all posts post new thread

Bodyweight Getting back into BJJ

Status
Closed Thread. (Continue Discussion of This Topic by Starting a New Thread.)

max1993

Level 4 Valued Member
I have thought about my training a lot lately, and decided to get back into BJJ, thus I want to reduce my weight training to a rather minimalist approach.

That's what I've thought about:
  • reduction in session length (seems to beat me up the most to be in the gym for too long), frequency up
  • rather strength-focused, than hypertrophy-focused
  • mainly bodyweight movements (with added weight aswell), working towards more difficult exercises (FL, Planche, HSPU), all moves with loads of full body tension
  • leg training reduced down to explosiveness, and health (thought about kind of liftinov approach here, like Swings+sprinting), Glute ham raises for hamstring health and power
  • upper body: rope climbing, HSPU, plance progression, Frontlever progression, weighted dips maybe (?)
So it could look something like this:
  1. Upper body, strength focus
    1. HSPU + Rope Climbs
    2. Dips + FL progression
    3. Hardstyle Ab exercise
  2. Lower Body
    1. Swings+sprints
    2. Glute ham raise
    3. Maybe a quad-dominant exercise (thought about goblet squats, mobility+maintainance of squat strength)
  3. Variety day
    1. groundwork (rolling, crawling)
    2. different bridge variations
    3. carries
I'm really not sure on the lower body approach, maybe even that is too much. I would also include some isometric curls for tendon health, band pull-aparts, and rope jumping.

Would love to hear some thoughts about that.
 
I am gonna go with: give it a shot and and see how it works for you. The exercise selection seems fine to me (upper, lower, variety) - while progress might be slower if that is not your priority i think it is just fine.
 
Hello,

@max1993
Your selection sounds great to me. I would indeed maintain the squat pattern to be 'well rounded'.

I often think in terms of patterns: push, pull, hip/hinge, squat, core, carry. You seem to have them all covered !

Getting to the planche is a goal per se. It can be achieved with dedicated work, but as you mainly want to progress in BJJ, it would be a secondary goal. Planche training is taxing. I would stick to the basics (HSPU etc...), and ramp up only when it really gets too easy. But I would not necessarily go for a strict progression toward gymnastics move.

What about the programming ? It maybe dependent on the BJJ training frequency.

Did you plan some "conditioning" work ?

Kind regards,

Pet'
 
That's exactly why I thought of the Goblet Squat, which should be a great way to maintain/improve hip mobility, and remain as you say "well rounded".

You're right, I ditched that idea rather quickly, it's probably too taxing, and considering my height and weight, it's probably not really doable for me (not saying it's impossible). Thanks for the input, that would indeed probably be too much, and should not be the focus of my routine.

From what I know now, there are three sessions per week, Monday/Wednesday 1,5hrs practice + 30' sparring, Saturday 2hrs open mat. I guess I'll manage 2 sessions, 2 hrs open mat has always been a killer, and I'm not yet great at conserving energy during longer sparring sessions, so those burn me out rather quickly.
Considering my general schedule, I'm an early riser and got around 1,5 - 2hrs in the morning before I have to leave for university. So technically the strength sessions could be done on any given day of the week, I'm not sure about the frequency though. I think every session once a week would be fine, including the upper body and leg work done during warm up and cool down in BJJ class. What's your take on that?

For conditioning,
  • I want to keep running twice a week in the MAF zone, to keep my aerobic base up
  • Variety day should be on the more on the conditioning side, with quick switches, rolls, carrying, crawling
  • I've also implemented rope jumping between my sets on the upper body day, keeps my heart pumping and doesn't affect my performance
  • and of course the Liftinov leg work (although I'll definitely not do the 400m version)
 
Hello,

That's exactly why I thought of the Goblet Squat, which should be a great way to maintain/improve hip mobility, and remain as you say "well rounded".
The pistol squat is not very taxing. It can be an interesting move which is a blend between strength, balance and mobility. The Naked Warrior offers some nice progression to get it.

From what I know now, there are three sessions per week, Monday/Wednesday 1,5hrs practice + 30' sparring, Saturday 2hrs open mat. I guess I'll manage 2 sessions, 2 hrs open mat has always been a killer, and I'm not yet great at conserving energy during longer sparring sessions, so those burn me out rather quickly.
Considering my general schedule, I'm an early riser and got around 1,5 - 2hrs in the morning before I have to leave for university. So technically the strength sessions could be done on any given day of the week, I'm not sure about the frequency though. I think every session once a week would be fine, including the upper body and leg work done during warm up and cool down in BJJ class. What's your take on that?
So in total it would be: 2 BJJ sessions + 3 strength & conditioning, do I get it right ?

If so, yes this is plenty.

I practice boxing 2-3 times a week. Recovery is key. Basically, as soon as you'll see a decrease in performance in either BJJ or S&C, you may reduce the S&C (for instance less sets) because BJJ is the primary goal. Conditioning will also naturally ramp up as you'll practice BJJ

I want to keep running twice a week in the MAF zone, to keep my aerobic base up
Very good. MAF running is excellent for some kind of active recovery as well.

In the following thread, Xagunos seems having found a great bodyweight minimalist approach, consisting of sprint, HSPU and pull ups. He does wrestling.

Kind regards,

Pet'
 
I've wanted to incorporate pistol squats but it seems like my lower back can't really take them, could of course also be a form issue. I've always liked skater squats though and for increased from you can stand on a platform or whatever.

