Training for Brazilian Jiu Jitsu

[sizzlefuzz]

I have been doing BJJ for nearly the past 7 years and am a recent convert to the concept2 lifestyle. I have used the rower in the past (without any training on it) during conditioning workouts, but I finally took the plunge and acquired one for more consistent cross training. My thought is to focus on 4 minute, 2k, and 5k pieces/improvement for now. Absolutely digging the training effect! I would be interested to see if there are any other people who train in grappling/wrestling/MMA.

I've been doing primarily "bottom tier" stuff from Rowalong for the past few weeks and a couple of steady-state rows. When I was younger I used to run cross-country and I don't mind running for additional cardio training, however my frame is much more muscled than in my XC days so the thought of the lower impact nature of the rower was attractive to me, as well as the more total body element as opposed to something like running or biking... that being said I'm looking at grabbing a bike erg in the new year, potentially!

[Dutch]

Hey, glad you are starting to row. I think you will find the benefits of the distances you have chosen quite beneficial to your Bjj.
I would encourage you to look at short interval work, something like 20 secs to 30 secs with the same amount of rest for say 6 to 8 rounds as the benefits from the anaerobic effect will also help your Bjj.

The all over body workout and combination of improved cardio is a brilliant mix as well. I myself went on to buy a bike erg and find it helps with the legs and lung capacity.

Over the last year I have done Japanese jujitsu for 4 months and Judo for a few weeks. The warm ups were brilliant I was keeping up with teenagers, all thanks to the rowing, but practical application was very poor, only 10% had any real world use.

I would like to do Bjj in the new year, I have just not taken the plunge yet as I am paranoid about getting some shoulder pull or elbow injury from an over zealous opponent! After all it is far more hands on.

Would be good to hear your thoughts.

[sizzlefuzz]

I appreciate the feedback, I ended up doing the holiday challenge and sort of by accident the 7,500 & 15,000 meter distances were my favorite to do. Now that I checked the box on the holiday challenge and don't need to do longer stuff, I am definitely planning to do some interval work. I saw that RowAlong posted a tabata session recently which I plan to do soon.

BJJ is awesome, talk to your coach about your injury concerns, I'm sure they will pair you up with more experienced people to get your comfortable (if they are a good coach) and don't be afraid to tap if you are confused. The biggest way that I have seen people getting injured is when two relative novices are going at it and things get competitive. No one "wants" to injure their training partners, because you don't want to break your toys! BJJ is really boring to train alone, after all!