Mixing BJJ with other sports

Discussion in 'Brazilian Jiu Jitsu' started by SteveP, Jan 17, 2015.

  1. SteveP

    SteveP Valued Member

    I'm looking forward to starting BJJ on Monday night and I can't wait.

    I climb regularly (although mostly indoor bouldering these days due to poor weather) and race mountain bikes a few times per year (cross country). I'd guess that the grip / upper body strength and balance from climbing along side the cardio from training on the bike will help my BJJ but it will be a lot of training all in all as I'd like to do BJJ a few times per week. I'm a little concerned about over training.

    Do any of you train in other sports along side BJJ and, if so, how do you feel it all works together? How do you manage the balance?
     
  2. Van Zandt

    Van Zandt Mr. High Kick

    My wife does a lot of cross-training in judo and her conditioning work is very BJJ specific: gi hangs/pull-ups, plate pinches, wrestler bridges, etc.
     
  3. bodyshot

    bodyshot Brown Belt Zanshin Karate

    I train five days a week, although we dont do a ton of grappleing we do roll and randori.
    Ive discovered that at nearly forty I really have to watch my diet and get plenty of rest, thats the bottom line

    When it comes down to over training I find that it can be prevented by knowing what Im going to be doing the next couple of days and makeing sure Ive recoverd from the last couple days. Yoga Ive discovered is something I can do in between intense activities. Also general stretching and light shadow boxing keep me sharp and allow me to recover.
     
  4. Dead_pool

    Dead_pool Spes mea in nihil Deus MAP 2017 Moi Award

    I train bjj Five times a week, judo once a week, lift weights x3 a week and do some cardio once to twice a week.

    1) doing all that at 100% will kill you so slowely increase the sessions you do over a few weeks, if tgat meabs dropping climbing for a week or two or just doing bjj once a week for a week or two then do it.

    2) bjj can be as gentle or as hard as you make it, if you spar 100% then so will the other person which will tire you out quickerly, relax and get used to tapping, it means your learning.

    3) once youve found your week in week out rhythm, try to periodise yourself, have regular less intense weeks, and a few weeks of complete rest each year.

    4) a big part of bjj is how to grip, when to grip and when to let go, your climbing grip strength will help you, but dont let it hinder you by overly relying on it.

    5) make sure you compete a little, it really does help!
     
  5. Dead_pool

    Dead_pool Spes mea in nihil Deus MAP 2017 Moi Award

    I thought youve previously said you trained twice a week max.
     
  6. SteveP

    SteveP Valued Member

    @Fusen do you find that the cardio helps your BJJ?

    To be honest I'm looking at reducing the climbing volume and replacing a lot of that with BJJ, or at least that is the aim if I enjoy it! I've learned a lot about body position from climbing but I'm at a point where I just fancy a change of direction.

    When I first looked into BJJ I wasn't too fussed about competing (see my other thread) but I'm leaning towards the idea as it seems like a good test of skill and knowledge.
     
  7. Mangosteen

    Mangosteen Hold strong not

    let's keep posts on topic. there's been enough derailing on behalf of bodyshot this week.
     
  8. Mangosteen

    Mangosteen Hold strong not

    i went from climbing everyday for 3 hours a day to BJJ/Judo/muay thai and assumed i could keep the same volume of training but in different activities.

    i would go to a BJJ/Judo/muay thai and then to do weight training or cardio. it ended very badly (i ended up underweight and always ill) because i didnt take into account that i would have to eat and sleep sooo much more because bouldering can be a very low intensity activity compared to rolling or lifting.

    as a climber turned BJJer, do fear the muscle mass you'll gain from BJJ, its only good for you.
     
  9. SteveP

    SteveP Valued Member

    I'm guessing that's a typo and you mean't "Don't fear the...". Did you pack on quite a bit from rolling then? I'm happy to bulk up a bit, in fact I want to because I'm far too skinny! It's a benefit with climbing, as you know, but I don't like being too skinny so my aim is to bulk up a bit and I'm hoping BJJ will help with that – or at least some supplementary S&C. I guess any sort of resistance training will at least make you stronger.

