I Do Jiu Jitsu Isn't That Enought?
As we know, Jiu Jitsu people are lazy, most of us at least, and what do i mean by lazy? Calm your tits down, and stay with me for a moment, before you get all offended and stuff.
If we think about every other combat sport, Wrestling, Judo, Sambo, Boxing, Muay Thai and etc. They all have strenght & conditioning whitin their weekly schedules, they do a pretty harsh warm up, they add strenght in their classes, and they do “off mat” workouts as well, and they STILL train hard in sparring sessions, and drill techniques a whole lot, you follow me?
What are the typical and most common Jiu Jitsu weekly schedule? drills, positional sparring, free rolls, and we go to drink a beer to relax after a HARD session right? maybe not a beer, but something like a fruit smoothie, or acai for the healthy between us, starting to see what i mean?
I know that i will not change your habits with just one post, and i know that you won’t train like a olympic wrestler from now on, and you don’t have too as well, in fact, 95% of us don’t even need to.
But let me be clear, you will be way better conditioned, and less proned to injuries if you work on your body, give it the attention it needs, and you will be enjoying Jiu Jitsu for a long time.
So let’s do the minimum action for the most returns, like they say “Bank For Your Buck”.
The Minimalistic Way!
I’ll be listing 6 (the tilte says 5 right? you got one more for bonus just because you actually entered to learn) best strenght movements that translate very well for Jiu Jitsu, do pay attention that i said “movements” and not “exercises” because i think we should be moving in ways that trully help us on the mats, not only exercise the body mindlessly, you can do all 6 in one workout, or spred them into your weekly schedule as you wish, you can do them EMOM (every minute on the minute), you can do them for time, you can do them for reps, the tip i can give to you is: TRY, only by trying you’ll know what is the best option for your body and schedule.
Pistol Squat
The fisrt in our list is the pistol squat, why?
This movement requires strenght, balance, coordination and mobility, if you manage to work up to 6-10 reps each leg, you’ll have a great amount of all of the above within you, and how can it help your Jiu Jitsu? Do you ever tried to stand up from a x-guard while holding your opponents leg? its actually a pistol squat! the ability you acquire is that you can bring your heel under your butt, and generate power upwards from that hard position, give this a try!
Single Leg Deadlift
The second on our list is the single leg deadlift, and here’s why.
The single leg deadlift have much in common with the pistol squat, it requires alot of muscle regroup, you will work your stabilizers, your balance, your core, your hamsttrings, your grip, your proprioception (the “feeling” of movement in space), coordination and hinge mobility, this one will increase your overall strenght so much it’s crazy. and the best part is, you don’t even need to lift super heavy weights like the standart deadlift, work on this one, and then tell me how much harder your opponents worked to take you down, if at all, and more than that, your hips throws and takedowns will improve alot, because of the hinge portion of the single leg deadlift.
Kettlebell Turkish Get Up
The third is the turkish get up.
If you chose just one exercise that will give you the best return for ever, it must be the TGU (turkish get up), it is a whole body movement like no other, especially for Jiu Jitsu people, why? how many exercises do you know that starts from you laying down, with the weight over you and you stand up while moving around the weight? did you noticed how this discription make sense in a Jiu Jitsu enviroment? thats why you should do them! it requires skill, coordination, moving your body around the weight instead the opposite, it will increase your shoulder strenght and mobility while giving you the chance to work on your core muscles, legs, upper body in the way, your posts will never be the same after the TGU, DO THEM!
Pull Ups
The number 4, is pull up and its variations.
In Jiu Jitsu we are constantly working our pulling muscles, in almost every situation that we get a grip, we are pulling, more than that, pull ups tech you how to work with your scapula, they are very good for your shoulder health, giving them strenght and mobility, and you learn how to embrace your core, so your legs won’t be all over the place while performing the pull ups, the great thing about pull ups is that you can be very creative about the variations you choose for the workout, or even for the set, you can even use rope climbing in this sections as well, one of the most used in the Jiu Jitsu world is the GI pull up variation, it is very applicable as you can understand, they are very challenging and rewarding at the same time, give them a try.
Kettlebell Bottoms Up Press
The 5th is the kettlebell bottoms up press.
This one is alot harder than it looks, and it will humble you very quick, you will understand where are your grip game at, this movement will teach you to grip hard while moveing your arms, strenghtening your shoulder the right way, why? it will work very well on your rotator cuff muscles, these internal muscles are responsible for your shoulder stability and health, while giving you a very unilateral stress for your core muscles as well, these are great, don’t give them up!
Bonus - Toes To Bar
The one that i couldn’t leave behind, the one that John Danaher himself preaches, the one and only, toes to bar.
But why John Danaher one of, if not the best, Jiu Jitsu coach in the world, believes so much in toes to bar? let’s see, the single most important thing that secures your integrity in Jiu Jitsu is the ability to keep knee to elbow connection, here you are the strongest, once you knee to elbow connection in compromised, you are way weaker to defend yourself against anything your opponent chosses to do.
Thus come the toes to bar, the whole concept of this movement, is to somewhat get knee to elbow connection, while working on your grip strenght & endurance, do this one with the least amount of momentum that you can, this way you will always be seeking the knee to elbow connection from the hardest position possible, don’t leave this one out.
So to close this up, take the movements i’ve listed above, give them a try, a real try, and see how they helped you in the mats! hope you found this helpfull, see you at the dojo, OSS!
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