While we love a good spar with our Jiu Jitsu community, we know that getting on the mat requires time we don’t always have. If you can’t get on the mat as much as you’d like, or are looking for new ways to get better, check out our 3 tips to improve your Jiu Jitsu practice off the mat.
Know Your Goals
Goals are what will keep you accountable and motivated, especially when it gets hard. Goals provide a light at the end of the tunnel so you can see that all your hard work now will pay off in the long run. If you don’t know your goals, you need to create them. A Jiu-Jitsu practitioner will only be as successful as their goals. Goals help make your training more purposeful since you know there’s an end goal in sight.
Assess Strengths and Weaknesses
Jiu-Jitsu isn’t about strength, but it’s important to know yours and your weaknesses. Knowledge is power when it comes to Jiu-Jitsu. The more you know about yourself off the mat, the more you can improve on the mat.
To assess your strengths and weaknesses, you might want to start with your performance on the mat. How many techniques do you use? Are you following the proper technique? Then move on to mental. How are your self-disciple and control? These two skills are crucial to winning in Jiu-Jitsu. Lastly, you need to assess yourself physically. Are you lacking or succeeding in power, endurance, strength, flexibility, and durability? These attributes will also help you see results on the mat.
Once you know your strengths and weaknesses, you can incorporate them into your goals. That way you’re planning out the time, energy, and resources you need to improve. When you improve off the mat, you’ll also improve on the mat.
Condition Your Body and Improve Your Health
As we stated, it’s not about being the biggest or the strongest in Jiu-Jitsu. But you do need to be in good health in order to improve on the mat. Conditioning your body with strength exercises can reduce the risk of injury, speed up your recovery, and build your stamina. Common cross workouts we see within the Jiu-Jitsu community are HIIT, yoga, and strength training exercises.
In addition to moving your body, you need to feed it the right nutrients for it to perform at its best. Improve your health with a proper diet and a good night's sleep. It might not seem like a lot, but it will fuel your body and can help you recover faster. Plus, following a good health routine will help with building the self-discipline and control that you need on the mat.
With these three tips, you’ll improve yourself off the mat, mentally and physically. Which will translate onto the mat, so you’ll see results. If you need apparel to wear during your Jiu-Jitsu journey on and off the mat, check out our T-shirts and rashguards!
