Judo and BJJ

I have been studying Judo for a few weeks now, going once a week.  I want some takedowns to add into my BJJ game.  It would look kind of weird if i asked to work out with a high school wrestling team, so i figured judo was a good option.  Its alot of fun, kind of like gymnastics for the combat sport inclined.  I like the dynamic movement that is involved, and learning to feel my opponent’s balance and when to throw.  I think its going to be a while before i can effectively use it, but its fun learning.  I realize now how many reps it takes to make some of these throws actually work.

The rules have taken a bit getting used to.  When we open roll during class it seems to be anything goes, when you hit the ground and grapple all techniques are allowed.  But the other night we had a simulated tournament, where one person was ref, you bow in, etc.  Me and this other guy were paired off, and when it hit the ground i immediately got mount and went for the arm bar.  Well apparently white belts are not allowed to do armbars in official judo tournaments, so they stopped us.   So next time it hit the ground i just got the pin and held it.  Ideally not the way i want to grapple, but its ok, i am there mostly to get the stand up and throwing knowledge.  So far uchi mata and tai otoshi seem to kind of click for me, though i still need lots of practice.

I have been hitting BJJ 2-3 times a week and lifting at Crossfit 2 times a week on average.  Following Mike Ruthefords Black Box program, i just spread the three work out days over a 9 day period instead of seven.  I was enjoying the gymnastic stuff i was doing before that, but all maximal strength every workout was not quite what i needed.

Anton

Gymnastic strength and grappling

Man, its been a while since i updated this blog.  Sorry for that.  I started a new job recently, have been busy with things, and i guess i have not had alot of thoughts on fitness that i felt were good enough to write about.

Not to long ago i got Building the Gymnastic Body, by Christopher Sommer.  Its a book of basic gymnastic exercise progressions for the fitness enthusiast.  Its not designed to get you to the olympics, but rather to give you some new strength training tools for your toolbox.

I, like most folks i think, have always been amazed by gymnasts.  Their ability to display strength, coordination, flexibility through the multitude movements they must execute is pretty amazing.  The few former gymnasts i have grappled at BJJ class have always been amazingly strong, with insane upper body strength and a good base.  I think the body awareness and strength developed through gymnastics really carries over to grappling.

So a few weeks ago i decided to implement some gymnastics strength movements for my upper body and core strength work.  In a nutshell i am training progressions on the three main static holds in Building the Gymnastic Body.  They are planche, front lever, and back lever.  With each of those you pair one strength movement, like a chin up variation, muscle up, handstand, push up, etc.  So you do a submaximal static hold, then walk over and do your strength movement, rest a minute or so, and repeat the desired amount of sets.  I’d highly recommend getting the book and checking out www.gymnasticbodies.com for more information.  There is alot of variation possible with this type of programming, and its easy to work in core and lower body movements such as squatting, deadlifting, etc.  Perhaps when i get a back lever i will post a picture.

So i am doing that twice a week, training juijitsu at least three times a week, and fitting in a Crossfit Metcon when i can.  I am kind of experimenting how it goes trying to get my conditioning solely from grappling.

Trying to cut a bit of fat, so today is the first day of logging my food.  Its going ok, 2200 calories total, 210 gr of protein, and 36 gr carbs.  140 gr of Fat.  We’ll see how it goes.

Anton

Performance Menu

So the April 2009 issue of the Performance Menu includes an article i wrote on combining Brazillian Jui-Jitsu practice with outside strength and conditioning work.  I am pretty excited to have something in there alongside other coaches and athletes i admire and respect.  The article outlines a training scheme that has worked for me, and might work for other folks, or will at least give them a basis on which to design their own program.

Anton

An Update!

So sorry no updates in quite a while.  Lift just got crazy, i was sick for a week, had a visitors in town for like three weeks in a row, and was busy working on a music project, starting to record my first cd.

In the fitness realm it looks like i may have an article published the Performance Menu soon, which is cool.  Its about integrating Brazillian juijitsu with outside strength and conditioning work that the regular 9-5, day jobber can handle.  It needed some pictures, so i got my grappling buddy Nathan and we took some pictures using Crossfit Portland’s crash pad.  It was fun to be able to thow each other as hard as we wanted.  Picking people up and slamming them is fun.

