Grappling Articles

At Westside Barbell, we've seen our fair share of elite athletes walk through our doors....

Wed Aug 14, 2024

I have said it before and will repeat it; when skill sets are equal or similar, the stronger, faster, and more athletic athlete almost always prevails. If you have to bet on a fight, and all you know about the two fighters is that they are equally skilled in martial arts, but one athlete squats 800lbs while the other squats 315lbs, who would you bet your life savings on if you were forced to?

When skill and technical ability are practically equal, as they usually are at the top of any sport, absolute strength and athleticism make the difference.

Thu Apr 13, 2023

One important attribute in all sports, especially grappling sports, is absolute strength. Absolute strength represents the maximal amount of force an athlete can produce. Gains in absolute strength for a grappler lead to stronger takedowns, better sprawls, improved control, and the ability to use strength to force submissions when technique fails.

Tue Oct 11, 2022

When most think of conditioning work, their mind goes to exercises like long-distance jogging or hill sprints. While these exercises are excellent options to choose when building aerobic capacity, they aren’t exactly relative to the sport. If you want to maximize the conditioning for a specific sport, you must find ways to tax and fatigue the athlete relative to their sport.

Tue Oct 04, 2022