In this week’s workout routine, we are going to focus on legs which are one of the most important muscle groups for any BJJ practitioner. Remember that your legs support all of your upper body and more, so with strong legs you can perform better on the mats or at any sport for that matter. But for Jiu Jitsu, in many instances we don’t want to use weight machines at the gym to build strong legs because weight machines grow the muscle in ways that are not fully functional for the mats. Done wrong, it can actually make you slow and clumsy.
In this post, we will demonstrate how using your own bodyweight to build explosive leg strength may be the best way to go. In addition, these exercises will add agility, coordination and cardio as well.
Explosive Bodyweight Exercises For BJJ
Okay, so here is the instructional video. Watch it first and we will then discuss the specifics of the routine.
We made the video outdoors for you this week as well which was lots of fun
The exercises:
In the video, we demonstrated the top 10 bodyweight exercises for legs which include:
- Squats
- Jumping lunges
- Explosive step ups
- Calf raises
- Pistol squats
- Vertical jumps
- 1 leg vertical jumps
- 1 leg burpees
- Burpee vertical jumps
- Sprints
The idea of the video is to show you the range of bodyweight leg exercises. Try them all at your own pace. Then you can choose the right exercises and the number of repetitions according to your own level and comfort. You can also mix and match and do combinations of the exercises as well.
Now if you are looking for an extra edge, choose 2 of these exercises, and add sprint runs in between, this will give you the ultimate leg workout with cardio. For example:
Jumping lunges + Sprint + Squats
Why are bodyweight leg exercises great for BJJ?
BJJ is an agile sport, when required you need to move fast and with conviction. Bodyweight exercises will give you the strength and mobility you need for your stand up and ground game, you need to be quick for takedowns, passing and defending in guard.
Wrap Up
Bodyweight exercises are an excellent way of training your muscles without the risk of becoming slow or less mobile (or lose flexibility). It’s a functional method that involves all of your body so you will not only develop strength, but also coordination, agility, speed, explosiveness, making your body more dynamic.