Best Warm-Ups For BJJ Training

1. What Is Warmup?

Warmups are a series of short actions that prepare a person physically and psychologically for a particular sport or activity. Before engaging in any strenuous workout, you should make sure to warm up.

2. Warm-ups are essential for BJJ Training

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is a complicated and energetic sport in which athletes use different muscle movements and techniques to win. Since BJJ demands a lot of energy to train, pre-workout warm-ups are necessary. A good warm-up before BJJ training can,

• Prepare your body for the training.
• Calm your muscles and increase your heart rate.
• Reduce the risk of injuries that can occur in  the compact tendons and muscles.
• Raise your body temperature.
• Increase flexibility to help you with your workouts.
• Enhance your physical strength and stamina.
• Keep your  balance and stability.
• Helps the muscles to contract easily.

3. What happens when you don’t warm up?

If you are an athlete who refuses to warm up, you may experience harsh consequences. Starting a tough workout or fight without warming up puts your health at risk. A warmup relaxes your muscles and heats your body temperature for better muscle movements. If you go right into training, it will damage your muscles and result in muscle pain and injury.

It will also impact your overall performance because you won't know what your flexibility limit is.

4. How Do You Warm Up for BJJ Training?

Warmups are always required for BJJ practitioners before the start of training. Most, however, ignore the warmups. If you are an athlete and looking for a simple and quick warm-up, then the RAMP method is ideal.

RAMP Pre-BJJ Warm-Up

Most BJJ athletes prefer the RAMP approach because it enhances movement and mobility on the mat. Many instructors and trainers use this method before training as it increases the range of motion.

Parts of the RAMP Warm-Up

The RAMP is composed of four basic parts:

• Range of Motion
• Activation
• Movement Preparation
• Potentiation

Let us explain each part in detail.

Range of Motion

This is the initial phase of RAMP. In this approach, you gradually increase your movement, slowly increasing your physiological like body temperature, blood flow, and muscle flexibility. With your movements, these factors rise gradually and steadily. Once your body is warmed up, you can easily do joint movements with a full range of motion.

Dynamic stretching is one possible factor that boosts your motion capability. As per the research, stretching is not only useful for the movements of BJJ athletes but also boosts your neuromuscular initiation.

Activation

In this phase, the muscles are activated by working them up to their maximum potential. This helps to improve overall body movement and strength before BJJ training.

The activation phase mainly targets the muscles in the hips, abdomen, shoulders, and quadriceps. This phase is great for determining the athlete’s strength and flexibility at peak.

You can activate your body effectively via calisthenics. Stretch your muscles to the maximum without putting too much weight on yourself. Whenever you feel like you are getting weak, take a break.

Movement Preparation

This part is all about focusing on the movement patterns that will be utilized in your BJJ training. This will help you feel confident and enable you to endure high-intensity training later on.

Your body will be more comfortable and will be able to deal with any kind of stress. Activities like shooting and sprawling are good for movement preparation.

Potentiation

This is the last phase of RAMP in which you will be capable of activating your muscle fibers . If someone has not attained a proper grip on muscles, then this indicates that his/her muscle fibers are not warmed up correctly.

Potentiation includes exercises like forward roll, sprints, tuck jumps, broad jumps,, bounding runs, and bounding broad jumps.

5. Most Suitable Warm-Ups For Beginners

If you're new to warmups and want to get started, follow some basic warmup exercises that you can practice at any time.

5.1 Fundamental BJJ Warmups

As a beginner, start with some general and simple exercises. You can perform these warmups even with or without a Gi. For the best results, perform these warmups with your partner.

5.1.1 Jumping Jack

• Stand straight with your arms at your sides and your feet together
• Move your arm upward by jumping
• This jumping will help you lengthen your legs.
• Return to your starting position by jumping back
• Repeat this for 15 minutes

5.1.2 Four-Points Base

• Place your feet in the back.
• Keep your arms e on the sides and your hips off the mat.
• Replace your feet with your hands and hand position for the feet
• Move to one side and switch
• Repeat it again

5.1.3 Monkey Up Down

• Sit on your knees
• Bow on your knuckles and start jumping forward and backward.
• Make sure to keep your both legs on the sides
• Go back and then jump again, increasing your speed
• Keep in mind that your hips should be moving at the time
• If your knuckles are hurting, then you can perform this warmup with open hands

5.1.4 Pull-Ups

• Stand straight and then jump to hold the bar. Your hands should be only a width apart from your shoulders, with your palms directed away from you.
• You can bend your knees
• Slowly move up till your chin crosses the bar  and then slowly move backward till your arms are elongated again
• Almost do 10 pullups

5.1.5 Push-ups

• Get down on all fours, your hands should be further apart than your shoulders
• Straighten your arms and legs.
• Move your chest and hips up and down, but they should not touch the ground
• Repeat

5.1.6 Crunches

• Lie down straight and extend your legs and arms up
• Sit up and hug your knees
• Move up and down
• Repeat

6. Jiu-Jitsu Warm-up movements for BJJ Athletes

• Shrimp
• Reverse shrimp
• Forward roll
• Backward roll
• Side shrimp
• Sideways shoulder rolls
• Cartwheel

6.1 Shrimp

• Lay down on your back, bend your knees and move your feet closer to your hips
• Bend your elbows tight
• Turn to one side of your shoulder and hip.   You can use either one foot or both.
• When you are on the left side, your hip will be on the right side
• Push your hip backward and you will move upward

6.2 Reverse Shrimp

• In this shrimp, you have to move to the right side and your hip will be on the backside
• Pushing your upper body backward will shift your hip in the forward direction
• Repeat

6.3 Forward Roll

• Stand straight with your legs apart, keep in mind that there should be less space between the knees
• Lower yourself down to matt
• Set your hands in front of you and place your feet closer to your hands
• Move your chin into your chest to cave in the shoulders
• Then start rolling

6.4 Backward roll

• Sit straight with one of your one-side legs bent at the knee.
• Start moving your legs in an upward direction and roll down backward.

6.5 Side Shrimp

• Lay down with your legs bent and head raised
• Move your arms simply from one side to another like a rainbow
• Move your shoulder in one direction while your hips go in the other direction

6.6 Sideways Shoulder Rolls

• Sit straight to one side, either left or right
• Move your hands to your back and start rolling

6.7 Cartwheel

• Move your leg forward and bend it a little while the other leg should be straight
• Put your hands on the mat at 90 degrees
• Then kick your feet and start rolling like a cartwheel

7. Tips for Warming Up for BJJ Training

• Try to do those warmups that are relevant to your training
• Initially, start with a dynamic warm-up. This will loosen your muscles and prevent injury
• Never start your training without doing a workout
• Always hydrate yourself

8. Conclusion

A warmup is necessary before any BJJ training as it improves the overall performance of those who pratice BJJ. Some practitioners skip the warmups, thus suffering from serious injuries. If you are a beginner, then make sure to start with simple warmups.

Don’t wait for the right time to start the warmups; find the time and begin immediately.

Photo credit: @jiujitsubrotherhood