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Something I have in common with many of you: I don’t sit still for long.
The past two years have been a total dogfight, grinding through some challenging jobs in startupland while cranking out an MBA. Since finishing school and moving across the country, I’ve found myself on a bit of a quiet streak. I’ve comfortably settled into a new routine. I wake up, drive to work, crush the workday, lift weights or train Jiu-Jitsu, then fall asleep and repeat.
It’s comfortable, rhythmic, and manageable. But it’s also boring as hell. And with boredom comes an itch to do more.
Problem Statement
Startups solve problems. The best startups solve problems you’re experiencing for yourself. Well, I’ve got one: I’m a busy working professional who loves training combat sports, but also loves lifting weights and getting stronger. I don’t have time for both each day, and despite being interested and educated, I’ve never found an optimal balance between the two. How might I incorporate strength and conditioning into my weekly workout regiment while also chipping away at the hours of mat time required to earn my Jiu-Jitsu brown belt? (Just a few years away🤞)
A combat sports athlete who can balance fighting with strength and conditioning will be a more effective martial artist. They’ll be able to produce more force, resist injury more effectively, and extend the lifespan of their martial arts careers.
But by and large, they don’t do this.
They have two key barriers: time and knowledge. Combat Sports athletes want to spend their exercise time fighting - they don’t have time to fight and lift each day. And when they do lift weights, they don’t have the knowledge to lift weights as effectively as they need to. I’d estimate fewer than 1% of Jiu-Jitsu athletes understand concepts like block periodization - a fundamental tool in the world of exercise science. With no time and limited knowledge, these athletes are less effective and more injury-prone than they otherwise might be.
What does this look like solved?
The solution is simple: these athletes need guidance. Guidance on how often to fight and how often to hit the gym. When they’re in the gym, they need guidance on the correct adaptations to work toward: should I focus on getting stronger? Getting more powerful? Improving my conditioning? And how should I balance this with my regular fight training, anyway?
In a word, these athletes need coaching. Coaching that scales, and coaching that makes them bigger, faster, and stronger.
How big is the opportunity?
There’s no database on the number of MMA gyms in the United States, but I’ll make some assumptions and narrowly focus on the world of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, since that’s the world I’m most familiar with.
Let’s assume there are 200 Jiu-Jitsu gyms in each state throughout the United States. Rhode Island will have fewer and California will have more, but the order of magnitude is more or less correct. And let’s assume each of these gyms has 100-150 adult members (also roughly correct).
200 gyms, fifty states, a hundred members per gym. That’s about a million people.
So how might we teach a million people how to get stronger?
With my post-MBA free time, I’ve started studying for the NSCA’s Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS) certification. Long considered the gold standard of fitness certifications, the exam has about a 60% pass rate. Studying the textbook’s twenty four chapters over the next few months, I plan on sitting for the exam early next year. So, by 2024, I’ll have the skillset to train individual athletes how they might get stronger, more conditioned, and more powerful.
As for how it’ll scale? I’m not sure yet. But similar companies have targeted this same population at scale, and appear to be doing well. The guys at Yoga for BJJ are a prime example.
More to come with time.
Loved the idea since the time you told me. Maybe there's some opportunities for joining hands. ;)
This is extremely interesting! Excited to see how this journey pans out. Best of luck and holler if you need anything!