HOW OFTEN TO TRAIN BJJ
Brazilian Jiu Jitsu has quickly become one of the most popular forms of Martial Arts in the world. People from all over America, and the rest of the world, are seeing first hand just how dominating the nature of this formidable combat system is. Platforms like the UFC, One championship, Who's Number One and the ADCC, are driving the increase in academy memberships across the globe. Nowadays new students are coming in the doors every single day, looking to learn one of the most comprehensive art forms in the combat sports world.
What This Article Covers:
- How to Begin Training in BJJ
- How Regular Should a Student Be to Class
- Developing a Workout Schedule
- The Risks of Being Inconsistent
- Training with a Purpose
- How Training Often Can Benefit a Persons Health
One of the hardest things to master when you start training in BJJ, is building the right training schedule that suits the individual. BJJ incorporates forms of combat like judo, and wrestling, and combines this with bjj core workouts, and other forms of strength and conditioning, flexibility, cardio based, and mobility for jiu jitsu exercises. Once a student can understand all of these aspects, they can go on to building their training structure to suit their lifestyle. Finding the right balance between a student's personal life, and their training regimes, will ultimately determine how many days a week a student should train.
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HOW TO BEGIN TRAINING IN BJJ
Walking into an academy of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu for the first time, can be extremely daunting for a new prospective student. The hardest step for a newcomer is literally walking in the door, as what they will soon discover when they cross the threshold into the Jiu Jitsu lifestyle, is how welcoming and enjoyable a place it is to be. Students can rest assured that BJJ academies are extremely professional, and understand how to guide people from all walks of life. Learning how to adapt to the tough training regimes of BJJ is difficult at first, but as the student learns some basic foundations of the sport, they will soon settle into the swing of things.
Beginners should stick to the fundamentals, and work on building up a strong core foundation. Working on many of the basics like positional control, and escaping positions are a great way to start. Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is a long journey, and can take most people a decade to reach the pinnacle level, so learning basic structures in BJJ doesn't have to be rushed. Some good advice would be, to put in a significant amount of time into the warm ups. All academies use an extensive series of warm ups that have relevant links to many of the movements in Jiu Jitsu. Mastering every angle of the warm ups will benefit a student exponentially, as every single movement has a specific function in the movement list of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.
HOW REGULAR SHOULD A STUDENT BE TO CLASS
Consistency is the key to progressing through the ranks of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, as a black belt is described as a student that never quit. Students should show up to class as much as they possibly can, so they can work on one of the many different principles found in foundational Jiu Jitsu. Deciding how many times a student should be training during the week will be different for every individual. Beginner's may find it's hard to train more than twice a week at the start, due to the high intensity of training and stress their bodies are put under. Beginner's should be focusing on learning Jiu Jitsu one step at a time, starting off at twice a week, and then building up to three classes per week in the first 6 months. Once the student has gained some significant experience, the second six months they should be looking to build up to four sessions per week. Students should also be balancing bjj and weight training, so they can condition their bodies strong enough to withstand the rigorous intensity put on their body.
Students at a higher level can obviously train more and for longer, and this is due to a long time of bjj conditioning. The senior students at an academy are always combining different workouts into their training schedules, this includes extensive strength workouts, mobility exercises, and jiu jitsu cardio workout routines. Bulletproofing the body is one of the non negotiables in the modern era of grappling. Higher level athletes can realistically train 7 days a week, and this is because they know how to train lightly and recover from their massive workloads. Even a higher level athlete should have some rest days, as the body needs time to heal and grow outside of training hours. Four nights training per week seems to be the ideal amount of training nights, as it will allow students to have three intense training days of hard rolls, and one with just technique, or some light rolling. More importantly, it's up to each individual to find out what balance of training workout routines, and rest they need to suit their lifestyles.
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DEVELOPING A WORKOUT SCHEDULE
Once a student has improved to a consistent level, and is beginning to understand the mechanics of many of the basic maneuvers, they can then begin to build an extensive training regime. Most athletes will continue with three or four days of BJJ per week, as they begin to layer other body strengthening systems into their training. It is always a good idea to talk to your instructor, or other higher level training partners at your academy, as they have relevant experience, and are willing to help guide students toward achieving their goals. Students can also do their own research, as these days there are a multitude of online avenues to help students build their BJJ, into a powerful and consistent routine.
Sometimes going back to bjj after a long break will force students to adhere to a strict training regime. This is so they can strengthen their body, and ease back into their training. Developing an extensive training routine can be a crucial element to a combat athlete who is training for bjj competition gold. Nowadays BJJ athletes need to give themselves every advantage possible, in order to get ahead of the pack. It is extremely important to add cardio workouts to a grapplers training schedule, as not only do they need endurance training, they also need to achieve a high level of explosive power, mixed with a short period of recovery time. It is also important to be strong, this will help athletes finish fights quicker, and avoid themselves being swept, passed, or submitted. Another important aspect to add to an athletes training routine is flexibility exercises, this includes various types of stretching, and a range of mobility workouts. Athletes that put extensive time into these aspects will become more flexible, agile, as their range of motion becomes greater, making them a much more formidable adversary.
