Big Dave Smith showing why he is a Hoss

[DOGGCRAPP]

Juji....great athlete and physical specimen....but Juji you dont want what Dave is bringing to the table.... Pro Muscle represent!

Daves at 18:06

 

[MR. BMJ]

Dave is like a big teddy bear that can snap your neck in 2 seconds...lol.

 

[Bio]

Dave the Teddy Bear Hit Man!

Big Dave said the video would be coming out soon...very cool! Dave is a monster out there and Joe is a big boy too!! I wouldn't want Dave's arm around my neck..

 

[maldorf]

Wow, great skills and a black belt. Cant believe how flexible and maneuverable he is at his size.

 

[pimpman]

Great video. Man that black belt is thick dude and extremely flexible

 

[Big Dave Smith]

Juji was a really good sport about the whole thing! Joey Szat is one of my training partners, he’s the one who brought Juji in.

I’m still maintaining 90% of the size. The whole set point theory seems to be true because it never mattered how much grappling I did, the mass never really went away. Lowest weight I reach is about 250lbs, but usually hover between 253-260.
Right now I’m happy maintaining a balance between bodybuilding and BJJ. Not sure what the future holds, but I’m thankful to have both.

 

[Bio]

Dave, until you mentioned him in that other thread, I had never heard of him. By virtue of his name, I thought he was a jits guy. It must have been eye opening for him to realize that his muscles weren't going to help him much against a skilled, equal size guy or as Joey calls you, The Python!

 

[Bio]

Great video. Man that black belt is thick dude and extremely flexible

Pimp you realize that's our Big Dave Smith?

 

[maldorf]

Juji was a really good sport about the whole thing! Joey Szat is one of my training partners, he’s the one who brought Juji in.

I’m still maintaining 90% of the size. The whole set point theory seems to be true because it never mattered how much grappling I did, the mass never really went away. Lowest weight I reach is about 250lbs, but usually hover between 253-260.
Right now I’m happy maintaining a balance between bodybuilding and BJJ. Not sure what the future holds, but I’m thankful to have both.

How did you develop that much flexibility and maintain it? Going to guess you have some sort of routine you follow? I'd be happy if I have 1/2 of what you do. I need to implement something.

 

[lookslikesausage]

Juji was a really good sport about the whole thing! Joey Szat is one of my training partners, he’s the one who brought Juji in.

I’m still maintaining 90% of the size. The whole set point theory seems to be true because it never mattered how much grappling I did, the mass never really went away. Lowest weight I reach is about 250lbs, but usually hover between 253-260.
Right now I’m happy maintaining a balance between bodybuilding and BJJ. Not sure what the future holds, but I’m thankful to have both.

How many days per week do you train in the gym and how many days do you train in bjj?

 

[austrianoak]

Brilliant, I love how Triple H‘s entrance theme comes on at 21:35ish - perfect timing haha.

 

[Brock456]

How many days per week do you train in the gym and how many days do you train in bjj?

I would like to know this also. How do you manage both?

Between life and gym 5-6 days a week, I can’t even think of being able to take on a second sport.
@Big Dave Smith

 

[Big Dave Smith]

How did you develop that much flexibility and maintain it? Going to guess you have some sort of routine you follow? I'd be happy if I have 1/2 of what you do. I need to implement something.

It’s partially genetic, but a lot of work.
The concept is exactly like bodybuilding. People who don’t train can’t imagine being so massive and strong... until they train hard for a few years, eat, and grow. People who train a little, and always remain at a beginner level, always think they have some disadvantage (drugs, genetics, etc).
Most people who attended those hardcore Bikram yoga sessions wound up being able to do the moves. BJJ is much the same.
I started stretching aggressively for about 15-20 min after lifting (while warm). Some dynamic, some static. Dynamic stretching has given me the most success. Also, your body temperature is really high when rolling and training, so you’re sort of doing “involuntary yoga” every time you train.
In 2012, I attended a “berimbolo” seminar for $150. At the time, it was the biggest waste of money EVER... When the fuck was I going to ever spin on my back to attack someone with my legs in the air?
Fast forward to 2021, and I can “bolo” better than most little guys. 1/3 to 1/2 of BJJ people wind up more flexible than people who do yoga and stretch. If both are done, it gets pretty crazy how bendy you can get.

 

[Big Dave Smith]

How many days per week do you train in the gym and how many days do you train in bjj?

3-4 days lifting
3-4 days bjj

 

[maldorf]

It’s partially genetic, but a lot of work.
The concept is exactly like bodybuilding. People who don’t train can’t imagine being so massive and strong... until they train hard for a few years, eat, and grow. People who train a little, and always remain at a beginner level, always think they have some disadvantage (drugs, genetics, etc).
Most people who attended those hardcore Bikram yoga sessions wound up being able to do the moves. BJJ is much the same.
I started stretching aggressively for about 15-20 min after lifting (while warm). Some dynamic, some static. Dynamic stretching has given me the most success. Also, your body temperature is really high when rolling and training, so you’re sort of doing “involuntary yoga” every time you train.
In 2012, I attended a “berimbolo” seminar for $150. At the time, it was the biggest waste of money EVER... When the fuck was I going to ever spin on my back to attack someone with my legs in the air?
Fast forward to 2021, and I can “bolo” better than most little guys. 1/3 to 1/2 of BJJ people wind up more flexible than people who do yoga and stretch. If both are done, it gets pretty crazy how bendy you can get.

