My photographer friend Ron took this picture of me stretching between matches at the South Bay Open this weekend. I lost my first match in overtime. I’m not sure how points were awarded, I just know I lost. I won my second match by kimura. Then I lost my third match on points. I got tooled in my third match actually. My teacher Shawn Williams was there and his coaching probably saved me from getting submitted a couple of times in the third match when I got a step behind.

In between my matches these two huge Samoan guys fought. They probably weighed 400 pounds each. It was awesome to behold. It was like watching two shaved grizzlies put on kimonos and then smash each other.

I’m a big fan of kettlebells, and think they’re great for BJJ. For a while I was doing a variation of the “Fight Gone Bad” circuit that is popular with CrossFitters. In my version of Fight Gone Bad I would do one minute of squats, one minute of rows, one minute of shrimps, one minute of swings, and one minute of presses. I’d do three of these five minute rounds. This workout is both mentally and physically draining, and after a while I found it to be detrimental to my BJJ. I was so depleted after doing Fight Gone Bad that I was too weak to roll and ended up getting injured twice.

Then I discovered Kenneth Jay’s VO2 max workout. I actually bought the DVD from dragondoor. If you’re considering buying the DVD I’ll give you warning that it is tailored to RKC kettlebell instructors. There are a lot of diagrams and charts that demonstrate the scientific underpinnings of VO2 max from an instructor’s point of view. The DVD will not teach you how to snatch properly. If you want to learn the snatch I recommend one of Mike Mahler’s DVD’s. I have two of his DVD sets and they’re very good for kettlebell biomechanics.

I won’t get into the science stuff, which I barely understand anyway. In brief, I’ll just say that VO2 max refers to the body’s ability to transport and utilize oxygen. Many consider VO2 max to be a key measure of cardio-respiratory endurance. Improving VO2 max is complex - the one thing I’ll mention is that interval exercise has been proven to be more effective at increasing VO2 max than long duration exercise.

Anyway, the DVD shows you how to measure the kettlebell snatch cadence that optimally stimulates VO2 max. In my case it was 16 snatches every 36 seconds. So the complete workout consists of 20 sets of 36 seconds of work and 36 seconds of rest. During the work period I’m supposed to do 16 snatches at a cadence that will make me finish the last rep exactly at the end of the 36 second interval. Unless you’re huge, a 35lb kettlebell is the ideal weight for this protocol.

In my case I started at 12 sets. I couldn’t do any more than that because my hands were too weak to do that many snatches. Eventually I worked my way up to 16 sets of 16 reps. I wanted to compete in a couple of tournaments this summer and I thought I better amp up my cardio training so a few weeks ago I started doing 16 sets of 18 reps. Last week I started doing 20 sets of 18 reps. Here’s what my hand looks like this morning…

I started developing blisters about ten days ago. I put krazy glue all over them so I could get through my workout but I guess the additional four sets I’ve been doing all week were the straw that broke the camel’s back. The big blister in the middle of my hand was oozing in a frightful manner this morning. It was effing heinous if you want to know the truth. I’ve also got three blisters on my right hand that are ready to go at any moment.

Anyway, the good news is my cardio is better than it’s been in twenty years. Also my grip strength is way better. Now if I could just elevate my technique…