Exercises for BJJ

Martin Rooney is the expert in physical conditioning for BJJ. Here are some tips I have remembered from his BJJ radio interview. Martin publishes his articles in the GracieMag, so subscribe now.

Train the Neck
Back and front bridges and any other relevant exercises. The neck is critical as it is one of the focuses. The neck takes on a lot of pressure during training and you have to prepare for this. BJJ veterans know this well.



Pulling strength - chin-ups and pull-ups
Some of the least enjoyable exercises but also some of the most useful. Pulling is one of the most important strengths in jiu jitsu and you use these muscles all the time during sparring.

Abdominal muscles - train your stomach.

Use a medball, look at some of the exercises on the web. These are the crucial muscles you are using all the time. They are very important.

Groin muscles

Work on these for your guard. This exercise prevents injuries and develops these muscles. Roger Gracie trains these muscles.

Hamstring

If you play a lot of half guard, train some hamstring curls.

Train the upper body, lower body and then cardio. Without cardio you have nothing but all these are vital. Leave some time to heal but all of these exercises are important to help your BJJ conditioning.

Martin Rooney recommends at least three work outs a week but doing five works is ideal. My opinion is that you want to work three times a week well rather than doing a little five minute session at home. Do the 45 minute intense session, make it happen and then get out.

Check out Martin Rooney's book, "Training for Warriors: The Ultimate Mixed Martial Arts Workout" or look on the website http://www.trainingforwarriors.com/