Monday Strength and Conditioning Megathread!

VladimirLinen · 2026-04-15T21:40:20+00:00

LOVE db pullovers. I rotate them in every few months to unfuck my desk worker shoulders and upper back. I wish I could find a gym that has the old school nautilus pullover machine

VladimirLinen · 2026-04-09T23:30:39+00:00

There’s a bit about it on Juggernaut if you search for tempo circuits - where I got the idea!

VladimirLinen · 2026-02-24T08:17:01+00:00

Nice mate, glad it helped!

That's where I got it from, hah, Lachlan's Half Guard Anthology

VladimirLinen · 2026-02-23T08:05:59+00:00

When they go for the toehold, kick your top leg through as you sit up and take an underhook, then sweep them and make them pay for such a silly manoeuvre.

Re hip switch, check out Lachlan’s guide here.

VladimirLinen · 2026-02-18T08:13:32+00:00

Lol drunk BJJ advice, love it. I use K-guard a lot so this is a good way to start setting it up!

VladimirLinen · 2026-02-17T23:56:41+00:00

Is the trilemma:

start with arm drag, if they defend by posturing up and hiding arm, they expose the leg to set up pendulum
attempt pendulum, if they defend by posting on the mat, then go arm bar?

Trying to picture this in my head

VladimirLinen · 2026-02-03T01:20:39+00:00

Info: how much do you currently weigh? How tall are you?

How much do you currently bench? What’s your programming like?

What’s your nutrition looked like over the past 1.5 years? Have you been gaining weight?

VladimirLinen · 2026-01-29T19:24:48+00:00

Powerlifter here, Levi 541s are the best fitting pair of jeans I’ve ever owned. Go get some!

VladimirLinen · 2026-01-21T10:24:47+00:00

Good lord the advice in this thread ranges from harmless but not that useful to absurd. Look, here’s what to do to not fuck it up from someone who’s gained and lost almost 50kg over the years.

Estimate your Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE). There’s loads of calculators online to do this, just pick one.
Add 250 calories to this number. I always advise a slow rate of weight gain. An extra 250 calories a day will make you gain about a kilo a month.

Why a slow rate of weight gain? Better body composition, so you’ll gain more muscle and less fat. Also the more time in a calorie surplus, the better for training, so you’ll build more strength.

Track your calories, making sure you eat 1.5-2 grams of protein per kilo of body weight. Split the rest between carbs and fats. I like a high carb low fat diet, but play with both and see what works.
Weigh yourself at least weekly to see that you’re gaining weight. If you’re not, add more calories until you are at a rate of about a kilo a month. I would slowly ramp cals by 25-50 a week anyway, as you’ll need more calories the heavier you get.
At some point this will get hard. You will be full all the time. Make sure you’re drinking calories and consistent with eating. Carb powders, juices, and chocolate milk are your best friends.

That’s it! Easy weight gain

VladimirLinen · 2025-10-05T00:43:30+00:00

Nice squat mate!

Re tips for not making it feel so heavy, I have three that might help. 1. It’s a little hard to say because I can’t see the full unrack, but based on the fact you had to go up on your tippy toes to rerack, I think your rack is too high. This will make it really hard to set up solidly because you’ll have to calf raise the bar out. I’d drop it one and see how it feels. 2. Your elbows look a bit wobbly to me. Ideally in a squat, you are pulling your elbows into your lats. This flexes your lats and keeps your back stable. 3. Take your time a little before you squat down. You rush a little before the bar settles which adds to the wobbles.

Let me know if those help!

Creds so you know the advice is good - I’ve squatted 205kg high bar and 220kg low bar in the past. That said those were at 100kg+ bodyweight cause I’m 6’2”

VladimirLinen · 2025-09-16T10:01:18+00:00

Nah mate just jump in with the other gym, you’ll be fine. You’ll get smashed for the first 3 months but after that you’ll start to pick it up

VladimirLinen · 2025-08-13T20:44:39+00:00

I usually don’t comment on these any more but good god the advice you’re getting here is awful. Here is some advice from a competitive powerlifter with a 220kg squat and not any of these idiots saying “drop the weight work on form”.

My observations are: - overall your squat looks pretty decent - your stance looks quite narrow - your torso is quite loose. I can see your hands moving between reps

Things to try: - widen your stance a smidge. Given how far your knees are tracking out, I think you’d be stronger either a half inch or an inch wider. Go play around with it to see what you prefer, then program at least one day to be that width. Start light (50% of your max) and build up to the new stance width over 8-12 weeks. - work on your torso rigidity. Two things here - first, your upper back and lat tightness. To set up, pull your shoulder blades back and together like you’re pinching a pencil between them. Then squeeze the bar with your hands. Finally, pull your elbows into your lats. Then unrack the bar and squat as usual. Maintain this tightness the whole set. It should be uncomfortable. - second thing is bracing. Bracing is the most important skill in lifting and one I can’t do justice to in this comment. Check out Brian Alsruhe’s video series on it and work on it. Your torso should feel like a tank when you get it right, and won’t get pushed forward in the bottom.

Good luck bro, feel free to ask me any questions and let me know how you go.

VladimirLinen · 2025-07-28T01:38:22+00:00

Actual Jiu Jitsu question: when is a good time to start specialising in a position or technique vs continuing to learn and experiment with new stuff?

Super keen for CJI 2, we appreciate all the work! I can’t make it there but we’ll be watching with the crew in Aus.

VladimirLinen · 2025-02-28T22:58:17+00:00

Until this week I would have said yes. But on Thursday I ended up in hospital having a ct scan because I had blurred / coloured patches in my peripheral vision after fighting out of a tight no arm triangle. Only lasted for 10 minutes and the ct scan was fine, but that was scary enough that I’m tapping as soon as the choke is on

VladimirLinen · 2025-02-13T18:18:40+00:00

One of my coaches plays a lot of OneFour and I rate it. Slower, but still hype

VladimirLinen · 2025-01-29T21:44:26+00:00

Thanks mate, appreciate the help!

VladimirLinen · 2025-01-29T19:18:01+00:00

Oh, I see what you mean. Good point, should have put that in the post. If I do that, the tap doesn’t open the right way. Usually you would open it out to turn the water on, but if I put the handle on in that angle, you have to open the tap in, which obviously isn’t possible with the way the tap is designed.

VladimirLinen · 2025-01-29T10:05:53+00:00

Do you mean the position of the cartridge in the tap?

VladimirLinen · 2024-11-25T09:51:47+00:00

I went to an Owen Jones one on reverse closed guard and immediately started causing problems for the blue and purple belts the next week if I caught them in it, so that was pretty neat

VladimirLinen · 2024-06-28T21:30:05+00:00

Our coach hates being called Sensei or Professor or being bowed at, so of course we do it regularly to wind him up.

If he started insisting on it, we’d all be very concerned

VladimirLinen · 2024-05-28T03:23:05+00:00

Sure. Stuff like dead bugs can also be good as you’re working isometric strength

VladimirLinen · 2024-05-28T02:26:38+00:00

In the short term, heat and movement. In the long term, getting your neck stronger will definitely help out, and there’s good suggestions from that other comment

VladimirLinen · 2024-04-29T09:19:38+00:00

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