Dushyant Gandotra
Good jiu-jitsu conditioning plays a crucial role for competitive & casual Brazilain Jiu-Jitsu players. If you are planning to compete at a high level, gassing out in the middle of the fight isn’t an option for you. Even if you are practicing this art for recreation, having a good gas tank will allow drilling at a higher intensity & long before you exhaust yourself. In this article, we will break down what aerobic conditioning for BJJ means & how it affects various energy systems in your body.
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Conditioning
What does BJJ mean? Well, truthfully the answer depends upon who you are asking it from. People at different skills and expert levels will give you a different answer. Fundamentally, conditioning involves the way of improving the body’s ability to utilize its aerobic metabolism as the primary energy source.
Without bogging you too much into science, we will put it forward simply. There are 3 fundamental ways that the human body relies on for providing energy for your movements & biological processes. Those energy systems are referred to as, glycolytic, creatine phosphate & aerobic metabolic pathways. Every system in your body gets involved up to a certain degree as you get moving. The intensity of the physical activity you are performing relies on each system.
Aerobic conditioning For BJJ is majorly about balance. It’s not realistic or practical to train one of your energy systems while ignoring the rest. To gain the best possible conditioning for Jiu-Jitsu, you must train everything effectively and smartly. Aerobic conditioning for Jiu-jitsu isn’t as simple as going for the long run or conventional paddling on some elliptical. Like grappling martial arts, BJJ conditioning for fighting rings is a complex subject. Getting in BJJ rash guards and simply competing without previous experience or whatsoever isn’t possible. You must understand what your body needs for being a good competitor on the fighting mat. The same is the case with jiu-jitsu cardio. For building your gas tank you must understand how you should approach the subject.
Aerobic Energy System Training
Aerobic workouts are low-intensity activities that are performed for extended time high-Intensitygeneration. Aerobic workouts are usually done at 60-65% of the grappler’s maximized heartbeat. For meeting your energy requirements, your primary body relies on your oxygen utilizing aerobic metabolism. Common examples of aerobic activities are distance running & cycling. When it narrows to cardio conditioning for Jiu-Jitsu, the time interval of the match might vary from 5-10 minutes or more. It’s practically impossible for a person to do sprints during that time. In a time certain occur that might feel like sprints. Those intervals can cause your pace to slow down a bit.
When your pace gets slower your body switch back to the aerobic territory. If you cannot endure your aerobic conditions your systems will suffer due to it.
Training Methods For BJJ Conditioning
● High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT)
It’s the primary approach for improving your body’s glycolytic system. HIIT is usually performed by using the ‘duty cycles’ up to 20-30 seconds & active breaks periods that comprise the same length – this can differ according to the program. Several can be done for performing high-intensity interval training. Those workouts range from bodyweight to jumping rope to stationary biking to kettlebell workouts. Even the jiu-jitsu drilling & rolling itself can be performed as HIIT workouts if performed hard enough. Performing ‘shark tank’ training is a great way to dial in conditioning for the BJJ competition.
HIIT intervals that mimic the intensity and actions that you perform while doing the sports hikes up your game to a different level. Since jiu-jitsu typically involves bursts of periods followed by brief rest periods, of a comparatively short interval.
● Low-Intensity steady-state (LESS)
This training approach includes activities that are less intense and performed for prolonged periods such as distance runs and swimming. Distance running is usually associated with BJJ conditioning. Focusing too much on the Less & not performing enough intense training, will not make the glycolytic system of your body to get stressed adequately.
Doing longer-duration cardio workouts is a good approach to boosting your aerobic system. It’s way less taxing on your body & joints compared to the HIIT & can be done frequently with lesser injury risk.
Ways for Never Gas Out During BJJ
There is nothing worse than being stuck at the bottom, insufficient defending, and failed submission attempts or the position advances as you find catching up your breath pretty hard. Your opponent can do the worst possible thing when you’re gassed out. For avoiding those unwanted scenarios you can rely on the following tips they will ensure that you never gas out.
● Prioritizing your Aerobic Development
Depending upon the rules and regulations your jiu-Jitsu matches last up to 5-10 minutes. The process of competing & rolling might feel hard, but your ability to roll hard for longer durations narrows down to the well-developed aerobic system. One of the common mistakes that Jiu-Jitsu practitioners do is emphasizing your opposite energy system (lactic energy). It’s called
The opposite energy system. As it’s a push & pull among aerobic & anaerobic processes. When your glucose gets converted to the molecule known as pyruvate, it either transforms into a lactate anaerobic pathway or (aerobic pathway). Acetyl-CoA. At low intensities, lower lactate accumulation plays the dominant role. The Jiu-Jitsu practitioners operate in a low-lactate environment as long it’s possible. The high lactate levels of the by-products prevent gassing out.
● Do not Just Roll
After getting in your BJJ rash guards the foremost thing you will be told as a practitioner is to roll. It’s most common that you will hear from your supervisor. Unfortunately, rolling on BJJ mats does not stress your aerobic systems to a great degree. A study revealed that rolling induces the heart rate conducive that plays a crucial role in developing your aerobic improvement. However, when the VO2max of the player was tested, the numbers did not reflect that. It indicates that just rolling is not enough for preventing the gassing out.
● Keep your Conditioning Close To Jiu-Jitsu as Possible
Having proper space & time, for doing solo mat drills is the best conditioning way for hiking up your BJJ game. You can perform activities that imitate the BJJ action at a lower intensity. or the sub-maximal intensity. It will help in building larger gas tanks. If you lack the pace or space you will have to resort to traditional cardio workouts like running or swimming. Conditioning is way more than your energy systems. It takes account of your movement economy & movements of your muscles while performing the conditioning exercises. Make sure you execute those techniques correctly. For keeping the exercises close to the Jiu-Jitsu workouts it won’t be just your heart and lungs that will adapt but your muscles as well.
● Look out for you Pace
For this try to remember your old white belt days when you used to get spazzed. Or your training would be so intense that it would be hard to pass even 30 seconds. Learning the pace of yourself, give yourself the proper time for relaxation & explode & expending exact amount of the energy you will be required need & more skills being a practitioner. It does not matter what conditioning you are doing & how better conditioned you are capable of being, if you choose the best possible combination for you it will be almost impossible for you to gass out.
