Onyx Performance Lab is at 2048 NW 22nd Ct in Allapattah, near Wynwood and Midtown. The lab does not teach BJJ or any combat sport. You train your sport at your own academy and come to Onyx for testing and for the strength and conditioning work around it.
What the sport demands
A match is a series of high-intensity efforts, such as scrambles, passes and escapes, separated by lower-intensity grip fighting and positional holds. Grip and isometric strength, the ability to hold a position against resistance, matter in almost every exchange. The hips and trunk produce and resist force in bridging, takedowns and guard work, and the neck and the posterior chain, the muscles along the back of the body, take load in positions few other sports ask for.
A systematic review of research on Brazilian jiu-jitsu athletes reported VO2 max values mostly between 42 and 52 milliliters per kilogram per minute and found that maximal, isometric and endurance strength can be associated with competitive success (Andreato and colleagues, 2017). An aerobic base supports recovery between hard efforts, so we measure it. Most competitors also manage a weight class, so changes in body weight need to come from the right tissue at the right time.
Testing first
Training starts with measurements. Jumps on the Hawkin Dynamics force plates show how much force you produce, how fast it arrives and whether one side does more of the work. A metabolic test on the KORR CardioCoach gives your VO2 max and ventilatory thresholds, which set your conditioning zones. A body composition scan on the Seca mBCA 554 separates fat mass from lean mass, so you can plan your weight class with numbers.
The Onyx Assessment ($149, 60 minutes) covers the force-plate tests, the body composition scan, a movement screen and your training history. The VO2 max test is booked on its own for $249, or your coach includes it in Onyx Protocol when your goal calls for it.
The training
Onyx Protocol is individualized strength and conditioning in a coached small group. Your coach writes your program from your tests, and you can train up to five days a week within the Protocol schedule, Monday to Friday at 11 AM and 6 PM and Saturday at 10 AM. Onyx Private is one-on-one coaching in 60-minute sessions at times you choose. For general strength and conditioning in a group, the Onyx Performance classes run six days a week, and your first class is free.
A grappler's program usually includes heavy lower-body and hip work, pulling and grip work with timed holds, trunk exercises that resist rotation and bending, neck work progressed gradually, and conditioning intervals matched to the length of your rounds and the rest between them.
Scheduling around mat training
Mat sessions come first in a combat athlete's week, and the strength work is planned around them. Hard lower-body and conditioning sessions are kept away from the day before hard sparring or a competition, and lifting volume comes down in the weeks before an event. The morning readiness check-in in the app lets the coach adjust the day when sleep, soreness or a hard mat session the night before call for it.
When you are working toward a weight class, the coach plans the training load with your body weight and your scan in view. Nutrition guidance is included in Onyx Protocol when your goals call for it.
Who it is for
Adult BJJ, judo, wrestling and MMA athletes, from hobbyists to competitors, who want a structured strength and conditioning program that fits around their mat schedule. Youth athletes from ten to eighteen start with the free youth evaluation.
Sources
- Andreato LV, Lara FJD, Andrade A, Branco BHM. Physical and physiological profiles of Brazilian jiu-jitsu athletes: a systematic review. Sports Med Open. 2017;3(1):9. doi.org/10.1186/s40798-016-0069-5