When you ask people about areas of study in Jiu Jitsu, you will hear a great many discussions about throws, sweeps, and submissions. However, you might not hear many people discuss Jiu Jitsu conditioning which is a tremendous oversight. Conditioning does play a major role in how well you can succeed in the art.
Much is said about Jiu Jitsu being a tremendous art for those who are small and not necessarily the strongest person. While this is certainly true, it would also be true to state you do need some conditioning in order to perform at your best on the mat. Do not worry. You will not be required to perform a tremendous amount of calisthenics in order to get into proper mat shape. However, you are advised to follow a number of helpful warm-ups and conditioning drills which can enhance your performance and reduce your injury potential.
Simply riding a stationary bike for 15 minutes a day may not sound like the most exotic of conditioning exercises for Brazilian Jiu Jitsu but it definitely is helpful. In addition to the improvements in cardio that it provides, the leg and core muscles are worked quite significantly which will definitely prove helpful in the performance of a great many different Jiu Jitsu techniques. Your guard alone would experience a great improvement by itself.
Yoga stretching is also enormously helpful as far as enhancing your Brazilian Jiu Jitsu conditioning is concerned. To say the flexibility benefits of Yoga would be a huge help to your performance in Jiu Jitsu would be a massive understatement. Also overlooked would be the reduction in injuries which are possible when you have far greater flexibility in your ligaments and muscles.
Isometric training and static contraction training can all prove to be tremendously helpful to anyone who wishes – or is forced — to maintain a static position for extended periods of time without tiring. Then again, even if you do not wish to do this you might not have much of a choice since you often find yourself in such positions simply due to the nature of the sport. This is definitely an area you need to condition yourself for because many people lose bouts due to burning out of endurance in static positions and experiencing a decline in muscular endurance.
Once muscular endurance goes, so does most of your game. Your arms and legs become like rubber and they do not move as well as they should. Because of this, you end up losing simply because your Jiu Jitsu conditioning is so weak you literally cannot be able to move.
Jiu Jitsu Conditioning Programs
There are other exercise programs from Brazil which could prove quite helpful. Many people find Capoeira to be quite challenging and, in many ways, it is. However, you do not need to be all that great at performing Capoeira for it to supplement your Jiu Jitsu. Rather, all you have to do is work out for one hour a week in such a class and gain the great attribute developments which could aid your Jiu Jitsu conditioning quite well.