Does your BJJ coach recommend weight lifting or jogging to supplement BJJ ?

[KnightTemplar]

Functional Strength is Strength training with a specific practical, and useful purpose in mind.

Body building training, is the isolation of each muscle to make the isolated muscle bigger, while this will make you look more Buff you will not be as strong as an Olympic lifter who uses his whole body to lift the weight up. Training for body building is cosmetic as opposed to Olympic lifts which are functional and transfer over to a sport where you are lifting your opponent. The Olympic lifts are more realistic for lifting an opponent than muscle isolation. This is just on example of functional vs. cosmetic training.

I believe there is such a thing as functional training.

Bodybuilding is a lifestyle; if you're in the gym six days a week, you won't have the time or energy to do anything else. To be fair, advanced level Bodybuilders are usually stronger than anyone who doesn't compete in a Strength Sport like Powerlifting. I've seen Ronnie Coleman dumbbell bench 400lbs for eight reps. But you are correct when you say that Bodybuilding training is not optimal for any sport; it takes far too much time, both in the gym and recovery.

A far superior method to training muscle groups is Upper/Lower or Push/Pull split routines. Or if your time is short, a Full Body routine can increase strength if performed twice per week.

 

[Thycidides]

Does your academy have classes at all points in the day AND you are on the mat? Can you not lift BEFORE/ AFTER class, or BEFORE/AFTER work, or during lunch breaks?

I tend to train 2 hours a day 5-6 days a week and a lot of that is hard rolling/ or judo. It takes a lot out of me to do that.

I do 1 hour of calisthenics' ( burpees/ squats push ups and sit ups) though

 

[RJ Green]

My former instructor wanted me to lift weights before class, so I can rely on technique more than strength.

your former instructor was tired of getting shitstomped by a younger, stronger guy and didn't have the humility to duck you

 

[DaGenius]

I don't understand why some people are averse to weights and running/cardio in adddition to martial arts.

For the record my current coach is a big advocate of running and hills but he's not a weight room guy. He always gives me a hard time when I'm lifting on the side after open mat

 

[j123]

I don't understand why some people are averse to weights and running/cardio in adddition to martial arts.

For the record my current coach is a big advocate of running and hills but he's not a weight room guy. He always gives me a hard time when I'm lifting on the side after open mat

Its old fashioned upbringing. Their coach told them an anecdotal story of a guy who lifted weights (poorly planned) and how it negatively affected his performance, they bought it, and continued on. As did their coach's coach, and so prior.

I see stuff like this all the time shared by these types:

So I bring up, what about guys like Palhares, Lesnar, GSP, Woodley, etc, who obviously lift and incorporate strength training in, and there's no answer.

This whole idea that every athlete out there benefiting from strength training, but fighters are completely different and fragile to do it, needs to be put down. Its like a cancer to the entire combat sports community.

Honestly, sometimes I think its insecurity.

I met one guy that said lifting made his boxing bad. Upon further details, he said he took a year off from boxing and just lifted. Didn't do any cardio, boxing, etc.
So you mean to say that when you stopped boxing for a year, then came back you got worse at it? Please, tell me more...

 

[vcmmafan]

I don't understand why some people are averse to weights and running/cardio in adddition to martial arts.

For the record my current coach is a big advocate of running and hills but he's not a weight room guy. He always gives me a hard time when I'm lifting on the side after open mat

It's so stupid. Obviously someone who trains MMA would benefit greatly from power lifting/lifting for strength. Not to mention long term aging and health.

 

[DaGenius]

It's so stupid. Obviously someone who trains MMA would benefit greatly from power lifting/lifting for strength. Not to mention long term aging and health.

Agreed man. It's just dumb on so many levels. Guys make some of the silliest excuses when you ask them

I lift pretty regularly but I always include a S&C routine when prepping for any bjj tourney. I want to be as fit and strong as I can to increase my chance to apply my Jiu jitsu.

 

[vcmmafan]

I could only imagine how dangerous a world class power lifter would be if they were also a blackbelt

 

[Balto]

I could only imagine how dangerous a world class power lifter would be if they were also a blackbelt

They would be easy to beat on cardio.

The Pareto principle applies to all this type of stuff. If you're training BJJ, you can get like 80% of the value out of weight lifting by just doing 20% of the work. Lift two times a week on a basic program, and it should overall help you out greatly.

That's not enough to get world class in power lifting though. To do that, you need to do the extra 80% of the work to get the remaining 20% of gains to be truly world class. Putting that much into it causes adaptations that will kill your cardio. There are tradeoffs at a certain point.

It's also why you don't see 300 lb+ behemoths winning the Ultra Heavyweight in BJJ. The sweet spot seems to be around 250 lbs or so. Much bigger than that and you start running into major cardio issues during a 10 minute match. The heart just can't get big enough to pump enough blood to keep that much mass going no matter how much cardio you do.

You see this with animals and the square-cube law. A certain species can only survive within a certain size range before changing into something else entirely. A mouse the size of an elephant wouldn't work, and neither would an elephant the size of a mouse.

So although a huge BJJ black belt with great cardio and world class powerlifting strength sounds awesome, it's about as realistic as a giant mouse due to the limitations of training the human body.

