Strength and Conditioning for BJJ - Friday Workout (Christmas Eve)

Here is my Christmas Eve workout. I wanted to get something quick in dirty in knowing that I would be taking Christmas day completely off.

Note: Lately I've noticed some serious imbalances, basic problems, and weak points and will be adjusting my workouts accordingly.  Here is Friday's workout and the logic behind some of the specific exercise choices as an example of how to listen to your body and adjust accordingly:

Squat/Plyo Box Jump Complex
    Squat 135 x 8
      Plyo Box Jump bodyweight x 8 (jump down from a  12" box and then up to a 24" box)
    Squat 165 x 5
      Plyo Box Jump bodyweight x 8
    Squat 185 x 5
      Plyo Box Jump bodyweight x 8
    Squat 205 x 5
      Plyo Box Jump bodyweight x 8

This complex was the "heavy" portion of the workout. Approximately 2 minutes of rest between sets and no rest between squats and the box jumps.

For awhile I had been working on stretching and trying to squat as deep as possible - way below parallel butt to ground.   While I was getting the depth under decent, not maximal, load, I was noticing serious rounding of the lower back starting just under parallel (not just bad form but dangerous). Analysis with another trainer indicated that it was not a flexibility issue but rather an anatomical "impossibility" based on my personal body geometry (where the bar properly rests across my traps, length of spine, length of upper and lower leg) and keeping the weight balanced and centered. I could switch to high-bar squats, but that aggravates an old injury - so no more going super-deep, just strict form to parallel.


I am also working on lower body "power" - hence the combination of squats and plyo box jumps as a complex. I often do box jumps with additional weight (20-50 lbs) - I have noticed a lot of knee irritation when I do this, not from the jump up, but from the jump down. In response, I will not be doing "plyo" jumps off a low box up to a high box under additional weight and will be "stepping" off the high box rather than jumping back down. 


The "lighter" conditioning portion of the workout consisted of:
2 Rounds (no rest between exercises 1 minute between rounds)
   45lbs x 20(each arm) One-armed Kettlebell Swings
   bodyweight x 5 "rollouts" on suspension trainer
   45lbs x 20(each arm) One-armed Bent Over Rows
   bodyweight x 20 deep squats (assisted by suspension trainer)
   bodyweight x 5 Gymnastics "skin the cat" on suspension trainer
   30 seconds of "stir the pot" using suspension trainer

Approximately 5 minutes of continuous "wrestler's bridge" neck work

In the lighter portion of the workout I am using deep squats with the suspension trainer because it lets me go deep in an anatomically correct way. Also I will be adding neck work consistently as this is an essential area for grappler's that is currently lagging for me and gets almost no work unless specifically targeted.

Knees - Love the Ones You Have

I tweaked my knee (yet again) on Saturday during competition team training working takedowns against a much larger training partner - someone I would never willingly try to takedown directly, but sometimes you have to try to defy the laws of physics just to make sure they are still there (they are).

Since knee injuries are common among BJJ players and one of the most feared injuries, I thought I would share this video. I firmly believe that knowledge is power, but I would feel better if I knew the inside of my knee was reinforced with titanium and steel bands (oh well).




Since I can't bionically improve the inside, I will be rolling in a nice steel reinforced brace for a few weeks. Not comfortable but much better than surgery. Be strong - train safe.

Strength and Conditioning in BJJ

There are several aspects to why Strength and Conditioning (S/C) is important in BJJ.

First there is the general physical preparedness required for the sport. You have to be able to move your bodyweight (and often a portion of your opponent's bodyweight) effectively (strength) and efficiently over time (conditioning). I see many people coming into the sport who lack this base level of general physical preparedness. For these people basic S/C training is almost required along with their mat time/technique work to progress in BJJ. But fear not, this basic level of physical preparedness is something that "any average Joe" should be able to achieve with some time and effort.

Once this base level of physical preparedness is achieved, many people can advance quite well in BJJ concentrating on technique but strength (and size) and conditioning will almost always have benefits. Given equal skill, a bigger stronger competitor will win most of the time (not all of the time) and given equal skill a better conditioned competitor will be able to win more matches (especially in a tournament) than a less conditioned competitor.

Having a skill advantage allows you to compensate or even dominate against a strength/conditioning advantage. How much skill is needed to compensate against how much strength/conditioning is debateable but why not have both skill and strength/conditioning? (and yes there is a trade-off between carrying muscle mass, speed, and "gassing-out" - but that's a discussion for another post)

BJJ uses leverage as a "force multiplier", but there still must be some force applied. (Mathematically, this is expressed by:
M = Fd 
- where F is the force, d is the distance between the force and the fulcrum, and M is the turning force known as the moment or torque.) The magnitude of torque depends on three quantities: First, the force applied; second, the length of the lever arm connecting the axis to the point of force application; and third, the angle between the two.

In BJJ terms this means I have to be able to manipulate both my body and my opponent's body into the proper positions to gain this mechanical advantage. I have to be able to set up the lever and fulcrum/angle properly (skill) in order to get the maximum output from my applied force (strength).

The stronger I am the more my lever and fulcrum/angle can be less than optimal and still be effective. Most of us know from experience that the perfect technique we just drilled becomes slightly (or significantly) less than perfect when we roll against a fully resisiting opponent. Add in the fatigue factor and we get sloppier still.

As for the argument "isn't rolling enough?" to develop my S/C (especially conditioning). It is a good foundation and should definitely be a large component of your S/C.

BUT - rolling by itself may not be optimal. If I have limited time and energy to be my best at any endeavor, I want to "optimize" my training program. I can get stronger/more explosive by specifically coordinating my resistance training; and get a bigger "gas tank" by specifically coordinating external cardio with my rolling than I can achieve just by rolling alone.

Finally, a strength and conditioning program outside of rolling can play a major role in injury prevention. As a precursor, it prepares my body for the stress of rolling. As a supplement to rolling it allows me to generate a greater volume of work without (if done properly) the resulting wear and tear on my body (bruises, sprains, strains, contusions, and other damage from rolling) that a high volume of rolling alone would accumulate.