‘Mat STRONG!’ page 3

"The best training gains come from contrasting your training variables." ~ Geoff Neupert

"The best training gains come from contrasting your training variables."

~ Geoff Neupert

"Training Contrasts" is a powerful concept I learn from my mentor Geoff.

An example of contrasting your strength training would be:

... a heavy day followed by a light day.

... high volume day followed by a low volume day.

... strength day followed by an aerobic or power day.

Contrast training is a great way to peak performance on and off the mat.

Here's why this is important...

To have the endurance and resilience to thrash through someones guard, you need a training contrast.

I mentioned earlier... the very nature of Jiu-Jitsu IS conditioning.

So.

If you're a conditioning athlete (e.g., Jiu-Jitsu) what do you think your training off the mat should consist of?

If you said STRENGTH.

Give yourself a fist bump.

Here's what most BJJ guys (and people in general) fail to realize...

"... Strength is the mother quality."

According to Professor Leonid Matveyev the father of modern periodization.

Periodization: The planning and progression of your strength training.

Strength is the mother quality upon which all other attributes are develop.

What does this mean?

If health is not an issue, STRENGTH should be your #1 priority.

NOT conditioning/cardio.

And NOT mobility/flexibility.

... but STRENGTH.

Why?

Because the stronger you are, the easier it is to build a bigger base for endurance.

[Strength] endurance after all is simply... "continued strength."

It's kinda like a 4 cylinder vs. a V8 engine.

4 cylinder vs. V8 Power

How hard do you have to punch the gas on a 4 cylinder for it to speed up?

Pretty much to the floor, right?

Now how hard to you need to punch the gas on the V8?

No much.

... and here's why.

The V8 has a bigger base or a bigger furnace to generate its power. The same goes for strength.

The stronger you are, the bigger your furnace.

The bigger your furnace... the more work capacity you'll have on the mat.

But here's what most guys fail to understand about strength.

Like Jiu-Jitsu.

Strength is a skill.

And like any skill.

It needs to be practiced.

... and it's the ONE skill you're not learning to keep you healthy and advance your efforts off the mat.

Once you harness the skill of strength, your BJJ game has no choice but the elevate to the next level!

Simply as a consequence of longevity and resilience.

Harnessing the skill of strength deploys this...

Proven formula for a more effective BJJ game.

ST = MD + MR

The stronger you are, the more weight you can lift.
The more you can lift, the less energy it takes to roll with bigger training partners.
The less energy it takes to roll, the more rounds/drills you can do.
The more round/drills you can do, the better you get at Jiu-Jitsu.

It's a proven, simple, and repeatable formula for a more effective BJJ game.

In short...

Endurance athletes (like BJJ guys and gals) need to focus on getting stronger.

Strength = More Drills + More Rounds.

The consequence of getting stronger builds a greater work capacity to practice more drills so you can roll MORE ROUNDS!

Which means... you'll win more matches while getting injured less.

I don't know about you but... this sounds like a winning formula to me.

Now.

You may be asking yourself...

"... Hector, so where should I start to increase my strength to have better endurance for BJJ?"

I'm glad you asked.

I'll show you how to do that here...