#189 Are you efficient or effective?

Early on in my career as a strength and conditioning coach, there was something I became quickly aware of despite my lack of knowledge or education in the field. It was something I came across perhaps flipping through Zatsiorsky’s work and soon after by my own two eyes.

It was the contrast between those types who went absolutely beast mode in the gym pushing weights with rock solid physiques and the form-Nazis who never pushed themselves for fear of executing a repetition with less than perfect technique.

There were also the gym rats, who never missed a day in the gym basing all their reasoning mostly on experience. There were also those who were well versed in all the theory and literature the textbooks had to offer with little practical experience.

This past week our BJJ academy was so fortunate to host my sensei Xande Ribeiro for a seminar and it was towards the end when he spoke towards the idea of balance between efficiency and effectiveness that it hit me.

Like most things in the realm of sports performance and rehabilitation, everything has it’s place. There are times when yoga is appropriate and times when it’s import to say fuck it and go beast mode on some kettlebells. Jiu Jitsu too has this parallel, where having perfection does not always coincide with getting the job done done. Sometimes it results in you be late, and we all know timing may be the single thing more important than leverage itself.

Learning from Xande, who is one of the most precise technicians to exist, you can see him alternate between modes of absolute efficiency with his guard retention and effectiveness with his takedowns, sweeps, passes and submissions. As flawless as his technique may seem to the trained eye, the most important factor is that he gets it done. Sometimes getting where you need to go is more important than the technique itslf. After all, are you not apart of this Jiu Jitsu journey to achieve something? If you are, understand that while perfection is something to strive for, it doesn’t exist. Especially against a worthy and resisting opponent or if you’re doing something performance related for maximum effort.