4 Common BJJ Strength Misconceptions

Here are 4 Common BJJ Strength Misconceptions, because being strong in BJJ gets a bad rap.

It is looked down on and I’m told by the internet, when someone calls you strong. It’s an insult.

Being strong in BJJ, is a game changer and is essential, if I want to stay on the mat for life.

I’m going talk to you about 4 Common BJJ Strength Misconceptions .

4 Common BJJ Strength Misconceptions

#1 Weak things break

The number 1 reason you should strength train for BJJ is not so you can muscle through everything. But, strength training and building muscle is protective.

Having more strength and muscle around our most vulnerable areas. You know the area you and your teammates are always getting beat up .

• Neck
• shoulders
• Ribs
• Low back
• Knees

When you build that strength and muscle mass, you tend to get hurt and beat up less. But, even when you do, you will bounce back quicker.

Not to mention, more muscle and a higher levels of fitness, means training doesn’t beat you up as much.

You’ll recover from BJJ faster.

If you can recover faster, your session will be better, you can train more frequently and be able to do this awesome sport for a long time

If you tend to get beat up often, get strong. Weak things break

#2 Better Endurance

I remember a few guys asking how my conditioning was so good.

I would tell them, it has a lot to do with my strength training.

Because to me, strength training is more like BJJ, than jogging or going on the elliptical.

BJJ is series of iso metric strength holds.

If you have a well designed strength program, (if you need one you should join my coaching program)

Your fitness becomes less of a liability in your BJJ journey.

Another thing people don’t think about. Is being weak, destroys your cardio on the mat.

If you’re weak and every technique you do, takes a high percentage of the maximum strength you have, your heart rate will shoot up, you’ll build lactic acid fast and muscles will get more damaged.

All this will kill your cardio and make it harder to recover from your BJJ sessions.

Strength training will:

• Transfer over to BJJ, better than just hours of cardio .
• Improve your cardio on the mat.
• Help you recover better between training and rounds too.

#3 All movement is strength

Every move we make is a display strength.

So every technique we do, we are utilizing a certain level of strength.

So, when people say, don’t use strength. What they mean is don’t use too much strength.

or don’t use so much strength, that you miss out on critical details of the move.

Strength will supercharge your technique .

People act like you are either strong or you have great technique.

They can’t fathom, that you can do both. When you have both, you become a problem.

Here are few examples my strength seem to really pay off, for me while using fundamental BJJ technique

• Arm bars, using my hamstring to control their head, so they can’t sit up or shuck my leg off them.
• Collar and sleeve, using my upper body pull strength and leg press strength, to keep their posture broken, so I can set up sweeps.
• Over, under pass, using my arms and legs to , apply a ton pressure on them and making it hard for them push my head off their hip.

#4 Don’t Be An Ass, Get Better

It seems to me , the ideas of people saying “your strong”as an insult.

It’s really an excuse, that ones Jiu jitsu is not effective.

If you’re decent and have a good understanding of basic principles, you would be able to counter most guys who are using too much strength, with out good technique .

It seems like an excuse.

I don’t know many good guys, that actually complain about someone being too strong.

Next, time you want give a backwards compliment .

Maybe, focus on getting better at BJJ and picking up some weights instead.

Hopefully, I gave you a better understanding of strength training role in BJJ.

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