If you’re gassing out too fast in BJJ, it might very well be the case that you should improve your cardio. However, if you’ve been training for a while (and been consistent), it’s much more likely that your cardio is more than alright… And that you need to learn how to shift gears.
Shift gears? What does that mean? Well, it basically means that you need to learn when to use more of your energy and when to conserve it. Professor John Danaher illustrated this wonderfully in a recent Instagram post:
Beginners tend to just sprint the whole match and get tired very quickly. If you can’t get a quick win, this approach condemns you to defeat.
Going too passive for too long creates an activity level so low that you won’t tire your opponents; and you can’t build the pressure that wins matches decisively. Somewhere in the middle is the right path.
Professor Danaher explains that learning how to shift gears will pay huge dividends; not just in how long you can roll for, but also in how successful the roll will be.
Learn to juggle the need for periods of low energy expenditure where the primary emphasis is on tactics and set ups… With short bursts of intense activity where the primary emphasis is on scoring and finishing.
Play the two together seamlessly and you’ll be able to grapple a long time and out sufficient pressure on an opponent to fatigue them… To a degree that a decisive breakthrough is much more likely to occur.
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