So, you want improve your BJJ Cardio .This is one the most desired physical attributes in BJJ. It seems to elude many guys.

What is good BJJ cardio?

• It’s having the stamina to pull off and use great technique for all your rounds.
• It’s also having a tough rounds and in 60s or less your recovered and ready to go.
• It’s the ability to win the scrambles, each time because you can be explosive for the longest and repeat that as many times as you need to.

I have written 2 articles on BJJ Cardio

5 Ways To Improve your gas tank for BJJ

3 cardio workouts for BJJ

Check them out.

Today I want to cover , how do you know, your conditioning workouts are effective?

There are two major reason why your cardio on the mats sucks.

You may have good conditioning but your technical skills are leaving you exhausted. This is where you want your BJJ coach, to help you out.

But, Maybe you are skilled but your fitness and conditioning needs some work.

This is where, I can help you as BJJ strength and conditioning coach.

Are You Actually Improving Your BJJ Cardio!

How do you know your progressing?

With weight training, progress can be straight forward. Your able to add more weight and reps.

Then you know you’re getting stronger .

With conditioning it isn’t always so obvious. Today, I’m going to discuss 3 test you can do to see if your cardio is improving, staying the same or getting worse.

These all require a heart rate monitor. Most people have them nowadays. If you don’t, you can usually test your heart rate with phone using app as well.

Let’s get started

Morning Test To Assessment Your BJJ Cardio

One of the easiest ways to get a read, on your current conditioning state. Is your morning heart rate test.

This gives a broad base of our conditioning.

I would do this for 3-5 days and take the average, because our heart rate will be a little higher or lower, based on the amount of stress we are under day by day.

If your average HR is

High 60s or 70s, that is poor.

Mid 50s-mid 60s that is Good.

Mid 45s-mid 55s that is Great

If you have good to poor cardio, I would add 1-2 aerobic sessions per week, to improve this. Refer back to my article, I linked above on how to improve that base.

If you have a lower resting heart rate but are struggling with your gas tank on the mats. I would look into your technique and how tense you are, when you roll.

60s Recovery test

This test is a great one that, shows you how fast ,you can recover after a hard round on the mats.

We are going to test , how fast you can bring your heart rate down after an intense bout of exercise. If you can do this fast and over and over again. You’ll be unstoppable.

Go hard on conditioning exercise for 2-3 minutes.

Use a heart rate monitor to measure, how fast your heart rate drop in 60s.

But, don’t hold back, really push hard and jack your heart rate up.

I would then recover fully (3-5 minutes) and do this for 3 rounds. Take your average drop of your heart rate through 3 rounds.

That will be your score.

As far as what you want to see. If you can drop your heart rate into the aerobic zone(usually 120-140 BPM) in that 60 seconds. You are in a great place.

Here is an example. Say you go all out, for 2 minutes on the air bike and your heart rate jumps up to 170 BPM. Then your heart rate drops to 140 in 60s.

Your 60s recovery test is 30 BPM.

Again being able to get into the aerobic zone in 60s, is great. Especially if you can get in the mid and low end of the zone.

If you can do that in 60s, you’ll never sit out a round again.

For BJJ, guys I prefer joint friendly cardio exercise here are few exercise , I might use for this.

• The rower
• The air bike
• KB Swings or Snatches
• Rope Slams
• MB Slams

If you struggled with this. I would do some intervals.

Go hard for 15-20 sec and then go easy until your HR drops to around 130 and repeat for 10-20 minutes.

Do this 1-2x a week for 4-8 weeks.

Repeat this test every 4 weeks to see, if your improving.

Heart Rate lower At Intensity

Now, this is going to require, you do the same conditioning workouts for 3-6 weeks, while wearing a heart rate monitor.

Whatever the work out you use, pay attention to your pace and your heart rate. This is best done on the workouts that are done on machines such as a rower or air bike.

What we are looking for is, are we operating at a lower heart rate, for the same power outputs.

If you are, your conditioning systems is becoming more efficient.

Remember, if we can do the same work, but at a lower heart rate we are going to go longer without getting tired.

The higher the heart rate the more we are using systems, that we can’t sustain and recover well from.

Here is an example of what might this looks like:

You’re doing the air bike for 15-30 minutes and your working at pace of 55-65 RPMS for that time range.

Week one you have an average heart rate of 145 , while doing this.

But, then say in 3-6 weeks your doing the same power output but your average heart rate is now down at 130 BPM.

This is a great sign your conditioning is improving.

So, these are three test to ensure your conditioning methods are actually working. Let me know if you have any questions?

If you want me to do this for you.

Assess your conditioning and build a full proof program to improve your gas tank for BJJ, Go here to sign for my coaching

And For daily BJJ Strength and Conditioning Tips follow me here

In our beloved sport, injuries happen. But, have you ever wondered Can You Prevent BJJ Injuries .

