How To Add Smashing Top Pressure & Maximize Your Bodyweight in BJJ

[@josephmack1835]

It's not as fast, but I've found that adding some cake to my diet has done a lot to maximize my weight. Just try mixing in 2-3 sheetcakes with 2nd breakfast and dinner, and in no time, your training partners will be able to feel the difference when you're in top positions.

[@TrayCaddyyy]

Cake is a great dietary supplement

[@Str8Nightmares]

this ☝️ 🍰

[@algierssolja]

A daily dozen of donuts works phenomenally. 🍩🍩🍩🍩🍩🍩🍩🍩🍩🍩🍩🍩

[@Mountie2013ap]

This is gold! 🤣🤣🤣

[@Xanaduum]

Remember bros, cake is anabolic. 🧐

[@tededo]

Dear Nick, years ago, I've added a major tool to my ground game: I lay down on my back, and lay a 150 or 200 lbs sandbag on my chest and or belly. I breath with this sh%/t load for a while, to get use to being smashed and crushed on bottom. So far, that has done wonders since most of the instructors who roll with me, cant cook me and they're almost forced to shift gear and get into a sub attempt.

[@malekmanai3024]

I'm a 35yo white belt looking for simple cues and hints to improve my game. This is extremely simple and very well-explained. I watched your video and applied the solar plexus pressure in class : game changer. Thanks a lot Chewy ! big fan from Paris, France

[@triocha233]

Fuck that belts !! You’re a 35 year old beast !! Chase the skill, be present in the moment, enjoy the journey & not the destination & you’ll go far… Im a 21 year old Blue Belt 😂 so you probably wouldn’t wanna listen to some younger dudes advise but it’s all love

[@seanmahoney90]

THANK YOU!!! I am 47 and just started about 2 ago. Have had about 8 classes and this will help a ton! Thank you!!!

[@Chewjitsu]

Good work bro. Welcome to the mats!

[@richfitz3821]

I was fortunate enough to learn this style of pressure from my first coach and learning it early on in my journey has helped me conserve my energy and take away my training partner’s energy immensely. Some people don’t understand how important pressure is until they get wrecked by someone who is good at it

[@EvolveNowYoga]

We need more content like this! Stuff like this is so simple yet makes a huge difference in your game!

[@bnardkba6453]

I watched this yesterday and had to come back to this video. I made this adjustment today during my rolls and I (and my partners) immediately felt the difference. Once I arched my back on some of them their breathing patterns got disrupted and they were struggling a bit just from the pressure! As a white belt this was a massive game changer thank you Chewy!

[@tpap6827]

The best tip once you understand how to add pressure is to relax your weight which makes gravity pull you down vs being tense which makes you more like a board than a lead blanket where the bottom man cannot push on one part of your body and cause your whole body to follow. You should be more like a pile of heavy chain than a pipe. Also, when your sink your weight when you feel your opponent exhale, he will not be able to breathe in after 2 or 3 weight adjustments into his upper abdomen or solar plexus. The idea (I learned this from the best top pressure jiu jitsu player of his time, Rigan Machado. As a big guy without the flexibility of Royler or the mobility of Jean Jacques Machado, Rigan focused on making the man underneath him so utterly helpless and unable to breathe that they either tap from pressure or give you a submission to avoid the humiliation of tapping when to the casual observer it appears that the bottom man is not in immediate danger. My instructor who also learned a lot of pressure tactics from Rigan is terrifying on top. He started rolling in a Swiss ball to work on his balance by Staying on the ball without touching any body part to the mat. As he developed his balance learning to center his mass directly towards the ground at all times, he reduced the size of the ball ultimately drilling from swiss, to smaller swiss, to large medicine ball, to. Basketball, to sixteen inch softball, to lacrosse ball. Obviously, as the balls get smaller you have to touch the mat. But by focusing all the pressure directly towards the mat you learn to direct the weight of your body into a small area. Sparring him in side control or mount is like have a woman wearing stiletto heels standing on one leg going into your xyphoid process. Not to mention the weight that irradiates from that epicenter outward. It is tantamount to CIA torture interrogation. You feel like you are pinned under a heavy barbell while holding your breath on the bottom of a concrete swimming pool. It gets to a point where you start to think that if it goes on another 10 seconds I could die from suffocating. It induces panic, a defensive mindset and a helplessness and hopelessness that is hard to describe. I have seen him do this to high level guys you have certainly heard of but it would be uncool to mention training with specific names. In any case. Great explanation of the position /,body placement and methods of ensuring your opponent is taking all of your weight in the worst possible spot. Finally, people need to realize that the pressure game has far less to do with body weight unless you compare identically skilled guys who are training with a huge weight discrepancy. A 145 pound guy who can focus all his weight in a small area feels a great deal heavier than a 350 pound man who is keeping his weight on his posts, often times these huge guys can make it hard to escape because they envelope you but their weight is not crushing your lungs and diaphragm. It's like being locked rin a cage vs being underneath a boulder. Anyone who can develop a great takedown, a few high percentage passes, learn to hold side control through constant adjustments and who had tremendous pressure, can be far more effective and submitting people that a top player who has good submissions but leaves too much space and weight off his opponent. This is because If his opponent is constantly escaping his hips and making the top man move, submissions become less likely on good guys. Pressure renders a man useless so unless he wants to get ,5,% oxygen for 5 minutes he will give up the submission just to restart.

