Exercise is one of the most important things that a person can do in order to increase their strength and improve their health. That being said, there is a flip side to this coin. And the flip side is that you can get hurt if you’re not careful enough. Exercise is not without its risks – and this goes especially for vigorous exercise. If you have had experience with Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, then you definitely know that it’s a vigorous form of exercise. If you aren’t careful then you can get injured in BJJ. And one of the most effective things that you could do in order to prevent these injuries is to warm up properly.
The benefits of warming up for BJJ
If you’re not new to exercise – then you definitely know the benefits of warming up properly by first-hand experience. In fact, the entire meaning of the word is summed up by the name. If you warm up properly, it means that you have activated your body. Your heart will start steadily increasing its work rate. Your lungs will follow suit. Blood will start increasing its flow rate all around the body – and with this, it will begin transferring oxygen and important nutrients with increasing effectiveness. You will also get to activate your muscles and your joints before getting to the real work that lies ahead of you. This will loosen the muscles up if they are stiff and will keep them warm for the duration of the workout. All of these elements will combine to improve your exercise experience and performance, and to decrease the risk of injury.
The drawbacks of not warming up
The complete opposite can be said about not warming up. If you don’t warm up and get to the vigorous part of the training immediately – the first thing that you risk is an injury. And sure – most of these injuries are muscle and ankle sprains that happen due to the muscles and joints not being warmed up properly. These can be painful injuries – but typically they resolve in a week or two without any consequences.
However, if you’re not careful, then much more serious consequences may befall you. You may, in a lot more serious scenario, end up with a torn muscle or, even worse, a torn ligament. These are all serious injuries that may put you out of practice for the better part of the year. So, it’s very important to warm your body up before the real training session begins.
Jiu-Jitsu and warm up
If you go to a legit BJJ school, then the person that organizes the classes will definitely involve a warm-up part at the beginning of each training session. The length of this session varies in the schools – but in our experience, it’s best if the warm-up session is kept under 10 minutes. There’s no risk of “overwarming-up” but it’s still not a wise idea to lose a lot of time with it.
So, you will typically want to warm up all of the muscles and joints that you will be using during the training session. Which – in the case of BJJ – is all of the muscles and joints. So, the first step to warming up is to mobilize your joints. You can do this in a dynamic way – wave your arms like a propeller in order to warm your shoulders up. Do some circles with your hands in order to warm your wrists up. Do circles with your knees, ankles, elbows, and hips. This will mobilize your joints and prepare them for the intense workload ahead.Avoid lifting weight and the intense Weightlifting and bodyweight exercise before jiu jitsu to avoid injury.
Finally, you could do some BJJ technical movements with your own body’s weight. Shrimps and triangles are great examples. This will help sharpen your brain up and it will fire the neurons that work in the BJJ training scenarios. A light jog around your gym is also a great thing to add to the warm-up routine, it will warm your entire cardiovascular system up.
Scientific studies show that passive stretching doesn’t really do much for the prevention of injuries if you do it before the training begins. If anything – it increases the risk of injuries by overstretching the muscles and joints and loosening them up – in a scenario when they need to be warm and tight. If you really want to increase your range of motion – then you could do passive stretching. The best time to do these stretches is at the end of the training session – not at the beginning.
Warm ups as must Do for BJJ
If you practice the warm-up techniques in BJJ, then you will dramatically reduce the chances of getting injured. Warming up won’t make your body bulletproof, however, so, it’s very important to be cautious while you train. If you sense weakness in your body – then it’s a sign of injury. You should stop training and do whatever you can to heal the afflicted area. In all cases, your warm-up routine for BJJ should be simple, effective, and relatively quick. Again, you don’t want to overdo it, but you don’t want to underdo it either. Stay sharp and injury free by warming your body up before your BJJ training starts.
Check also:
- Calisthenics for BJJ : Benefits and Workout Example
- Powerlifting for BJJ: Benefits and Workout program
- Crossfit for BJJ: Is Crossfit good for BJJ?
