BJJ, Kettlebells, Aging & Recovery: Are you increasing your training volume too fast too soon? 5% is a sweet number.

BJJ / Grappling / MMA and Kettlebells go together nicely. One of my favourite exercises with KB is the swing, where I am currently swinging for reps of 20, active-resting 1 minute between cycles of swings.


I have been doing this twice a week, in-between, after or just before grappling / BJJ workouts, for a few weeks* and I am getting to feel comfortable with the pace and the workload and thought to myself it was time to up it a little so recently I increased to 25 reps, keeping the active rest period to 1 minute and as they say in research terms: all other factors remaining equal.

The good news: I got training soreness in my hamstrings and adductors (the muscles on the inside of your thighs) so my form must have been good as these are the right target muscles.

The bad news: I got tons of training soreness in my hamstrings and adductors!

Getting out of bed was a pain. A disproportional pain, I thought, compared to a simple increase of 5 reps. After all, what’s 5 reps?!

That’s when it hit me. I had increased my training load by 25% (5 is 25% of 20).

I had upped my workout volume by a quarter. No wonder my thighs were sore!

Next time I do swings I will bring the reps down to 21, which translates to a more manageable 5% increase.

Take the time now to review your training, or even better your other life components such as work, hobbies or expenses. Are you taking on too much in one go? Are you blinded by the numbers? Picking up 10lb on your existing 180lb body frame is more than 5% increase. Are your joints and ligaments 5% stronger to handle this load? That’s just a simple example to get you started.

*keep in mind that I can be lazy and miss a week here or there :)

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Liam "The Part Time Grappler" Wandi

Proudly sponsored by Predator Fightwear: Built for the kill and Brutal TShirt: Made By Grapplers For Fighters

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New Beginning and a Really Cool Link

Monday the 15th of February will see the first roll on the mats of the new gym, The BJJ Labs. I created an impromptu Facebook Group for us last Wednesday and now we have over 50 members on it!

In the eternal words of Manik: "All that's left now is to have a roll!"

I'm very excited about this for many reasons:

1. It's the same coach
2. It's the same fine group of people
3. It's a better, brighter location
4. It's part of a successful long-term thinking establishment
5. They have kettlebell and Crossfit classes

More on that after the session itself.

In the meantime, here is an article with a great list of tips that will do wonders for your closed guard and, if you subscribe to my multidimensional view on grappling, your mount as well!

Have a great weekend and Valentine's Day. I hope you get lucky!

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Training Tips: When Too Busy for BJJ / Grappling, Do Something!!

The whole idea with this blog is to give us Part Time Grapplers hope when time seems to get scarce. Lately, I have been completely swamped under with Uni assignments and exam preparations, not to mention work. This has meant that BJJ / Grappling has had to take a back seat and I have learnt that’s OK. But what-a-to-do?

Well, the best way to improve at BJJ / Grappling is to actually do it. Technique sessions, light rolling, competitive rolling…etc. AKA Mat-time!

But when you can’t get enough mat-time I find that following to be a golden rule:

Doing Something is Much Much Better than doing Nothing
Blaming never gets anyone anywhere good in a hurry.

As you may have read before, I have developed an interest in CrossFit. I have toyed with posting my daily workouts here but didn’t want it to become a chore, nor do I want this blog to turn into “Look-at-what-Liam-Can/Can’t-Do” but I think it would help those of us who think there aren’t enough hours in the day to see what I get up to and how I fit (or try to fit) everything together:

Average Weekday (this is only typical for when Uni takes over my life):

6.00 Wake up
7.30 At work, in one of our empty meeting rooms, coffee in one hand, Uni book in other hand
8.30 Time for Breakfast (On The Warrior Diet, this is 2 pieces of fruit, 1 pot of Yogurt and Water and tea.
8.45 At my desk, ready to start the day
12.30 Hit the gym at work to do WOD* (Workout Of the Day. Not my lingo!)
1.15 Showered and back at my desk
5.00 Leave home
7.00 Rested and (very well-) fed and ready to study some more
9.30 Time to call it a day. Spend some time with my wife.
10.00 – 10.30 In bed. Lala Land!
Lather, rinse and repeat Monday – Friday, with one session of BJJ / Grappling squashed in here or there. Intense periods like this seldom last for more than 3-4 weeks and can actually do your brain and body good by giving them a different feed.

Click on the envelope to the right and let me know what you all think

*Today’s WOD was:

1. Warm up
2. 1000 meter row on the Concept II (level 6, 3.51min)
3. KB Snatches (40 reps) (20/arm)
4. Pull-ups (Max reps) (14 reps)
5. Stretches

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BJJ Tips: Adding Strength to Your Training Equation

I am a strong believer that true strength is a skill, hence you should practice it with weight, rather than blindly work out. I recently came across a very interesting book by Dan John, an acclaimed strength and track & filed coach, on the basics of lifting. It’s a very basic approach that fits in with the Part-Time Attitude. Dan’s generosity allows to download the book for free from his website. It’s a good read, even if you don’t want to follow the programme exactly or at all, as he gives great advice on how to lift properly. Not just the usual back-straight-lift-with-your-legs stuff that most know, but much, much more.

