Dadblog

An Experiment in Squatting for BJJ

The benefits of strength and hypertrophy training for jiujitsu primarily reveal themselves in two ways: we become less susceptible to injury (which is true of general population training as well), and we can potentially use it as an edge to win a match. In this regard, the hype of yesteryear--training sports-specific movement patterns--can be a great folly. We don't need to train football linemen in the quarter squat they take on when on the line in order to get them stronger off the line; we need to get them stronger throughout a full range of motion, which can then be yielded toward those specific goals. Or at least this logic seems generally to hold up. That said, I'd guess based on some of the literature I've read that one of the deficiencies of sports specific movement patterns comes from the lack of full range of motion, that there's an attempt to get a stronger jump by using the exact pattern of the jump, which like the three-point-stance lineman, only amounts to a quarter squat. So the question I have is simple: what if we can garner at least a partially sports-specific movement pattern that also contains a full range of motion? Will it yield any results?

Enter the "grappler's stance banded safety bar squat," which is a helluva mouthful! It's the squatting pattern I'm experimenting with in order to see if I can not only get a little helpful hypertrophy but also get more comfortable in my standup game, using level-changes to take down my opponent. Here's the movement and here's my logic, which may or may not eventually stand to reason and the data.

Kettlebell Craziness at Dadbod

I had the pleasure of working with Professor Jim Collins, a third degree blackbelt in jiujitsu and teacher at Helena BJJ, on kettlebell technique after some fun rolling this previous saturday, December 19, 2020. I'd never really used kettlebells before and have been apprehensive about using them given my dearth of knowledge, but Jim gave me an excellent introduction that I will begin to put into use on myself and then on my clients as I configure how to use these crazy russian lifting tools. Here's how I'm thinking about them.

I've made my case for barbell training already, and I stand by it. Given the full range-of-motion, highly elastic, full body, functional movements we can get out of the barbell, it stands as my preferred method of hypertrophy (muscle-building) and strength training. There are a few key words, however, in that above sentence: hypertrophy and strength. Not all training adaptations that we desire are shaped solely by hypertrophy and strength concerns, although these two adaptations will help to some degree in almost any sport, long-distance and pure endurance sports aside.

In fact, when we're training for jiujitsu, strength is indeed awesome. But a person who can squat 405, while having certain advantages, can only use them if, for instance, that same person can squat 405 for a set of 10 rather than 1. Aka, strength endurance will go much farther than a simple 1-rep-max for jiujitsu, albeit the higher one's 1-rep-max the more likely one is to have some strength endurance at lower weights (i.e., we can pursue some of these adaptations together). And just as important for the development of one's jiujitsu game as strength endurance albeit almost directly connected to it is power and power endurance.

Strength, in this regard, is the capacity to lift something heavy, aka, the ability to exert force against an external mass. An important note on this point: the speed of that force exerted simply doesn't matter. As is often commented, "power" lifting is misnamed since we can certainly "grind out" a heavy lift, lifting it slow and ugly, but lifting it nonetheless. Slowly deadliftin 700lbs, however, is still strong, which is great. But strength absolutely has limitations in terms of its athletic potential. Thus the following schema is thus helpful and sets up how I'd use kettlebells.

Again, the adaptations we tend to gain by training the barbell lifts pertain largely to two important basic athletic qualities. First, there's muscular hypertrophy, which we might say is "strength potential." Then there's the capacity of our central nervous system to recruit large amounts of muscle fibers in a short period of time to get a weight lifted, which we call "strength" because it puts the strength potential of the larger muscle to use. The larger the muscle, the more potential it has for strength.

On the other hand, power is the capacity to express strength very quickly, which has a lot to do with a physiological process called rate coding. This process is defined by the frequency with which neural signals get sent to your muscles. The more frequently the signal is sent, the more power potential you have. Unfortunately, and from my small knowledge base, rate-coding seems to be a largely but not entirely genetically determined phenomenon, albeit with some trainability. So as muscle size creates potential for strength, strength creates potential for power, depending on one's rate-coding ability. Thus do we need to find a way to train our ability to rate-code to whatever degree we can, and it ain't coming from lifting heavy things slowly, aka, powerlifting. Enter the kettlebell.