[@jjj55689]

great comment

[@brandontwohawks]

As a 51 year old white belt, 225 and 5'9" -- this is fantastic advice. I only just started using my weight, and oh my god is it helpful. I'm excited to bring this awareness into the gym (the diaphram info is great, and specific).

[@kingrican33]

I watched this video and tried it out the next day at class. I noticed a huge difference! Thanks man!

[@Tearfree709]

so cool of you to be transparent and honest. I have felt the same way last couple of years, especially after my knee surgery.

[@JR-qw5yi]

This looks like a game changer for certain types. Gonna try it out; thanks for the video!

[@zompreacher]

Holy cow this is EXACTLY what I wanted to learn after rolling tonight. Thank you so much

[@chrisSea1346]

Thanks for this tip on the solar plexus. I just used it in sparring tonight and got someone to tap just from pressure, which I wasn’t expecting. Thanks again!

[@theFormidable1]

Ok thanks I'll implement this tonight in class, and good roll with Jordan. It's great watching youtube black belts roll with each other, very exciting and entertaining guaranteed to get views would you do a roll with Eli knight please

[@Chewjitsu]

Already did a roll and collaboration with Eli back in the day. Search it up!

[@theFormidable1]

@@Chewjitsu oh yeah! Will do, thanks bro

[@guamtek]

My top 3 go to KZbin senseis. Lol I also really enjoy stephen kesting

[@knky98bouba82]

@@guamtek try jordan Peterson channel :teach me wrestling. A good mix of bjj and wrestling

[@JackSparrah]

These are the details us 35+ year olds need to hear. Thanks Chewy! Appreciate you

[@brainrich1358]

Like my coach has always taught me, "Keep it simple. Simplicity is the most effective." This is such a simple technique but effective. Gonna have to try this out next time I'm on the mats.

[@RichardRohlin]

Thanks for this. This is exactly where my game is at right now.

[@pete1381]

Adam? Adam.

[@hiredgunstudio]

Thank you so much for this video, it improved my top pressure so much. Rolling with much larger opponents and they commented on how much top pressure I was generating. 45 years old too

[@tommcparland7135]

These are great tips Chewy! I have been going over this weight pressure thing with my son. He is 9 and will be in his second competition this weekend. I call it "Thor's Hammer" to help him remember because if you apply it right your opponent has a really hard time lifting you off.

[@Kakseca]

This is weight distribution that we call 100kilos. Master Rickson, and Professor Henry Akins talk/do all the time. I am in my late 40's and only weigh 150lbs. This helps me tremendously when rolling with the younger athletic guys in our academy. I make them carry my weight to tire them out.

