

LSD

8.04 cal/min for 47:30 minutes

Rabbit Season: Cycle 2, Day 3

5/3/1*

squat (max set/rep) 205 x 9

bench (max set/rep) 150 x 9

+

4 x 500m row sprints

1:59, 2:00, 2:07, 1:57

* Learned that by adding the row sprints, I'm actually doing more of a 5/3/1 for Athletes program than a true "hit PR and go home" Jack Shit protocol. All to the good.

Training Day: Saturday

Single leg (Wheel Entry) / Guard Pull from Standing / Guard Pull to Scissor Sweep (no grip change) / Guard Pull to Scissor Sweep to Armbar / Guard Pull to Scissor Sweep to Armbar to Omoplata / Guard Pull to Scissor Sweep to Armbar to Omoplata to Triangle

+

24 minutes Live Training

Training Day: Thursday

Double leg takedown / Single leg takedown / Guard pull from standing / Scissor sweep / Cross collar choke from mount (T)

+

8  minutes Live Training

+

BJJ Circuit

Cardio!

LSD

8.02 cal/min for 47:30 minutes

Duck Season: Cycle 2, Day 2

5/3/1  "Jack Shit Protocol"

OHP (max set/rep) 90 x 10

deadlift (max set/rep) 220 x 10

Cardio!

LSD

7.33 cal/min for 47:30 minutes

FloGrappling Features Lucas Lepri

Hopefully this is the first of many such aggregations by FloGrappling. Especially nice to see Lepri featured because he is one of the most overlooked champions of all time.

Rabbit Season: Cycle 2, Day 1

5/3/1 "Jack Shit Protocol"

squat (max set/rep) 195 x 9

bench (max set/rep) 145 x 9

+

4 x 500m row sprints

2:14, 2:05, 2:06, 2:03