Supporting Grapplers
In sports falling under the grappling umbrella, it would be nonsensical to ignore the necessity of strength characteristics. Although technical mastery and proficiency allow for certain throws, take-downs and scrambles to be executed with timing outweighing physical effort - strength and force can (and often do) still play a factor in the difference between turning the corner on a double leg, finishing the sweep, and ultimately, imposing your will on your opponent in the battle of brains and brawn.
This article aims to take a look under the hood in what the physical profile of grappling sport looks like, as well as some principles worth considering when programming, as well as what might be missing if you really want to get the upper hand on the mats.
“Grappler Strong” or “grappler strength”, is a term that BJJ athletes, Judoka’s, Catch Wrestlers, and Submission Grapplers (amongst others) commonly throw around if you were to ask them about what their strength programme looks like. Many of which don’t feel the need for gym based training, and feel that they develop their strength through the demands of the training. To an extent, they’re not wrong either. The very nature of the sport, means that athletes in the training environment are frequently exposed to supra-maximal eccentric and overcoming isometrics muscle actions. Hold on, what does that mean? Well, supra-maximal eccentric, refers to a muscle action in which the muscle lengthens under a tension which it is unable to overcome concentrically.
BJJ Example Think of someone in side-control trying to hyper-extend your arm, although you are resisting as hard as you can using your bicep to keep your arm bent, your arm slowly straightens as your bicep lengthens. Supra-maximal therefore refers to the lengthening force your muscle tissue is under, which is greater than that you could produce to overcome the lengthening.
(maximal) Overcoming Isometrics then, refer to producing as much force as you possibly can against an object/limb/person, that cannot be moved with that amount of force.
Wrestling Example Imagine being pinned to the mat, flat on your front. You have your hands underneath you, and try to push the floor away to create space to escape, unfortunately, the strength and weight of your opponent cannot be moved just by the force you can produce by pushing, and so despite you pushing as hard as you can, driving a maximal effort into the floor, no muscle lengthening occurs and you don’t budge.
These two muscle actions mean that you are exposing yourself to very high relative forces on a regular basis. You can produce more force in these actions than you can concentrically (muscle shortening - e.g. the upwards portion of a squat exercise), and therefore this regular exposure forces the body to adapt, improving and increasing strength and force capabilities, resulting in athletes being almost freakishly strong in relative terms, despite little-to-no strength training.
So what’s missing, contrary to ill-informed belief, Strength and Conditioning is not purely grinding out reps with weight on the bar, and being rinsed on the assault bike. A good structured programme is about turning your weaknesses into strengths, and making your strengths stronger. Although I could delve into the benefits of Snatch Grip Deadlifting, and other high threshold compound lifts to develop that brute strength further - I’m going to shift to the other end of the spectrum, and with that in mind, what is sparring and technical grappling training often missing. As I’ve just touched on, there is a large magnitude of high force actions (submission attempts/defenses etc), and often a high frequency of high intensity actions (shoots, scrambles etc). As I talk about in detail in a recent post about improving striking power, if you want to increase the force produced in high intensity actions, then exposure to high force is important - this time though, we’re talking concentric (muscle shortening) actions. Fast powerful contractions, in the absence of impairing fatigue then aid the other end of the spectrum, and if trained appropriately, can result in a more rounded physical profile, and more physical tools in the match deciding moments.
This can be trained in particular reference to terminal extension. What we mean by terminal extension is the end range of extension, in reference to most high intensity actions, particularly those when on the feet or in transition, we can aim to target hip and knee terminal extension. This is crucial when finishing the shoot and securing the take down, and forceful, fast and intentful extension can be the difference between forcing your opponent backwards, or giving them the micro-seconds to sprawl and successfully defend.
What separates grappling however from other sports where this terminal extension is key (sprinting and jumping in football/rugby etc), is the length of what is called the “impulse”, which relates to the force being applied and the time it takes for that application - illustrated simply below.
Because of the resistance applied by the opponent, the impulse is generally longer as it takes longer for the extension force to be applied. This again is something that can be worked on in the gym to help “make strengths stronger” for grapplers. This is where it can be advantageous to use what is referred to as accommodating/variable resistance, to encourage intent through full range of extension ensuring that acceleration continues beyond the initial phase of the lift (as resistance increases), whilst still maintaining high contraction speeds. This shouldn’t necessarily become the cornerstone of your programming, but simply a part of the training jigsaw to improve gross athleticism, and give you the tools for better performance.
FRC or “Functional Range Conditioning” is another training method (developed by Dr. Andreo Spina) which I think has great value for grapplers, and fighters in general and is something which I’ll commonly integrate into the service. FRC for short, is a comprehensive movement based system designed to help you improve mobility, joint health and fundamental movement. Many fighters and grapplers have joint issues, due to the frequent strain placed throughout training, and the aim of well implemented FRC is to improve mobility, NOT flexibility. Mobility refers to the active control of range of motion, as opposed to the passive uncontrolled range of motion associated with flexibility.
