How i got started
A year after I got into BJJ, a friend introduced me to lifting weights. I was new to weight training. He was a strong guy so I just did what he did.
I basically started a powerlifting plan and got stronger fast. Those newbie gains were real.
Squat, bench, deadlift, overhead press, and a few barbell rows – that’s all I needed. Or so I thought.
My performance on the mat was getting better and my strength training was paying off.
Getting strong
Within a couple of years, I felt physically stronger than all of my same-sized training partners.
I gained more and more confidence and was crushing it in local competitions. I was getting stronger and better every day and I took my training very seriously.
I felt like I was on top of the world and was considering to focus on Jiu Jitsu full time…
Things were falling apart
And then, things started to slowly but surely go downhill.
On the mats everything was fine. I was performing well. Off the mats, I was in constant pain. I thought that’s normal for an athlete. That’s what recovery time is for.
But then, the pain started interfering with my training. Warming up wasn’t enough anymore to pause the pain and regain body function. My back was killing me.
But I guessed: it is what it is. I would just stop inverting for some time because my neck and lower back couldn’t take it. A great opportunity to work on other parts of my game.
Hitting Rock bottom
When that little shoulder pain that was always in the background got worse and worse, I started to become frustrated. Now I couldn’t even post on my left arm anymore?
And then a knee injury put my training to a total stop.
There I was… A few weeks ago I thought I would roll till I’m 90 and now I was losing my passion and love for the sport in my 20s.
Recovering from that injury, I knew something had to change…
What was I doing wrong? I was getting enough sleep, my diet was on point, and I lifted weights. Being strong, helps prevent injuries. Right?
Seeing light at the end of the tunnel
The problem was: I was strong in some areas of my body but totally neglected certain body parts. I was unbalanced and my posture was bad. Reinforced by hours of curling into a ball when playing guard.
In Jiu Jitsu, we learn to posture when were stuck in someone’s closed guard or when defending a triangle choke.
But apart from that, we mostly neglect our posture. I learned about the concept of maintaining a neutral spine when I started lifting years earlier.
If a neutral spine is the safest and most efficient way to deadlift, shouldn’t the concept of the neutral spine be important in Jiu Jitsu as well?
So I tried being mindful of my posture while practicing Jiu Jitsu. To bend from the hip and knees instead of the back. Of course, that’s not always possible. But I was surprised how often I’ve put pressure on my lower back unnecessarily. In many situations, I could just bend my hips and knees instead of my back.
I immediately felt more stable and strong in the standup and when passing guard. It was very hard for my opponents to break my posture because I started from a position of strong, stable alignment.
However, the further I got into the training sessions, the harder it was to maintain that posture.
I realized I was on the right track, but my weight lifting plan needed a major change in order for me to keep the alignment throughout my training sessions.
Experimenting
So I went on a deep dive, gathering all information on strengthening my posture. I realized early that just stretching or lifting weights wasn’t going to be enough. I needed to do both: strengthening and mobilizing my body.
I learned about all the muscular imbalances that can cause poor posture and was surprised about the complexity of it. There weren’t just one or two areas of my body I needed to focus on.
I needed to strengthen my calves and tibialis muscles to stabilize my foot and knee position. So that wouldn’t interfere with the proper hip positioning.
I needed to strengthen my hamstrings and glutes while mobilizing my hip flexors to bring my pelvis into stable position, giving my upper body a stable foundation to sit on.
Of course, my core needed more strength to keep my spine in alignment under pressure.
I added specific exercises for my rotator cuffs to improve shoulder stability and started training my neck.
And I worked on shoulder mobility, hip mobility, and ankle mobility.
I felt the best way to do all of that was to combine essential compound exercises with more targeted isolation exercises for neglected muscle groups.
And I had an extensive mobility protocol before my lifting sessions, and some static stretching after.
Honestly, the hardest part was not to find all of those exercises. But to combine them effectively and put them into a routine without overlooking important aspects.
My posture exercise routine
With a lot of trial and error, I kept improving and evolving that routine into a well-rounded, holistic training plan to strengthen my posture.
I used it effectively and I’m finally able to train Jiu Jitsu again, pain-free… Well, most of the time. I think it’s impossible to train BJJ without some minor tweaks here and there.
But now those tweaks happen every two months instead of every training session, and my recovery is way faster.
I’ve given my training plan to some friends. The ones who stuck with it also had great results. But it is a lot of work and requires some dedication.
For me, 4 strength and mobility training sessions per week were a great investment for my overall wellbeing. On and off the mats, I have less pain. I feel stronger and more confident.
If you want to get a feel for what to expect from that program, you can enter your email address below. And I’ll send you a PDF with a free sample of some of the most powerful exercises I used to strengthen my posture and increase my pain-free time on the mats.