"I need to get into shape so I can start training BJJ."

[jiujitsugirl86]

I really hate hearing this. I've trained at so many schools all over the world and rarely have I attended a class that wouldn't welcome beginners, not to mention most schools have fundamentals classes specifically for beginners. I'm willing to acknowledge that this may be the case in some places but generally anyone can do bjj, you get in shape by doing bjj. Automatic eye roll when I hear this phrase

 

[terribill]

(I need to get in shape so i can start training bjj)

=

2(I)(need)(so)(can)(to get in shape + start training BJJ) factoring

=

2(I)(need)(so)(can)(start training BJJ +to get in shape) associative property

=

(2(I)(need)(so)(can)(start training BJJ +to get in shape))/(2(I)(need)(so)(can)) cancel out the bullshit

= Start training BJJ to get in shape

 

[JulianG91HH]

I have a question that is somewhat connected to this tread so i didnt want to open a new one. i was training bjj for about one year or so and app 10 months ago i got an oponnent passing my guard and went for side control where he landed on my sternum and now i have problems with it, hurts on training, hurts even when i get up in the morning. I wasnt a sport type then even as i am heavyweight and i have problems with heavyweights when they dive for control and secure sidecontrol lockdown. I went to doctor and had a x ray but she said baah thats nothing, we have people from car crashes who have problems, dont worry blah blah. But i feel that my cartilage is clicking every now and then. I was thinking on stoping for a month but i get too nervous when not training...So what should i do? Do push ups help? Any exercises? Help-- Thnx

This happened to me only that it was a hard front kick in a competition. But your symptoms sound exactly like the ones I had so here is what I have to say:

Make sure nothing is broken. Go to the doctor and get a CT (computer tomograph). There probably wont be any fracture but just to be sure. If you're good then try to avoid putting weight on the injury or anything that makes you feel pain.

Any doctor will tell you to stop training but I dont think that is nessecary. The healing will take longer by continueing you training but what the hell.

I was fine after 5 weeks.

 

[beardedphoenix]

As someone who just started and being quite overweight this is the stigma of martial arts of any kind. When I was younger I did Karate (about 7 or 8). The instructor pulled my mom aside and summed it up to "we are afraid your son may be to obese to do Karate and we don't want to be liable if he has a heart attack on the mats." She pulled me out of it and I never wanted to ever step foot into a martial art again.

As I got older and did weight training and etc I remembered essentially being rejected by a dojo so why bother ever going back in they will all be the same. One day though I said hmm I bet you I could do this stuff now or at least try it.

So after emailing several schools around my area I found the one I wanted to try but you best believe in every email it started off roughly the same. "I am morbidly obese does this pose a problem for you." Two of the schools came back and said "ok that is fine come in and try it we accept all fitness levels." A taekwondo school came back and said "well you will have to take a bunch of safety courses to make sure you are not a harm to yourself or someone else and these are not included in your membership."

So I said well screw traditional and went to the school I am at now and it was great. They watch out for me make sure I am alright if it looks like I am going to die. If I am about to die I sit out for a minute and come back in. I have had rolling where I tell my partner in advance "this is my fourth roll I am little bit gassed mind going a bit slower" and they are always down for that.

Long story short I can see where people would get the idea they need to be in shape to do something but after doing it I can say now that is not the case.

 

[goatfury]

Yeah I can definitely see how that would be the case. Actually a couple weeks in training now and while i feel pretty good my lack of technique, having no idea how to grip fight, panicing and generally getting my shit wrecked each class leaves me quite tired after a few 5 minute rolls. However I have noticed it has been easier to retain posture at times and keep a strong base but again technique from striped and coloured belts just shreks me.

At the end of each class though I end up being tired as shit and 100% understand why people say if you want to get fit for BJJ or grappling in general grapple.

Oh yeah, I understand it. But it's always frustrating to hear anyway, especially since we start everyone so slow at my gym.

 

[goatfury]

ttt

 

[Steve08]

I feel this way a lot because I'm significantly overweight and hate a.) being gassed out and b.) being stuck (covered in sweat) on the bottom of mount or side control and not being able to get out.

