Episode #181 Kieren Lefevre on how to become a better BJJ Athlete!

July 29, 2023 Ian Dawson Mackay ALL PODCAST EPISODES, LEVEL UP YOUR SPORTS PLAYING, MARTIAL ARTS - FIGHT LIKE A CHAMP! 1:05:23 0 Comments

TODAY's GUEST IS KIEREN LEFEVRE!

Today’s guest is Kieren Lefevre!

Kieren is a Jiu Jitsu YouTuber, BJJ Strength & Condition Coach, Certified Fitness Trainer, ISSN-Sports Nutrition Specialist, Co-Host of the Beyond Jiu Jitsu Podcast, self-professed jiujitsu nerd, and creator of the Longevity Course.

He helps BJJ athletes get strong, lean and mobile on and off the mats.

No matter what you are looking to improve on, he has videos to help you level up your BJJ. He covers Jiujiitsu, Nutrition, Fitness, Mobility, competition, and the lifestyle that comes along with it. Kieren has content to help you improve as a performer in all aspects BJJ performance! 

All BJJ, no BS!

#KierenLefevre #BJJ #BJJcompetitor #BJJTraining #YouTube #BrazilianJiuJitsu #competition #performance #mobility #trainingdiary #progression #nutrition #fitness   

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KEY POINTS, Links & Actions

Here are some key points that I would advise you to concentrate on:

  • A lot of men think they can win any fight but would be severely damaged if they fought against a trained fighter. BJJ allows you to control and dominate people using control grips, takedowns, chokes and submissions.
  • BJJ is a great tool for self-defense. 
  • “I would prefer … students do a very short joint mobility warm-up using mobility drills or in in the case of a beginners class … it’s a good opportunity to learn basic movements … a warm-up is is a way to learn. But that’s for white belts … for … intermediate and above you should come into class with your own … 5 minute mobility warm-up and then a warm-up could be something like technique, a flow roll and then getting to the the proper technique of the class and that’s similar to what John (Danaher) said is he expects his students from intermediate and above to warm themselves up and his warm-ups are drilling techniques.”
  • The time after a class, is a great time to work on some mobility work, some small techniques to rep out, when you are already hot, sweaty and your body is ready for movement and challenge. 
  • You don’t need to spend hours on the various components of training. You can add mobility to the warmup you do in BJJ, if you get to class a few minutes earlier than normal! “So do it as a warmup before your your standard class warmup so get to class just 10 minutes earlier than you normally board 10 minutes if you can manage it and do your mobility then.”
  • “The more time you spend on the mats the more efficient your movements will be the more efficient. Your movements are yeah, you’re you’re going to use less of your gas tank now if we ah use like the analogy of like a car and say that you know, um, a white belt.When they’re doing something like ah, some sort of technique like I don’t know a sweep or something like that because they’re less efficient with that movement. They’ll use 20% of their gas tank input a brown belt in there. Because they’ve had years and years of doing that exact sweep on many different opponents and and they are very efficient with their movements. Nothing is wasted. They may use 1% so who has the bigger gas tank is the brown belt or is the white belt but we don’t know. But. The white belt is using 20% to do one move.”
  • Kieren advises using intentional training, where you approach each training session with a particular goal in mind, such as better hand fighting, attempting more takedowns etc.

  • “… in terms of Jujitsu Technique I would say that by the time you reach that blue belt level. You should have a technique or an an area of your jijitsu. That’s your focus right. So say. For example that you’re you’ been up until blue beltt. You’ve been doing nothing but guard your guard got you to a blue belt essentially and you realize that you need to start working on passing what I would do is under the guidance of your training partners your your coach or just whatever you’re interested in pick a guard system. You’re going to be focusing on for the next one two even three months based on that focus try and put yourself in that position as much as possible.“

  • Kieren is a big fan of mobility drills to improve your movement ability and as part of your warm-up to get you ready for the intensity of the session. 
  • Kieren mentios focusing on learning BJJ concepts as well as repping movements to get the best of both worlds. 
  • Unfortunately, too many men go OTT with their post-training and diet in general, a lot of the Health Magazines over-emphasis the need for certain diets, carb or protein windows etc. It’s not the end of the world and don’t stress about when you can eat, eat! 
  • “I wouldn’t stress about it. It’s not It’s not the most important nutrient timing is really a 1% in my opinion it. It can be important if you’re a pro athlete. But if you’re an everyday jujitsu player and you just want to get healthier. You want to feel better perform better and eat better. Nutrient timing is probably 1 of the last things on the list of of priorities.”
  • You can get a lot of return for a 10-minute mobility session. You don’t need to add more time to your session, you just need to work more effectively and efficiently! 
  • Your training outside of the gym should help improve your entire body as a training system. 
  • If your gym doesn’t work on a particular area, or has a proper warm-up etc, you can take the initiative and work the area yourself and with a training partner. It can be at the end of a class, and short, doesn’t need to be another days worth of training on top of your normal training. 

