Easy BJJ Kettlebell Workout At Home

So 2018 is well under way and maybe your New Years resolutions are not going as well as planned.  If the whole "New Year, New Me" hype fizzled out for you not long after the ball dropped in New York City, there is still hope.  If you're training BJJ, you already know what a great workout that can be. 

Training jiu jitsu is one of the most dynamic workouts because it taxes so many different bodily systems.  Jiu jitsu works your cardio, your flexibility and your strength all simultaneously.  There are very few exercise programs that can improve your overall fitness as effectively as training BJJ.  And don't forget the practical stress relief and self defense skills you are acquiring during the training!

There may come a time when you want to add more training to your schedule, either to supplement or possibly temporarily replace a training day if you have to miss class at your academy.  One of the most effective tools for conditioning that can have direct impact on your BJJ performance is use of kettlebell exercises. Many of BJJ Fanatics' best selling instructors like Tom DeBlass and Ethan Benda are huge kettlebell advocates.

The kettlebell fosters a unique style of strength training that not only taxes your muscles like more standard weight lifting.  Unlike standard weight training, which tends to focus on isolated muscles or groups of muscles during each movement to put stress on the groups to inspire growth, the typical kettlebell exercises utilize MANY more muscle groups and also tax the users cardio like standard weight lifting cannot.  The dynamic and flexible nature of the exercises and the fact that the most popular movements hit the entire body in one technique makes the workout extremely efficient and very much develops our fitness levels like BJJ does.  This makes the kettlebell a nearly perfect addition or replacement for training.

In the video below, 5 time world champion Bernardo Faria, who himself is a huge proponent of kettlebell exercises, shares his personal routine that he uses as the basis for fitness maintenance and to supplement his BJJ training.  In the video, Bernardo demonstrates a workout done in a small space, in his living room with a single 35 lb kettlebell that if followed precisely will decimate your body and give you a heart pounding workout in 30 minutes or less.

 With Bernardo's busy schedule as a new school owner and head instructor at his academy in MA, sought after seminar instructor and BJJ instructional entrepreneur, he doesn't have time to go to the gym and invest hours not only getting there, but also standing around waiting for machines and weights.  

In around 30 minutes he will perform a series of about 7 exercises that will hit every major muscle group in his body.  Performing them in a sequence, he will move from exercise to exercise until he has completed the entire 7 exercise series.  He will punctuate the series with a set of simple pushups, rest a few minutes and repeat the entire sequence up to 3 times.

The series focuses on exercises that impact key areas necessary in BJJ.  The double and single swings are overall body exercises that also develop the posterior chain of muscles (hips, lower back, abdominals and legs) that are crucial for 99% of BJJ movements.  The "half turkish getup" will help with explosively coming off the mats and getting out from under someone's top or side control pressure.

The workout is also highly customizable as Bernardo mentions.  If he were preparing for a competition, he would add more rounds, or more exercises to further tax his body to prepare him for the competition.  For the average practitioner who does BJJ for a hobby, 3 rounds is plenty and it would be advisable to seek the help of someone who is experienced with kettlebells to ensure that you have the proper technique from the beginning.  That way you are able to safely maximize the benefit and begin developing your BJJ conditioning with this easy to use tool.

This short, effective workout will blast your muscles, attack your cardio and have a direct, positive impact on your BJJ performance making you a terror on the mats.  By adding this easy to perform workout and some BJJ Fanatics instructionals from Bernardo to supplement your work in the academy, you will quickly become the person all of your teammates are talking about!

You don't need a ton of time, equipment, or even space to completely destroy your body and prepare you the mats.  So if you're looking to get in better shape, lose weight, or simply just need a quick workout to fit into your busy schedule, kettlebells and Bernardo's simple plan are the way to go.

Check out Bernardo's most recent instructional "Omoplata Everyone" where he gives all of the secrets of his absolute favorite submission.  He is well know to have conducting seminars where at the close of the seminar, he will catch everyone in the room in an omoplata!  You can get the full package with all of his secrets here at BJJ Fanatics!