If you've never trained Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu before, walking into a BJJ gym for the first time can be intimidating. You probably don't know what you're supposed to wear, you don't know anyone, you don't know what half the words mean, and you may have absolutely no idea what is going to happen once class starts. That's pretty normal. Every experienced BJJ practitioner was once the person standing outside the room wondering what they had gotten themselves into. You don't need to

One of the things I've noticed as I've spent more time coaching is that there is a point where learning another combination isn't necessarily what an athlete needs. Combinations are important. Especially for beginners. You need to learn how to throw a jab and recover your stance, how the cross follows the jab, how to put punches and kicks together, how to move after you attack, and how to maintain your balance while doing all of it. There is a lot of value in having someone s

If you are a young MMA fighter and you feel like you are getting tired too quickly during training, there is a good chance someone has told you to start running sprints. “Do some hill sprints.” “Run 10 × 100 meters.” “Sprint until you can't sprint anymore.” It sounds like good advice. MMA is explosive, right? You need to be able to explode into takedowns, throw hard combinations, scramble, wrestle, and attack submissions. So it seems logical that running as hard as possible w

If you are new to MMA, you have probably searched for a strength and conditioning program online. Maybe you asked ChatGPT to make one for you. You may have ended up with a six-day Push/Pull/Legs program, a long list of exercises, several different types of conditioning, and enough ab work to make you wonder when you're actually supposed to train MMA. The problem isn't that any of those exercises are necessarily bad. The problem is that a long workout is not the same thing as

Why nutrition should be developed progressively—not treated as an all-or-nothing skill If you spend much time on Reddit or other online fitness communities, you've probably seen this happen. Someone asks a relatively simple question about nutrition. Maybe they want to lose some body fat, gain muscle, improve their energy, or simply start eating better. They are looking for somewhere to begin. The answers often go much further than that. Before long, they're being told to calc