When it comes to breaking down sports performance and the skills needed for various athletic outings, one aspect we at Barbell Coalition look at is the forces the opponent will be going up against during a game, match etc.
Baseball players, for example, aren’t really finding themselves in a situation where their strength and power is put up against another human being. Instead, the opposing force for baseball players is their own bodyweight and how fast they can traverse the bases.
We can also look at a running back in football who has a mix of opposing forces: their own bodyweight for running as many yards as they can, but also the opposing force of opposing players trying to tackle. If that player needs to have a strong stiff arm for keeping opposing players at bay, they’re going to want tremendous strength in their triceps to keep the elbow extended.
BJJ, however, has one opposing force: the strength and power of your opponent in multiple positions. Therefore, being able to create tremendous force from a multitude of positions and situations can make the difference between losing a position, completing a takedown, or escaping trouble. In this article, we’re going to look at five exercises that should be included in any BJJ athlete’s strength & conditioning routine for maximum strength and power while rolling.
1) Power Snatch
It’s a hotly debated topic on whether or not athletes should take the time to learn Olympic lifts. I, for one, believe incorporating oly-lifts, or their many variations, into any athlete’s strength & conditioning routine will yield significant increases in performance, so taking the time to become technically proficient with these moves is a worthwhile investment.
The power snatch is a great exercise for BJJ because it requires full body explosiveness through a large range of motion, because in BJJ you'll find yourself needing to explode out of many different positions from various ranges. The finish also builds a great deal of stability in the core and shoulders.
2) Front Squat
If we look at the movements occurring during a BJJ match, most are front-loaded. When front squatting, it is much easier for an athlete to get a full range of motion. The front squat is also a mobility-demanding exercise to execute properly, and BJJ is a sport that requires high levels of mobility to hold and escape various positions.
Front squatting frequently will build tremendous mobility in the ankles and hips, two major joints at play during a match. The front squat will also build a bulletproof core, an extremely valuable asset on the mat.
3) Single-Leg Squat and Single-Leg RDL
What’s better than being strong and stable on two legs? Being strong and stable on one leg! While building max strength through bilateral movements like the front squat has a massive transfer to performance on the mat, a lot of movements performed during a BJJ match will find an athlete using one leg to either stabilize, or advance to a position.
Here’s an example: your opponent just shot for the single-leg and has ahold of your leg. Now you’re hopping up and down on one leg trying to defend the takedown. To maintain this position, a great deal of hamstring and glute strength is necessary to keep from being taken down to the mat.
Now from an offensive standpoint, you’re completing a knee-cut style pass and you’re working on driving with your outside leg into your opponent to keep pressure on the hips and pass.
I recommend incorporating single-leg squats with either a barbell on the back or front loaded with a kettlebell, and super-setting with a single-leg RDL, either with two kettlebells/dumbbells in hand, or in one hand opposite the working leg to work unilateral strength & core stability.
4) Grip Work
BJJ is a game of grips, especially when competing in the gi. Your ability to grab and hold grips on your opponent’s sleeves, lapel and pants will absolutely make the difference between a successful takedown, guard pass, submission etc.
If you have an iron grip, you can easily control your opponent’s posture and position. But as important as grip strength is, it seems most BJJ athletes don’t take the time to train their grips off the mat.
So what kind of exercises can we do to improve our grips? Grip strength trainers are always an option, but another option I recommend for a more specific transfer to BJJ is the towel-grip pull up.
It very similarly recreates the movement of grabbing an opponents lapel and breaking their posture down. Another option is using farmer’s carries with either a trap bar or dumbbells/kettlebells. Another variation is to hold only one kettlebell in one hand and challenge your core stability.
5) Steady-state cardio
Looking at the various energy systems our body has to produce ATP for energy, we have the Anaerobic alactic system for very short bursts of intense energy up to 10 seconds in length. An example of would be an Olympic weightlifter throwing up a heavy clean & jerk.
The next 10 to 90 seconds is fueled by the glycolytic system, our body’s ability to still create big bursts of energy over and over again. This is the most important energy system to train for 9 out of 10 sports, and BJJ, as a sport made up of explosive movements, would be no different.
However, a BJJ match ranges from 4 minutes all the way to 10 minutes. So in-between big bursts of energy in a match, your body needs something to fall back on to supply energy, and that would be the aerobic energy system's job.
This is your gas tank, and having a strong gas tank will make you far more efficient than your opponent. It will stave off fatigue. If you’re fatigued, you have nothing to offer, as well as nothing to defend with.
I can’t recommend steady-state cardio training outside of your BJJ and Strength training enough, whether that be through long-distance running, or long bouts of work on a rowing machine. Set a timer for 20 minutes, then either run or row for that amount of time.
Make note of what pace you can maintain for the entire duration of your run/row. In the next session, try to shave 5 seconds or so off that pace, and so on and so forth leading up to tournament day.
Want to become a force to be reckoned with on the mats? Click the link below to try a FREE BJJ strength workout!
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