Don’t we all remember our first classes where it felt like all the oxygen in the room had been sucked out and replaced with pudding? The impossibility of catching your breath while simultaneously being crushed or tied in a knot? Or being propped up against the wall, trying bravely to look like we aren’t actually having a near death experience? I do, and I hated it. It was that horrible feeling of being out of shape and totally unprepared for this sort of exertion.

I had thought I was in decent shape before starting BJJ. I was attending karate classes up to 6 times a week that had a very heavy dose of calisthenics and I had made huge strides from being a fat, sedentary housewife. I really thought that I would make the transition fairly easily. I did manage to get through the first classes, but it wasn’t pleasant. Slowly, slowly things started to come together. By attending regularly and adding kickboxing after a couple of months my cardio improved. I was doing okay. Competing was getting easier because my cardio and stamina were decent, but I felt something was missing.

Fast forward two years. I had decided to go with Rodrigo and a bunch of other people to Rio and compete in the World Master’s Tournament. The thought of competing in such a large tourney had me petrified. I was not confident in my skills and I felt totally intimidated so besides increasing the frequency of my BJJ training I also decided I needed professional advice on my conditioning. Enter Chris McDole and Dave Beakley at McDole Performance Systems.

Training at McDole’s has made a HUGE difference in my BJJ. What I thought was adequate cardio and stamina was tripled. The scientific approach to cardio as well as strength training allowed me to make impressive gains in my stamina and strength. It was the final piece to the puzzle. The combination of weights and conditioning circuits were very successfully translated to a “fight” scenario.

Too many times BJJ players assume that cardio, or conditioning, improvements just involve going for a run. Going for a long, slow jog prepares you for nice, slow jogs – this is not a translatable skill set to BJJ as much as running intervals. Think of it, a match is made up of explosive bursts of energy and times where you slow things down and need to control position. Training in a manner that imitates that variability prepares you wonderfully. Doing circuits that involve weight, cardio, jumping, etc. for five minute rounds without rest really sets you up for success.

The benefits from a properly designed strength and conditioning routine have served me well. When I fought in the Mundials last year I went the entire six minutes of the gold medal match, which I lost by an advantage, but was hardly breathing hard at the end. In contrast the girl I fought, if she had had better conditioning would have probably submitted me or at least scored on me, as I do think she was more highly skilled than myself at BJJ. Prior to our fight she was throwing up because she was so exhausted from her last fight. If her conditioning had prepared her for multiple, high exertion, high intensity fights she probably would have walked all over me. And if I had not been so well conditioned there is no way I could have prevented her from passing my guard or submitting me. So even though I didn’t win I felt great after the fight and prevented any points from being scored. My biggest problem now is getting my BJJ to catch up with my conditioning!!

A lot of BJJ’ers are doing things such as Crossfit and consulting professional strength and conditioning coaches. So if you want to take it to the next level you may want to consider expanding your training. Don’t assume that because you lifted weights in high school or “go for a run” that you are doing the best things to advance your BJJ. Getting a consultation or guidance from a trained professional will increase your strength, speed, grip strength, stamina and “explosiveness”. A professional can also help out greatly with injury avoidance. At McDole’s not only do we do rehab after an injury but there are certain exercises that we do for “prehab” to avoid common injuries. Foam rolling, stretches, making sure there are no muscles imbalances are also very important.