I’m going to go over 5 exercises I hate for BJJ athletes. Actually maybe hate might be a strong word. But, there are better options in my opinion. Let me know if you agree or not.

Let’s start off by saying everyone is different and exercises you use to strengthen your body is going to be different for everyone.

But, there are 5 common exercises , I think are over rated for BJJ athletes. It’s not that you cant do them with success. I think there are better variations , that are safer and have more upsides

5 Overrated Exercise For BJJ athletes

Barbell Press

Maintaining quality over head movements, is important and we do need over head strength in BJJ.

But, most guys and especially BJJ guys, have really awful shoulder health.

Not to mention , most have really rounded and tight T-spine(upper back), which makes going over head head painful and dangerous.

I think people should take steps into addressing this by mobilizing their pecs, lats and T-spine.

I like to incorporate landmine press variations , this allows us to train in over head like range of motion but it’s more shoulder friendly.

My favorite landmine press variations

• Viking Press
• 1/2 kneeling landmine press
• Staggered Stance landmine press

If you do overhead pressing and it’s killing your shoulders . Consider swapping it out for landmine press.

One of the downfalls of this exercise, is at the top of the range motion it is rather easy. I like to attach a band , to fix this issue.

Barbell Bench Press

I know this is most guys favorite exercise to do.

But, the rigid nature of the bar is rough for many guys especially for BJJ.

What people don’t know is our shoulder anatomy are all different. Meaning the angle that the arm is in matters. It’s important to be able to play round with it and customized it to you.

With the bar or even chest press machines. We can’t really do that.

I prefer most my chest press work be done with DBs. You can play around with the angle to see , what feels best.

Myself , I always felt DB presses way more in my pecs and they feel great on my shoulders.

BONUS TIP- By slightly inclining or declining a bench , we can make this even more shoulder friendly.

If your shoulders are beat up, lets put the barbell to the side and try some heavy DB presses.

Back sqauts

Back squats can be a great exercise. But, what many people think is a simple exercise.

Is actually a more advanced squat varation. You need great hip, ankle, t-spine and shoulder mobility to pull this off.

Again I’m going to harp on the poor shoulder health of most BJJ guys. Cramming a bar on your back can be a huge shoulder, elbow, wrist and lower back killer.

We should all learn good squat movements and be able squat 100lbs with a DB or KB before we touch a bar. But, even once you do that.

I tend to like variation which are more joint friendly such as the

• Safety bar squat
• BB Front squats
• Zercher squats

Barbell Deadlift

The biggest benefits for pulling a regular deadlift from floor for BJJ, is the ability to develop max force for the lower body.

There are few issues with the dead lifts.

The first one is not taking the time to learn the basics

Thing like :

• Proper hip hinge.
• Mastering the deadlift with KBs first
• Dead lifting with your legs versus pulling with your arms
• Proper bracing

A second, is regular deadlifts takes more mobility than other variations, and often are done incorrectly because of this.

The risk-reward ratio is just low with this exercise. You might be better of with dead lift variation like

• Trap bar deadlift
• RDL variations
• Deadlifts off blocks

Jogging

Running is something many people love to do. But, seeing as knee injuries are common in BJJ.

Putting a pounding on the joints to build your gas tank isn’t the best idea.

Especially if your someone who train BJJ, 6-9 session per week.

Not, that you can’t jog, some people tolerate it well and others do not.

Here are some exercises, I like to do to build the gas tank without jogging

• BJJ rolling and with various intensitys.
• Air bike
• Rower
• Loaded Carries and sled drags

Want me to take care of your strength conditioning for BJJ?

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• Get mat strong and improve their performance
• Build a relentless gas tank
• Get hurt less and recover quicker
• Get fit and healthy for life

If that is you go here and fill out the form , to see if this program is a good fit for you.

This is going to be a different kind of post. Today, I’m going to discuss the idea of Competing In BJJ.

If you don’t know much about me. My name is Bobby Collins . I’m a 3 stripe brown belt and I would describe myself as obsessed hobbyist. I usually train 8-9 session per week.

I’m a personal trainer as well, I usually write about strength and conditioning for BJJ.

I thought I make a post about competing, it is something, I see a lot of people ask about in the groups I’m in.

I’m not an expert in BJJ, this purely based on my experience with competing in BJJ.

Why I personally like Competing In BJJ?

There are a few reasons, why I am driven to compete at times.

I seem to gravitate towards hobbies , where I’m physically pushing myself. I get a crazy amount of fulfillment from this. If that is lifting heavy in the gym or rolling hard on the mats. It gives me great joy.

I also think at some level, it is driven by the need for me to prove to myself, I’m not weak. Growing up as a weak and very anxious kid. This was once, a huge driver in my motivation to get into fitness and martial arts.

I seem to do well in my gym and I like to see how much my skills translate to other guys at my level and am I able to utilize my BJJ skills under high stress situations .

Especially, as I have ranked up. I don’t always get a chance to roll with many brown belts. It’s good to see where I stand

The benefits of Competing In BJJ, even if you get smashed.

I remember my first competition at blue belt and I was so pumped to dominate.

Then I showed up and got smashed and lost both my matches. Got humbled real quick.

Competing , even if you lose still helps you.

It exposes you and your weaknesses, with the right attitude you can take this to improve your game to a different level.

The speed and intensity of the competition is something else and is hard to duplicate in your home gym. Even when, I lost all my matches. When I go back to the gym , things just started slowing down and the rolls at the gym were much easier.

You get exposed to different styles. When rolling with the same guys at your gym, day after day. You tend to learn their game. It is good to see different styles of games, that you don’t see much in your gym.

What sucks about Competing In BJJ

I’m kinda of an anxious guys, the couple days before I tend to get anxious, the more I’ve competed the better this gotten.

The day is long, I’m traveling from an hour away and then you have the waiting game. Matches get delayed and guys no show. This is probably the worse part for me

How To Get Strong & Conditioning For Your Next Competition?

Competing is very intense and is completely different animal then your rolls on the mat.

If you want to perform , it makes sense, that you should be in great shape going into them.

Depending on your fitness level and how long you have to prepare. You might focus on different qualities.

I would say, if you don’t have a good base of power, strength and aerobic fitness, start there.

Build a solid foundation, this not only going to help you get ready for your competition but build a body that holds up against the hard training leading up to competition.

As you get closer to competition, I might focus on more specific qualities for BJJ competitions like

Iso metric focused strength trtaining

Harder conditioning session like alactic and lactic intervals

If you’re someone who wants to compete and would like me to get you in tip top shape for it.

Go here and apply for my coaching program,