[@brandongold6180]

I'm a white belt and I've always done this naturally, it feels like the best control. I always get asked if I wrestled in high-school and get thing like "you're really strong". I never thought if it being more uncomfortable for them. I'll try to do it even more so now. Thanks!

[@anti-herocollectibles7735]

I'm a bigger guy and I've always been uncomfortable using my weight as a primary tool in my rolls. When I do it definitely helps, but it almost feels like cheating when I'm rolling with a similar or higher belt but who is 50 to 100 lbs less. I don't want to be the guy no one wants to roll with because I use too much pressure. Some say its okay but when I use it I commonly get comments about the pressure and how much it sucks. On the flipside, if I don't practice with that pressure during rolls, I'll never truly learn how to use it to my advantage. Thoughts on when to use pressure depending on your training partner's size/weight/skill? Thanks for the great content!

[@elmothewise3915]

just ask if you can add pressure 100% for a couple rolls, all you got to do is ask

[@petespahn3747]

Do you ask them to be less flexible if they beat you on positions or less agile if they beat you on scrambles? Use what you got.

[@JD2jr.]

I do the same. The last thing I want is to not have any rolling partners. As it stands, people less than a third my size will roll with me. I don't know if it's a good strategy, but I like to keep my weight off my opponent, but just barely. I want to make the squishy parts of their body squish, but not actually throw my weight down on them. I find keeping my weight on my arms and knees keeps me more mobile, and I make sure to block their movement with my limbs. I keep them flattened out so they cannot escape, but don't put pressure past that point. If they get really sneaky I can really lay it on them if necessary, but mostly I just keep it so they have just enough space to think they can move. Probably going to regret training that way if I ever compete again, but oh well.

[@TrayCaddyyy]

At my school they say that rolling with people of all shapes and sizes helps make everyone better. Recently we had a 230lb 13 year old paired up with a 175lb 55+ year old. Everyone got better that day.

[@JD2jr.]

@@TrayCaddyyy they're definitely right, but if my 320-lb ass just laid on some of the 110-lb or less people I roll with, it wouldn't do either of us any good. I have to stay on my toes (figuratively) when rolling with little people and try to keep up with their speed.

[@lcooper88]

This is something I'm going to try next time I'm sparring. As others have said, it's a simple and effective tool to have in your arsenal. Cheers chewie!

[@medicineandbrazilianjiujit8511]

Thank you, Professor Chewy.

[@amercer1108]

Awesome stuff as always, Chewy. I greatly appreciate you putting this content out there!

[@andycampbell85]

The old man jiu jitsu stuff sounds great. Looking forward to it 👍

[@purerollingjiujitsu]

This is awesome Chewy thank you! Sometimes in my own game I try to surf my opponent's body while applying as much pressure as possible. Like a mud slide!

[@Pdraper84]

These guys are the best some-gi players out there

[@riffsfromtheabyss666]

Going to implement this on my next roll, thank you!

[@JasonSatterlundDirector]

This is awesome. And I don't know how neither of you ever crack at Adam's comical stoicism. I can't stop laughing when I see it.

[@bpb210]

Yes! Thanks from us 40+ BJJ players out there!

[@CodeWithPaulIo]

was just watching your top pressure video from like 3 years ago! Thanks for these videos, super helpful

[@qkayaman]

A higher belt showed me this tip the other day for side control and it's immediately made a difference on my very next roll. i.e. if you're in side with a cross-face, slightly raise off your far knee, or even both, to further drive the chest and cross-face in. Horrible for the person on bottom but makes maintaining control much easier 😁

[@aamvoor]

Love it. I am 52 and have the same problem. Hope you make a series how transition to positions and subs. Thx

[@emmanuelgautier8165]

Thanks Chewy ! Simple things are often the most efficient.

[@spiscold50]

Thank you for the tips Coach.

[@Rock72Man]

Trainer was going over this last week in class. Practicing with my partner - damn gassed me out quick, its excellent.