The sport at times, doesn’t love us as much as we love it.

We are at one point or another going get hurt, and 100% injujry prevention is not a things.

By taking care of your body, we can dramatically reduce injuries, the severity of them and speed up the recovery when they do occur.

Can You Prevent BJJ Injuries?

I think you can at least reduce them, so prevention may be a bad term. Here are 4 areas I think, if you get right. You can get hurt less and if you do get banged up, you’ll recover much faster

Strength training

Adding stress to your tissues, ligaments and bones will cause them to get stronger and more resilient.

There is a balance to this, because you can over do strength training or just do it in an awful way.

When adding additional workouts to your schedule, you have to understand, that you need to balance all the stresses. I’ll talk more about that in the recovery section.

To become more resilient to injury , focus on the basics of strength training

Good movement, with great focus on lowering the portion of the lift and a pause at the bottoms for a second or two.

Focus on the primary movement patterns

• squat
• hinge
• Single leg
• upper push
• upper pull

These should make up the bulk of your workouts. You want to pick variation, that feel good on your joints. They shouldn’t beat you up. Soreness will happen but joint pain after lift, is an indicator something is off.

Focus on reps between 6-12 for 2-3 working sets. We are not bodybuilding we don’t need a ton of sets. Unless we have muscle building goals, in which we might focus on more volume.

But, we are talking about injury prevention.

Give proper rest in between sets, so we can recover well enough, to make each set intense.

For most BJJ guys, hitting the weight room 2-3x a week is going to work well. By getting strong you can You Prevent BJJ Injuries.

If you want some more guide lines, how to workout properly go here

Mobility

If you’re very tight and have limited range of motion. You are putting self in a bad spot.

We often get injured, when we are exposed to ranges of motion, where we have little to no control of or strength. By having better mobility and strength through a large range of motion. This is going to save us from lots of pain.

Think like your doing a triangle, but your hips are very tight and it will torque on your knee.

I hate working on mobility, spending extra time to foam roll and stretch out, is not my strong suit.

Here are the 2 ways I work on mobility for my self

Dynamic warm up

Following a legit warm up is going to be great way to address mobility issues and keep us healthy.

I follow this simple warm up flow

Foam roll and stretch what is tight. This is often your pecs, lats, hips, hamstrings and calves.

Then incorporate some t-spine rotations(upper back) and core drills like planks or bird dogs.

Next pump up the glutes and upper back, usually I do bridges and banded facepulls.

Finally, I do some light movements with full range of motion: things like body weight squats, good mornings, side lunges, push ups etc

This only takes about 10-12 minutes, before each strength session and does wonders to keep you healthy. Plus, you have more productive workouts too.

Full range of motion strength training

I make sure we use a full range of motion, when we lift. Which is a form of mobility work, things like elevated split squats, deep squats, rdls, rows and push ups. Can be all used to build strength, muscles as well as increase your mobility in that joint complex.

Recovery

Recovery is important for many reasons in BJJ. But, if you are constantly under recovered.

This is a recipe for an injury waiting to happen. Do you have the basics of recovery down?

Let’s start with the most important one of all sleep.

Sleep is the single most powerful habits, you can develop to improve almost any fitness goals you may have.

But, is often overlooked.

But, if you really want to become resilient to injures, you’ll do this .

Deeper sleep and duration is the best recipe for better recovery for sleep.

Try to be sleeping by 10PM or earlier and see if you can get 7-9 hours of sleep per night. Consistency matters. Go to bed and wake up around the same times, each day.

If you struggle with sleep, try this sleep tips

• Get sunlight early in the day.
• Shut off caffeine after 12 PM.
• Get off all screens an hour or so after bed.
• Take a magnesium supplement before bed.
• Consume carbs with dinner.
• Keep your room cool.
• Consider using meditation or breathing exercises to relax before bed.
• If you’re a worrier, journals your to dos.

The next thing you should consider, is giving your body all the resources it needs to recover.

4 things to think about

Calories-When you’re not eating enough , you’re always going to under recover. You have to eat enough to fuel for performance and recovery. Neglecting so will cause your performance to plummet and under recover.

Protein-Protein is the building block of all tissue in your body. As BJJ athlete you need sufficient protein to recover and limit injuries. Aim for .7-1 of protein per pound of body weight. I like to try to spread this though 4 meals/feedings. Focus on including protein dense foods with each meals.

Fruits and veggies– Providing your body with enough vitamins and minerals to thrive is a smart idea to be at your best. I like to follow the 5 combination rules. Which is getting 5 total fruits and veggies each day. Eat what you like , no need to force veggies you hate.

