Mark Barroso: Adam Skillin SSC

[Mark Rippetoe]

New Jersey SSC Adam Skillin Talks Strength, Business, and Passing the SSC Test

[tbennett]

I'd be curious to hear from Adam if he ever kept up with jiujitsu after getting into serious strength training. My old BJJ coach used to joke that his least favorite newbies to roll with were former D1 wrestlers, but his second least favorite were guys who could deadlift 500+.

I know they're out there, but I've never actually heard about the experiences of a BJJ black belt who could also pull 500, I wonder how that changes the game.

[Adam Skillin]

Hey, tbenett. Great question. Yeah, I was still training Jiu Jitsu during much of my strength acquisition process. It changed my game substantially. I stopped playing a counter-attack game from the bottom all the time because I was finally able to get myself on top with the higher-level guys I trained with, even though many/most of them still outweighed me. My strength work was universally noticed and frequently commented upon by my training partners. Anyone who says strength isn’t useful in Jiu Jitsu needs to explain the results of the Absolute (open weight class) Divisions at the big tournaments. I hope that information is helpful and answers your question.