Written by Guillaume Huni
I am not a fitness or strength & conditioning coach, however I’ve been training and competing in BJJ for a long time. Within that time frame, I’ve had periods where I was training 2 times a week and other periods where I was training up to 10 times a week. Over the years as I’ve made the transition from student (with lots of free time) to working man juggling a full time job and a few personal businesses, I’ve had much less disposable time for training and had to be a good time manager to get the most of my sessions when I could.
Finding the right balance between how many BJJ training sessions per week and strength & conditioning sessions, I feel is very important to maximize your potential and progress in BJJ.
In order to improve in BJJ, which is my ultimate goal, I’ve tried many things:
1) Training just BJJ everyday.
I would train from Monday to Saturday and rest on Sunday. BJJ training consisting of drilling and sparring.
Result: I had great BJJ cardio and my technical level improved fast, however, I became a bit bored with the routine of training everyday and with often the same partners, so having a lack of motivation and hunger meant that sometimes my reaction time was off. Also since I wasn’t doing any type of strength workout, I felt that I lacked a bit on the physical side.
2) Training BJJ everyday and doing strength and conditioning 3x a week on mornings.
I was doing this routine when preparing for major tournaments. It would last around 2 months.
Result: Being dead tired the whole day at the office, my work was affected. I was always tired at training and also lacked motivation. I was completely over trained and also would usually drag along 2-3 injuries at the same time! I would usually get sick/ injured/ or get destroyed in tournament if ever I made there!
3) Training BJJ 5 x a week, and having 2 strength & conditioning sessions/ or any other type of sport (rock climbing, swimming, sprinting for ex) per week.
Usually I train BJJ Monday, Tuesday. Wednesday I would train a hard S&C session. Thursday, Friday, Saturday just BJJ. Saturday afternoon or evening, a medium paced S&C session or other sport activity. Sunday just rest.
Result: I improved my technical and BJJ cardio with the BJJ sessions. I improved my overall strength with the 2 S&C sessions. Also breaking the everyday routine of BJJ with something different on Wednesday keeps you fresh and hungry to train more on the following days. I don’t feel tired at the office.
At the moment this last routine works the best for me.The important thing is that I’m not over trained or under trained, on the contrary, I’m maximizing my performance.
I also train some golf a couple times a month which really relaxes me.
We are all different so test it out yourself. Really the best way is to try out different programs, listen to your body, and measure the results in training and competition. The important thing is to find your right balance and personal training mix. Good luck!
Here are our article on benefits of rock climbing and swimming for BJJ