[@ratamahatta1300]

Hey chewey! Don’t quite feel like, but happen to be a 77kg (170lbs) brownbelt. Whenever I try to apply PRESSURE on my opponents, I happen to be pushed away by my opponent. My impression is that if I hand my weight to my opponent, I give him the possibility to move my weight. Also I’m not that young amymore - turning 40 in a few weeks

[@Minx717]

I have always done this for my mount, what I think of as "skydiving" position. I haven't thought of focusing on the same point from side control. Good stuff. Thanks

[@badxradxandy]

Hello fellow parachutist!

[@Minx717]

@@badxradxandy lmao

[@patrickreagan7784]

Excellent point.Thanks!

[@Slamminbassplayer]

Yeah dude. Gotta cook em. As a big guy I a found that I’ve gotten bummed out / down on myself because I’m always trying to play a lighter game with the smaller / younger guys… which is going to be inherently full of failure… and the whole never lose top control game is an important part of BJJ. I had to deal with it as a white belt, and so I’m not going to feel bad about it anymore unless someone has years on me. Ossss!

[@MrWiru]

Thanks chewy! Appreciate you 🙏

[@fupasaan]

I've been loving the pressure game lately, any tips on pressure passing?

[@badxradxandy]

Over under and double under, look those up and chain them.

[@fupasaan]

@@badxradxandy I like both of those along with the knee cut. I've been trying to chain them all together I meant something more general like where to put weight and what to watch out for. With the knee cut for example ik my first goal is to pin the leg down then the second is to control that inside space so they can't under hook or knee shield then lastly to control that bottom arm to slide through transferring my weight from their leg to their sternum. I'm looking for overlapping concepts and principles I can apply from multiple positions.

[@octavia458]

I call it "dropping the anchor". It's so effective that if you can out wrestle someone who's better at Jiu Jitsu than you, you can often beat them just by squashing them and slowly working an attack.

[@SalThomas]

Thank you 🙏 I needed this, you got a new subscriber.

[@CMLew]

This is super helpful thank you

[@moos138]

40 year old purple belt. It’s a hard thing to adjust to, realizing even been in good shape and rolling 3/4 times a week. I’m slowing down, compared to the 20 year old blue belts who can train twice a day, never get tired, and have explosive cardio for days. I guess this is the reason they have masters divisions.

[@memowill2000]

Thanks for the tips, I'll try to do my best. Greetings

[@hc8771]

Pressssch..one of the things I've found at 45 and being fairly sucky is guys notice the pressure I developed doing mostly privates with a friend while I was rehabbing a serious injury. He was all about pressure pressure pressure

[@cleanjoey7120]

Adam keeps mean mugging me and I don’t know how to feel

[@DsqaureD0495]

Good stuff as usual brother!

[@bbandura76]

This is great we worked the toreando pass to knee on chest, etc etc etc Ezekiel Choke lol.

[@lavasource1763]

an excellent guide to cooking people, surely i will use this in my daily life

[@Chewjitsu]

😂

[@jasonhemphill1588]

Welcome to old man jiu jitsu. 46 and I have to adapt a lot of things to work for my body.

[@Jamoni1]

I been smashing hazy IPAs, imperial stouts, and pork chops. My heaviness game is on point. (I might need some tips on where to buy new jeans, though. )

[@a-a-ronoutdooradventures7941]

Starting to learn the pressure game from the bigger guys I roll with…they can get me gassed pretty quick with pressure and I had to learn how to return the favor😂

[@twinsunpredator7998]

stay heavy on the mount , gordon style , hang in there with that arm cross and hold , they ll get red

[@Bear.imbolo]

Chewster, how do u feel about giving your old belts to teammates after you get promoted. Do u still have all your old belts? Can we see them?

[@spikechang556]

Thank you!

[@tomsawyer7429]

This is why I think it’s BS when people say nogi will takeover completely. There are so many hobbyists who are 30+/40+ and it really helps to slow the game down to a manageable pace!

[@aarongonzalez2953]

Adam’s face at 1:53 is priceless

[@Khalil-Ibrahim21]

Thanks a lot 🤙🏽

[@Slashoom]

41 yo blue belt, i feel personally attacked. 🤣 great video as always chewy

[@kingrockz17]

I give a little space in full mount so they can't roll me over but o Its give and take I can't give space all the time sometimes the bridge doesn't work when you give a little space.