During my session with Jim, I was really impressed with the potential that the kettlebell lifts have for the development of power, aka, rate-coding. The hip-centric nature of the movements--that place from whence most athletic power comes--are going to make them an excellent tool in my arsenal once I can become proficient at teaching them. Where I see them becoming especially helpful, and forming more of a mainstay of our athletic development will be twofold. First, we can hit some short sets of kettlebell swings, cleans, and snatches prior to our main barbell lifts. These movements will have a twofold benefit: giving us the technical practice with the kettlebells that we'll need at a later point in our training, and giving us a chance to begin some power practice as we strength train. Then, around 4-6 weeks out from a competition, we can start using kettlebells in power-endurance circuits, namely, circuits designed to express power over a greater length of time. It will use our capacity to rate-code through the development of our alactic and lactic energy capacities. Combined with jumps, slam balls, ropes, and the like, these can become a lethal tool for expressing, say, 70% of our power for a relatively long period of time, getting us the upperhand in things like scrambles and takedowns on the mats. So the theorty goes!

Of course, there are other ways we can achieve these ends. For instance, and from my little experience with them, I'd pin kettlebells between two other forms of lifting helpful for rate-coding, for which kettlebells are becoming my preference. First, there's olympic weightlifting. Olympic weightlifting can be great for power, but the problem is the highly technical nature of the lifts, and the years it takes to get good at them. Moreover, there are certain requirements involved with these amazing movement patterns, such as building the capacity to tuck one's thumb under one's palm for any pull, aka, the "hook grip." This hurts like hell until you take the time to kill your nerves, and the grip needs fairly big hands or a small barbell to achieve. Accordingly, I'd prefer to leave most olympic lifts to weightlifters, offering a gentle bow on my part to their awesome craft.

Second, medicine balls can be great for power development, and are the preferred instruments of persons like Chad Wesley Smith, one of my favorite coaches and lifters. We can throw medicine balls in many directions, and use them for whole body power development. The problem, here, is space. Either you have to have a large concrete wall in your facility to throw these against, or you have to have a large space outside all-year-round and without severla inches of snow to use them with. We have neither.

Thus, the kettlebell, while technical, doesn't seem to portend the same technicality as olympic weightlifting, making them superior for our purposes. We are also less likely to get hurt, it seems to me, using relatively light-weight, single arm implements for some powerful hip expression than we are barbells. Further, we will not fatigue ourselves with the lighter absolute weight of the kettlebells, saving room for strength lifting and, you know, actually rolling. That said, kettlebells take a lot more skill than a medicine ball to use. Still, the skill developed is, frankly, quite enjoyable; it feels good to hit a kettlebell snatch (I got one decent one), "punching under" the weight as it reaches zero gravity, unlike the medicine balls that I think are terribly boring to throw. Moreover, the space requirement for a kettlebell is almost nihl, allowing us to hit some good and enjoyable moves in a small space for both power and power endurance.

I'm excited to get started with my experiments in the morning!

Dadbod Deadlift-Picture New Year Challenge

Okay my friends, now that I have an extremely small training center, it's my duty to set something up for the New Year. Here's my proposal. If you're a part of Dadbod, I'd like to enter into a friendly challenge with a small wager involved. Here's how I suggest it'd work.

1. Kick in $10 to enter. It will go into a winnings pot.

2. Choose a reasonable goal that you think you can achieve by February 28th. Nothing stupid or extreme, but something challenging and beneficial for your person in the fitness arena. While I won't be able to win, I'll be entering, and I'd like to drop likely 1.5 inches in the waist without dropping any muscularity.

3. Submit a headshot of yourself doing a deadlift for an illustrious deadlift picture. These beauties will be posted in Dadbod to motivate us all.

4. There will be two winners of this contest. The first winner, 80% of the pot, will be the one who finishes his or her goal. If multiple persons complete their goals, all participants will be asked to vote on the one whom they think should earn the prize other than themselves. The most votes win with me acting as a tie-breaker to the tie-breaker.

