There’s no better supplement a human can take than good old physical exertion.

That’s what you’ll get if you go with Ginástica Natural, a workout method that’s handy in helping you to build endurance, improve your posture and get more power behind your moves. And the best part: you don’t need any equipment, just the weight from your own body.

Want to get started today? Physical conditioning coaches Álvaro and Raphael Romano have a brand new challenge for you, to whip you into shape good and quick.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VSQjkJ4ATjs

Today’s exercise needs to be done in pairs. The first thing to do is decide who’s going to roll first and who’s going to leap. The second step is to determine how many repetitions there’ll be—two sets of ten reps is what they recommend.

When doing the leap, it’s important that you use your legs to thrust as well as to absorb the impact. At first sight, people often think the thrust is created by the upper body.

Ready for the challenge? Enjoy the workout and be healthy.

Go that extra mile and check out the video below to get some inspiration to train better your body for Jiu-Jitsu:

There is no reason to miss Jiu-Jitsu! Even if your gym is closed and you have no partners available to practice, you can still get some work out done by yourself.

In the video below, Black Belt Jason Scully shows us 33 exercises in 7 minutes that can be performed alone and anywhere. It helps improve your movement, agility, coordination, balance, and conditioning.

Learn it here and good training!

Xande hits the weights hard with Alejarra. (Photo by Carlos Ozório)

What does it take to get your physical conditioning right? What’s the best way to prepare your body for the demands of Jiu-Jitsu training?

If you’re counting the hours before you can hit the mats again, whether because you were gallivanting around at carnival or other reasons, today GRACIEMAG brings you three plum tips plucked from issue 181.

Oriented by the practitioner Leandro Medeiros of Equipe Liboni, an expert on the subject from Unicamp University, we bring you a list of three common mistakes committed by Jiu-Jitsu practitioners in their physical-conditioning routines.

Mistake 1: Neglecting Jiu-Jitsu and focusing only on pumping up in the weight room

The intensity of movement in a Jiu-Jitsu match varies between peaks and plateaus, and you thus have to perform different types of muscular exertion during the course of combat. There are moments where you’re required to exert explosive force, while at others you rely on isometrics or even endurance. To be effective in wielding all these different manifestations of force, VARIATION should be a cornerstone of your strength training or weightlifting routine. You can develop your muscles for all of these forms of muscular exertion by doing specific workouts in the weight room or even on the mat. Often Jiu-Jitsu practitioners are influenced by aesthetically-minded weight lifters who focus only on muscular hypertrophy (for example, 3 to 4 sets of 6 to 12 repetitions at moderate speed with 1- to 2-minute breaks and performing standard exercises). Most of these methodologies meant to pump up muscle fibers don’t provide the right sort of gains in strength, power and endurance. Getting that would require combining sets/reps/load/speed with movement/rest-interval and workout/varied exercise types. Now, muscular hypertrophy does indeed have its importance for Jiu-Jitsu fighters, as it means gains in power (explosiveness) and injury prevention. But you should only work on hypertrophy once you’ve laid a solid foundation of muscular endurance. Immediately following a strength workout and depending on how far off a competition is, you should place greater emphasis on power building. Remember, you want the performance of a fighter, not a bodybuilder. (Tip: reading Martin Rooney’s column in GRACIEMAG will help introduce you to useful and diverse exercises.)

Mistake 2: Failure to adjust workout volume or intensity in training

In a nutshell, training volume is a composite of different variables that hinders how long a weight-training workout lasts. Like number of repetitions and different exercises, for example. On the mat, volume is the number of matches and their duration. Now, intensity is all about the different aspects related to quality of training. For example, in weightlifting it’s the load being lifted. On the mat it’s the “level of difficulty” of the matches—that is, the amount of force employed in the movements.

A Jiu-Jitsu match is overall more intense than it is voluminous, unlike a marathon, for example. Therefore, as a competition approaches, it is only natural that you bring the volume of training down, making way for intensity work, which is closer to what actually transpires in competition. What ends up happening a lot of the time, though, is that training plays out almost exclusively on the mat. The result of that is that you’ll perform with bursts of endurance but won’t be able to reach peak muscle strength and power. Furthermore, you’ll tend to be physically drained as you step into competition. The thing to do is build up a solid foundation of endurance early in the season through volume training, to later bring down the volume and boost the intensity as you go. At most stages of your training, you should avoid raising volume and intensity at the same time, which can lead to fatigue, overtraining, and osteoarticular and muscle injuries.

