In today’s world it’s easy to get lost in the endless flow of content that bombards our attention.
We get stuck in a loop of mindless consumption or a subconscious search for the next dopamine hit.
Not everything is empty fluff, however. If you sift through the noise, there are gems that can have true impact on your life.
That’s what I try to do with this blog – provide only the most valuable content that can directly have a positive effect on your jiu-jitsu performance, durability, and longevity.
I’ve made a lot of changes to my training routine personally in 2023. But it took sinking to the depths of pain and despair to uncover effective ways to resolve the root of my issues, and finally overcome years of chronic pain.
This year, I also interviewed some of the best performance coaches and trainers, many of whom turned everything I knew about physical preparation on its head.
So, today, let’s look back at the 15 best lessons from the year so we can continue making progress on the mats and in our lives.
1. Rotation is the most important quality that most people are missing.
When it comes down to it, every movement in life and sport is rotational. The human body was designed primarily to rotate via walking, running, and throwing.
Nearly every move in jiu-jitsu requires rotation, yet many of us are still prioritizing anti-rotation and linear movement training.
Train rotation in every workout.
2. Relieving compression in the body can improve performance and reduce pain.
The body can become compressed from repetitive movements from working out, training jiu-jitsu, and daily patterns like sitting.
Compression can affect your ability to fully express range of motion, breathe effectively, and ultimately perform to your potential.
Dedicate time to decompressing the system every day.
3. “You’re Not Broken, You’re Twisted.”
The body is constantly being compressed by gravity, which can cause the structure to compress, twist, and compensate to maintain balance.
Foundation Training expert, Jessie Salas, explained that sometimes your pain or performance issues can be relieved by untwisting the system and simply improving alignment.
4. Take care of your nervous system.
At the end of the day, everything we do comes down to the nervous system. The central nervous system is your brain and spinal cord, and the peripheral nervous system is your nerves.
In combination, these things control everything including motor control, respiration, digestion, recovery, and more.
Being stuck in an overstimulated sympathetic fight or flight state, which can happen from regular BJJ training or overtraining, will have a negative effect on your performance and recovery.
Give attention to your nervous system, and promote parasympathetic recovery through breathing drills, recovery sessions, and deep sleep.
5. Don’t overlook your fascia.
Fascia is a layer of tissue between the skin and muscle that wraps the entire body.
Researchers weren’t sure of its purpose for years, but now understand it to transfer force within the body.
Unfortunately, fascia can become tight, restricted, and dehydrated. You can improve its quality with pressure like foam rolling, as well as dynamic stretching, and training springy, athletic type movements like jumps, hops, and bounds.
6. Power is the first quality we lose as we age.
Which is why we must make power training a priority to improve longevity.
Coach Alex Kanellis explained power training, which can be done with the Landmine, will also maintain muscle mass, as fast twitch fibers have the most potential for growth.
Power training can also improve bone density and connective tissue resilience.
7. Becoming back chain dominant can improve performance and longevity.
The GOATA system reverse engineered the worlds best performers, specifically those who maintained high levels for long periods without injury.
They found that back chain dominance, amongst other things, is a factor in prolonged performance and injury prevention.
BCD simply means the muscles of the back side of the body are strong, fully active, and working to support your structure throughout life and sport.
You can become BCD by working things like the Founder (pictured above) and Child Rockers.
8. Bodyweight training is an excellent method to build strength and muscle as you age.
We usually equate muscle and strength building with heavy barbells and dumbbells. But as we age, our tolerance for heavy training wanes, as does our tolerance for risk.
Tremendous gains in strength can be made from proper programming of bodyweight exercise alone.
World-class calisthenics coach, Al Kavadlo, is testament to this, as a 44 year old who still owns a one-arm pushup and chin-up, one legged squat, and the shredded physique of someone half his age.
9. Breathing is one of the most important and overlooked aspects of performance and recovery.
As mentioned in lesson 4, breathing can be used to promote recovery and activate the rest and digest sympathetic state. It can also relieve the compression referenced in lesson 2.
Elite combat performance coach, Alberto Gallazzi, taught us the importance of training breathing protocols while in the heat of combat to calm your mind, think and react clearly under pressure, and reduce the perceived stress of high-intensity training.
10. The Turkish Get Up is the most useful exercise for jiu-jitsu and grappling.
The Get Up provides nearly everything the grappler needs, including strength, mobility, resilience, and total body integration.
It can also be used to prime the body for training, as a workout in itself – especially when crunched for time, or as a diagnostic tool to expose restrictions and limitations within the body.
Do Get Ups every day.
11. Adding a cooldown is an easy way to prolong longevity and improve performance.
It seems no one does cooldowns after class.
Kettlebell expert, Steve Cotter, explained how the cooldown is essential for decompressing the skeletal system, promoting recovery, reducing stiffness, and preventing future injuries.
12. Your spine is meant to flex, bend, and rotate.
To this day, conventional wisdom preaches anti-rotation of the spine, equating bending and twisting to injury and pain.
It also espouses that the core is simply a transferrer of force, not a producer.
Fitness innovator and Biomechanist, David Weck, has turned conventional wisdom upside down with his research of the coiling core.
David’s methods turn the core and lower back from a position of vulnerability and weakness into a source of power and durability. His methods will completely change how you think of core training.
13. You’re probably not getting enough hydration.
We all know how important staying hydrated is for optimal performance. However, most athletes don’t put enough emphasis on hydration.
Performance coach to pro athletes and BJJ Black belt, Rodrigo Perez, explained how poor hydration can lead to muscle tension and inflammation, which could lead to injuries.
He recommends adding salts and electrolytes to your water to improve hydration.
14. Jiu-jitsu is destroying your body.
In only takes a few sessions of hard sparring to understand how dangerous BJJ can be for your body. However, long term, its effects can really take a toll on your entire system.
From compression, to wreaking havoc on your posture, to overstimulation of the nervous system, years of this can lead to chronic pain and rob your longevity.
Undoing those negative effects will go a long way to prolong your time on the mat and quality of life.
15. Club swinging is the missing link in your training.
Club swinging develops what’s called circular strength, meaning strength in all directions. Jiu-jitsu happens in all directions, yet most of us focus on training with linear movement.
The club fortifies your most vulnerable areas, shoulders, spine, and hips, in a very relevant way to jiu-jitsu and life.
It’s also the best way to train rotational movements, which stretches your fascia and improves connective tissue quality in the process.
Looking Toward 2024 And Beyond
You can see the thread between many of these lessons, as my focus has switched recently from pure sports performance to injury prevention and resilience.
After 13 years on the mat, and approaching 40 fast, my focus has changed to staying on the mat, pain-free, for as long as possible.
The beauty of adopting this mindset is that the performance qualities like strength, speed, power, and movement quality are all a byproduct.
Next week, I’ll dive into why and how I adopted this “durability” mindset, and why you should too…especially if you’re over 35.
Until then, which of these resonated with you the most or was your biggest personal performance lesson from 2023?
Please respond, I’d love to hear them.