5. The second winner, 20% of the pot, will be the one with the best deadlift picture. Again, all participants will be asked to vote on the one whom they think should earn the prize other than themselves. The most votes win with me acting as a tie-breaker.

(Dude, my wife has the most normal deadlift face ever! She doesn't even look like she's constipated, which is a testament to her fiber intake.)

The King of the Lifts Is...

I sometimes get asked which lift I like the best or which is most important. These are fun questions, no doubt, but when asked the real question is, "what lifts should I do to get results?" I have my answers, and they're usually nuanced, but I like the main barbell lifts for their large range of motion, the amount of muscle mass they use, and their adaptability. Still, and with the New Year coming on soon and the many well-intended fitness goals that come with it, probably a more important answer to the question of what movements I like is, "any full body movement you can perform consistently" the emphasis on the word "consistently."

The development of muscularity and strength at any age and with whatever level of talent or genetics relies on some really important principles, two of which are pretty simple to define: specificity and overload. Specificity says that I define my movement patterns based on my end-goals. So if I want a better squat (and I think you should based on the fact that it brings strength and resillience to the whole body), I have to squat. Moreover, there's likely no amount of endurance-based running that could get me to a better squat. Overload says that I have to push the limits wisely on my squatting so that I can cajole my body, a complex organism, into adapting to the overloading stress I put on it. So I add some plates to my squat, maybe some reps, or even some more sets, depending on the phase of my training. I've overloaded this movement now, and my body will slowly respond.

Still, the framework for either of these principles to take effect comes down to a habit of mind pertaining to nothing of the movements themselves. That is, it comes down to our willingness to set aside time and consitently engage in strength training with specificity and overload in mind. Without this mindset of consistency, the principles don't matter. After all, what's there to build on if we do a set of heavy squats one week, only to skip the workout the next two? Not a ton! The movement can feel good in the moment, even get us a little sore, but we won't be adapting to an overloading stiumulus based on specific and desired outcomes. We'll simply be hitting up something that feels kinda good every once in a while. And that's not an issue in itself -- have fun with a squat, a deadlift, etc. It's just to say that the habit and consitent practice of these movements is what produces the long-term outcomes we so desire: strength, resilliance, non-fragility, health!

This precise issue is one of the benefits of a dedicated strength coach. Here, we put our money where our desire is, and have someone help us to work out the basics of the principles of strength training while keeping us accountable to ourselves, at least until we develop good habits in terms of technique and making it to the gym.

Until then, by all means enjoy my wife benching it up and me deadlifting (with a Beatle haircut, apparently.)

Training Annette: Session 6

I was thrilled when Annette, a good friend of mine and the family's, reached out to me to begin training. Annette had a pretty massive fall last year, slipping on ice and breaking her ankle in I believe 3 different spots. Screws have been involved with the healing process, and so has a lot of frustration! But, Annette would like some mobility and quality of life back, and as she expressed to me on our first day of training, "I need some accountability." She's certainly gotten that plus a lot more.

We're on Annette's 6th session in these videos. I wish I had videos of the first ones. What we'd be able to see is that not only has she pushed up her strength and resillience, but she's far more mobile in the process. This truth comes to the fore in the squat videos. Annette is almost lifting a valid powerlifting squat, aka, one where the hip crease breaks past the kness, which means going just below paralell. We're not inteterested in powerlifting per se, but the movement pattern is a good one to shoot for in terms of hitting squat depth. When Annette began, her squat was a good 2 inches higher than it is now, mostly based on the understandable problems with ankle mobility after having received three pins stuck in one. She's rocking and rolling, though, and we'll gently push the mobility without overdoing it. That said...

Squats

Squat Beginning Numbers--38lbs x 3sets x 5reps

Squat Current Numbers--58lbs x 3sets, x 5 reps

As already mentioned, Annette is kicking some butt on squats. Her first day, her legs were shaking a little after averaging 38lbs on the bar. (We don't aspire to that, so we took weight off deadlifts for the first day to keep from getting too much delayed onset muscle soreness.) Now she's working hard but conditioned to take on 3 sets of 1/3 more weight, and her legs haven't shaken since the first day. (That's a good thing for all those who think the only sign of a good workout is feeling like crap afterward!) The biggest issue with form for now that we'll begin to work on is simple: she's starting to good morning her final squats in a set. this means she's pressing up with her legs and glutes first, and then extending her back. It's not a big deal at this weight, but we want to get it under control so tha she has proper habits when things get heavier. This oftentimes happens because our glutes are stronger than our quads, and so we reposition heavy weights to move upward with the glutes and moving the weight away from our quads. We'll work on keeping the same back angle throughout the entire squat in future sessions.

