Strength Training for Jiu Jitsu: A Simple 4-Day BJJ Strength Training Program
If you train Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, adding a properly designed strength training program can make a major difference in your performance on the mats.
But strength training for Jiu Jitsu doesn't need to be complicated.
You don't need dozens of exercises, bodybuilding-style workouts, or complicated "sport-specific" movements.
A good BJJ strength training program should accomplish a few simple things:
Make you stronger.
Build a more resilient body.
Improve your ability to produce force.
And most importantly, allow you to continue training Jiu Jitsu without constantly feeling exhausted from the weight room.
One of the simplest ways to build a Jiu Jitsu strength and conditioning program is to focus on fundamental movement patterns.
For the upper body, we want to train:
Vertical Push
Vertical Pull
Horizontal Push
Horizontal Pull
For the lower body, we want to train:
Knee Flexion
Hip Hinge
Using these fundamental movements, we can create a simple four-day strength training program for Jiu Jitsu athletes consisting of two upper-body workouts and two lower-body workouts per week.
Upper Body Strength Training for Jiu Jitsu
Rather than thinking about training individual muscles, Jiu Jitsu athletes can organize upper-body strength training around four major movement patterns.
Vertical Push
A vertical push involves pressing resistance overhead.
Examples include:
Overhead Press
Dumbbell Shoulder Press
Landmine Press
Push Press
Vertical pressing develops the shoulders, triceps, upper back, and trunk.
For Jiu Jitsu athletes, you don't need five different shoulder exercises. Choose a vertical pressing movement that feels good for your body and progressively get stronger at it.
Vertical Pull
Vertical pulling involves pulling resistance toward your body from overhead.
Examples include:
Pull-Ups
Chin-Ups
Weighted Pull-Ups
Lat Pulldowns
Pulling strength is particularly valuable for Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.
Think about how frequently you're pulling an opponent toward you, breaking posture, controlling the upper body, fighting grips, attacking the back, and maintaining control.
Pull-ups and chin-ups are excellent options for BJJ athletes because they develop upper-body pulling strength while requiring you to control your own bodyweight.
Horizontal Push
A horizontal push involves pressing resistance away from your torso.
Examples include:
Bench Press
Dumbbell Bench Press
Push-Ups
Weighted Push-Ups
Horizontal pressing develops the chest, shoulders, and triceps.
For Jiu Jitsu, horizontal pushing strength can contribute to stronger frames, posts, and the ability to create space between yourself and an opponent.
You don't need to train like a competitive powerlifter. The goal is simply to develop a strong upper body that complements your Jiu Jitsu training.
Horizontal Pull
Horizontal pulling involves pulling resistance toward your torso.
Examples include:
Barbell Rows
Dumbbell Rows
Chest-Supported Rows
Cable Rows
Ring Rows
Rows develop the upper back, lats, rear shoulders, and arms.
Jiu Jitsu already involves an enormous amount of pulling. Grip fighting, wrestling, breaking posture, controlling opponents, and maintaining connections all require pulling strength.
Horizontal pulling should therefore be a major component of a BJJ strength training program.
Lower Body Strength Training for Jiu Jitsu
For the lower body, we're going to simplify our Jiu Jitsu strength program into two major categories: knee-dominant movements and hip hinges.
Knee Flexion
Our first category consists primarily of knee-dominant exercises involving significant knee flexion.
Examples include:
Back Squats
Front Squats
Goblet Squats
Bulgarian Split Squats
Reverse Lunges
Step-Ups
These exercises develop the quadriceps, glutes, and surrounding musculature while building strong and powerful legs.
Lower-body strength is important for almost every area of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.
Wrestling, takedowns, guard retention, passing, bridging, standing up, and scrambling all require strong legs.
The specific exercise you choose isn't nearly as important as consistently training the movement and progressively becoming stronger.
Hip Hinge
The second major lower-body movement pattern is the hip hinge.
Examples include:
Deadlifts
Romanian Deadlifts
Trap Bar Deadlifts
Good Mornings
Kettlebell Swings
Hip hinge exercises primarily develop the posterior chain, including the hamstrings, glutes, hips, and back.