[@punk6119]

When we are drilling top mount moves we ask our partner how the pressure feels. If they can easily speak, you're not in the right spot and not enough pressure.

[@MRMorris81]

I'm sorry, I missed everything you said at the end. I couldn't hear you over Adam's death stare. 😂

[@2009timothykelly]

I’m brand new to bjj, weigh 150 max. This is interesting! Also, I noticed your pant loops are on the back - am I wearing my gi pants wrong or are there different types?

[@Chewjitsu]

I'm wearing an Origin gi. It's a little different.

[@16teenyouthministry34]

Poor Adam. Lol 😂 awesome video thanks Chewy!

[@durtydeedsREI]

Next question is, when do I use my full amount of pressure and when do I let up (i.e. smaller training partner, newer, etc.)?

[@Chewjitsu]

Use your discretion. You don't have to smash everyone into oblivion. So smaller or newer people maybe you lighten up sometimes. But if you're getting ready for a comp or just trying to make your mount better. Full on heavy.

[@PinkiesBrain]

adam: "adam" 💪

[@DMVRockz]

I don't keep pressure when I'm in mount it's to easy for them to turn me when I'm attached so give a little space here and there so they don't know when to bump. Try it it works.

[@kingchief4038]

I'm Turing 35 this month, i started BJJ two months ago rolled like a spaz with great success for the first month.. Then realized i should ease up and focus technique and less strength now i suck even more.. I've held off using my weight 100kgs and size 6.4ft as i dont just want to squash my training partners, maby im being to nice?

[@df9918]

Gold 👍

[@makeaniiimpactYT]

Man Im getting some pressure from the other guy's stare...

[@Jackthestripper]

Don’t fight it

[@Chewjitsu]

And you just lost a stripe.

[@poldreborn4281]

Your partner look's like he didn't enjoyed this experience xD I agree, pressure from top is brutal, it makes people wanna rethink their life choices xD

[@daa589]

Being a super heavy, I just have to slightly press down 😂

[@wwetna124]

QUESTION FOR EVERYONE! I've been doing BJJ for about 10 years, and obtained a purple belt with 2 stripes. My career ate up most of my time and i stepped off the mats for over 5 years. I just came back (and to a new school)a few weeks ago and I'm STRUGGLING. Some blue belts are submitting me, I'm gassing out after a few rolls, forgot some of the basic techniques, and I'm pretty much a rag doll to even the freshest purple belts. Although i shouldn't, I cannot help but feel ashamed by coming into a new gym, with this rank, and displaying this kind of performance. I did strip off my stripes so i can start over at this new place. Ill still show up and hope my timing and technical skills return in the upcoming months. Any advice for someone whos upper rank returning after a long layoff in a new place? Thanks!!

[@poldreborn4281]

I'm 2 stripe white belt, so I'm not having much experience with BJJ, however my logic tells me you just need a little more of time, few good rolls and you will gonna be comingback to your previous form :) I'm pretty sure watching these youtube videos will help you remind some forgotten techniques & stuff. My advice would be also to add some work out with push ups, pull ups, squads and tabata twice a week, this will help you keep up with those guys.

[@Altowner]

I trained 3 years total started in my early 20s.before I quit 2 years in my 20s I thought I was ok. Then I did another year at 32. Got custody of my kids and quit. Now I'm 37 and 3 months back in. I had to go back to being a nerd and get my books and buy some instructionals . Then I was working out of town and training and some young big guy was trying so hard to pass I think he slipped and stuck his elbow in my rib and tore some cartilage. Been 7 weeks. Went from feeling like I had some momentum with training feeling like my jui jitsu muscles were coming back from the dead . Being in great shape to not training. Then when I did start training I couldn't bridge or really do much on bottom but lay there. I felt pissed when it happen and thought why am I doing this. Well cause I love it and I wish I never quit I'd be going on 15 years. But its a marathon. I wanna be doing this as I get old. Even though I looked strong and felt strong I wasn't 20. So I learned to be smarter with who I trained with. I gotta put in the time with learning bjj outside of class. Also it's ok if your not living up to what u want to be at. How long did you take off? I'm still a white belt so I can imagine you worked hard for that purple belt . It'll come back . Little goals.aybe you feel you suck now . But then you'll do some sweep effortlessly and feel better. Speaking of which I'm going to go train with a bunch of people I don't know out of state in about 30 minutes. I did a back take from mount afew days ago but couldn't finish the choke. So I bought ets back attacks and been watching last few days while in motel. I didnt complain just realized I had to learn more. Also maybe I wasn't even good before I was just young and more flexible and pretty strong. Good luck

