What to do when your BJJ academy is closed because the Coronavirus? How can you get better while you forced to stay home?
Here are 5 ways to get better at Jiu Jitsu while you’re not allowed to train due to Coronavirus COVID-19.
Study BJJ Online
You have a wealth of online instructionals at your disposal. You should spend more time studying. The number of instructionals that are available today is something which simply didn’t exist nearly as much beforehand, and it gives today’s grapplers a great advantage.
This holds true both for the instructional videos on Youtube, as well as for those which are placed on the BJJ Fanatics website; like the John Danaher and Garry Tonon ones. There are limitless knowledge sources for getting more in-depth with Jiu Jitsu… Knowledge, which leads to your better understanding of what to do and when to do it.
Top Competitor Advises To Study More BJJ And Train Less
Mental Imagery
Mental imagery is a fantastic drill that is a must when it comes to practicing grappling technique.
You may be on the couch but there is always time to do grappling with mental imagery. Simply close your eyes and practice a few BJJ techniques in your mind. Try to picture yourself entering for a throw and throwing someone or passing someone’s guard. Attempt to feel your whole body moving into position while you are sitting down. Once you are in the feel of mental imagery begin adding in some combinations or speed drills into the mix. This will really help you not only you getting in tune with your body but also gets you to think about each and every aspect of a technique. When it’s time to go back to Jiu-Jitsu, it will feel like you never took a break.
Rest and Recover
During our workouts and BJJ training, we create tiny tears in our muscles. When we allow the muscles to rest, the tissue is able to repair itself using proteins and their amino acids. This creates stronger muscles over time.
Continuous workouts without rest will actually make us weaker- not stronger. This is why you should not hesitate to take time off.
What Happens During Recovery?
According to sportsmedicine.about.com:
“Recovery time into any training program is important because this is the time that the body adapts to the stress of exercise and the real training effect takes place. Recovery also allows the body to replenish energy stores and repair damaged tissues. Exercise or any other physical work causes changes in the body such as muscle tissue breakdown and the depletion of energy stores (muscle glycogen) as well as fluid loss.
Recovery time allows these stores to be replenished and allows tissue repair to occur. Without sufficient time to repair and replenish, the body will continue to breakdown from intensive exercise. Symptoms of overtraining often occur from a lack of recovery time. Signs of overtraining include a feeling of general malaise, staleness, depression, decreased sports performance and increased risk of injury, among others.”
Take time off. You will come back back fresher and stronger. Your body will thank you for it in the long run.
Solo drills
There are plenty of solo exercises you can do at home that can improve your BJJ training.
The drills are designed to help improve mobility & movement.
These BJJ movements are incredibly helpful for developing a great game in Brazilian Jiujitsu.
BJJ Academy Closed? Try This 1 Hour Solo Drill Routine from 4X BJJ World Champion Rikako Yuasa
BJJ Solo Drills To Improve Mobility & Movement
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Get Stronger
Use that time off to get stronger. There are benefits to all bodyweight exercises for fighters, yet some are more beneficial than others when it comes to developing the strength and conditioning attributes needed to be an all around great combat athlete.
