The Role of Strength and Conditioning in BJJ: Do You Really Need to Lift Weights?

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) has been one of the most popular martial arts over the past two decades, due to its proven effectiveness as a fighting system. The ground combat system was developed to allow smaller, more experienced practitioners to dominate larger, stronger opponents.

BJJ’s effectiveness as a fighting system that allows smaller fighters to defeat larger opponents was proven true during the early days of mixed martial arts. Royce Gracie and other members of the Gracie family, who modified traditional Jiu-Jitsu to create BJJ, dominated all opponents.

Some argue that the countless examples of BJJ players defeating larger opponents prove that BJJ players don’t need to lift weights, but this is a misleading conclusion.

Strength and conditioning play a huge role in any competitive sport, including Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Physical attributes such as strength, speed, reaction time, balance, flexibility and endurance can represent considerable advantages in a BJJ match.

Technique is the queen of BJJ, while strength is the prince

One of the most amazing things about BJJ is how efficient and designed it is. Your training teaches you to rely on leverage rather than brute force to gain dominant positions and bully opponents into submission.

This makes technique the best weapon you have in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu competitions. Improving your techniques should always be your main priority whenever you join a gym.

That doesn’t mean that being strong doesn’t make things easier for you on the mat. The stronger fighter typically has the advantage when two fighters have the same technical ability. Being stronger than an opponent allows you to hold dominant positions for longer periods, get out of tough spots if your techniques are ineffective, and make your submissions more difficult for opponents to overcome.

Most BJJ players have had moments where a stronger training partner was able to overcome their techniques with brute force.

The case of weightlifting

BJJ alone won’t help you develop the strength needed for some of the explosive movements used in grappling, such as when you bridge and roll to escape the bottom mounting position. Weight lifting helps develop muscle strength, which improves many of the techniques used in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. It also helps reduce the risk of injury by strengthening ligaments, tendons and bones and improving joint stability.

The key to getting the most out of your strength training as a BJJ player is finding the right balance between muscular strength and endurance. Training like a bodybuilder doesn’t help much on the mat, so focus on building grip-specific strength.

Strength vs flexibility: you can have both

There’s a common misconception in BJJ circles that lifting weights will make your joints as stiff as a board, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. Research shows that strength training can help increase flexibility when done correctly. The key to increasing flexibility with weight training is to prioritize exercises that require you to use the full range of motion of the affected joints, such as squats. Such exercises lengthen the muscles while strengthening them.

Weightlifting will not hinder your ability to perform techniques that require high levels of flexibility, such as rubber guarding.

The best strength training exercises for BJJ

Some strength and conditioning exercises are better for Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu than others. Your workout routine should focus primarily on compound exercises that engage multiple muscle groups simultaneously as such exercises help develop functional strength that will come in handy on the mat.

Here is a short list of some of the best strength training exercises that will help you improve your BJJ game:

• Cut: Any experienced weightlifter will tell you that deadlifts are the best exercise you can do with weights as they engage virtually every muscle in your body. It is an effective way to improve your functional strength. Deadlifts also help improve grip strength, which is vital for BJJ.
• Pull-ups: Pull-ups target most of the muscles in your upper back while improving your grip strength as you hold onto the bar. It improves your ability to draw things towards you, which is essential for many of the sweeps and submissions used in BJJ.
• Turkish get-ups: This exercise will improve your ability to exit positions. Helps build core and shoulder strength.
• Squats: Squats target most of your leg muscles and help build the muscles that make up your core. Strengthening your legs will improve your ability to hit opponents when shooting for takedowns.
• Kettlebell swings: Kettlebell swings help develop explosiveness in the hips, which is key to performing many of the escapes, sweeps, and submissions used in BJJ.
• Hip thrusts: Hip thrusts help strengthen your ability to generate explosive power with your hips, which improves your ability to perform techniques like the bridge and roll.
• Bench: This exercise strengthens the muscles of the chest, shoulders and triceps. Strengthening these areas makes it easier to create space while grappling by pushing into your opponent’s body.

How much strength training is enough?

Devoting yourself to your BJJ training takes a lot of time, which may leave you wondering how to add a strength and conditioning routine to your busy schedule. The good news is that you don’t need to spend a lot of time on strength and conditioning since you’ve already trained BJJ.

Approximately two or three weekly sessions of 30 minutes each are sufficient to considerably improve your functional strength. You only need to train each muscle group once a week to see results.

Strength is only part of the equation; Your conditioning also plays a vital role in your success on the mat. BJJ is an endurance sport; you have to roll for several rounds after class and during competitions, pushing your conditioning to the limit.

The strongest or most technical fighter does not always win a BJJ match. Sometimes, the fighter who can compete for longer periods of time without exhaustion emerges victorious.

BJJ strength and conditioning is second only to technique

Technique will always be king in BJJ, but strength and conditioning are your trusty knights that can help you overcome difficult situations. You don’t need to lift weights to be good at BJJ, but doing so will improve your game.

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