Take the opportunity to learn from an excellent coach.

Ps. I have never met Dan or had any contact with him. I just like the book. There is nothing to sell and, as always, you should consult a physician before you start anything physical.

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BJJ Nutrition Tip: The Warrior Diet: How to Fit Your Diet Around BJJ / Grappling

I received a question from Marc in France (Once again, many thanks for reading the blog!). It was regarding an earlier post of mine about supplementing with creatine . I have replied to Marc’s specific question but it reminded me to give an update on my (always evolving) training, diet and supplementation.

As much as I love training with Kettlebells, I am constantly looking for new ways to get an edge over those who have more time to train than I do. Thanks to a small competition by the gym instructor at work, I discovered the rowing machine! I've always known that rowing is a great sport and form of exercise, but never thought much about indoor rowing. Now I do interval training on the rower as I feel the use or your body is very similar to that in Grappling / BJJ. More about that in a future post.

Further, as I am faced with accumulating uni work, I have scaled down my Grappling training for this and next week down to Fridays only. Added to that, I am on the rower 3 mornings a week before work. As the workload on my body is lower, so is the need for recovery assistance (i.e. creatine). I have now stopped using creatine but will probably get back on it when back to my usual sessions.

The biggest change I have added is that I am now following something called the The Warrior Diet. I can’t remember how I stumbled upon it, but I liked the initial idea and went to Waterstones and checked the book out. The basic concept is that warriors of old used to eat one meal a day* and the author of the book, Ori Hofmekler, feels that we should revert back to that way of eating/living. I thought to myself: “I’ll try this for a week or two. If my body likes it then I’ll invest in the book”.

5 days later I was feeling such a difference I went back and bought it and I’m now an avid follower. I love the The Warrior Diet for the following 6 reasons:

1. I eat my 5-a-day before 6 o’clock every day.
2. My stomach and alimentary canal feel great.
3. I feel lighter and more energised.
4. The hunger actually keeps me sharp.
5. I’m losing weight without really trying.
6. I get to eat anything I want for dinner. Anything. Everyday. Need I say more?!

I strongly recommend everybody to read the The Warrior Diet. Ori is a wise man and there is a wealth of information in the book. Not just about diet, but health, history and physiology. Besides, when a book opens up with comments by Pavel Tsatsouline and Steve and DC Maxwell, you better believe it’s worth a read.

Check it out and let me know.

*Apart from your evening meal, you can eat fresh fruit and vegetables (and some yogurt) thru-out the day.


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3 Tips to Add Balance to Your Weekly Training

So you are a Part Time Grappler (PTG) and have limited time to train (averaging 2 grappling orientated sessions per week). You probably hold down a job and have a family (and other interests) to tend to. Or maybe 2 sessions a week is all you can afford at the moment.

The problem is, grappling (and martial arts in general) are not the be-all end all of fitness training. They come damn well close, but they still leave you short on a couple of fronts.

So keeping with the PTG spirit, here are 3 tips to make your weekly training regime more balanced still:

WalkingNotice that I didn’t say Jogging or Running. I did that deliberately. While I respect running as a healthy sporting activity, I find Walking the superior alternative and I summarise my argument in one word: Availability!

1. I get off the bus 2 stops early and walk extra every morning! I would need a shower if I ran that.
2. Anytime the weather is nice, I suggest a walk to my wife. We all know it is much easier to say Yes to a walk- compared to a Jog-suggestion.
3. I don’t need any special shoes for walking. Any comfortable pair will do as the impact is minimal.
4. The difference in calorie expenditure between jogging and brisk walking for a, say, 170lb person is no more than 4 kcal/minute.

Kettlebells
There is a wealth of information on these incredible cannon balls! You literally have a whole gym in the palm of your hand. You can use them to lose weight, gain strength, enhance endurance…etc. and they are very grappling specific. Very importantly, an average Kettlebell work out takes 10 minutes and let’s face it, it doesn’t get briefer than that! More articles on these later.

StretchingAn important and fundamental concept in grappling (and martial arts in general) is efficiency: Achieving a maximum output from a minimum input. Stretching is an excellent way to make your machine run smoother. Being more flexible gives you more options to achieve the same desired goal and gives you the ability to get there with less exertion. I recommend gentle stretching ultra-frequently (10-12 times/day!) for very short periods (10 – 15 seconds per stretch). That’s 3.3 minutes per muscle per day. Say 5 if you are pushing for the upper end of the bracket. The benefits outweigh the inconvenience both in terms of performance and longevity.

Make the best of your day. Enjoy a healthy life.