We definitely need to work with the crash pad more often.  Being able to take someone down is quite important.

There is another Crossfit Total coming up at Crossfit Portand this saturday.  I can’t believe its been more than a month since the last one, and i have prepared by doing more or less nothing in the past few weeks.  I had a program all planned out, then between being sick and all didnt up following most of it.  I was going to ditch out on the Total, but friends talked me into it, if for no other reason to see what i could do being under prepared.  So yesterday i went and squatted and pressed heavy.  Got an easy 280 on the squat, and almost got 140 on the press.  Not to far from what i got before, so i think for the Total i should at least be able to get the same lifts.  With the deadlift i mostly able to finish a speed cycle since the last total, so i am less concerned with that.  After this its back to a well rounded program for grappling, i am no powerlifter.

I promise to be better about updates and want to write up a bonch of topics that folks can actually implemet into their own exercise routines.

Anton

Good interview with BJJ Blackbelt Matt Thornton

I have not posted all that much about juijitsu training.  Mostly because i have not been grappling as much as i would like lately.  I’ve been at Crossfit Portland alot, learning to coach the various movements and helping out.  Then i was out of town for a weeks.  But things a bit more settled down now, so i have been able to get back in and grapple some more.

Here is a good recent interview with Matt Thornton, whom i train under.  Matt’s has some great insights on BJJ and training in general.  I can say first hand that the teaching methods at the Straight Blast Gym are top notch.

Matt Thronton Interview

Anton

Combining Grappling and Crossfit

I enjoy Brazillian Juijitsu/Grappling, and i enjoy Crossfit. I’ve been having trouble lately balancing them both. I want to get stronger, improve my conditioning, but also have energy left over for grappling. I’ll talk about some various schedules i have tried and hopefully some others can learn from my mistakes.

I think first you need to have a goal. Whether its get stronger, get bigger, improve performance on a workout, or increase attributes for a sport you need to be working towards something. Without a goal you can’t plan, and then you are just sitting there spinning your wheels. How many people do you know that go to the gym year after year, but still look the same or never lift any heavier weights.

I prefer to focus on performance related goals rather than appearance related ones. If you train for performance than your physique will naturally follow, and you will actually be able to use what you have developed. Tired of your skinny legs, than learn to squat. When you can squat double bodyweight i assure you your legs will have gained some size. Physique goals are so subjective, and alot of people will never be happy with how they look. Pick a performance goal, write it down, and there will no doubt when you accomplish it.

At first when trying to balance both grappling and crossfit i tried to go six days on and one day off. That did not work so well. If i had a killer Crossfit or Jits class i would not perform so well the next day. And if my off day was a few days away i knew i would be pretty beat up by the time it came around. And then i never felt like i fully recovered.

After going to classes kind of randomly and trying to take regular days off i decided on the 3 on 1 off pattern that Crossfit uses. I will try to get in an equal amount of jits and Crossfit classes, though jits may take precedence at times. I will still show up at the Crossfit gym on my off days to help coach and learn. This is what my schedule looked like this week:

Friday – Jits
Saturday – Heavy Lifting
Sunday – Jits
Monday – Off
Tuesday – Crossfit, heavier conditioning workout
Wednesday – Jits
Thusday – Crossfit am, Jits pm
Friday – Off
Saturday – Heavy lifting

This is the schedule i am going to try and stick to. My off days will fall on different days of the week at times. I am going to try to get in a heavy strength workout, a conditioning workout that involves weights, like Crossfit’s Fran or Ross Enamait’s Magic 50, and then a conditioning day that involves more bodyweight excercises like pushups, jumping jacks, and burpees. If i am feeling frisky i may skip a rest day here and there, for example Fridays at jits is no-gi and one of my favorite classes. But due to my rest days rotating i won’t miss it every week. I am going to strive to get in two workouts a day occasionally. Thats if i can motivate myself to get up early enough.

I think this schedule will give me enough grappling time to improve my skills while allowing me to increase my strength and conditioning. One of the mistakes i have made in the past is doing to much conditioning outside of Jits, thinking it would help my performance on the mat. It does to an extent, but at least for me the biggest key to get better conditioning for grappling is to grapple more.

Hopefully eventually i will be able to train more jits as well. Three times a week is barely enough to make progress for me.

Anton