  • “I think that you need both concepts to lay the foundation of your understanding and you need repetition to make those movements in in in those positions automatic. So we’re trying to get obviously automatic responses. So I think that ah an approach but a combination between the 2 is is going to serve you you best“

  • Kieren is a big fan of a training diary, where he monitors his training, keeps notes on what he wants to work on, ideas, and what questions he wants to ask his coach. 
  • The best workout is “… one that you’re going to do or the one that you enjoy doing right”! 
  • ‘To get better cardio, you just need to roll more’ is terrible advice to give someone! The more you roll, the more efficient you will be in your movements and you will need to use less energy. 

  • “I think in the short term to improve sleep I know you’ve probably heard a million times but limiting your amount of blue light exposure before bed will really really help. Having some sort of downregulation particularly if if you have a similar routine like me I train jujitsu I come straight home I eat immediately and then are pretty much getting ready for bed because I train pretty late at night our class finishes at 8pm so but by the time I get home. You know, shower eat. Whatever it’s nearly nine thirty and it’s it’s time. It’s time to to sort of wind down so having some sort of system where you’re like hey 30 minutes before bed I’m just going to turn off my screen I’m going to put my phone on red light mode and you know maybe I’m going to do some stretches or or just wind down read a book something like that that would having some sort of downregulation routine.”

  • You need a well-thought warm-up that primes the body for training and battle! But also a good cool-down: “… you’ve just had a huge dump of adrenaline. You’ve just gone to war for an hour or an hour and a half you know. So I think that picking 3 to 4 stretches and I use the term stretch intentionally here to basically downregulate. Your central nervous system and calm your body down and you know that will support you moving back to normality and and regulate you out lower your heart rate. So it can be jujitsu specific or it can be individually specific.”

  • “With your training have have some sort of goal around each session. It doesn’t need to be … climb Mount Everest every session, you don’t need to tap your training partners 10 times a piece every session but have something that you’re aiming toward“

  • You should monitor your progression, and have mini-goals for each session, and you should be monitoring your own progression vs who you were at the last session, it is a competition of you being better than you were last session, last week or last year! 
  • Your strength training options should be designed to replicate movements and actions within BJJ and not just focusing on building the muscles that look good to the opposite sex!  
  • Focus on eating high-quality foods! “focus on getting around 50% of your intake from carbohydrate for Jujitsu athletes carbohydrate is going to be your main fuel your glycogen um replenishment is going to be very important for recovery. And obviously we also need ah healthy fats. So don’t neglect fat fat is not the enemy. Ah so if you were to break it down I’d recommend for most people 50% of your diet should be carbohydrate approximately 30% of your diet should be protein and the remaining 20% should come from high quality fat sources.“
  • “I keep notes on I mean you don’t have to annotate your role. You don’t have to like write down everything that happens in a role. But if. If something key or fundamental or you get stuck on something or something is really successful where otherwise it wasn’t during a role maybe write that down and explore it maybe write that down explore it and then ask your coach the following session … What do I do (in position or situation X) and then you can workshop it I think that for me not only is the act of writing being shown to ah reinforce learning but it’s also a good reference point to come back to to jockey memory”

LEVEL UP Time WITH THIS KEY LESSON!

You don’t always need to add more time to your session, you just need to work more effectively and efficiently! 

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About the Author
I’m a podcaster who interviews great examples of people to discuss and highlight the methods, hacks, tips and procedures you can use in your own life to help you develop and better your life. I would definitely not consider myself an expert, so to improve, I ask them and action it in my own life! My personal journey has been marked by awkwardness and awesomeness, OCD and ‘OMG’. I have suffered with depression, shyness, unhappiness and lack of focus and motivation so I know what’s it like to feel lost and hopeless. Back then, I wished I had a podcast to listen to and find actual fixes and concrete action steps and not just unobtainable suggestions and promotion of their products but couldn’t find it … so I made my own!

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