The Question. And A Simple Power Combination for Grapplers

“Oh, I hate these, I never seem to get better at them!” says the client as I’m explaining her new program.

“Ok, bear with me though. You do 5 Deadlifts, rest about 30 seconds then set up for 5 broad jumps” which I then talk through and demo.

She’s not enamored by the jumps.

But we do an easy set to get a feel of things, after which she asks, “So, what are these doing for me?”

Aha! This is what I was waiting for.

The question.

The best question.

The question that tells me that the client is wanting to understand.

I love it when clients ask “Why?”

The lady in question is a rising star of the Judo game, but she feels she needs more strength. There are few better strength exercises than the good old fashioned Deadlift, especially for grapplers. It’s the centre point of the Fighting Back program I created for BJJ players a while ago.

The Deadlift is a full body pull. But it’s also a grinding lift that while it increases strength, doesn’t necessarily increase speed.

So we contrast them with the Broad Jump, a standing long jump. The jump is explosive and helps the athlete learn to be fast. The mechanics of both the Deadlift and the Jump are very close, so we’re hitting that all important hip extension pattern in two contrasting styles with the two lifts.

So, to put her mind at ease, it’s not about the jump itself, but about what we can take from the jump. And we can take the strength from the Deadlift and learn to express it very fast.

Which, combined with the rest of the program should help the fighter by increasing their power potential for their sport, which is why we are lifting in the first place. A point very well made by my buddy and top therapist Ronnie Ward when he posted and I reposted this:

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Couldn’t help but share this; #Repost @optimumbody.ie (@get_repost) ・・・ Far too much of this is going on If you or your coach are chasing big numbers to lift in the gym and you play any field sport or track and field, well, your only fooling yourself in my opinion. #rewire #archstrong …….. I have a handful of clients that lift for lifting. Most are Kettlebell Sport competitors, the rest just like lifting to be strong. All my other clients lift so they can be better at their main event. For some it’s competitive martial arts, or mountain biking. For the remainder, the majority, it’s so they can play with their kids better. So they can help their aging parents, so they can protect. It keeps them physically and mentally fit, strong and mobile. It doesn’t leave them wiped out, injured, too tired to do anything else. Train for life Don’t train to train. #wgfamily #irishfitfam

A post shared by Dave Hedges (@dave_hedges) on Jan 24, 2019 at 2:56pm PST

And if you have any questions, just ask.

Regards

Dave Hedges