Any one here do BJJ? How does it affect your training?

[Blacksmith513]

I've been wanting to start BJJ for the past year... I was so close earlier this year, but then life got really busy. I want to do it, the only two things holding me back is... I need my body for work and i'm afraid of getting injured... Also, I'm really enjoying this whole grip thing. BJJ works your grip, but i'm afraid it would hinder my grip routine. 

 

[AdamTGlass]

Bjj - truly rewarding sport but very challenging to balance getting enough mat time + doing any real intense work in the weight room. For me I wasn’t able to do both well- it required me to choose. Particularly as you are working your career- tending your other responsibilities- and trying to do other methods of training. If you are not getting enough time rolling weekly you will be sore - like extremely sore - all of the time. If you are getting enough time rolling to not be sore you’ll be weak in the weight room. The skill development- total body mobility- and exceptionally deep waters of competition make it a fantastic activity. Having good grip is an advantage but at the same time you’ll get crushed by guys 30 lb lighter who can’t close a trainer but can break your bones lol- it’s leverage that gives submissions power not strength. 

[Bearhugger]

If you’re doing both I’d say to limit specific grip training to once/maybe twice a week. That’s assuming you’ll be rolling 3 or 4 days a week. And schedule your grip training maybe on a Saturday (assuming you’re not rolling Sunday) so that you have time to recover.

Doing too much grip work and rolling (especially in the gi) is asking for tendinitis in my experience. But you can still make plenty of gains in grip training it specifically once a week and you’ll be working it in BJJ as well.

BJJ is one of the most rewarding things you can ever do I say go for it. 

Edited October 29, 2021 by Bearhugger

[DAVE101]

I have a different experience than some of these guys. I'm on the mat 5-10 hours a week, lift weights 4-6x per week, and average about 3 grip sessions per week which are coupled with the weight training. I do not notice any of the soreness that Adam references, and I'd say you can expect the opposite: training once per week you'll be less sore than 3x per week. If you death grip the gi like a typical white belt, then yes your grip strength recovery will be impeded. Otherwise these 3 activities all compliment each other nicely, and doing one does not take away from your ability to do or recover from another aside from the additional time and calories needed to support the activity. So just loosen up (literally), and you'll be fine. Recreationally, BJJ is one of the safest martial arts you can do. If you leave your ego at the door, the chance of injury is probably the same as grip training itself. You'll probably always have a bruise somewhere on your body, but if you're at a good gym/club/academy and don't do anything dumb, you will not get hurt as easily as you're thinking. You do not have to spar all the time to learn BJJ.

One caveat, this is for recreational training which is what the majority of practitioners do. If you are training with a competitive intensity, you may perpetually feel beat up and you can start to see the CNS fatigue. Chance of injury certainly goes up if both people are going hard. Whenever I cranked up to >10 hours per week with intense sparring, I was always sore - and that's usually when I jammed a finger or something. Again, you do not need to do intense sparring. 

Edit: I didn't really consider your day job, that certainly adds another stressor. But really you shouldn't let that deter you. You can treat it like learning a new skill, meaning you can just take the lessons without having to spar. My academy actually does not allow new participants to spar/roll for their first 3 months anyway. Ease into it as you get comfortable.

Edited October 29, 2021 by DAVE101

[Blacksmith513]

^thank you all.

I don't care to break records in the weight room. I just want to be strong, fit and flexible until the day I die.  I mainly do Pavels Simple and Sinister, which is swings and turkish get ups, some calisthenics, weighted carries and grip training, plus sprints. I'm not out there benching 300lbs or squatting 500lbs and don't care too.  I'm sure I'll have to make some adjustments and i'll probably only do twice a week BJJ for awhile.

All I really want out of grip training is levering a 20lbs sledge, close the COC3, and be able to be decent at bending. As for hubs,  pinch blocks and the rolling thunder, i'm gonna always use them but they aren't my focus. BJJ, really interests me, and i have a strange fascination with leverage. Don't know if it comes from years of construction, or my blacksmithing hobby..

[Donc101]

On 10/29/2021 at 7:51 AM, Blacksmith513 said:

I've been wanting to start BJJ for the past year... I was so close earlier this year, but then life got really busy. I want to do it, the only two things holding me back is... I need my body for work and i'm afraid of getting injured... Also, I'm really enjoying this whole grip thing. BJJ works your grip, but i'm afraid it would hinder my grip routine. 

 

I have been doing BJJ for a month now. 3 classes a week usually. It has ben so much fun. I have had a blast and am really addicted to it right now. Very rewarding.   I am trying to figure out the best routine for my strength training, steel bending and BJJ to all work together. I have definitely been borderline overtrained to overtrained here and there this last month. It is all my fault. I basically just added 3 sessions of a very physically demanding activity a week right on top of my other training. I am going to adjust the volume of my bending down a bit for now. I still get sore after BJJ. My body is still adjusting to it. Hopefully, down the road I do not get as sore from that training. I think I will have cycles where I am doing more bending and less BJJ when I have bending comps and big bending feats I am training for and when I don’t more BJJ.

 

I delayed starting BJJ because I was worried about injuries. I am not worried about injuries anymore. I have not felt close to being injured this past month. I am sure you can be injured but I have not seen any injuries or had any thus far.

 

You should give it a try. I am 100% happy I did. Good luck and let us know if you do try it out.

[Blacksmith513]

8 hours ago, Donc101 said:

I have been doing BJJ for a month now. 3 classes a week usually. It has ben so much fun. I have had a blast and am really addicted to it right now. Very rewarding.   I am trying to figure out the best routine for my strength training, steel bending and BJJ to all work together. I have definitely been borderline overtrained to overtrained here and there this last month. It is all my fault. I basically just added 3 sessions of a very physically demanding activity a week right on top of my other training. I am going to adjust the volume of my bending down a bit for now. I still get sore after BJJ. My body is still adjusting to it. Hopefully, down the road I do not get as sore from that training. I think I will have cycles where I am doing more bending and less BJJ when I have bending comps and big bending feats I am training for and when I don’t more BJJ.

 

I delayed starting BJJ because I was worried about injuries. I am not worried about injuries anymore. I have not felt close to being injured this past month. I am sure you can be injured but I have not seen any injuries or had any thus far.

 

You should give it a try. I am 100% happy I did. Good luck and let us know if you do try it out.

Thank you.  I'm very excited...  Learning a martial art has always been one of those things I really wanted... But never really thought about actually trying.  If  I dig it, i want to be a black belt by 40...  I'm an all or nothing kind of person.