8 Benefits of BJJ Training

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is a martial art that revolves around ground fighting. Your goal is to take your opponent down and submit them through leverages, grappling skills, and chokeholds.

What's impressive about BJJ is that it teaches you how to overcome opponents regardless of size or strength. You can take down large opponents through skill and technique, even if you're a smaller person. 

BJJ is a dynamic martial art that forces trainees to use every muscle in the body. Grappling sessions are incredibly demanding and often require great determination and good conditioning to pull off effectively.

This article discusses the eight most prominent benefits of BJJ.

1. BJJ Helps With Weight Loss

Despite what many people believe, weight loss is about adhering to a simple equation:

Consuming fewer calories than you burn. Doing so creates an energy deficit, forcing your body to burn fat to get the calories it needs to function. As a result, you lose weight.

Achieving the calorie deficit depends on two things: eating less or moving more. Controlling your calorie intake will play an essential role in weight loss, but increasing your physical activity will make creating and sustaining a calorie deficit much easier.

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is a fantastic art for weight loss because workouts are demanding and burn hundreds of calories. It's not uncommon for a BJJ player to burn 400, 500, or even 600+ calories from a single session, depending on their size and level of exertion. For example, if you have three BJJ sessions weekly and burn 500 calories each time, that's an extra 1,500 calories burned each week.

2. BJJ Improves Your Self-Defense Skills

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is an art that teaches us how to take opponents down and submit them through intelligent use of leverages, chokeholds, and more. Unlike other fighting styles that heavily depend on size, BJJ is unique because it teaches everyone how to defend themselves effectively.

It's not uncommon for a skilled BJJ practitioner to overcome and submit a larger and stronger opponent in a matter of seconds. The best part is that BJJ teaches trainees how to overcome opponents without hurting them. 

3. Training BJJ Improves Your Conditioning

Good conditioning is essential for our athletic performance, fitness results, fighting abilities, and everyday life. Aerobic and anaerobic conditioning make us more functional and allow us to work harder and longer before reaching exhaustion.

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is a fantastic art because it makes us more conditioned. Each BJJ activity involves the entire body, and grappling sessions require tremendous resilience to push through. Unlike some activities where we maintain a consistent but moderate level of effort, BJJ often pushes us to our limits for brief periods. Sometimes, we have to work at our limits for longer, which further contributes to conditioning and an excellent caloric burn.

4. Improved Mental Health Training BJJ

Mental health isn't a topic lots of people want to discuss. But that doesn't mean we should ignore it because mental health is essential for physical health, fulfilment, happiness, and success in life. 

While most people see BJJ as a purely physical discipline, its impact on the mind is profound. For one, we know that exercise improves mental health. Countless studies show that physically active people are happier and more fulfilled than sedentary individuals. 

Second, BJJ is incredibly satisfying because it offers a sense of progression. Each trainee starts from zero and slowly develops their skills and expertise, bringing pride and confidence. 

5. BJJ Enhances Flexibility & Range of Motion

We typically envision various stretching exercises when we think of flexibility and improved range of motion. While beneficial, these aren't the only way to enhance our freedom to move. 

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is an excellent practice for improving flexibility measures because it often forces us to assume difficult positions. As a result, we constantly work on our range of motion. 

Many trainees never think twice about it. But they find themselves much more flexible and able to do things they couldn't do before.

6. BJJ Improves Your Problem-Solving Skills

Life throws a constant barrage of problems we need to solve. Meeting deadlines, dealing with family emergencies, prioritizing, and making the right choices present issues that need solving.

The people who solve problems better stay ahead, move up, and become successful. Those who can't solve or avoid problems end up in difficult situations, often feeling unsure which way is up.

The great thing about BJJ (and martial arts, as a whole) is that it teaches you to solve problems. Each opponent presents you with various problems you need to solve. That constant pressure to solve problems shapes your identity and leads you to believe you can find yourself out of any problematic situation.

7. BJJ Learning Discipline And Respect

Having discipline and respect for others are two characteristics that make decision-making easier, allowing us to lead happier lives, maintain good relationships, and become successful. Luckily for all of us, we can learn both traits through practice.

BJJ is a great discipline because it ingrains discipline by constantly pushing us out of our comfort zone. Each time we show up, we develop our discipline muscle and find it easier to do the right thing, no matter how difficult it may be. 

Training BJJ is also a great way to learn how to respect others, regardless of their attitude, skill level, or something else. You are in it together, which forces you to set your differences aside, respect one another, and grow as a collective. 

8. Social Skills And Making Friends

Surrounding yourself with positive, energetic, and ambitious people is a fantastic way to come out of your shell and expand your social skills. Because of its nature, Brazilian jiu-jitsu is a fantastic way to expand your social circle and become more sociable.

Brazilian jiu-jitsu is a sport where you train as part of a team. Almost every aspect of your training involves other people, and you get to share techniques, encourage one another, and grow as a team. When one person fails, everyone else is there to offer support, ideas, and encouragement.

Benefits of BJJ Training

Let's do a quick recap of the benefits:

• BJJ is a fantastic way to burn extra calories and lose some weight
• Regular BJJ practice improves your self-defence skills by showing you how to overcome and submit opponents
• BJJ is great for improving your conditioning and work capacity
• Practicing BJJ is excellent for your mental health, discipline, and respect for others
• Doing BJJ is a simple and effective way to improve your flexibility and range of motion
• BJJ teaches you how to solve problems quickly and effectively
• Make new friends & sorround yourself with like minded people
  

If you want to improve your performance on the mats, explore our strength & conditioning program for BJJ.