So it sounds like since you have attained a great level of flexibility and train in BJJ, you dont have to do so many dedicated stretching sessions like you did in the beginning because now you are in effect stretching out while you train BJJ? We should have a sticky thread on this site about how to stretch correctly. What kind of routine is best etc. Seeing you move like that in the video surprised me. Im glad that I now know that it can be done when you have some size. Youre right, you have to train in stretching if you are going to be flexible. I just stretch my groin and hamstrings before lifting, along with low back too Id say. Sounds like I need to add in some more aggressive stretching after I exercise and am all warmed up. These days I am very tight all of the time and I think it causes me pain. Low back and SI joint.

 

[Big Dave Smith]

I would like to know this also. How do you manage both?

Between life and gym 5-6 days a week, I can’t even think of being able to take on a second sport.
@Big Dave Smith

That’s more of an hour long conversation than a short answer

Key factors
-Food
-Varying intensity for both bjj and gym
-Sleep
-No kids
-Live alone
-Making them both priorities

I train when I’m tired, I train when I’m injured, I train most days of the month. HOW that is done is more complicated.

I’m certainly not doing a high volume leg days to failure and running off to 2 hours of grappling.

If you listen to wrestlers talk about their sport, US wrestlers were all horsepower and endurance, but Russian wrestlers were more technical. US wrestlers were injured more frequently. Why? US wrestlers trained at max all the time, Russians would use less intensity and more repetition. That’s not saying Russians weren’t elite with their condition, or that US wrestlers weren’t technical... but each country sort of learned the benefits of each other’s methods, eventually marrying the two as time went on.

Long story short, it’s the how, when, and why of training. More isn’t better. Harder isn’t better. Better is better.

 

[Big Dave Smith]

So it sounds like since you have attained a great level of flexibility and train in BJJ, you dont have to do so many dedicated stretching sessions like you did in the beginning because now you are in effect stretching out while you train BJJ? We should have a sticky thread on this site about how to stretch correctly. What kind of routine is best etc. Seeing you move like that in the video surprised me. Im glad that I now know that it can be done when you have some size. Youre right, you have to train in stretching if you are going to be flexible. I just stretch my groin and hamstrings before lifting, along with low back too Id say. Sounds like I need to add in some more aggressive stretching after I exercise and am all warmed up. These days I am very tight all of the time and I think it causes me pain. Low back and SI joint.

One thing people don’t realize is that stretching prior to exercise is misguided. It serves no purpose as a warm up. Stretching to get warm is like trying to bust a nut before getting a boner. LOL. Stretching also kills your stretch reflex, killing off a portion of your strength.

Ideally, “priming” the muscles your about to train is the best... movement, warmth, and activating the ROM you’ll be using to train. After you train is best to stretch because the tissue is more pliable.

Think about why you wouldn’t try to perform hard muscle contractions before a warm up. You’d come up with a few very obvious answers. Those same reasons are why you wouldn’t want to static stretch before the lifts you’re about to do.

Leg training takes me about 20+ min before I do any working sets. Push and Pull days are about the same, maybe only 15 min.

 

[Big Dave Smith]

Still hanging on. These are from today.

 

[maldorf]

One thing people don’t realize is that stretching prior to exercise is misguided. It serves no purpose as a warm up. Stretching to get warm is like trying to bust a nut before getting a boner. LOL. Stretching also kills your stretch reflex, killing off a portion of your strength.

Ideally, “priming” the muscles your about to train is the best... movement, warmth, and activating the ROM you’ll be using to train. After you train is best to stretch because the tissue is more pliable.

Think about why you wouldn’t try to perform hard muscle contractions before a warm up. You’d come up with a few very obvious answers. Those same reasons are why you wouldn’t want to static stretch before the lifts you’re about to do.

Leg training takes me about 20+ min before I do any working sets. Push and Pull days are about the same, maybe only 15 min.

Good points. Im aware of the stretch reflex and how they say that it will decrease your strength during lifts. I have never tested that before, but I believe it to be true. I always figured sacrificing some of the strength isnt going to ruin things. I know I feel better and less stiff after stretching before a lift. I try to trust how my body feels, so havent felt like stretching before it bad. A good long series of warm up sets is important like you say. I think I will try not stretching before and do an extra set of warm ups lifting, and then stretch after. Good advice. I should definitely be able to stretch much better afterwards and then perhaps be able to increase my flexibility faster.

 

[Big Dave Smith]

Good points. Im aware of the stretch reflex and how they say that it will decrease your strength during lifts. I have never tested that before, but I believe it to be true. I always figured sacrificing some of the strength isnt going to ruin things. I know I feel better and less stiff after stretching before a lift. I try to trust how my body feels, so havent felt like stretching before it bad. A good long series of warm up sets is important like you say. I think I will try not stretching before and do an extra set of warm ups lifting, and then stretch after. Good advice. I should definitely be able to stretch much better afterwards and then perhaps be able to increase my flexibility faster.

It’s tough to express via text (thumbing this in my car)...

It’s not so much an elimination of any stretching. It’s more of a “why am I doing this?” sort of thing.

Leg day for example.
Primary Movement- Hack Squats, leading into working sets of 6-10

(Done as a rotation)
1- Standing Calf Raises @ 50% intensity for a set of 10
2- Air SLDL’s for 15-20, easing into deeper ROM as the set progresses
3- Air squats for 15-30, slow negatives, no bouncing out of the hole
4- rest 30 seconds
5- Hack Squat warm up/primer set #1- 6-8 reps with 3-5 sec negs
6- Repeat until the working sets begin

The second rotation might use banded Good Mornings in lieu of air SLDL’s. Nothing is done to failure, and I stop just shy of building up any lactic acid.
At least 4 of these rotations are completed before attempting any max effort sets, sometimes more.

After training, when everything is still pumped, lubed, and pliable, I do my hard stretching. Dynamic, static, loaded, etc... mixed in with some playful made up stuff I’ve added over the years.