How important is strength and conditioning to YOU?

[chris miah]

Its all relative to the individual, different components of fitness will help different styles of fighting and body types. Making flexibility gains for some may be the missing piece to the puzzle and open up a whole new game in TDD and BJJ. Vice versa I would imagine an athlete who struggles with basic strength exercises and is relatively weak for their size would benefit with basic compound lifts for a certain amount of time and thus the carry over effect for them would be massive also.

[Josh Passini]

IMO it is huge for my comp team. This is also the reason my competitors do not pay for Crossfit training. I offer it to my guys for free to help give them the best opportunity for success in comps other than techs.

[Wade Hamilton]

Do you think Eddie Bravo, Marcelo Garcia, and Helio Gracie (back in his day) do squats and bench press after every training session and that's how they are dominating guys? If you're using strength in your jiu jitsu technique you're doing something wrong. Cardio however, is important for obvious reasons.

If I were in a tournament I'd much rather be in a 170 lbs division lean with great cardio than a 190 division being much stronger with reduced cardio and competing with guys much bigger. Not to mention the weaker you are, you are forced to develop perfect technique against stronger opponents.

[FRANK BARCA]

Word!

I know stacks of people who are expert exercisers, who spend more time in the gym lifting, than on the mat rolling and drilling. Funny thing is, they got into the lifting because of the need to get fitter for JJ, and now they dedicate more time to cardio than JJ. What a mistake! Nothing beats Jits for
Jits!!!

Theres nothing better for cardio/strength and agility period for jiu jitsu, than jiu jitsu.

Yeah conditioning is a huge part of the over all picture, but that is one of the fringe benefits of actually training properly and rolling at the right amount each night. IF you have a shitty work schedule etc..., then I understand cross training most definitely. But if you want to be the best you can be at JJ, and you're choosing to lift instead for your conditioning to better your jits??...........then watch out for the little blue belt guy, who you used to steam roll with awesome cardio, now, kick your technically lack luster, confused ass!

Next time you guys set your clock to roll for an hour made up of 7 minute rounds, and you will see all the gym junkies sitting against the wall and the Jiu Jitsu geeks still pushing right to the end of the last round. Believe me, I see it all the time.

remember.........The best thing to improve your Jiu Jitsu is Jiu Jitsu, period and tonnes of it! Bobby I apologise for almost repeating exactly what you are saying but I just couldn't resist the temptation!

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

[Kurzy]

If I were in a tournament I'd much rather be in a 170 lbs division lean with great cardio than a 190 division being much stronger with reduced cardio and competing with guys much bigger.

Who says you have to suffer reduced cardio just because you are bigger? Why not have both?

Speaking for myself, I can say that I would have never stayed in JJ if the warmups were not intense conditioning.
There are other students in our class who feel the opposite, more like HerbChao's post #4.

[Chris Garry]

Do you think Eddie Bravo, Marcelo Garcia, and Helio Gracie (back in his day) do squats and bench press after every training session and that's how they are dominating guys? If you're using strength in your jiu jitsu technique you're doing something wrong. Cardio however, is important for obvious reasons.

You mean if youre RELYING on strength you're doing something wrong?

You must use some strength. Leverage without zero effort applied does nothing.

Of course you can overcome a strength deficit by using leverage (technique) but with all things being equal the one able to apply more effort (strength) will succeed every time.

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[bobby rivers]

Word!

I know stacks of people who are expert exercisers, who spend more time in the gym lifting, than on the mat rolling and drilling. Funny thing is, they got into the lifting because of the need to get fitter for JJ, and now they dedicate more time to cardio than JJ. What a mistake! Nothing beats Jits for
Jits!!!

Theres nothing better for cardio/strength and agility period for jiu jitsu, than jiu jitsu.

Yeah conditioning is a huge part of the over all picture, but that is one of the fringe benefits of actually training properly and rolling at the right amount each night. IF you have a shitty work schedule etc..., then I understand cross training most definitely. But if you want to be the best you can be at JJ, and you're choosing to lift instead for your conditioning to better your jits??...........then watch out for the little blue belt guy, who you used to steam roll with awesome cardio, now, kick your technically lack luster, confused ass!

Next time you guys set your clock to roll for an hour made up of 7 minute rounds, and you will see all the gym junkies sitting against the wall and the Jiu Jitsu geeks still pushing right to the end of the last round. Believe me, I see it all the time.

remember.........The best thing to improve your Jiu Jitsu is Jiu Jitsu, period and tonnes of it! Bobby I apologise for almost repeating exactly what you are saying but I just couldn't resist the temptation!

This was exactly my lengthy opinion.

[Charles II]

Strong opinions on both sides. There will always be anomalies on both sides that scue the scales so I personally wouldn't bank my case on that but that's why I asked what it means to YOU. Keep it coming

[bobby rivers]

Until you learn to move in the right direction at the right time, how fast or hard you can push, pull, or explode means nothing. This is not an opinion. When your technique is perfect, then attributes come in to play. Until then they are nullified by leverage and timing as Chris stated.

Not tryin to be abrasive. Is what it is.

[Chris Fong]

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 :-)

I agree with this, but its tough to tell this to an instructor without sounding like a bitch/lazy. I know in my boxing class, when we're doing a ton of callisthenics at the end of class, I purposefully drag ass a bit so that I don't blow myself out for the next day's heavy lifting session. I've gotten called out on it before by my instructor though, and its annoying and embarrassing. What have you guys done in similar situations?