Bodyweight Workout for BJJ Practicioners

Every one of us surely has faced a lack of time for training but desperately wanted to get that strength workout power kick. Whether you are on a trip, vacation or your daily schedule is full to the roof, there is always a solution. The best thing you can reach for in those cases is bodyweight workout for BJJ. The all-around approach to this kind of training is the best in critical moments when you are time-limited and space limited. The only equipment you need is your body and all the space you need is not more than a living room. What are the principles for this kind of training how to create a bodyweight workout for BJJ practitioners in these conditions is today’s topic?

All-around round Bodyweight Workout

The very best approach to bodyweight training is all-around full body routine. This kind of exercise will help you to achieve a strength training stimulus in all body areas in a minimum time frame. Like any other training, this one also starts with a proper warm up. Mobility and flexibility routine is something you want to start with. This will prepare your joints and muscles for training stress that is in front of you. Also, your working temperature will be a little bit higher and this is the right way to do if you want to avoid injuries.

Some of the important drills mentioned above can be found in the following links;

After that, small activation exercises are next in the line. These “little” exercises are often used in warm-up drills as a preparation for further temptations our workout is putting in front of us. Activation exercises, because of little strength effort you need to invest in them, allows us to activate muscles in a proper way and also to build a better control of our movements. When you activate muscles in a proper way and you establish better control of your body movements, you are building new and better movement patterns. That leads to improving your weak areas and correcting your imbalances. Finally, the final result in that process is building a good posture.

If the elastic band is near you, grab it and do some shoulder and back activation exercises.

Remember, in this stage of bodyweight workout for BJJ practitioners, you are preparing your body for real challenges. The purpose of these exercises and drills is to prepare you not to enter in the red zone of fatigue. 10 reps of each movement will surely be enough to prepare you for training.

Constructing the bodyweight routine

When it comes to bodyweight training construction, as I said earlier, you want to target as much as you can, but not too much. You need something to lift up your working temperature, something that targets strength and something that targets endurance and explosiveness.

A good starting point of bodyweight training is something like 180 jump squats

Now when you body temperature is a little bit higher you need some explosive exercise. Try a different kind of explosive push ups.

Good example of pulling bodyweight exercise with minimal equipment is an inclined row with a towel… How to transform a towel into training equipment? Follow the link.

Next, be sure to include a different kind of lunges into your bodyweight workout for BJJ practicioners. They are a perfect unilateral exercise for your legs. Besides legs, it will affect your core and stabilization muscles. Some of the best variations can be found in the following video.

Target your arms with an exercises like dips. These basic things can burn your arms better than numerous repetitions of dumbbell exercises.

Multijoint movement patterns are always good to include. Different crawling patterns are the right thing to do here. Your arms, legs, and especially “core” muscles are engaged here. Start with basic variations to get used to crawling. Harder variations will surely present challenge for you.

And in the very end, you need to finish this powerful bodyweight strength routine. Chose something like burpee kick outs or squat and kicks.

Chose some of the exercises mentioned in an article and fit them into a routine that will not be longer than 45 minutes with everything included. 3 rounds will be enough to do. You can target the endurance and set a time limit of exercise in which work will last for 45-60 seconds with some rest after it. Another way is to limit the number of repetitions in strength exercises. It is obvious that you can not do explosive push ups for 45 seconds, no problem. Do 5 of them in perfect form, take some rest and continue with another exercise. Just follow the all-around pattern and put an accent on something you need more. It is easy to manipulate with intensity. If it is too easy, try a little bit slower tempo of exercise, add an isometric hold in a “bottom” of a movement or simply add a few more reps as you advance further.

Final thoughts

Bodyweight workout surely has its place in an individual training. As every type of workout, it has its for and against. If it is properly done and periodized in a right way, bodyweight workout surely can help you to secure your training goals, especially if you are limited with time and space. Be sure to have all-around access so that all of the training demands can be filled out. Bodyweight is the first tool you want to master when you enter in a strength training world. Beside pure strength gains, you will achieve better control of your body and build better moving patterns. All of that will surely be a bonus in a BJJ competition.

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