THE RISKS OF BEING INCONSISTENT
Some students can find themselves plateauing, as they are trying to progress through the belt ranking system. This is a completely normal part of the learning process that nearly all athletes will go through. Sometimes a student needs to hit a wall, in order to learn how to get over the wall. One of the biggest risks for BJJ athletes is inconsistency on the mats, as this will lead to a much longer progression. Students that only show up occasionally will fail to grasp the understanding of many of the concepts involved in BJJ. Learning Jiu Jitsu can be extremely challenging, as many of the technical movements can be tricky to master. The only way athletes can further their development is through repetition, and repetition can only be done through consistency, meaning students must get themselves on the mats. Sometimes students may feel lazy or tired, which can result in them missing training sessions. This is all well and good for the traditional hobbyist, but for the more serious athlete with aspirations of achieving high expectations, getting to the gym is extremely important.
There are many factors that can hinder an athlete from getting to the training mats, and in many of these cases, sacrifices need to be made. Sometimes taking an hour out of your day to train in some of these aspects of BJJ, is just what the doctor ordered. One of the truest statements in BJJ, which all high level athletes can attest to, is in some of those moments when they didn't feel like going to class, that was when they got the most out of their training. Finding a level of continuity will increase a student's resilience, and is vital to the development of an athlete. Mastering BJJ needs to happen on a systematic level, as many of the techniques involved in the art need to be instinctive, and reactional.
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TRAINING WITH A PURPOSE
It is no use coming to training and just going through the motions, as all students should be putting in maximum effort if they want to progress quickly through the ranks. This means there is more to being consistent than just showing up, as the student needs to embrace every minute they have on the training mats. Being consistent is all about training with a specific purpose, and different athletes will have different goals they are looking to achieve. If a student knows their exact purpose in training, then it becomes easy to receive the guidance they need to improve. Specific goals that seem to work really well for athletes, is to roll to increase some of the aspects in their game, this means instead of rolling to submission, they should organise with their training partners to work on targeted areas. This could be passing the guard, while their partner works on guard retention, or passing the guard while their partner works on sweeping, this can also be working on specific takedowns. Whatever the purpose is for the athlete in their training, they should be working towards an eventual goal, as this is a great way to build up a systematic flow of Jiu Jitsu.
HOW TRAINING OFTEN CAN BENEFIT A PERSONS HEALTH
Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is well known for its outstanding health benefits, as these include physical, mental, and spiritual aspects. The physical benefits of training often in BJJ, will lead a student to improving in their functional fitness. Getting fitter and feeling better physically, will lead to more confidence in themself, and everything they do in their lives. BJJ has an extremely high strike rate of helping overweight people reach their weight loss goals, as this is another aspect that will help with a student's overall mental health. Other benefits include higher levels of strength, which lead to being safer and less vulnerable to attacks, as they can also access a greater level of sustainability. Athletes will also improve in their coordination, as this will make a student more agile, and more dexterous in every other aspect of their life. Flexibility is another benefit in the physical sense, as being able to prevent injuries, and access a broader range of movements, can be an extremely crucial advantage for a dedicated athlete.
There are also significant mental benefits, as training in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is a great way to relieve many of the stresses that life can throw at a student. Sometimes life can get so full on, that it is hard to find a way to relieve the pressures that mount up on people everyday. People that become students of Jiu Jitsu will discover new ways to deal with stress, all while they are in a safe and encouraging environment. Many people can suffer from different mental health issues, as there is a large number of BJJ students that have issues with physical, mental, and other forms of abuse. Surrounding yourself with good people, and stress free training can help, not only build confidence in a broken person, but give them a community to buy into, as they begin to feel like part of a team. This can be a crucial aspect in students who are trying to rebuild themselves, and as most Jiu Jitsu practitioners can attest to Brazilian Jiu Jitsu really does work as therapy.
There are also significant spiritual benefits to training in BJJ, as this natural movement based Martial Art can help free up any of the metaphysical worries that a student may have. Participating in group sessions, where a yoga style of exercises are performed, can help unlock any forms of spiritual blocks that students may have. Quite often students will make extremely valuable friendships through training at a BJJ academy, and this can be an amazing way to find inspiration, and motivation in their life. Students that find their own identity through Brazilian Jiu Jitsu are really getting in touch with their own spirituality, and this is an extremely common occurrence for most people that make the jump into the art of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.
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