 

[richardb]

Neither of my 2 BJJ coaches have mentioned doing weights or running, they just tell us to train BJJ as much as we can lol. My 5 Judo coaches have ALL said to do weights and running in addition to Judo. That may be because Judo wasn't running 6 days a week like BJJ did, so we had off-days. I love weights but hate running, but can totally see the point in doing both. I'd say as long as it doesn't take you away from a BJJ class or result in over-training then go for it.

 

[Human Bass]

Neither of my 2 BJJ coaches have mentioned doing weights or running, they just tell us to train BJJ as much as we can lol. My 5 Judo coaches have ALL said to do weights and running in addition to Judo. That may be because Judo wasn't running 6 days a week like BJJ did, so we had off-days. I love weights but hate running, but can totally see the point in doing both. I'd say as long as it doesn't take you away from a BJJ class or result in over-training then go for it.

I have major itching when running. But I found out climbing stairs is intense and itching free for me.

 

[KnightTemplar]

They would be easy to beat on cardio.

The Pareto principle applies to all this type of stuff. If you're training BJJ, you can get like 80% of the value out of weight lifting by just doing 20% of the work. Lift two times a week on a basic program, and it should overall help you out greatly.

That's not enough to get world class in power lifting though. To do that, you need to do the extra 80% of the work to get the remaining 20% of gains to be truly world class. Putting that much into it causes adaptations that will kill your cardio. There are tradeoffs at a certain point.

It's also why you don't see 300 lb+ behemoths winning the Ultra Heavyweight in BJJ. The sweet spot seems to be around 250 lbs or so. Much bigger than that and you start running into major cardio issues during a 10 minute match. The heart just can't get big enough to pump enough blood to keep that much mass going no matter how much cardio you do.

You see this with animals and the square-cube law. A certain species can only survive within a certain size range before changing into something else entirely. A mouse the size of an elephant wouldn't work, and neither would an elephant the size of a mouse.

So although a huge BJJ black belt with great cardio and world class powerlifting strength sounds awesome, it's about as realistic as a giant mouse due to the limitations of training the human body.

Excellent post

Two days per week of well programmed strength training, done consistently for an extended period of time, will make you a fucking monster. You won't be putting up elite level numbers, but you will be strong as fuck. Combine that strength with good BJJ technique and you will be a bad, bad man to roll with.

 

[j123]

Excellent post

Two days per week of well programmed strength training, done consistently for an extended period of time, will make you a fucking monster. You won't be putting up elite level numbers, but you will be strong as fuck. Combine that strength with good BJJ technique and you will be a bad, bad man to roll with.

Considering that the types that are against strength training, a person with decent lifts while knowing how to breathe and "feel" tehcniques in rolling would already be a huge advantage. I'm not strong myself (235 bench, 405 dead, 330 sqt), but already the ones that are "weak" have to put a lot of effort to sub me. At the end I tap and am fine, while they look like they just swam a mile escaping Alcatratz

 

[mmaKody]

i have the option to lift before training. I'm unsure how I should go about it but I have a basic idea. All I've been doing is keeping it real simple on lifts.
5x5 rep scheme
Front squats, lunges, deads, weighted dips, weighted push ups, pull ups, rows.

Guess I should split the days and only lift 2 x a week. Just trying to figure how to pair the excercises.

 

[The Thrill]

a push, a pull, a squat, and a hinge...if you wanted more, you could do horizontal push and pull, vertical push and pull, a squat and a hinge

so for 2 days a week

bench, row, squat, deadlift
overhead press, pullups, front squat, deadlift

 

[NateTx4112]

a push, a pull, a squat, and a hinge...if you wanted more, you could do horizontal push and pull, vertical push and pull, a squat and a hinge

so for 2 days a week

bench, row, squat, deadlift
overhead press, pullups, front squat, deadlift

Solid advice right here.

 

[Concrete Whale]

I know not everyone likes kettlebells but I have found them excellent for grappling. Kettlebells or similar exercises with free weights ie not weights on bars but loose plates or medicine ball etc.

 

[Foppa21]

I find it odd that wrestlng coaches in the USA encourage weight training but most BJJ coaches seem not to unless they are coaching full time competitors. The same is true for jogging, which is encourage by boxing coaches but not BJJ coaches.

I'm looking for things I can do to improve Bjj outside of training.

You kinda nailed it "full time competitors". If you haven't got the time, you're probably better off spending time on the mats sharpening technique vs going for a run or lifting weights.

It's supplementation for your actual training

 

[rmongler]

It really does not take that much time at all to pick up something really heavy and put it back down a few times (and if its heavy enough, that's all you need to do, and all you should do).

The real limiting factor in elite level training programs is recovery rate, but if you are training casually, you won't be near that anyways.

 

[freakroor]

I find it odd that wrestlng coaches in the USA encourage weight training but most BJJ coaches seem not to unless they are coaching full time competitors. The same is true for jogging, which is encourage by boxing coaches but not BJJ coaches.

I'm looking for things I can do to improve Bjj outside of training.

my coach recommends weightlifting.

I mainly do heavy kettlebell snatches and swings, and weighted pullups. This keeps my workouts simple and quick.

for bjj cardio you can't beat swimming