How important is strength and conditioning to YOU?

[Charles II]

I'm a former football player so I may be a little bias in this regard but I am wondering how vital strength and conditioning is to you and your game? Or do you value it at all?

[Kurzy]

Conditioning is a huge part of why I got into 10PJJ. The warmups and exercises before we get into techniques is the only reason I got started. Now that I am totally addicted to 10PJJ, I still think our warmups need to be conditioning based. Some guys at our club think it's silly to do squats and that kind of thing during the warm up, but imo the harder you can push your body and make it work, even with motions that are not necessarily JJ related, the more ready your body will be for anything.

Also look at it this way - I quit smoking May 30th because my heart went into ventricular fibrillation during JJ when someone put a blood choke on me. Since then I have been taking our warmups super-serious, and jogging as much as I can motivate myself to. Now after only four months of not smoking, I have been outlasting guys (cardio wise) that have never smoked before.
Conditioning is huge.

[Charles II]

I definitely agree. I do alot of strongman training and it helps me be able to roll and spar with the pro guys and not gas out while being the biggest guy in the gym. Plus it's taking the weight off while keeping me strong.

[HerbChao]

My opinion is that classtime is for technique, drilling, and rolling. Warmups and cooldowns are important (to prevent injuries) but I also don't think spending 15-20 min doing burpees jumping jacks etc is what I paid for, I go to class personally for jiu jitsui/wrestlling and feel conditioning is strength is the student's responsibility out of class.

That's just my take-again not a doctor but I did stay at a holiday inn :-)

[Greg W]

If you want to compete seriously these days(BJJ or MMA) you need that strength and conditioning element in your game. I compete for fun and knowledge, and I don't think I would learn BJJ faster if I was fit and strong. I would just win more, not learn more. I am in great shape for an old 150 lb skinny white boy that has never strength trained a day in his life. I can roll non stop for an hour with people much bigger and stronger than me. If I get tired and stop rolling then I ain't learning. So just rollin' lots keeps me in good enough condition for my current goals. Getting big strong guys to stop using muscle when rolling so they can learn is always a challenge for me vs skinny weak guys that have no choice but to work the technique. This might be a small advantage to training gi. (please don't start gi/no-gi debate) A larger guy can't just bench press me off side control with a gi since I have "handles". Since he can't just muscle out, he is forced to use proper side control escapes to gain position. BUT, a strong fit guy that has learned and uses proper techniques is a very scary individual!!! I have teamates that say they are not using strength against me, and they are not, until I am just about to seal the deal, then I feel the body tense up and just explode with every bit of muscle they can muster, just so they don't have to tap. This is before they even attempt the proper technique that I know they know. I often pause and give them the chance for proper escape, that they don't even attempt before going berserk. They are helping me with my street fight ability, because big strong people in a street fight will use it, so I get better at clinch control, thanks. But they are not getting better at BJJ by going berserk. I always type so dam much, sorry, I stayed at a Holiday Inn EXPRESS last night!!!!

[highlygifted81]

I stick to kettle bell, and heavy rope workouts at home. Class warm ups I like to just very lightly warm up with running and squats etc. Most of the warm up is guard passing drills, closed, open, etc.

[Chris Garry]

Conditioning is important, not as important as technique but what's the point of having good technique if you gas in the first minute? And what's the point of being strong if you never use strength?

So of course both are important factors. Not as important as technique but not to be overlooked either.

I've done strength training for 10 yrs now, personally I am at a point where I feel I don't think there's a lot to gain from focusing on increasing strength. As long as I am training hard on the mat I don't seem to lose any strength, in fact just upping my mat time is making me stronger it seems. I don't spend any time lifting weights even though I have a fight in 7 weeks. I used to spend a lot of time increasing functional strength but that was when I was a novice in the sport and needed to supplement my mma training. After having a long hard look at it the benefits of being fresh for my real training outweigh whatever strength gains I would see from doing more weights. Plus I stopped enjoying weights when I got good st jiu jitsu.

[bobby rivers]

I have a very lengthy opinion on this subject that I will spare you.

It boils down to, I only cross train or use any resistance other than body weight(mine&opponents) unless I'm injured.

If I am healthy, I get my strength and conditioning from jj. And lots of it. Superior to anything from a gym or any workout that isn't specific movements of or within the act itself. imo

[Charles II]

I have a very lengthy opinion on this subject that I will spare you.

It boils down to, I only cross train or use any resistance other than body weight(mine&opponents) unless I'm injured.

If I am healthy, I get my strength and conditioning from jj. And lots of it. Superior to anything from a gym or any workout that isn't specific movements of or within the act itself. imo

Feel free to share man.

[Chris Garry]

It sounds on the money to me Bobby. It annoys me when people are over critical of each others workouts. The Nibiru forum is definitely more open minded than that. Its so important to acknowledge that we are all different and have different goals and lifestyles and that different things are gonna benefit certain people more so than others. We are all one, but we are still all rather unique.