Yes exactly, so really not that much but that's about the time I want/can commit to, and I guess it's plenty to still make progress. I like that view and I totally agree with you on that, recovery is key.

I've read the post and I could see using such an approach as rather freeing, you've got a few moves which you practice a lot and progress would be easy to track. Although there is kind of an inherent fear inside me that I'm not doing enough, or am not training specific enough, especially cause my strength base always helped me to compete against more advanced trainees, which weren't as conditioned as I am. Maybe I'll get into contact with him, thanks for the share!
 
Hello,

@max1993
Below is a link regarding pistol technique

If you keep a general approach, it will transfer to other activities in daily life, which is not bad ? A rule of thumb is to practice big compounds because they usually transfer to any kind of activities.

A training always has to give you more than it takes from you.

Kind regards,

Pet'
 
Sounds like your pretty busy , with university and all ...
Couple questions -
-Goals( in relation to BJJ)
-Experience level
-Age
-previous sports history/and any associated chronic injuries?
This seems like a good place to start
Short Answer -BJJ + Yoga
 
Yes that's true, I've got a lot going on but I want to commit the time and effort for trying a sport competitively again.

Route A: I would like to compete in regional tournamemts and get an idea of the sport in a compeitive environmemt, that's prolly where I'm gonna find out if I want to follow that path or not.
Route B: see BJJ as practice, movement and a fun sport to keep myself fit and agile,and most importantly, piut my strength and endurance into practice.

I've been doing BJJ for a year only, so that's not a whole lot of experirence but I've imrpoved quite quickly.

I'm 26 years old, weigh about 87kg and am 185cm tall, and am rather lean.

I've been kajaking competitively for over 10 years, from age 12 to age 23. Have done several ultra marathons, and always did some sort of exercise regimemt for the past 15 years. Just one injury, but had it several times, l4/l5 herniated disc, doesn't mean much anyway but my back just can't handle too much loading. Especially squats always got me back to chronic pain (max is around 180kg), deadlifts I can tolerate though.
 
Hello,

@max1993
When I read your first post, I noticed swings and carries.

So I would have several questions:
- what weights do you have access to ?
- would you be interested in a minimalist routine using weight ?

If so, several options:
- RoP
- Red Zone

Below is a link for Red Zone:
Here is the thread related to it:
Here is the routine (quote from the article)
5×5 presses per arm, 5×10 swings per arm, wrap up with another 5×5 presses. It's up to you whether you want to clean the kettlebell once for each set of presses or once before each rep. Don't fail. If you can't make the prescribed reps, do more sets of fewer reps to make up the total; for example 3×5, 1×4, 2×3 for a total of 25. Rest as little as you can between sets.

You can add squats as a warm up, or finisher, or GTG pistol progression

Kind regards,

Pet'
 
Thank you for the replies/Info, here comes the long answer-
-I would be careful regarding the back issues , I have I injuries through jiu jitsu that I will have the rest of my life( back and neck)maybe consulting a professional could be warranted...,And make sure to chose your partners wisely
The reason I mentioned yoga in an earlier post is that through dedicated disciplined pratice daily it still allows me to get on the mat 2-3 x a week, it didn’t heal everything but made it manageable.
-I don’t compete anymore so it’s not my wheelhouse , perhaps somebody could give you a better answer In regards to that
-The aerobic running sounds great
- a 2 hourOpen mat rolling session Takes a lot out of you , with my current recovery level it would take me 2-3 days minimum( I would just do mobility/stretching in the meantime
So my adice to my younger self would be :relax, enjoy the process, respect injuries and the time it takes to heal and if your doing anything that makes you feel worse or hurt , don’t do it. The goal of jiu jitsu is to get healthier and when you get injuries you are less healthy. Take care and feel free to shoot me any questions
P.s. my experience is 20+ years BJJ ( black belt since 2014)
 
Too bad Steve Maxwell isn't on here, or not very often I'd guess. He's a Master champion BJJ, and his son also competes at a high level. On top of that, he's trained athletes professionally for decades, but now just seems to travel the world and do seminars.
 
Hello,

+1 for Steve Maxwell

From my understanding, he is big on isometrics, plenty of variety, and plenty of 'reasonable' practice. Breathing seems also an important part of the routine

Kind regards,

Pet'
 
My take on this. I have been doing BJJ on and off between 2006-2018. Find a game that works for you. Don't go all out all the time. Pick your sparring partners wisely . If you want to get serious with BJJ , work to at least purple level and get as much quality mat time as possible. That's when the fun begins imho. In the meantime all other activity should be focused on whatever quality is lacking. When it's strength , do some simple basic strength movements, without every injuring yourself. When it's mobility, work on that. If you find you conditioning is lacking. Roll more on 60 - 70 % intensity and work on your breathing so you can relax more during rolling.
+ 1 on Steve Maxwell. He has made all the mistakes you can make and came out with some excellent material to avoid that .
 
Thank you all very much for your answers! Guess I'll choose the route of taking it easy and seeing it as an opportunity to grow and make it a fun activity, rather than a competitive one. You guys have been very helpful.
 
+ 1 for Steve Maxwell
I use his “ 15 minutes for 15 years” mobility flow. It’s great
 
Status
Closed Thread. (Continue Discussion of This Topic by Starting a New Thread.)
Back
Top Bottom