Mistake 3: Lack of planning affecting adaptation to desired body weight

To count for the whole season, your training has to be firmly grounded in the principles of sport science. Slapdash training routines thrown together randomly don’t do your physical conditioning a bit of good. Truth is, often they’ll do more harm than good, hampering your results in training and competition. And when it comes to making your target weight class, you should plan your weight cut well so it will happen in a natural manner.

It’s important to bear in mind that, unlike in MMA, in Jiu-Jitsu weigh-ins take place on the day of competition. And it’s not uncommon to see competitors having to shed ten or so pounds on tournament day, forcing them to run laps around the gymnasium while wrapped in plastic, sweatshirts or two gis, without eating properly or drinking water. The product of all these harrowing procedures is a weakly, dehydrated and debilitated athlete dragging his feet around the match area.

Planning and periodizing your training in a sensible way is of the utmost importance for you to make it to competition day at the right weight and in good physical shape to compete. By doing so, there’ll be a greater chance of your physiological functions being better adapted to a lower weight division once the big events roll around.

So, check out the video below where personal trainer Sasa Obradovic and BJJ athlete Alexandre Odebrecht show a creative routine that can be performed at the gym and simulates real fight situations.

Learn the workout here and good training!

These are simple exercises that everyone can perform at the gym or on the mat to warm-up before class. The intensity of the workout will depend on how many sets you can do.

Watch the video below for instructions and good training!

Mint, Pear and Chamomile Tea

Chamomile is a popular Herb used for centuries in medicine because of its health and nutritional benefits. According to the book 100 Foods To Stay Young – Everyday foods to combat the aging process, from inside and out by Charlotte Watts –  Chamomile Tea is known as a soothing sleep aid. It also supports good digestion and immunity through lowering the stress levels that contribute to premature aging. Contains antioxidants for a youthful heart and skin, plus anti-inflammatory and cholesterol-lowering properties that help to prevent age-related diseases. Between all these health benefits of drinking Chamomile tea, the most important for BJJ athletes and practitioners could be its mild sedative effects.

In addition to physical conditioning and clean eating, sleep plays a major role in athletic performance and competitive results. The quality and amount of sleep provides energy to both the brain and body. If sleep is cut short, the body doesn’t have time to repair and release hormones.

According to Sleepfoundation.org, Sleep deprivation increases levels of stress hormone, cortisol. It has also been seen to decrease production of glycogen and carbohydrates that are stored for energy use during physical activity.  Thus, it means that athletes that don’t get enough sleep have more chances of experiencing fatigue, low energy, poor focus and slower recovery post-workout.

The body needs rest and recovery to perform at the highest level. According to Sportsmedicine.about.com, It is the alternation of adaptation and recovery that takes the athlete to a higher level of fitness. High-level athletes need to realize that the greater the training intensity and effort, the greater the need for planned recovery.

Sportsmedicine.about.com says that chronic lack of sleep can lead to increased levels of cortisol (a stress hormone), decreased activity of human growth hormone (which is active during tissue repair), and decreased glycogen synthesis. Studies link sleep deprivation with decreased aerobic endurance. Glucose and glycogen (stored glucose) are the main sources of energy for athletes. Being able to store glucose in muscle and the liver is particularly important for endurance athletes. Those who are sleep deprived may experience slower storage of glycogen, which prevents storage of the fuel an athlete needs for endurance events beyond 90 minutes. Elevated levels of cortisol may interfere with tissue repair and growth. Over time, this could prevent an athlete from responding to heavy training and lead to overtraining and injury.

Whether you’re a top Jiu Jitsu athlete or simply practices it for self-defense, or just to have fun and exercise, getting the proper amount of sleep is necessary to good fitness and good health. Drinking chamomile tea will help you relieve insomnia, sleep better, reduce anxiety, easy stress and boost your immune system. Busy work routines also leaves us feeling increasingly anxious, worried, and maybe upset so GRACIEMAG recommends you to experience a soothing mug of Chamomile tea at bedtime to find the relaxing benefits of this healing herb.

Try out these two flavorful Chamomile tea recipes and have a perfect nigh of sleep!

Mint, Pear and Chamomile Tea

Ingredients:

Mint Leaves, extra to serve

10 g Coles Pear Halves in Juice

2 Chamomile Tea Bags

2 cups Water

Method:

Blend pears and a little juice from tin, and measure out 1½ cups of pear juice. Place a pot on medium heat and add the mint leaves, teabags, 1½ cups pear juice and water. Bring to a simmer. Take the tea off the heat and allow it to cool. Strain the tea, and pour into a jug. When serving, add extra mint.

