Conditioning outside of BJJ

[ITRDC5]

Hi guys,

would anyone be able to recommend me a routine to do outside of my grappling training?

I have read the conditioning sticky and im just looking to increase my base level fitness , running on road or in the gym on a treadmill.

I have some ross training routines that I am interested in but look for some advice, I do compete in compeititions but at the moment im just training BJJ 4 tim

 

[Curly Peibce]

Just roll.

 

[Ice 9 Cobra]

Running, rowing, swimming, circuit training, whatever you want to do. I dont think I have ever done cardio and felt it wasnt beneficial to jiujitsu

 

[Slatersan]

My coach always looks at me like im insane when i ask these things. His answer is always roll more. I lift weights to get strong. I keep conditioning mostly bjj. I run outside and kayak and stuff for fun and it makes my overall cardio better. I notice if i try to do crazy intense cardio stuff in gym i usually burn my self out for bjj and have less cardio so i just keep it real simple now.

 

[aus101]

My coach always looks at me like im insane when i ask these things. His answer is always roll more. I lift weights to get strong. I keep conditioning mostly bjj. I run outside and kayak and stuff for fun and it makes my overall cardio better. I notice if i try to do crazy intense cardio stuff in gym i usually burn my self out for bjj and have less cardio so i just keep it real simple now.

Yeah I find conditioning in general is very activity specific. Vo2 max can be trained (i’d recommend liss walking due to it being easy to recover from) but in general the specific activity will be needed.

 

[SMillard]

think of it like this, are you going to ask someone "what conditioning could I do to improve my distance running other than running?" The fact is there are only so many hours in the day and you have to manage your training to what you can do, when you can do it. So basically if you want to get better at rolling..... roll. Cardio is activity specific in many ways, if it's a day you aren't rolling pick something you enjoy doing to for cardio and to improve your active recovery. Example; running if you like running do your runs and at point do 3/4 to full out sprints at points. I do this where I'll run about a half mile or so and when I get to a place where there are a lot of power or telephone poles I'll sprint from one pole to the next, then slow back down to a jog, then the next pole sprint again and repeat. I'll do that for about a half mile then just go back to running at a regular pace for the rest of the run. It isn't required that you follow that model exactly, it's just an example. For reference I'm about to turn 49 and my resting heart rate is around 54 bpm. You can do this with biking, rowing, jumping rope pretty much anything.

So in short, do more of the activity you want to improve on and the rest of the time do something you enjoy doing.
Also go to the FAQ, Ross's stuff is good there is also some stuff from and about a guy that posted here, don't know if he still does but he had some pretty scientific/study based training info, everything else including what I'm saying is pretty much anecdotal at best and at worst "bro science"

 

[selfcritical]

That said though....if you want to be the best distance runner you can be, cross-training will be part of the picture, and it's the same with BJJ as a general rule.

One other thing about BJJ to take into account- the most intense sport-specific conditioning is also 1) The most likely to contribute to mental burn-out if you're training quite a lot and 2) the most likely to injure you.

For most people who wanted to add S&C to their BJJ schedule, I would basically do two things 1) A strength training program that has undulating intensity and volume throughout the week, and progresses more slowly than you know you can to increase general strength qualities and decrease injury ratesand 2) Aerobic development in the form of steady state work, tempo intervals, or HICT (check 8weeksout for a description of the later with an eye toward using low-impact means if you're larger. The goal of this work is to just expand how much total work you're capable of doing and to increase your recovery, not to directly increase sport-specific performance.

As your work capacity expands, you may find that you can recover from more volume of intense training than you have classes you can go to (because of their schedule or whatever). At this point, you may think about working some high-intensity non-specific work in, being careful to have some days where you are deliberately going easy. You may also find use of it if hard sparring is starting to beat you down but you want to maintain physical qualities doing something that can't make your knees or shoulder explode.

 

[SMillard]

That said though....if you want to be the best distance runner you can be, cross-training will be part of the picture, and it's the same with BJJ as a general rule.

One other thing about BJJ to take into account- the most intense sport-specific conditioning is also 1) The most likely to contribute to mental burn-out if you're training quite a lot and 2) the most likely to injure you.

For most people who wanted to add S&C to their BJJ schedule, I would basically do two things 1) A strength training program that has undulating intensity and volume throughout the week, and progresses more slowly than you know you can to increase general strength qualities and decrease injury ratesand 2) Aerobic development in the form of steady state work, tempo intervals, or HICT (check 8weeksout for a description of the later with an eye toward using low-impact means if you're larger. The goal of this work is to just expand how much total work you're capable of doing and to increase your recovery, not to directly increase sport-specific performance.

As your work capacity expands, you may find that you can recover from more volume of intense training than you have classes you can go to (because of their schedule or whatever). At this point, you may think about working some high-intensity non-specific work in, being careful to have some days where you are deliberately going easy. You may also find use of it if hard sparring is starting to beat you down but you want to maintain physical qualities doing something that can't make your knees or shoulder explode.

I get what you are saying but the truth is being really good at one activity normally doesn't equate to being better overall. Tennis players always have one forearm that is over developed and imbalances that aren't the best thing for them physically, but it does make them great tennis players.

Training for BJJ doesn't always mean getting on the mat and rolling with a fully resisting opponent. I had a neck injury at one point and during my rehab spent a good amount of time shrimping and reverse shrimping for obvious reasons, hip thrusts to help improve my guard game, four point drills, sprawls and so on. When I started back up those things helped me maintain the muscle memory and perform those and related actions my fluidly.

If the TS or anyone else is in their 20's or so and are doing this as a career than yes, HIIT, yoga long slow duration cardio. The thing is most of us are working full time or going to school, a lot of us are older and the recovery isn't what it used to be. It all comes down to time management and body tolerance.

 

[ITRDC5]

Ok thanks for all of the replies .

I'm in my 30s and want to speifically increase my gas tank for comps .I train 4 times a week and do 531 for two days .I am a blue belt ,7 years training consistantly.

Sometimes my gym doesn't do intense seshions, tbh the structure is all over the place . We don't have open mat so I just can't dictate how many rolls I get , some classes are crazy intense the next we can get like 2 rolls.

Im thinking mentally some sort of hit exercise would help me ,just looking for some sort of guidance . I find it hard controlling my condition in comps