[@EndrChe]

Sometimes it sucks knowing other people can watch this video too 😢

[@jilesbraeden]

Can you use pressure on heavier people? I am about 143lbs and young but i love taking stuff slower

[@poldreborn4281]

With less skilled opponent for sure! I'm 175lbs and I smesh from top guys who are weighing over 210lbs. What is funny, it's actually easier for me to do this on bigger guys, while some smaller guys are able to slip out :D

[@MinhaFamiliaAQBJJ]

Uffff PRESSURE my fave!

[@awildswirl2641]

Hey, happy early birthday!

[@ConradCreel]

Adam trying to pretend like being Chewy's uke isn't the highlight of his day

[@mattkeen3811]

Started at 37, 8 months ago. Never going to be able to be one of those super mobile guys 😫

[@wrxstock2820]

Welcome to old man jiujutsu It’s for everyone

[@PaulWrightDirector]

I'm an old (41) 3 stripe white belt and have just discovered deep half.

[@maclectic]

Why do I need to get my ribs bruised all the time from my "team-mates" jamming their knees into them. And then I'm out for a week to heal up again. I don't understand the point of this, I'm a white belt.

[@samhellion]

Chewy what is best in life? -crush your enemies -see them tapped before you -hear the them gasping for air

[@Chewjitsu]

Alright Conan. . .

[@kevinsarulis4067]

How about north south?

[@jkoncius1]

So, if nothing else, this forgetful 55 year old white belt who could afford to lose a couple will be putting this into use ASAP. Lay on someone with focus? I think even I can manage this. Thanks Chewy!

[@ashleighpiccinino1849]

Thank you. However, more audio description could be useful for those of us who are blind or visually impaired.

[@Chewjitsu]

Are you visually impaired?

[@ashleighpiccinino1849]

@@Chewjitsu yes, I am totally blind, with light perception in my right eye. I am 35 years old, and I am working on my masters degree in special education. I am not yet part of this sport, but I would like to see if it can help people who are visually impaired or blind illuminate or at least curb some of the stereotypical behaviors that are often seen, such as eye poking. I am currently in a class for assistive technology used in special education. since jujitsu seems to be technological, I want to see if it can help. I also want to see if I can help with orientation and mobility skills, for my future students.

[@Guywithair2]

I am 33 Chewy, I got about 30minutes of good competitive rolling in me and then I need everyone to stand the F back. I cant breathe. lol

[@johnmedige1612]

Adam is looking beefy!

[@johnmedige1612]

Chewy! This is my game ... I've worked on this Through private lessons and fundamental training... it's elevated my game immensely

[@scottlee38]

Sounds like you may need TRT

[@Chewjitsu]

Nah. Just more acai.

[@jdt8983]

Yeah I went to a gym and the teacher did knee on belly into the "sweet spot" for about 2 minutes straight. Full pressure I believe. I didn't tap. But that + hearing him talk about how much money he makes as an engineer I decided he probably wouldn't care if I got injured and took my business elsewhere. Maybe that makes me a pussy but the place had bad vibes. (Not comparing this to that though)

[@hernandezdavid2748]

That's my shit

[@ryanjay707]

I’m in my 30s and up

[@KingJeraldL46]

Day 2 down...

[@johnmason9221]

@ 4:31 I don't think Adam likes this.

[@daverosewood4459]

Man I dont need any more help being heavy on top, my wife’s cooking does that for me.

[@Chewjitsu]

😂