    So my time will become more focused on BJJ, MTB/road cycling and a bit of bouldering and/or weights (where needed) as opposed to the MTB/road and climbing now. Hence the OP as I'm very aware that spreading myself too thinly across too many activities will result in a jack of all trades approach but I do like to try to master things rather than just scratch the surface.
     
  10. Dead_pool

    Dead_pool Spes mea in nihil Deus MAP 2017 Moi Award

    Having a bigger gas tank, will help you roll for longer, but that will only last when you learn to relax as you roll, everyone is strong for 1 minute, its how well you can roll when your tired that counts!

    Skills are better then attributes, but skills plus attribues is the ideal.
     
  11. holyheadjch

    holyheadjch Valued Member

    One thing you'll want to watch out for is your hamstring flexibility. BJJ will see your body get twisted into all kinds of uncomfortable positions, and cycling gives you really really tight hamstrings. You might want to include some additional flexibility work to protect yourself from injury.
     
  12. Mangosteen

    Mangosteen Hold strong not

    yeah i mean "dont fear"

    with weight training and eating properly i put on about 15kg (i was 5 kg underweight anyway)
     
  13. Pretty In Pink

    Pretty In Pink Moved on MAP 2017 Gold Award

    I've gained about 2kg-3kg since I've been working steadily and affording to eat whenever I want. I wonder what would happen if I started lifting on too of it all....
     
  14. Van Zandt

    Van Zandt Mr. High Kick

    Hopefully we won't start calling you Chubberz...
     
  15. Pretty In Pink

    Pretty In Pink Moved on MAP 2017 Gold Award

    I'm 6ft 3" and 70kg after eating a lot. I wouldn't worry about it any time soon :p
     
  16. SteveP

    SteveP Valued Member

    It's all rather easy to get caught up with the weight issues of climbing with strength:weight being so important. I've seen some quite bad cases in my time with people cutting just to get to the next grade – it's a slippery slope.

    Glad you got yourself up to a more normal weight.
     
  17. Indie12

    Indie12 Valued Member

    Personally, I don't call BJJ a sport, but I know many do.

    I wouldn't necessarily call the sports I play "training along-side" my Martial Arts, but I like Basketball, Pool, Football, Kickball (kid at heart), and a few others. I think as far as cardio goes it improves my ability as a Martial Artist. My focus, speed, balance, and strength have also improved. As far as the balance goes, I think if you enjoy doing something, you always find time to balance that with other aspects of your life.
     
  18. greg1075

    greg1075 Valued Member

    Not really considered a sport, but many of the people I train with do yoga to increase flexibility, flow and develop lean muscle strength.
     
  19. Joshvogel

    Joshvogel New Member

    I do a bunch of stuff in addition to Bjj, which is my main practice. I currently train hand balancing 3 times a week and parkour/movnat skills once a week. In the past I've done bouldering 3x per week in addition to Bjj (I am a Bjj teacher, so my standard is 5 days a week of Bjj training, not including teaching time).

    There are various amounts of cross over between all the arts I practice and Bjj. I think the parkour/movnat skills are the best compliment in that I view them as a self defense addition to my bjj skills (fighting but also being able to run, jump and climb well enough to escape if I need to).

    Practicing many arts has given me access to a much broader array of techniques in bjj that I wouldn't otherwise have the mobility or strength to perform against good opponents. Handbalancing has given me some gains in grip strength, an understadning of whole body tension and alignment and of course being comfortable upside down which comes in handy when getting swept.
     
  20. Mangosteen

    Mangosteen Hold strong not

    Chadz tried to push for the fight name "luchador" and it back fired - I encouraged people to call him "skelator"

    To be fair to him he's gained some decent weight since and skelator was jacked in he-man
     

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