BJJ is one of the most technical martial arts branches. Within BJJ you will not only have to learn different striking methods but also need to learn about the grappling methods, body strengthening methods, and overall conditioning methods. Most people expect that when you join BJJ you will start with technical steps. You will learn how to strike an opponent, attack them or choke them. There is no doubt that it will be your end goal but if you do not focus on preparing your body for grappling, you might end up with injury or worse.
This is the reason, you will have lengthy warm-up sessions with a lot of cardio and strength-building exercises. These exercises will help your muscle improve in size and strength so you can effortlessly lift and grapple the opponent without any injury. apart from this, you will be asked to participate in other exercises like walking, swimming, running, and playing football so that your reflex actions improves, your muscle develop and your body become used to the effort without tiring. Experts believe that even though most of these exercises will not help you on the mat but they are very crucial for the overall improvement of the body's strength.
One of the most common exercises that most experts are asked to start with is the strength and conditioning workout. Within the strength and conditioning workout, you will be using your muscle more. Eventually, the muscles will gain enough strength that it will help you with technical effort as well. People who start with conditioning and strength-based workouts generally are good at technical training as well because there are more functional maneuvers in these cardio and strength-based exercises that you will get to use eventually when you step on the mat. The benefits are not just limited to body shape and strength they also extend to other areas of martial arts that most people ignore.
With the help of this article, we will look at some of the most common benefits that are linked with weight-based training for BJJ. We will see how weight training impacts the body of an athlete and then we will see the benefits that are linked with it.
Impact of Weight Training On the Body of an Athlete
As you start to lift weights, you will notice that your muscles will start to grow in size and strength. The main idea behind this growth is that when you lift the weight, the pressure and friction are so much that the muscle fibers end up getting affected. Eventually, the muscle fibers that are unable to take the pressure and lack strength go through wear and tear. This causes a burning sensation, causing you to feel the effect. This is the reason you might have noticed that even after a few hours of lifting the weight you will still get to feel the same pain.
After the wear and tear, the body gets to trigger the healing mode causing the muscle fibers to heal. However the muscle fibers are not just replaced by healthy muscle fibers instead, they are replaced by stronger muscle fibers, better in size, and better in strength as well. This causes the muscle to grow over time and become stronger.
However, there is a variable involved in this process that you need to keep an eye on. Where most people will focus on lifting more weight, experts will tell you to compensate with a good diet as well. A good diet will have a high protein ratio that will eventually help you to heal faster and grow at a much better pace.
Benefits of weight training for BJJ fighters
If we look at the benefits of weight training, we will come across a lot of different benefits.
However, not every benefit resonates with BJJ training. Here are some of the most important reasons, weight training is an ideal workout for BJJ fighters:
1. Improves Bone Density
Bone density is very important for BJJ experts because you will be required to lift people and put pressure on different body parts. Unless your bones are not strong enough, you will not be able to do all these things. With the help of weight lifting you will not only improve the strength of your muscles but also the strength of your bones.
2. Increase the Muscle Size
The size of the muscle is very important because it offers you enough cushion that can protect your body when it has to work hard. Moreover, the cushion helps in protecting the bones ensuring that the chance of injury is as less as possible and the motion of the body is as effortless as possible.
3. Helps with Mobility
Weight-based exercises boost mobility and make it effortless. As a result, athletes can move much faster at a good pace as compared to other people. Apart from the fighting, mobility also facilities the movement in real life helping with the daily workout and small household functions.
4. Improves Flexibility
Body flexibility is one of the most important things required for heavy-duty exercises, athletic performance, and especially BJJ. With the help of weight lifting-based exercise the flexibility of muscle overall increases. Eventually, when you get on the mat, your movement is much swifter and you stay in control of your body as well.
5. Reduces the Chance of Injury
Getting injured is part of the process and BJJ fighters also have to face injury. However, with the help of weight-lifting exercises, the chance of injury can be reduced significantly the weight-based exercises help with the strength and conditioning of the body which eventually helps with the overall process of reducing the chance of injury.
6. Helps with Heart Health
Working on cardiac health is very important for an athlete this is the reason most people have cardio-based exercises on their workout plan. Weight lifting also helps with heart health which eventually strengthens your body, reduced the chance of cholesterol, and also helps with overall body strength.
7. Helps with Body Balance
Body balance is very important because when you get on a mat, it becomes all about core strength and balance. A gentle kick or lifting the opponent may be some grappling move, everything that you have to try or use must be utilized properly to boost the body balance, and weight-based exercises are very good for the core strength offering you a much better balance.
8. Decrease the Body Fat
Decreasing body fat is very important because less weight means more fast movement. From simple side-to-side movement to overall lifting and moving, you will notice that by lifting weight, your movement is becoming easier this is mainly because you will lose fat and the body will get in shape.
9. Burns Surplus Calories
Surplus calories mean that your metabolism is not good enough and no matter what you are eating, it is not being converted into energy and exerted properly. However, with the help of lifting weights, all the extra calories will be churned out. The weightlifting process generally requires a lot of effort so you can be sure that you will not be obese or overweight at all.
Bottom Line
To sum it all up, it all comes down to the impact of the workout and the type of workout you choose. Weight training is more complex than most people think. Simple things like the frequency of the exercise, the weight used within the exercise the reps within the workout, and the time duration, everything plays a very important role. Apart fork this, you will get to notice that progressive weight-based training is even important to make sure that you do not end up with an injury. In case you have an injury or you end up with an injury this can be traced back to over lifting or overworking your body. Things might seem simple at first but unless you do not get into details you will not be able to get the desired results. While working on weight-based training, make sure you are focusing on good eating patterns, well enough rest, and a progressive workout routine that starts from some basics and extends all the way to advance weight training. Written by Joseph Akoni with Elite Sports