Someone commented on one of my recent posts about my back injury, asking about what exercises I used for the rehab. Since my new handy GoPro camera is always at hand in the gym, I brought it downstairs to our CrossFit gym today and filmed my routine.
I tried to remember all the exercises, I have been doing since I got the injury, but probably missed one or two. In the video, I show all of them, but during the last few weeks, it has of course been a progression, starting with the easy ones, building up strength to be able to do the hard ones.
My back feels really good now, and I have started to roll again. Still only sparring with the 15-16 year old boys that don't have the weight to push my back too much, but they are giving me a serious run for my money.
Maybe you can use some of it too, maybe not. At least it is here for my own future reference, if I get back pain again :)
Last year, I ran a six months competition team project in my gym, for those, who wanted to compete in BJJ. Now, that I am back from my trip, I am working hard to begin the second season of the project. Around 40 people have showed interest in joining, so there is a lot of potential for good results and good experiences over the next six months leading up to the 2012 Europeans in Portugal.
This week, we had a head start on our physical training routine for the team, running twice a week and named the Beachbody Workout. It has been really though to start it out again after having done basically no strength and conditioning training for my whole trip, but I can't wait to get back in the same killer shape I was in before I left.
It seems like we will be traveling a lot to competitions around Europe this fall, can't wait to see how this project will grow and what kind of people, friendships and experiences will come out of it. Will be sure to post about it here, of course :)
It seems like all the big names in Jiu Jitsu have some swissball videos online these days, so I thought I would make one as well, to showcase my own skills with it. Enjoy!
Just got home from three weeks in Fiji. It was really nice there, but I got a little desperate to get a workout, so I ended up making a pretty cool little gym from stuff that washed up on the beach. Did some really good workouts in the heat during the trip!
Training area with pullup tree
My first collection of equipment
This was great for sidepresses
Pushup rack
My first attempt on a barbell
Grip training
Later in the week, another cement block washed up and fitted perfect. Curl time!!
I think that bodymechanics is a skill you need to work on just like you need to work on technique, strength and cardio. It is something you can do on your own and for me personally, it has really benefitted my game a lot.
I have a pretty large repertoire of bodymechanics drills in my game at the moment, and I am showing my most common in this video. I have not really learned them from anywhere specific, but picked them up a few at a time along the way from seminars, training with different people, ginastica natural videos, capoeira training and also made a few up myself. I hope you can use some of the drills yourself, I would recommend anyone to do them or something similar as a part of their grappling training.
I've wanted to do this video for a very long time, since it is something that people ask me about quite often. Finally I got it done, and I really hope you like it, cause I had sand EVERYWHERE when I was finished LOL
Had a great workout this afternoon with some takedowns and after that an outdoor session with our new tractor tires.
Since the competition and A-game training is over, I am now going back to focusing on learning new techniques for my game. John, a wrestler from Oregon, is visiting Denmark for four months and dropped by my gym for some BJJ training. We don't have any wrestling in Denmark besides very few people doing Greco-Roman, so it is cool to get a lot of new inputs from him, and I am trying to learn as much as possible these months. Currently I am working on incorporating a fireman's carry, low single spin and a duckunder in my wrestling game. Those are all something I have never really worked on before, so I still have lots to learn, but I feel like I am making progress.
As promised, I recorded some video from the training. The first one of the wrestling is just a raw edit and is mostly for my own reference to remember and review my training and technique. If any of you out there feel like watching it and maybe get a few good things out of it, then that's great. The other video I did a quick edit on, perhaps I'll use it as a little promotion video for our gym's new training toys :)
Today in the gym I had one of those days, where every single round of sparring was just pure pleasure. I feel my jiu jitsu is better and sharper than ever and my body is pulling off techniques, setups and combinations I have never seen before :) Maybe it is because I can finally go full intensity after my long period of injuries, I don't know, but it is a really cool feeling that I thought I would share on the blog.
Also, I am starting to go some more rounds of MMA sparring in my class twice a week. It will take some time to get back up in gear with it, but I think my technique is pretty good. I see a lot of stuff especially on the ground, where I try to focus on setting up grappling with strikes and strikes with grappling. Something I was inspired to think more about, when I read my latest book purchase, BJ Penn's MMA book. I own a pretty big library of MMA, BJJ, wrestling and Judo books, but I think this is the best one I have read. There is a lot of cool basic technique in it and BJ seems like a very intelligent fighter (I would have expected that anyway). His approach to MMA fits perfectly with my own game and fighting style. The book is highly recommendable and I got it for silly $15 or something on Amazon.
We just bought two new 32 kg kettlebells for the gym this weekend. It was a very exciting moment for me to meet those two balls of metal and it kind of re-sparked my interest in kettlebell training. I did a little workout with them saturday and was extremely sore sunday, so it was a great feeling. I should do some more of that, it takes a lot of strength and control compared to the 24 kg I have been using for the last few years.
This is a very simple cardio programme I used for my MMA fight and which I am gonna use for the guys in my class who are fighting amateur MMA and Submission Wrestling February 3rd here in Copenhagen.
The cool thing about it is, that it does not include running :) It is only heavybag work, but you could virtually do anything that gets your pulse up running. I did this every morning for 1,5 months for my MMA fight and I got in the shape of my life (cardio wise). Also, I lost 8 kilos and got a sixpack out of it :-D
Here is the deal:
In every work period, you have to work on the heavybag AS HARD AS POSSIBLE. You must do everything you can to get your pulse up as high as possible. Kicking, striking, knees, elbows, whatever it takes to work as hard as possible. No breaks, you go 110% untill the time is up.
In every rest period, you need to get your breath back, relax, get your pulse down, while at the same time moving around a little. So don't just lie down on the mat. Instead walk around slowly and do some very very light shadowboxing while at the same time relaxing as much as possible. It is like an active rest.
The workout itself is as follows:
--------------------------------------
Round one 15 seconds of work 15 seconds of rest
Repeat round 10 times (total of 15 x 2 x 10 = 300 seconds)
Halftime Rest for 10-12 minutes to get the pulse completely down.
Round two 30 seconds of work 30 seconds of rest
Repeat round 10 times (total of 30 x 2 x 10 = 600 seconds)
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So the total worktime is 900 seconds = 15 minutes. Don't be fooled. Even though it doesn't sound like much, it is REALLY though. It you give it everything you have in the workperiods, this will skyrocket your cardio in no time.
This is awesome, I really want to do this. Thinking of buying some good running shoes when summer comes, then try it out. I am sure it would help my Jiu Jitsu in some way? :)
Here is an excersize I do for power in the "leg bite" motion used in jiu jitsu all the time. Like when you bite the legs down on the opponent in a triangle, armbar etc.
Right now I do 10 singles twice a week and it has improved my triangle and armbar power tremendously.
Here is an excersize I use for grip endurance when in cross sides or harness. It is designed to maximize the time I can hold a thight grip on my opponent in these situations.
I do two variations:
One is where I just hang as horizontally as possible for x amount of seconds. Try to start with 5 sets x 5 seconds twice a week, then add two seconds every week.
Other one is where I hang and I have a partner pull me down really, really light in the hips for 3 seconds where I resist, then help me up again. He pulls me down 3 times, 3 seconds each time. 5 sets twice a week.
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