Grapple Smart

Ok, so I’ve been posting my weekly goals on Twitter and I thought I’d post them here as well.  You’re welcome to follow me at @GrappleSmart on Twitter!

My #BJJ/ #BrazilianJiuJitsu goal for this week is to be inefficient!  That’s right inefficient when I train.  Far too often I catch myself utilizing as little effort as possible to win because I’m afraid of gassing out in later sparring rounds… sound familiar?  So this week I’m going to gas myself out so that I finish my sparing sessions in O2 debt (hopefully).  I’m hoping this will do 2 things: first, it will give my cardio a boost since I’ll be pushing my aerobic threshold and second, I’ll get used to attacking faster and more often.  I’ll let you know how it goes.  Anyone else have a goal they’d like to share?
The interesting thing about BJJ is that it’s similar to doing any repetitive exercise in one respect.  Just like running, biking, or whatever exercise you do, if you do it the same way consistently enough you’re body will get used to the exercise and slowly become fore efficient at performing it.  Sounds good right? Well, if the goal is to burn as many calories as possible in a workout then it’s not.  Basically, your body adjusts to what ever stress  you put it through and adapts.

The same adaptation can be said for Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.  Think about it, back when you first started BJJ wasn’t it hard to breathe all the time, and so tough to think of the move you were just taught when it’s time to live spar?  As the weeks and months went by you were able to feel more comfortable sparing, and could think better in tight spots right?!?  Well, now it’s time to give your Jiu-Jitsu metabolism a boost and make you’re self gas out.  I mean what’s the worst that can happen? You get tapped out? So what!  But the benefits can be huge!

As in any sport you will have ups and downs in your training.  Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and submission grappling are no different.  Every grappler will encounter sore joints and even need to take time off to let an injury heal.  The treatment for an injury, although not fun, is typically fairly straight forward.  Ice it, elevate it, take some Motrin, or even go to the doctor if you need to.  But there’s no doctor that can heal you or pill you can take when you hit a plateau in your training.

What is a training plateau anyway?

The dictionary defines a plateau as: When an individual’s adaptation or performance levels off or gets worse, a plateau has been reached and retrogression has occurred.  In my time I’ve hit several plateaus that you may be able to relate to.

1. You feel really mechanical when rolling and can’t execute moves that used to come naturally or seem simple.  There have been times when I know what I need to do to execute a technique but for some reason my body refuses to do it.   Maybe I eventually execute the desired movement but my intentions are telegraphed and my opponent easily defends it.
2. You’re getting your guard passed like it’s not there or getting submitted more frequently than usual and you just can’t put your finger on why.
3. You can execute a move well when drilling but blank out when live sparring.
4. You’ve learned new techniques but you just keep going back to your same old style of grappling even though you’d like to incorporate new techniques.
5. You just feel discouraged or burnt out.

Things I’ve done to push through plateaus that you may benefit from.

1. Understand that if you stick with the sport long enough everyone hits plateaus.  Even the best grapplers in the world will tell you that they too hit plateaus.  Try not to get discouraged and understand that you’ll eventually push through it.
2. Take a break from training to clear your head.  I’ve gotten into a training rut where I’m physically present and doing the movements but my mind is just not into it.  It can very beneficial to take time off and do something else.  You’ll know you’re ready when it’s fun to be in the gym again.
3. Focus on other things you can improve and quantify.  The goal is to be successful at something else, anything else in order to neutralize the negative experience you have on the mat.  You can focus on improving your conditioning, flexibility, or strength.  I have found that flow drills can really help get past plateaus.  A flow drill is where you move (with a partner) from one submission to another, linking one submission or sweep to another.
4. 

   Master Lloyd Irvin and Mike Fowler

   Mental Strength training is yet another underrated Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu technique. We’ve all heard of Olympic athletes visualizing a world record performance or executing perfect technique to win the gold.  Developing a grappling game plan puts some structure to that mental training.  Developed by the world class Judoka (Judo player) and BJJ champion Lloyd Irvin, a grappling game plan will make you a more tactical and effective grappler.  Basically, a grappling game plan is a plan of attack that you will use in a match and drill during practice.  You will develop combination’s of sweeps, submissions and escapes that you will test in practice.  After being in a slump in the gym I spent a week working on my grappling game plan and found that this increased mental training helped me push past my training plateau.

Hopefully, you can utilize one of these techniques to push the next training plateau you encounter.

Grapple Hard but Grapple Smart!

If you’re ready to take catapult yourself ahead of the competion then check out my E-Book and audio “10 Things I wish I knew before I started Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu – A practical introduction to Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and submission grappling”.