Conditioning for bjj

[Rob T]

Well again what is "really strong"? In terms of "strong athletes" with useful functional strength rather than the ability to lift something heavy above your head and put it down again), if you looked across all olympic athletes you probably won't find any group "stronger" than gymnasts and they generally do little to no weightlifting.

Now i am not saying that this means one should not lift weights, but it is possible to build significant strength without lifting weights.

True. However, those guys just do gymnastics, nothing else. The stuff they do takes a crazy amount of balance, flexibility etc to do. Not worth the time investment for an average person looking for supplemental training I don't think. I was only really considering standard bodyweight training that the average person would be doing at home.

[lewdog29]

you could make significant gains in strength solely through non lifting exercises

There are only really two occassions where this might occur. 1) if you have a very low training age or are particularly weak 2) if you have optimal biomechanics which allow you to increase the leverage of the bodyweight exercise to extremes (think gymnasts), for pretty much most people this will not be the case.

If you want to improve athletic performance, then periodized programs that progressivley overload the system are the best way to do so. Throwing a bunch of exercises together in an ad hoc manner is unfortunately setting yourself up for a fall in the future.

[lewdog29]

you probably won't find any group "stronger" than gymnasts and they generally do little to no weightlifting

As I mentioned above..Elite gymnasts are genetically superior to most of the population and perfectly built for strength/power activities.

[oneshotkiller]

What is it about bodyweight routines that you prefer to weights?

I like being able to do them wherever I want also no need to be stuck in a gym obsessing over kg and pounds .
Don't get me wrong I like stuff like kettlebells , tyre tosses and such just i can think of nothing more boring than going to a gym

[Rob T]

Takes all sorts... I love lifting heavy weights

Don't have time for it right now though

[oneshotkiller]

Lifes a bitch for getting in the way of training isn't it !

[J-Sho]

professional athletes do by their nature tend to be genetically superior in one way or another to the average man in the street with regard to physical attributes and yup, not disagreeing with you, just challenging the blanket statement As above, if you want to get strong you have to lift heavy weights - you generally have to... would be better.

[Rob T]

Sorry J Sho, I will be more exact next time!!

[J-Sho]

yes if you could

Takes all sorts... I love lifting heavy weights

Don't have time for it right now though

don't get me wrong, i used to enjoy lifting weights, but generally when i have spare time i just go and train BJJ, i don't have any time for "supplemental" training (or rather i don't make time since it is lower priority to me than other things) over and above bodyweight stuff i do pre-class or at home.

Having said that, I might take a different approach to the role of weight lifting in my training if i wasn't already a heavier/stronger than average kinda guy tho.

[zippy]

Strictly speaking you do have to overload to build strength, whether this is via heavy weights or the fact that you are pre-exhausting the muscle with body weight exercises, but heavy weights is the way to go to build strength. You dont really get more muscle mass via bodyweight exercises as with weights. The strength increases that are gained from bodyweight exercises are mainly through training of the muscle fibres to "fire" at the same time and mecanical efficiency in the movement making you better at the exercise. Obviously these things are needed as they allow the fibres to be utilised when the power is needed.