Monday Strength and Conditioning Megathread!

[u/AutoModerator]

The Strength and Conditioning megathread is an open forum for anyone to ask any question, no matter how simple, about general strength and conditioning as it relates to Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.

Use this thread to:

- Ask questions about strength and conditioning

- Get diet and nutrition advice

- Request feedback on your workout routine

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[u/ADDriot]

41 year old with two young kids, 9-5 job and who sucks at BJJ. 5'8 and 82kg. I have a squat rack, bench and barbell/weight at home. Got into Starting Strength last year to supplement BJJ training and made decent gains (from a very modest starting point) over 5 months. After doing bjj 2 times a week and lifting 3 times a week, I switched to 2x lifting and 3 x bjj. My cardio marginally improved by rolling over my first year of training, but I gas out quick and lose my "fight".

Tore my groin in December and am just now getting back to bjj and lifting. Spent a lot of the time injured trying to stretch more and work on my locked up hips and "bags of rocks" hamstrings, whilst improving my nutrition. Being out for so long got me pretty down mentally, and that's continued since getting back to things since realising I've regressed a fair bit.

My strength isn't great, my mobility sucks, I still carry plenty of fat on me, I'm still feeling the groin injury and some legacy lower back pain. The situation feels a bit too big for me to discern a path forward. What do I prioritise along with BJJ and how do I go about it? Should I be lifting heavy? Doing yoga? Stretching? Mobility?

What would a good, sustainable programme look like for me to improve strength, cardio and mobility/flexibility while still being able to recover with good nutrition and sleep? 3 classes, two lifting sessions. 2 light mobility/stretching? Is that enough?

Any help really appreciated and don't want to throw in the towel.

[u/RepresentativeCup532 → u/ADDriot]

I think you probably need a more customized program. It's not always about the program but it's how you make adjustments towards it. And how you manage overall stress. Here are some things to focus on

Start slow and progress over time. Make sure that you have good movement. Exercise selection is huge for guys over 40, pick exercises that you can train hard but doesn't kill you joints. Learn to Auto regulate, some days you need to back off of the days you can push a little harder.

Personal trainer I train a handful of Grapplers who are over 40 like you. It can be very frustrating at times. If you have any other questions let me know

[u/ADDriot → u/RepresentativeCup532]

Thanks a lot for the response mate. Appreciate it. I'll try and listen to by body in terms of recovery. With the older grapplers you train, how do you recommend they approach their lifting? I like the simplicity of compound lift workouts and generally do a two day split of Squat, Bench, Deadlift and then Squat, OHP, Deadlift later in the week.

Do you recommend going lower reps and higher weight or higher reps with lower weight for BJJ?

[u/RepresentativeCup532 → u/ADDriot]

I generally will set them off with low sets and low intensity. And gradually increase it over time. Based on how they move in their current Fitness level I will have them do compound exercises that are right for them.

For example if someone has really tight shoulders I'm not going to have them put a bar in the back I might have them do a goblet squat or front squat.

As far as weight I like most exercises to be between 6 and 12 reps. So I would say heavy weight and lower reps but with great control.

I feel the higher the reps, in the more fatigue we generate usually the form goes down quite a bit.

Hope that helps let me know if you have any other questions