Dumb Bell Overhead Press

OHP Beginning Numbers--10lbs x 3sets x 5reps

OHP Current Numbers--15lbs x 3sets, x 5 reps

Bench

Bench Beginning Numbers--43lbs x 3sets x 5reps

Bench Current Numbers--48lbs x 3sets, x 5 reps

Alas, I don't have any videos of these ones. These lifts are going slower, and are doing so on two accounts. For one, upper body lifts tend to move slower with women. This fact could be for a number of reasons: fewer androgen receptors in th upper body, more slow twitch dominant muscularity, especially in the upper body, etc. Second, we're not getting enough volume (sets and reps). We'll mitigate this in the short term by including more upper body work in the sessions going forward, including some close grip bench and barbell rows. But Annette is planning on taking a third training day per week, which will be excellent for her and through which we can get the volume necessary to drive her upper body a little faster.

That said, Annette has some shoulder issues, so we're both fine moving slowly. On the OHP, we're trying to get Annette strong enough to use the Bella bar, which is 33lbs as opposed to 45lbs. She'll be there within the next two weeks, and we'll switch to it rather than Dumbells, so long as her shoulders are fine with it.

Deadlifts

Deadlift Beginning Numbers--53lbs x 1sets x 5reps

Deadlift Current Numbers--100lbs x 3sets, x 5 reps

Look at that! Annette has essentiall doubled her weight on the bar with deadlifts and tripled her work capacity! These are excellent indicators that training is having its intended effects, aka, making Annette stronger and more resilient. This one's also her lift, and I will not be surprised to see her hit in the 200lbs arena at some point. Her form is picture perect as well.

This lift is both a plate PR (get to add a big plate!) and a number PR (she hit 100lbs). Congrats Annette!

Training Through Cancer Treatment

A lot of persons fear weight training, especially that they're "too far gone" in order to gain some health via strength pursuits. I'll be blogging through another friend's training soon to give some concrete reasons as to why that's not the case (she had a pretty catastrophic fall last year), but I thought I'd also share my story briefly over the past 6 months. The reason is simple: I think that some basic strength can help us no matter what our situations.

Something strange happened to me this last May. I was diagnosed with a stage 1a to b prostate cancer, with an unfavorable intermediate risk -- not the news I was expecting just a week after my 40th birthday! I've just finished all of my radiation treatments, which included 23 sessions of external beam alongside what's called brachytherapy: small, low-dose irradiated pellets placed in the tumors. The radiation in these last about 10 weeks or so, I believe, and they make it feel as though one is funneling one of the fundamental laws of the cosmos directly through one's urinary tract, because one is! The real bummer of a treatment, however, is the androgen deprivation therapy (ADT), which greatly benefits prostate cancer prognosis at the intermediate/unfavorable level, but which really, really sucks. There's a reason that grandpa gets grumpy, and that's because nature's done what my good doctors are doing to me: both take away testosterone. (The idea of "roid rage" is likely real at superhuman levels of the stuff, but I've never been grumpier and more volatile in my life than when I'm totally deprived of this hormone.) Luckily the treatment in my case is for 6 months. The medicine will wear off before Christmas, and I can go into the New Year with the prospects of slowly getting back what nature has given me: sweet, sweet, testosterone!

Having my current non-testosterone levels has been both trying and interesting. I've stayed as active as possible throughout the onslaught (I try to walk 5-7 miles a day, weight train, and train jiujitsu), and I've been able to mitigate a lot of the effects. The blood sugars though...they feel impossible to get under control without testosterone. As you can imagine, however, this situation has had some pretty severe consequences for my weight training. As a guy who was well on his way to benching 400 and squatting 600, training without the advantage of testosterone has been humbling and eye-opening. A couple reflection on what I've done and how I've approached it seem appropriate.