The posterior chain plays an enormous role in grappling.
Wrestling, lifting an opponent, maintaining posture, finishing takedowns, bridging, scrambling, and generating power through your hips all require a strong posterior chain.
Combining knee-dominant exercises with hip hinge exercises gives BJJ athletes a simple way to develop well-rounded lower-body strength.
4-Day Strength Training Program for Jiu Jitsu
This BJJ strength training program uses four workouts per week:
Day 1: Upper Body
Day 2: Lower Body
Day 3: Upper Body
Day 4: Lower Body
The goal isn't to destroy yourself during every workout.
The goal is to gradually become stronger while still having enough energy to train Jiu Jitsu consistently.
Day 1: Upper Body
Overhead Press – Vertical Push
3 sets of 5–8 reps
Pull-Ups – Vertical Pull
3 sets of 5–10 reps
Bench Press – Horizontal Push
3 sets of 5–8 reps
Chest-Supported Row – Horizontal Pull
3 sets of 6–10 reps
Day 2: Lower Body
Back Squat – Knee Flexion
3 sets of 5–8 reps
Romanian Deadlift – Hip Hinge
3 sets of 6–10 reps
Day 3: Upper Body
Dumbbell Overhead Press – Vertical Push
3 sets of 6–10 reps
Chin-Ups – Vertical Pull
3 sets of 5–10 reps
Dumbbell Bench Press – Horizontal Push
3 sets of 6–10 reps
Dumbbell Row – Horizontal Pull
3 sets of 6–10 reps
Day 4: Lower Body
Bulgarian Split Squat – Knee Flexion
3 sets of 6–10 reps per leg
Trap Bar Deadlift – Hip Hinge
3 sets of 4–6 reps
How to Combine Strength Training and Jiu Jitsu
One of the biggest challenges with strength training for BJJ is managing fatigue.
Remember why you're lifting weights in the first place.
If Jiu Jitsu is your primary sport, your strength training should support your Jiu Jitsu training rather than interfere with it.
You shouldn't constantly be so sore from lifting that you can't perform during Jiu Jitsu practice.
Avoid taking every set to absolute failure. Focus on quality repetitions and gradually increasing your strength over time.
If your Jiu Jitsu training becomes particularly intense, reduce your weight training volume rather than trying to push through everything.
More training isn't automatically better training.
Don't Try to Turn the Weight Room Into Jiu Jitsu
One common mistake in Jiu Jitsu strength and conditioning is trying to make every weight training exercise "BJJ specific."
Athletes start attaching resistance bands to everything, performing complicated exercises on unstable surfaces, and attempting to recreate Jiu Jitsu movements with weights.
That's unnecessary.
You already have the best form of Jiu Jitsu-specific training available.
It's called training Jiu Jitsu.
Use your time on the mats to improve your technique, timing, reactions, conditioning, and grappling ability.
Use your time in the weight room to become stronger.
Push.
Pull.
Squat.
Hinge.
Progressively increase your strength while keeping your training volume manageable.
Do Jiu Jitsu Athletes Need Strength Training?
You don't have to lift weights to become good at Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.
Technique should always matter.
But being technically skilled and physically strong is better than being technically skilled and physically weak.
Strength training can complement your Jiu Jitsu by helping you build a stronger, more capable body.
The key is finding the minimum amount of strength training necessary to continue making progress without negatively affecting your time on the mats.
For many Jiu Jitsu athletes, a simple four-day upper/lower strength program is more than enough.
Keep the program simple.
Train the fundamental movement patterns.
Progressively get stronger.
And save your complicated Jiu Jitsu training for the mats.
Train Brazilian Jiu Jitsu at Immortals Jiu Jitsu in Clifton, NJ
If you're looking for Brazilian Jiu Jitsu in Clifton, NJ, come train with us at Immortals Jiu Jitsu.
We offer Jiu Jitsu training for beginners, experienced grapplers, competitors, and kids throughout Clifton and the surrounding North Jersey area.
Whether you've never stepped onto a Jiu Jitsu mat before or you've been training for years, you're welcome to come check out the academy.
Call or email us today to schedule your first class.
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199 Scoles Avenue
Clifton, NJ 07012
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