Hydration-Even a little hydration can plummet your performance and leave you vulnerable. Try drinking 16-20 oz of water right, when you get up. Overall hit half your body weight in ounces. If you train multiple sessions per day, increasing your salt intake can help with performance and hydration. I love the supplement LMNT for this.

If you like more nutrition information go here

Conditioning

Having solid conditioning can help you stay healthy in 2 ways.

#1 If you have an aerobic base, you’ll recover faster and you’ll less likely to accumulate the type of fatigue. That can lead you vulnerable to injuries.

If your morning heart rate is in the high 60+, then doing more zone 2 work is going, help you stay healthy.

For details on this style of training, check this out

#2 If your constantly gassed out when you roll. You will tend to make more mistakes and get away from good technique . In these times, you might do something that puts you in harm of injury. Being in shape not only will improve your BJJ performance , but make your rolls safer.

To wrap this article up on. Remember, you can never prevent injuries 100% but by taking care of your body , you can really put more chips in your favor.

If you’re looking to take your BJJ to the next level and stay healthy. Join my coaching program below

Today’s post is about Strength Training for Battered BJJ Bodies

Years of getting your neck stacked, shoulder tugged and elbows cranked.

Can leave you hurting.

Take this with a grain of Salt, I’m 36 but I’ve been lifting for 20 years and doing BJJ for 7-9 hours a week for the past four years.

My opinion are based on my experience with those two things and my formal education as personal trainer.

The best way to preserve the physical body is by being fit.

BJJ guys will push back on me for this, saying BJJ is the only thing you need to do. But….

We know strength training can preserve muscles, and bone density.

Preserve physical abilities like strength, power and fitness.

Even if strength and conditioning won’t help you perform better. The benefits of preserving some physical ability as we get older.

Makes it worth the effort.

I’m going over a 3x day week strength and conditioning workouts, for older beat up BJJ guys. By the way if your looking to improve your cardio for BJJ, check this out

Here are some big take ways, I like you to think about

• Always warm up to address mobility and keep your joints healthy.
• Train the muscles hard but be easy on the joints.
• A little Volume goes a long way for our population.
• Don’t forget the basics recovery nutrition and sleep

The Workout For Beat Up BJJ Guys

Strength Training for Battered BJJ Bodies

Don’t skip the warm up

I think to many people, underestimate the power of the warm up.

How much it can, get you moving better and out of some pain.

If your warm up consist of walking on a tread mill for 5 minutes and some arm circles.

This can potentially have a huge, upside for you.

I like to follow this basic system

• Roll out what is tight with a foam roller.
• Stretch what is tight.
• Open up your spine, acivate your core, glutes and upper back.
• Do some light movements.
• Do some power stuff.

Here is a warm up I’ve been utilizing for myself and my online clients.

• Roll out with foam roller or lax cross ball-pecs/lats/T-spine/glutes/hamstrings/quads/inner thighs

• Pec stretch 30-60s
• Lat stretch 30-60s
• Lying hamstring mobility 10/ side
• windmill 3 reps/ side
• Front planks/side plank combo 20s each
• Bridges 15 reps
• Banded pull aparts and banded tricep push downs 15-20 each
• KB good morning 5 reps
• Push ups 5 reps
• Side lunges 5 reps
• MB Slams 3×5 or box jumps 3×5 30-60 sec of rest(alternate each workout)

This might, seem like a lot. But, it flows very well once you know it and will only take 12-15 minutes.

You could use on off days as extra mobility session

The workouts for Strength Training for Battered BJJ Bodies

This program is going to consist of 3 days, 2 strength and 1 conditioning session, which optional.

Workout 1

1 Banded Viking Press 4x 5 90 s rest

2A Goblet Box Squat 3x 10 rest 60s

2B 1 arm row 3x 12 rest 60s

3A Trap bar RDL 3x 6 rest 60s

3B Push ups 1.5 reps 3x 8-10 reps rest 60s

4B Deadbug Alt. legs 4x 8/ rest 30s

Workout 2

Trap Bar deadlift 4x 5 2min rest

2A Reverse lunge 3x 10

2B Seated Rows 4x 12

3A Slight incline DB Press 3x 8

3B Banded pull aparts 3x 12 rest 90s

4B side planks 4x 20s

4A Banded leg curls 4x 25 0 rest

Conditioning Workouts (optional)

Conditioning Circuit , 5 rounds. focus on keeping your Heart Rate between 120-150.

• Backwards Sled Drag 100 feet
• KB or trap bar Farmers Walk 100 feet
• Forward Sled Push 100 Feet
• MB Slam 20
• Rest 90 sec

5 Rounds

Super set 1

Banded Tricep push down 4x 25

Shoulder taps 2 sec pause 4x 10/

Hope you like this workout, let me know if you have any questions .