How To Improve Conditioning (Part Two)

In our last post here we went over the different energy systems, now we will talk about how to improve the performance of these energy systems through some conditioning workouts.

I'll be the first to admit: I hate long, slow endurance training. It eats away at muscle, and frankly, it's plain boring to me.

That's why I never do it or suggest it for my athletes. Some of you may object, but what about a long match or training session?

Helgerud J et. al, found that High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) improves VO2 max (how hard you can work) MORE than moderate exercise. This is important because once you cross your lactate threshold (over the threshold leads to exhaustion, while if you stay under you can keep working) your performance begins to decrease as you're not able to perform the same amount of work.

Also, you'll remember in our last post that about 72% of your energy will come from Anaerobic Glycolysis during a 6 minute match. This is the main energy system used in HIIT protocols.

All of these factors lead me to focus on this energy system when training Jiu Jitsu athletes.

Let's go over how to improve all the systems before we talk about how I would structure a program in the next post.

Creatine-Phosphate system: You'll remember that this is the primary energy system used for explosive exercises that are only about 10 seconds in duration.

To improve a system we must challenge it directly with more load than it is used to.

This could mean doing sprint repeats, where you run 100 yards, walk back to the start and run it again for 5 to 10 reps.

You could also do a triple broad jump with a 1 minute break between sets for 5 to 10 reps.

The main focus to training this system is working at your absolute highest workload for a short time. You should also keep work to rest ratios in mind. It is common to start at a 1 to 12 ratio and lower it as conditioning improves.

Rogers T, et. al, showed that 30 second, 90 second and 120 second recovery times greatly impacted Mean Power Output in repeated sprint efforts, with longer being better.

When I train my athletes, I recommend them to start with a 90 second rest and work down from there as recovery allows.

Anaerobic Glycolysis: To me this is the most important system for Jiu Jitsu athletes. I have stated some reasons above.

I also believe the nature of Jiu Jitsu relies on Glycolysis. You rarely go 100%, never truly stop to rest, but most matches last 5 minutes, maybe 10. This means you're probably not depleting your Phosphagen system and your Aerobic system is only contributing a minor portion of your overall energy levels.

My belief is that training your Glycolitic system should be done through your overall program design. This means I usually focus on my athletes going thru "Super Sets" or working opposing muscle groups one after the other, so the local muscle won't be tired, but your overall energy system is constantly working.

This could be through doing exercises in the order of: push, pull, neck, mobility.

Or KB Swings, Landmine presses, sled work, core.

It's about keeping the energy system working at a level above the lactate threshold so that the threshold level raises, allowing you to do more work at a higher rate than before.

Aerobic System : As I have stated above, I don't really emphasize this aspect of training for my athletes and you probably shouldn't either. The time it takes to complete a 90 minute, long, slow run isn't as good of use of time to get the adaptations that you want.

A much more beneficial way to train your aerobic system for Jiu Jitsu would be to do 90 minutes of sparring with minimal breaks. This obviously mirrors the demands you would see in Jiu Jitsu, because you're doing Jiu Jitsu!

Something like doing a 5 minute round, 1 minute break, 5 minute round for 10 to 15 rounds is a great way to build a solid aerobic base for Jiu Jitsu and the time spent doing this type of aerobic training will also increase your Jiu Jitsu skills, which is the main goal of all our strength and conditioning in the first place!

Citations:

Helgerud J, Høydal K, Wang E, Karlsen T, Berg P, Bjerkaas M, Simonsen T, Helgesen C, Hjorth N, Bach R, Hoff J. Aerobic high-intensity intervals improve VO2max more than moderate training. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2007 Apr;39(4):665-71. doi: 10.1249/mss.0b013e3180304570. PMID: 17414804.

Rogers T, Gill N, Beaven CM. A comparison of three different work to rest periods during intermittent sprint training on maintaining sprint effort performance. J Exerc Sci Fit. 2024 Apr;22(2):97-102. doi: 10.1016/j.jesf.2023.12.004. Epub 2023 Dec 11. PMID: 38188222; PMCID: PMC10765250.