In short, the benefits to grapplers are clear, and ultimately mean that athletes can have greater strength and control in more extreme ranges of motion (whether when tissue is at its shortest, or its longest). Although this may not seem “super-sexy”, and certainly may not be what sells on instagram, the more mobile an athlete is, the more able they are to maximize their movement potential safely, efficiently, and effectively.
Grip Strength and improving grip strength is another asset of significance when it comes to competitive grappling, and one that is easy to ignore when constructing a performance programme. Although your exposure may differ depending if you train and compete in a gi, in spats, or neither, having vice like wrist control can be incredibly beneficial when jostling for position, or sealing a submission.
My personal approach is that grip training should come from a mixed approach, and by that I mean, by training both in isolation, and holistically as a by-product of other exercises. As an example, there are countless athletes (from all sports) that I often see deadlifting with a mixed grip (one underhand, one overhand), and when I ask why, they claim that it’s because their grip is the limiting factor in their deadlift. Now, unless you’re a competitive power lifter, or you are working at the very top end of your physical capabilities, then including the benefits of lifting with a double-overhand grip shouldn’t be overlooked throughout your training. This is merely one “tip” as opposed to a training recommendation, and for more specifics, I have listed a few different examples below, with differing targets, that can be easily implemented to your programme.
Heavy Kettlebell Carries - Most kettlebells have the benefit of a thicker handle than a conventional barbell/dumbbell, and so lend themselves as excellent tools when it comes to developing grip strength. As well as the benefit of grip, I am a huge advocate of loaded carries when developing athleticism, and think they have excellent transferablilty when it comes to trunk strength and the ability to stabilise posture through offset loading. Try grabbing a kettlebell in one hand, and walking 15m, with an emphasis of maintaining symmetrical and upright posture (take your time and walk at a normal pace rather than scurrying), before switching hands and returning. Getting to 50% of your bodyweight in one hand is a good benchmark, but start at what is challenging but achievable, and progress gradually.
Capacity Circuits - Incorporating a grip element into energy system based work is another option that is easily implemented. A flow or series of movements with a lighter kettlebell for a set period of time, ideally unbroken (without putting the kettlebell down) can increase the durability of the the appropriate musculature associated with grip. Try the below with a relatively light-to-moderate kettlebell at the end of a session to increase capacity as well as applying an aerobic stimulus without beating the body up.
2x Single Arm Swings, 2x Single Arm Cleans, 2x Single Arm Press, 2x Single Arm Snatch - Switch Hands and Repeat. (3minutes of continuous work - 2-5 Sets)
*Ensure you have the technical proficiency and understanding of each of the requisite movements before trying to sequence together in a fatiguing format.
Plate Pinch Grip Using a plate in order to develop the durability of the musculature associated with pinching, is an easily accessible and easily applicable method of targeting your grip development in isolation. Hold the edge of a plate out in front of you (start with 5kg and progress accordingly), and slowly work your hands round in a circular motion, alternatively taking one hand off of the plate in order to pinch further round to turn the plate. When you have completed one full rotation clockwise, return anti-clockwise immediately before resting. This can easily be implemented in a super-set format to a more globally targeted/systemic exercise, or at the end of your session to improve fatigue resistance.
Explore the corners. Grappling is not a sport that just consists of forwards and backwards, nor up and down. It is a constantly evolving and changing conundrum of complex movement, in multiple planes of motion, and training should reflect that. A good and holistic S&C programme should be ticking boxes in terms of linear, lateral, and rotational force production. Further, it should be addressing resistance of these motions as well, aiding in the development of force absorption and movement stabilization and resistance.
As well as moving and expressing force through multiple planes, it is also important that kinetic links are established and developed. Which is the ability to transfer force effectively through the chain, and ultimately into the opponent, resulting in asserting a take-down, or an advantageous pass from one position to another. This again, is something I have touched on previously and you can read about by clicking the link later mentioned below.
Finally, as well as developing the body’s ability to co-ordinate and work in association from the lower body to the upper body, or from one side to the other, it is also important to continually challenge the ability to dissociate movement, something of paramount importance in all combat sports. This refers specifically to the ability to be able to actively stabilise one body part, whilst actively producing dynamic movement in another - again, another fundamental of a well-rounded programme and something that can be applied at various points across the force-velocity spectrum.
A whistle stop tour, and although I’ve covered a few topics, I haven’t delved into things like joint health, kinetic links (covered in the "“Hitting Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger” blog), strength development, and appropriate fitness/conditioning (these can/will come later). But hopefully this blog has given food for thought, and if you’re a grappler, it has hopefully triggered some reflection as to what your training might be missing to take your game to the next level.
PRPerformance offers bespoke support services to a variety of athletes, including those training and competing in grappling or MMA. Have a look across the website for more information about what PRPerformance can offer and be sure to follow on social media (@_prperformance on instagram, and twitter) to stay in the loop with regards to blogs, updates, and offers that will be coming your way.
Thanks for reading,
Paul