One of the great benefits of training without any testosterone is that I've had to let go of numbers. Lifting numbers are worthy of celebration because PRs are awesome! But you reach a point in training when you have to decide whether you simply like training for life or whether you like slamming PRs and winning local, meaningless (but fun) powerlifting meets. I knew this decision was on the horizon since I started this game later in life, but I've come face-to-face with it, and I've opted not to get depressed about watching weight seemingly fall of the bar. I just keep training know that I can slow the speed with which the weight falls off, while helping to keep my bones and muscle mass up while I remain on the treatment, helping to keep my health up in the long haul. While I don't get the numbers I want and am far below my previous PRs, I've remained fairly healthy without this essential hormone, likely on account of diet and the training I am able to complete.

Secondly, I've had to learn to train in a bit of a different way. Prior to this cancer treatment, I trained mostly likely a powerlifter, going after maximum intensity (weight on the bar) with adequate volume (number of reps and sets). You might say I trained to stroke my ego, which is fairly normal. But now my body, especially my joints and connective tissues, can't seem to handle the intensity! So whether it's in weight training, jiujitsu, or even having a really quick wit with students (yes, that's been affected too, and my wife and I call it ADT-brain), I've had to drop my ego, which is humbling but also pretty cool. I personally train right now mostly with weights that are a lot lighter than what they were but with more volume. It has helped to retain most of my muscle mass, even if my strength levels have plummeted. It has also given me some excellent insights on how to train those who are getting on in age and whose bodies aren't producing the same levels of hormones they once were, which is a great side-benefit.

Finally, I've come to appreciate what we call deloads. Deloads are defined as training with less intensity and volume for a week or so, or just taking a week off of training, for the sake of allowing the body to recover more fully from the fatigue that's been building up. When you get obsessed with numbers, PRs, and short-term gains, deloads can be hard to take. But the truth is that this body simply can't heal itself as fast as it could with testosterone, and so deolads have had to become a more important part of my training regimen (I'm on one as I write this blog). After all, one of the major fundamental insights one needs to have for long-term strength and healt pursuits is that the body isn't made healthier by the training itself, but by our recovering from our training and getting the adaptations that help us become stronger and healthier.

In the end, the point here is really simple: wherever you are at, we can find a beneficial and feasible way for you to train. It means being egoless, non-dogmatic, and open to experimentation, but there's something out there that can help you to gain, or at least prolong health and resilience.

What is a Linear Progression and Why Do It?

What's called the Linear Progression (LP) forms the beginning of our lifting regimine at Dadbod, and like all lifting programs, it has both pros and cons. Let's talk about what the LP is, where it's useful and where it's less so, and why we choose to use it with especially beginning lifters.

The Linear Progression forms a lifting program made famous by the likes of Mark Rippetoe--the grumpy old and oftentimes hilarious man who began Starting Strength. Something like the LP also constitutes what Stronglifts 5x5 uses, Barbell Logic, alongside a number of other persons in the industry. The one I use most closely resembles Barbell Logic's, which itself is taken from ol' Rippetoe. And what it referes to is the following: keeping reps and sets the same while increasing weight on the bar linearly and progressively, aka, a little bit each time we lift. So we start with something around 3 sets of 5 reps per lift, and we apply these sets and reps to the squat, bench press, deadlift, and overhead press, eventually adding in the barbell row and the Romanian deadlift, each of which we do for 3 sets of 8.The lifts themselves are awesome since we're using massive groups of muscles and loading them under the greatest and most efficient range of motion, (we can individualize movements based on injury history, etc.) Moreover, these reps and sets aren't written in stone. Nothing is. They just form a starting point, and many persons who are out of condition will find that they need a little less, etc.

That said, the Linear Progression is not the best lifting program in the world despite what many argue. There are likely ways to build muscle and strength with longer term goals in mind, for which we will certainly have time. The program, however, forms a contextually applied and useful approach to lifting, especially for beginning lifters, but also for those who've taken some pretty long breaks. That is, I find that the program allows for what is likely the most important principle of all lifting for those who seek results: consistency. It creates the habits, both physical and psychological, while also allowing the new lifter to put on substantial strength in a relatively short period of time. Knowing that you can do so and having the measurable results that prove that you can do it speak for itself. After all, when you start by doing squats for 50lbs for 3x5 and end your LP at 135lbsx3x5, you know you've made gains!

