I remember when I first started training in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and how out of shape I felt. I could barely go a one minute round of sparring before being out of breath. I hate that out-of-shape feeling and I would try and spar often to improve my conditioning, but it seemed that my stamina was not improving.
I found out about crossfit and other conditioning programs. I really got into crossfit, but I was way over training. I was doing crossfit three times a week and BJJ 5 times a week. Soon I realized that was too much for my body. Not only that, I did something to my shoulder that made me stop doing crossfit all together.
Not only do I want to improve my conditioning for BJJ, but also for the military. I do very well for my bi-annual Army physical fitness test. My score is in the 290′s out of 300. Someone could get a score higher than 300 if they beat the required time for a specific fitness event, but 300 is somewhat of the max. The run event is my nemesis. I have never been much of a runner and this “problem” is what gets my score down every time.
So for a while BJJ was my only conditioning routine. However, since I returned from Army Combatives in May, I have been doing other things to improve my conditioning. I started training in Boxing with a local guy who just turned pro. I worked with him for a month until his scheduled change. I continue to work on what he taught me and I have also taught myself on how to use the speed bag. I got the rythume down, and I can keep it going pretty fast for almost a minute without messing up. I love hitting the speed bag! I will continue to train with him here soon. I hope!
Today, I had a great workout. Something I had never done before. I did five exercises at one minute intervals with a 10 second rest.
* Burpees, Sit-Throughs, Sand Bag Shouldering, Kettlebells Thrusts, Mountain Climbers
I also did a few minutes of muay thai knee kicks, and side knee kicks to a heavy bag to finish it off.
Overall, it turned out to be a great twenty-five minute workout. One great thing about it was I had this cool little gadget called gymboss. It is the best interval timer around. I have it set to one-minute intervals with a ten second rest. It gives me a loud 5 second beep when the one minute is up and another when my ten second rest is up. It will keep doing this until I stop it. This has been a big help in keeping my time for each exercise.
I think I will keep up with this routine for another week, and then mix it in with some BJJ drills that I have been working on.
