Mark Zuckerberg has advice for martial-arts newbies: 'Be willing to get beaten up a lot'
- Mark Zuckerberg thinks getting beaten up is all part of the process for jiu-jitsu beginners.
- The Meta chief has become devoted to the martial art involving joint locks and submission holds.
Mark Zuckerberg has been getting pretty shredded thanks to his new obsession with Brazilian jiu-jitsu. What's his advice for newbies? Prepare to get beaten up.
Over the course of an almost three-hour interview with podcaster and computer scientist Lex Fridman released last week, the Meta chief said beginners "have to be willing to just get beaten up a lot" if they're interested in taking up the martial art.
"I do think that there's a thing where, as people grow up, maybe they don't want to be embarrassed," Zuckerberg said.
"Maybe to some degree, your ability to keep doing interesting things is your willingness to be embarrassed again and go back to step one and start as a beginner, and get your ass kicked."
During the interview, the Meta boss noted that most of his workouts revolve around "fighting" activities such as jiu-jitsu and MMA, which he aims to do three or four times a week. He fills out the rest of his week with activities such as cardio and mobility work.
"Maybe if you're a professional you can do that every day – I can't," he said. "It's too many bruises and things that you need to recover from."
Since the pandemic, Zuckerberg has become increasingly devoted to jiu-jitsu – a martial art that involves two opponents grappling against each other while executing joint locks and submission holds. Zuckerberg has previously mentioned that doing physical activity as well as "something that's meditative" has helped with mental wellbeing.
"Part of learning is failing," Zuckerberg said during the podcast with Fridman. "People who train jiu-jitsu – you need to not have pride."
Last month, it emerged that the Meta chief had been taking his jiu-jitsu hobby increasingly seriously after entering a competition where he won gold and silver medals.
In the interview with Fridman, Zuckerberg said that he "rolled up with a hat and sunglasses," and a face mask, while registering for the tournament with his first and middle names, Mark Elliot, to keep a low profile before it began.