Then sometimes I wonder if training regardless of that is worth it, so I keep improving and learning even if I go through situations that I find mentally stressful.

I do really wish I was already in shape when I started though, then I would only have to worry about getting better, instead of gassing out and not being able to do BJJ at all despite being obligated to stay on the mat.

 

[j123]

I hear this alot, and it sucks that folks feel this way, and put off combat sports (I've seen this thought not just for BJJ, but MT, and MMA as well).
The best thing is to go straight into it, you'll get in shape from the new training stimulus, it'll take some time, it doesn't happen overnight. Eventually down the line if you become a competitor, you'll do your best to train and research additional methods to get stronger, and more conditioned.

 

[Was at Pride GP 2000]

It is necessary to take some time to clear up this unbelievably pervasive misconception, that you have to "get into shape" before training Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (BJJ). Here are three reasons why that's just not true:

http://www.infobarrel.com/I_Need_to_Get_Into_Shape_So_I_Can_Start_Training_BJJ

I wrote this not in a moment frustration, but after hearing it for 15+ years, in a moment of inspiration. I thought maybe having this written down could help a few people out. If nothing else, I'm going to show it to people who give me this line from now on!

Can u write an article for a guy who has trained for 20 years but coming back from back to back knee surgeries so I can get offy fat ass and back on the mat.

I will wait for the article before I decide to get back in shape first or just go back to jiu jitsu.

By the way. Good article. I feel like I have given that speech 100 times

 

[Coati858]

I feel this way a lot because I'm significantly overweight and hate a.) being gassed out and b.) being stuck (covered in sweat) on the bottom of mount or side control and not being able to get out.

Then sometimes I wonder if training regardless of that is worth it, so I keep improving and learning even if I go through situations that I find mentally stressful.

I do really wish I was already in shape when I started though, then I would only have to worry about getting better, instead of gassing out and not being able to do BJJ at all despite being obligated to stay on the mat.

At age 49, I started overweight and out of shape 12 months ago. I've lost about 40 lbs (185->145) since beginning last June.
I started at 1hr a week for the first couple weeks and slowly built up. Now I'm at 6 hours a week of BJJ.
On "days off" I ride for an hour on a stationary trainer at low-moderate intensity to aid active recovery, continue weight loss and improve cardio.
As long as there isn't an imperative medical reason that you shouldn't begin at all, sooner is better than later.

At my weight (and belt), getting stuck under people is just a fact of life, but I'm getting better at getting out -- it all seemed like magic a year ago, but now I have a few techniques for each position I can at least attempt -- yay learning!

 

[selfcritical]

I think the dissenting views have some merit. I take for granted that, at my gym, we don't make beginners do any sort of intense cardio, ever. I forget that other gyms are still living in the dark ages.

Some of those are relatively good gyms too. Watch a video of the warmup at Marcelo's sometime.

 

[goatfury]

Some of those are relatively good gyms too. Watch a video of the warmup at Marcelo's sometime.

I think that's fair enough. Gyms like Marcelo's cater primarily to high level competitors. It follows that around 1% of the gyms out there would do so, and for them, maybe it makes sense to have a brutal, cardio-intensive warm up. For the other 99%, though, not so much.

 

[2008]

There is some truth to this. To get the most from BJJ you need to be in somewhat decent shape from the beginning. It helps not to be super fat so you won't have mobility issue or be chubby with really bad cardio.

I had really, really bad grappling cardio for first the 3,4 years when I started training Jiu Jitsu. I mean I could literally only roll twice before I ran out of energy, became out of breath, be exhausted, and get cramps here and there. I believe no other students had the same issue as me. I felt like an outlier.

Some people do need to get in shape on their own, first, before BJJ can benefit them. In my situation, no amount of rolling would have helped my cardio because I was just getting worked on over and over again, and not doing much of anything to combat that.

I was able to improve my cardio and be in better shape(even though I'm still out of shape) by regularly working out on my own outside Jiu Jitsu class. Now I am getting more out of BJJ simply because my body is now better prepared to handle training.

