Bone Over Muscle

Bone Over Muscle: How to Use Frames to Defeat Heavy Pressure

In jiu-jitsu, "heavy pressure" is a nightmare. It’s that suffocating feeling in side control or mount where your opponent feels like they weigh a thousand pounds, crushing your chest and jaw, making every breath a struggle. The natural instinct is to bench press them off. This is a mistake. It burns your energy, exhausts your arms, and rarely works against a skilled opponent.

The answer isn’t strength; it’s structure. The answer is frames.

A frame is simply using the bone structure of your limbs—your forearms, shins, elbows, and knees—to create space and bear your opponent's weight. Instead of pushing with muscle, you create a rigid structure that directs their force onto your skeleton, which is far more resilient. Think of it as the difference between trying to hold up a car with your bare hands versus using a car jack. Your bones are the jack.

Frames can be categorized as long or short. A long frame typically involves a straighter limb, like a full arm pushing against a hip to create distance. While useful for initially stopping a pass or maintaining space, long frames can be vulnerable. They are easier for an opponent to bend, collapse, or arm-lock.

This is why short frames are often superior, especially once the pressure is already on. A short frame uses a bent limb, like your forearm braced against your partner’s neck or hip, with your elbow tucked securely to your own body. This "forearm and elbow" structure is incredibly strong and difficult to collapse, allowing you to comfortably bear weight and begin the work of escaping.

But the most crucial concept is the "sticky frame." A frame is not a static object. You don't just "set it and forget it." Your opponent will not stay still; they will shift their weight, try new angles, and attempt to smash your frames.

A sticky frame is an active, intelligent structure. It stays connected to your opponent, following their every movement. If they try to circle left, your frame adjusts to keep them at bay. If they try to drive forward, your frame meets their pressure. This "stickiness" is vital because it denies them the ability to easily reposition and find a new angle of attack. By keeping your frames connected and active, you frustrate their offense, drain their energy, and create the small movements and angles you need to shrimp, reguard, or reverse the position.

Mastering frames turns you from a victim into a problem. You stop being a flat, crushable object and become a resilient, structured puzzle that your opponent can't solve.

The following video shows some excellent use of frames by myself and my opponent Rafael Miranda, we both play a heavy suffocating top game so whenever either of us are on bottom you will see some great use of frames.