Chamomile Tea with Orange Peel

Ingredients:

1 tsp. dried or 2 tsp. fresh chamomile flowers

1piece fresh organic orange rind (no pith)

1 tsp. good-quality organic honey

Method:

Put the chamomile flowers and orange rind in an individual teapot. Pour over boiling water and stir. Let steep for 5 minutes. Pour through a strainer into a serving mug and stir in the honey. Drink hot, or chill in the refrigerator and drink cold with ice.

Sources:

100 Foods to Stay Young – Everyday foods to combat the aging process, from inside and out by Charlotte Watts

http://www.theteatalk.com/chamomile-tea-benefits.html

http://sportsmedicine.about.com/cs/conditioning/a/aa062800a.htm

http://sleepfoundation.org/sleep-news/sleep-athletic-performance-and-recovery

http://recipes.coles.com.au/recipes/1189/soothing-mint-pear-chamomile-tea/

James Puopolo with his judo professor Andy Hung after his brown belt promotion. Photo: Personal Archive

What most high-level athletes do with their training extends outside of training Jiu-Jitsu. Drilling, conditioning, wrestling, crossfit are all ways in which competitors can raise their skill levels for tournaments and becoming well-rounded martial artists.

For James Puopolo, a black belt competitor under GMA member Rafael Lovato Jr., judo has been a great addition to his training routine. In fact, he just received his brown belt from Andy Hung at Portland Judo in Portland, OR so we decided to ask about his training.

James recently won double gold at the 2014 IBJJF Houston Open on Feb. 22-23 and will be competing at the Pan American Championship in two weeks. See how he trains and constantly improves his skills:

GRACIEMAG: How long have you been training Judo and why did you seek out that martial art?

JAMES PUOPOLO: I’ve been training judo for about three years. It’s been great supplementary training. Like any of my training my main motivation was to find another way to win. Almost all of the great champions have judo. Saulo, Xande, and Rafael all have great judo.

What other ways do you cross train?

I do a lot of cross training since I’m out here in Oregon. I do a lot of strength and conditioning, tons of yoga/ flexibility training, and I’ve recently added pilates twice a week which has been really helpful.

Does training  judo give you confidence to stay standing with opponents in competition?

At this point I feel like my judo is getting to where I feel confident standing with most guys. I would definitely still consider myself a guard player, but I have seen judo as a long term project that I will use a lot in the future.

Besides stand-up, how does Judo help your Jiu-Jitsu?

Judo has really helped my grips. Once I started training with Lovato I realized I was getting destroyed by his gripping. Also, I think judo helps your base and being able to manipulate your opponent’s weight on sweeps.

What has your training been like for Pan-Ams?

Training for Pan-Ams has been awesome. I just got back from a ten day trip to OKC training with Rafael and Ben Baxter. Houston was a great prep tournament. My nutrition is good right now and I’m feeling strong. Can’t wait to show my progression down in Irvine.

To compete alongside James at the Pan American Championship, go to www.ibjjf.org to register!

Rickson Gracie

Usually people breathe only puffing their chest and using only the upper part of the lungs. Doing this, you are leading the air only to the apex of the lungs without exercising the diaphragm. Therefore, the lower part of the lungs reduces the amplitude of respiratory movements and consequently diminishes our vital capacity that it is the average global capacity of a person to inhale and exhale.

In diaphragmatic breathing, or commonly known as belly breathing, when you inspire, the abdomen tracks the movement of the air inlet dilating gently; and when you expire, it contracts so slow and gently while the air outlet. Ideally, you should try to make this work using only the nose and breathing calmly. Move only your abdomen. Chest stays still.

You can use this technique to start and end your workouts and before the competitions. It is also a form of meditation because from the moment that we are always thinking about something, when you focus on your breathing, you will stop thinking about your problems. Try to observe that when the breath is calmed the mind also becomes calm, reducing anxiety, and giving you a sense of well being and relaxation.

This interestingly shows the effectiveness of this breathing technique, but only with continued practice you may notice changes in your daily lives and also in your performance on the mat by improving your physical conditioning, combating anxiety before competition and speeding up recovery both during and after training or competition. This technique will help you physically and mentally, being an important factor in health and quality of life.

By Prof. Alvaro Romano