Three Reasons To Start A Jiu Jitsu Workout Routine

The further on you read, you'll begin to understand why you should have a jiu jitsu workout routine.

A year before I started training in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (BJJ), I've spent hundreds of dollars on books and DVDs. I've studied them day and night.

When I finally signed up and entered my first class, I thought that I would be able to dominate the other beginners when it came time to free grapple.

Boy was I wrong!

It was a eye opening world of hurt that lasted until the end of class. I was dumbfounded at how much I got caught in the simplest submissions.

All because my conditioning wasn't nearly where it should have been.

Pay close attention. In a moment, I'll tell you why fitness is very important to all BJJ fighters.

There are limitless advantages that a conditioned fighter will have over a non-conditioned one. Here are three reasons to start a jiu jitsu workout routine. The three I'll talk about today are: mental clarity, ability to force moves, and better flexibility.

The first and most obvious advantage is mental clarity. Many studies have already proven that when you're tired you body just goes on autopilot and your body's movements go from learned technique to instinctual.

If you were a black belt that's been training for over 10 years this wouldn't be much of a problem because proper techniques would be instinctual. But if you're still learning the basics, many of your instinctual moves will consist of movements that'll give openings to your opponents.

For example, when mounted under an opponent the absolute worst thing to do is to push off on your opponent's chest with your arms extended. This will leave your arms open to the most basic armbar. Even if you've already learned not to do this, you may end up doing it instinctively because you're too tired to think.

The second advantage is the ability to force moves. Sometimes you'll be very close to scoring a tap. But your opponent has a good enough defense to keep you at a stalemate.

What do you do next?

If you're strong enough, and in the right position, you can power your way to getting a tap. I've done that on a couple of occasions, myself.

You've probably heard the age old saying when it comes to BJJ, "If you have to force a move, then you're using bad technique." But there's also another famous saying in the sports world, "A win's a win, baby!" And if you win a match by forcing a move on your opponent, guess what...

It still counts as a win!

And the third advantage is better flexibility. Any expert will agree that being more flexible helps your grappling game. What if you were naturally flexible? For a beginner it would be a saving grace for not knowing proper technique.

But what if you had a spare tire around your mid-section? Even if your hamstrings easily let you touch your nose to your knees, your stomach would be in the way. Which would make it hard for you to breathe when forced into such positions.

You won't see many Yoga masters with lots of body fat. That's because it impedes dexterity and flexibility. Same holds true to BJJ fighters.

So remember, there are limitless advantages to being a well conditioned BJJ fighter. Just three of those advantages are: mental clarity, ability to force moves, and better flexibility.

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STOP and think about the times you've been tapped out. How many times have you been caught because you were just too tired to see it coming? Clearly, you can significantly decrease the amount of those times just by being better conditioned.