Another benefit to the LP is that we get practice the lifts. Barbell lifts are not the most technical movement patterns in the world, but they're surprisingly more technical than people often think, and we can instill through an LP a lot movement patterns that can help to prevent injury once the weight gets heavy. After all, who'd think that a squat can cause elbow tendonitis! It can..., and it sucks. We can work around that.

In the end, the LP can only be run for an average of between 8-12 weeks, after which we need to incorporate more "undulation" and "periodization" of lifts, meaning differing weights on the bar (intensity) with more sets and reps (volume) in differing patterns of combination, pressing forward especially with volume and work capacity. We'll do that at the right time with individualized goals in mind. Nonetheless, the LP is a great beginnner option for lifting, which is why we use it. We get stronger than we ever have fairly quickly, learn good technique, and create the right habits of lifting both psychological and physcial. And though we'll have to move on from an LP sooner rather than later, we can enjoy the quick gains while they last, and make sure those gains are built upon in the future!

Myths About Barbell Lifting

People have lots of concerns about getting started in strength training and barbell lifting. These concerns are fostered by a sort of "meathead" culture, one that I admittedly enjoy in a lot of ways, but that certainly isn't indicative of lifting or its importance itself. Loud Zepplin, chest bumps with large, sweaty men, and exuberant high-fives just aren't for everyone. That lifting gets pidgeonholed in this way is a bummer because I cannot state how important I think barbell training is during all phases of one's life, starting from puberty and especially on into our later years where a broken hip, one that has not had any external stressors put on it for years (aka, lifting), can signify a slow and sad demise. So let's bust a few myths so that you might take on the training that your body needs to thrive. I'll address a few one-by-one.

• I can't even lift the bar - First, we engage in lifting without an ego. That means that we begin where you're body is at. For instance, we can use lighter bars for beginners until they get used to the movements. At the beginning of your lifting career, it's simply about progressing linearly up in weight with excellent technique until you simply can't do that anymore (and that time will come, alas), and your beginning weight on your first day--be it large or small--simply doesn't matter. It will get better.

• Well, my back and knees can't take that kind of pressure - Again, and starting with the same as above, we engage in lifting without an ego. We can use boxes and other modifications to enhance mobility and range of motion as you learn the movement patterns. More importantly, what persons oftentimes find is that the lack of lifting has been one of the reasons their backs and knees have been hurting! I know that was my experience as I came back into lifting as something of a mid-life crisis hobby. That said, I still tweak my back every once in a while, but I generally get it feeling better by, well, lifting some light weights. I don't know why that works, but I have some suspicions based on new theories of pain science. We don't need to go there.

• I don't like all that grunting and yelling - Barbell training can be hard work, so you might let out a few grunts during a tough lift, but yelling is optional. 😉 Really, a concern like this one is a gym culture concern, which is why this issue is really just about ensuring that we put you with the right people.

• And the loud music - Sometimes "pump up" music can be fun, but I often listen to podcasts while I lift, and they’re only loud enough to drown out the voices of my children asking me for a snack during a heavy squat. This is the truth. I honestly cannot stand getting too "psyched" up for a lift in any way, shape, or form, preferring the calm and serene method of a few nasal inhilations, concentration, and then getting the work done.

• I don't want to get too bulky - Look, this one's the easiest myth to but but maybe the most humbling. You just probably don't need to worry about that. Lord knows I don't. Many bodybuilders take a lot of “special supplements” to get that “too bulky” look, and it’s STILL really difficult for them to do. Many bodybuilders spend their lives training for that "too bulky" look. In truth, we're not bodybuilding. We're training for strength in movement patterns that allow us to express such in the greatest range of motion with the most amount of muscle mass. This will inevitably move you to look stronger as well, but I'm guessing it will be in a way that you like rather than not. Let's pursue strength and allow any aesthetic concerns to follow.