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Fitness

Judo for BJJ Practitioners (Athlete Journal 26)

This week I had a chance to add some judo techniques into my training, and I think it will go a long way in helping prepare for the New York Open.

James Kearns

Written by James Kearns Last updated on July 2, 2014

This week I was pressed for time, but I still got four good days of mat time and three days of strength and conditioning. Since my last competition a week ago, I’ve been focusing on filling some holes that got exposed in my game. I’ve been drilling tighter passes and working some more judo into my stand-up.

Friday evening, one of my teammates and I drove up to Harrisburg to train at Harrisburg BJJ and Judo. It’s great to get some different looks and roll with guys who I’m not used to. Since the school has a lot of judo practitioners, many of the guys up there have a different style of rolling that you don’t come across that often. It was a nice trip and I will probably get back up there sometime before the New York Summer Open.

I wrapped up week two of four of the conditioning phase of my thirteen-week strength and conditioning program. I only have two more weeks left of the entire program and I’m feeling great. This is the first time in the last year that I’ve been able to stay uninjured and complete every week of my strength and conditioning program. The benefits of consistency are paying off. Right now I’m about 209lbs and I feel as strong as ever. I can also tell a big difference in my cardio on the mat.

It’s amazing how following proven training methods and laws of periodization and overload with just a barbell and some dumbbells can make you strong and explosive, and greatly improve your conditioning performance. For the New York Summer Open, my thirteen-week program began with a five-week strength phase, where the focus was on base strength. The next phase also focused on power, but had a primary focus on just plain getting stronger.

This phase was followed by a four-week power and sport-specific phase. It still had the same exercises to focus on base strength, but the sets decreased for those particular lifts and the increased on my Olympic lifts. I also focused on sport-specific exercises, such as rope pull ups, and began my plyometric training.

That all led up to my current four-week conditioning phase. In this phase the only thing I’m concerned about is getting blood into my muscles, getting waste out of them, and improving my conditioning. I’m not doing any strength exercises, because the strength I built up in the first nine weeks will last me for the next few weeks.

In this phase, my mat time and intensity in BJJ training also pick up, so I don’t want any of my strength and conditioning to interfere with mat time. My conditioning program is meant to complement my jiu jitsu, not necessarily to improve it. Only mat time will do that.

I’m looking forward to all of my upcoming competitions this summer. Hopefully I can continue to stay injury-free and keep training hard. The next few months will give me a good idea of what my competition schedule will look like the rest of the year.

Sunday – BJJ

Competition drilling

Monday – Strength and Conditioning

  • Vertical Jump 3×10
  • Ploy Push-Up 3×10
  • Barbell Pop-Up 3×10
  • Push-Off 3×10
  • Dumbbell Bench Press 65x3x15
  • Dumbbell Rows 65x3x15
  • Overhead Dumbbell Extension – Superset with Dumbbell Curls 70/25 3×15
  • Core Work
  • Fan Bike 20 Minutes

Monday – BJJ

Stand up, Passing, Rolling

Wednesday – Strength and Conditioning:

Interval Circuit: 4 rounds, 3min Rest. Each exercise for 30 seconds:

  • 4 Step Agility Run
  • Med Ball Chest Pass
  • Attack Sprawl
  • Med Ball Overhead walking
  • Jumping Jacks
  • Lunge
  • Shrimp
  • Dive Bomber
  • Heavy Bag Flip
  • Med Ball Overhead Squat
  • Plank
  • High Knees w/Step Through (1 min)

10 Minutes Hill Sprint Intervals

Wednesday – BJJ

Throws, Passing, Rolling

Friday – Strength and Conditioning, BJJ

Strength and Conditioning:

  • Dumbbell Squat – Super Set with Dumbbell Romanian Deadlift 45x3x15
  • Pull Up 17, 15, 10
  • Reverse Dumbbell Fly 30x3x15
  • Core Work

BJJ:

Rolling at Harrisburg BJJ and Judo

James Kearns is an active Brazilian jiu jitsu competitor and also trains and competes in Olympic weightlifting.Follow his journals here every week.

Photo courtesy of D-Kline Design Photography.

James Kearns

About James Kearns

James Kearns is a Brazilian jiu jitsu competitor and former United States Marine who began training martial arts in 2005. Starting in Taekwondo and boxing in his hometown of Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, he would eventually begin training and competing in mixed martial arts. This is when James first started to train in no-gi jiu jitsu. Then, two and a half years ago, he reluctantly borrowed a gi and tried the Brazilian jiu jitsu class. James has trained in no other martial art since.

After successfully competing at the rank of blue belt for the last two years, earning six gold medals in IBJJF events and finishing the year with a gold medal in the Abu Dhabi Pro Trials adult division, James earned his purple belt in December 2013. Having set his goals high for 2014, he plans on competing six to eight times this year, including the IBJJF Masters World Championships.

Along with being an active BJJ competitor, James also trains and competes in Olympic weightlifting. Having a passion for the health and fitness industry, James is a certified personal trainer and the strength and conditioning coach at Tactical Combat Academy in Greencastle, Pennsylvania, where he focuses on individual and group program design for combat sport athletes. James is also a full time student, working on his B.S. in Sports Management.

Although training in Brazilian jiu jitsu and Olympic weightlifting, being a strength coach, and being in school keep James pretty busy, he still spends most of his time with his wife and four kids (who keep him even busier).

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