I think normal skinny people or people with normal/average cardio and strength abilities take their abilities for granted because they don't have very poor cardio/stamina/endurance issue to begin with. So its much easier for them to start training BJJ from the beginning with no issues.

 

[Jiu Jitsuka]

Excellent article with a lot of truth to it. People usually start training with the belief that they are competing against something external (i.e., others) but in reality the struggle is an internal one of self-actualization.

Everyone starts off as a shitty white belt in shape or otherwise.

 

[BJJ_Rage]

There is some truth to this. To get the most from BJJ you need to be in somewhat decent shape from the beginning. It helps not to be super fat so you won't have mobility issue or be chubby with really bad cardio.

I had really, really bad grappling cardio for first the 3,4 years when I started training Jiu Jitsu. I mean I could literally only roll twice before I ran out of energy, became out of breath, be exhausted, and get cramps here and there. I believe no other students had the same issue as me. I felt like an outlier.

Some people do need to get in shape on their own, first, before BJJ can benefit them. In my situation, no amount of rolling would have helped my cardio because I was just getting worked on over and over again, and not doing much of anything to combat that.

I was able to improve my cardio and be in better shape(even though I'm still out of shape) by regularly working out on my own outside Jiu Jitsu class. Now I am getting more out of BJJ simply because my body is now better prepared to handle training.

I think normal skinny people or people with normal/average cardio and strength abilities take their abilities for granted because they don't have very poor cardio/stamina/endurance issue to begin with. So its much easier for them to start training BJJ from the beginning with no issues.

normal people do get exausted and almost died from 2 rolls in a row, but that has more to do with going balls to the wall than anything. If you walk brand new into a bjj gym and are "normal" but a competitive person who feels every roll is the mundilas finals, well no matter how much cardio you have, you are going to be dead tired.

I used to be this guy, I used to have big cardio problems on top of that (as a result of being a party boy and having somoked for 15 years) I still smoke, I dont party that much though, but I am also 7 years older, yet I have 1983412989 more cardio rolling than back then...

 

[Lamfadha]

I started BJJ a year ago roughly at 111kg and now am 81kg, I am 167.5cm. 244lbs and 178lbs respectively at 5"6.
I started so overweight because I hate exercise because I find it boring but I love Martial Arts and swimming for fun.
I believe just starting is the best thing but seeing the turnover rate of Martial Arts in general if you don't enjoy it just do whatever exercise you find fun.
Because you will stick to it and lose weight and keep it off instead of just burning out and staying overweight.

 

[AK Gerard]

I agree the best way to get ready for it is to just do it. Certainly it doesn't hurt to supplement, especially for cardio, but nothing is going to prepare you for grappling like grappling. Particularly when a lot of conditioning for grappling is learning how to control your breathing and not waste energy.

 

[TehGwarch]

Nobody cares or expects you to last longer than a month anyway.

You can impress the shit out of everyone by continuing to show up and doing a little more each time.

 

[DrJitsu]

The only way to be in shape for BJJ is to do BJJ

 

[SummerStriker]

One place I went for BJJ my fat ass didn't sweat for the first hour and a half of class. Maybe, by the third round of rolling, I'd start to get tired. I preferred it to yoga because it was easier.

Another place had us doing 50 pushups, 50 situps, 50+ squats and lunges, followed by BJJ drills, followed by 2-4 techniques we drilled non-stop for 5-10 minutes each, followed by all hard rolling with six minute rounds. It was rough for me. They got results. I saw some fat dudes drop some major weight in that class.

Anyway, people have an expectation for how much effort they are going to put out, and aren't usually willing to change.

When they say, "I need to be in better shape to take BJJ," they either mean, "I don't want to take BJJ," or, "I need to be in better shape to take YOUR BJJ class because I don't see myself working that hard."

Some BJJ classes are like, 10 minutes of Yoga followed by 10 minutes of light aerobics, followed by technique mixed with social hour where you can talk about your feelings, followed by flow rolling. That's still BJJ.