Rafael Dos Anjos S&C coach is against heavy weight lifting - interview with Rogan

[Ben Eddy]

I wanted to share this interview I just listened to with Joe Rogan and Rafael Dos Anjos' strength and conditioning coach Nick Curson. Really interesting interview. He pushes 100% for a plyometrics only type weight training. I would recommend checking it out, I'm looking into the course he has on his site now -- http://www.speedofsport.com/store/c1..._Products.html. And his instagram has some more info -- https://instagram.com/speedofsport/ -- https://www.youtube.com/user/SpeedofSport.

He's against squats, bench, deadlift etc. against resistance training, against kettlebells. I know for BJJ whether to just rely on training for S&C or add weight lifting is a big topic. Nick Curson would argue that heavy weight lifting is counter productive and you should only train for conditioning and plyometric weight exercises.

He even notes that he could 'fix' Eddie around the one hour mark ;-) and starts specifically talking about BJJ.

At 1:50 he starts talking about switching Ricardo Abreu (bjj phenom switching to mma) off his heavy weight lifting style of training and onto Nick's plyometric style training.

[RobertGarza]

Loved this podcast ! A must listen! Thanks for posting Ben!

[Brandon Mccaghren]

Yeah, I thought this was fascinating Ben. It's interesting how all the great trainers seem to have a completely different idea of what a workout is supposed to look like.

[TaylorWolf]

My brother is a PE major obsessed with elite athletics and peak performance and he swears by this Plyometrics type of shit. I had him listen to the podcast and he started raving about it to me. He even wants to go meet the guy personally and open up his own gym someday.

Im really excited to get into this in the next few years. Ever since hearing the podcast I started using my toes more in every exercise and doing explosive reps on the leg press machine lol. Count my brother and I in on this one it will definitely be in the future of 10P.

[Ben Eddy]

Yeah, I thought this was fascinating Ben. It's interesting how all the great trainers seem to have a completely different idea of what a workout is supposed to look like.

Yea, it's like diet.

[Chris Garry]

Fascinating stuff!!

I think it speaks volumes that he has provided Dos Anjos with the very tools he needed to gain in order to become world champ.

He doesnt seem to have trained that many high level ufc guys though, (yet!) so I think its very important to remember that what works for one won't work for another, exactly like you guys point out "like diet." Nicks the same as our strongman coach Paul Smith in that he is exceptionally select in terms of who he is working with, I think this must save time training guys who just arent right for his type of training.

Paul was agreeing with a lot of what Nick said and also disagreed with one or two bits as well, it was fun to hear an insight off Paul as I believe he will become the UK's first big name in UK MMA S&C and has endless knowledge on the subject of strength, but is always still learning..

The value of plyometrics is astronomical for MMA, and this is where MMA & jiu jitsu go their spserate ways a little bit. I think with a lot of athletes, adding the kind of strength a grappler needs to grind and clinch is achieved with heavier weights, however there is a point that comes a lot sooner for an MMA guy when he would begin to lose overall speed having trained that way over a prolonged perios of time, like several months. Everything Nick said about doing the excercises as fast as you can in order to maintain speed is 100% correct and the way he phrased it all and explained it really struck a chord.

My personal take on it is that most fighters can still benefit from doing heavy weights, compound movements, work up their 1 rep max etc; but just not in the last 8 weeks of their fight preparation. For the weeks before the fight then its plyos and sparring all day over big weigfhts for MMA conditioning.

When Nick said that front squats were essentially pointless for an MMA fighter I thought Joe was going to turn off his mic!! Haha, great episode

[David Rosado]

I'm down with all the functional strength and all that, but will it make my body look good? I'm dead serious too. LOL. I can get strong and healthy, but I'm trying to look a little less like Fedor and a little more like Luke Rockhold.

[Scott Yockel]

I thought it was a great Podcast for Joe, one of the better one in awhile for me. I think it proves that everyone is different, as a competitor you need to find out what "school of thought" works best for your style and body.

[TaylorWolf]

Hmm I think Rockhold might actually the perfect example of someone who does this type of exercise? Explosive and athletic he just happens to be a naturally big dude.

I trained at AKA for about 8 months and he was the one pro I would usually see in the weight room. Never saw him doing those "bulky" type lifts, instead he would do these crazy explosive cardio exercises while holding two giant dumbbells. Like footwork drills, lunges, shoulder presses, staying on his toes keeping his heart rate up. I think he and others at AKA are definitely into the polymeric type shit.

[Mojoplata]

Not Cain