Primary Goals:
1. Develop functional strength for BJJ
2. Develop explosiveness for BJJ
3. Develop muscular endurance for aik-, I mean, BJJ
4. Work all major muscles of body to avoid imbalances

Lose weight, look better, etc., too

Fitness Plan:

Sunday: Rest
Monday: Lifting Day - Lower Body
Tuesday: BJJ - 2.5 hours
Wednesday: Rest and/or Grip Training
Thursday: BJJ - 2.5 hours
Friday: Lifting Day - Upper Body & Abs/Back
Saturday: Rest or BJJ

General plan - do supersets of unrelated muscles to save time and keep heart rate up. Be in and out in under 2 hours, including shower, warmup, and cooldown.

Monday Lifting:
Unless specified, exercises are done with 4 sets of 6 reps

10 min jump rope warmup
Light dynamic stretching

Superset 1 - Barbell squats & Neck exercises (Bridges, elevated raises, etc, done to near-failure)
Superset 2 - Calf raises and Hip Adductor/Groin muscles
Superset 3 - Hamstring curls & Toe Raises (done to near failure)
Superset 4 - (using rubber resistance bands) Straight leg raises to the front to near failure
Superset 5 - (using rubber resistance bands) Side leg raises to the front to near failure
Superset 6 - Hip flexor raises

Cooldown


-------

Friday Lifting: Upper body + Back/Abs
Unless specified, exercises are done with 4 sets of 6 reps

10 min jump rope warmup
Light dynamic stretching


Superset 1: Dumbbell Bench Press + Abs (Jackknife situps done to near-failure or with medicine ball)
Superset 2: Dumbbell Military Press + Neck exercises (Bridges, elevated raises, etc, done to near-failure)
Superset 3: Lat Pulldown or Wide-Grip Pullups + Back extensions
Superset 4: Chinups (with or without extra weight) + Obliques
Superset 5: Towel Grip Hangs




Again, comments and suggestions welcome.

You might want to switch out the squats for deadlifts every second week. They'll give you hammies, glutes and erectors to kill for which I am sure will be very useful when grappling.

I personally do both squats and deads in the same week but I am doing very little cardio and not doing any MA training so I have more of a chance for recovery.

Also if the back extensions get too boring, try good mornings, they are great, just don't do a Bruce Lee and **** up your spine :)

More importantly, how's your diet?

A lot of this looks really good - plenty of back and grip work there. You're willing to commit a great deal of time to this it seems, which speaks volumes about your motivation. You've balanced the major muscle groups as well, and your reps/sets are spot on.

I want to second the notion for the deadlift, one of the best exercises for all around strength. The above advice is great but I would keep the squats and lose the hamstring curls and the adductor motions and the calf raises. GOOD squats and deadlifts are all you need.

If you want to lose fat, regulate your diet. That's all for that. Have the mindset that working out will do nothing for it.

Bearing in mind that I am a minion of Pavel Tsatsouline, I would highly recommend you investigate his work. His workouts are quick, highly effective, and tailored to military/martial arts needs. Ultimately you may want to look into kettlebell training. The workout you have listed above smacks of a bodybuilder's routine, and they are not noted for being as strong as they look.

My stretching routine is based on Tsatsouline's methods. I really like his stuff. I do his contraction-stretching stuff.

My gym DOES have kettleballs. I think I want to get used to actually sticking to a regular routine first before I go rampant with this. I also know Ross Enamait has good stuff with medicine balls.

The cool part is, my work is such that I can do grip training or other "simple" exercises because I am mostly watching people or doing very little interaction with them.

I guess I'm gonna have to learn how to deadlift. I tried learning before, but I don't know if I was doing it well.


Regarding my diet, it's crappier now than it used to be, but I shouldn't have much problem kicking it back into high gear. I'm at 17% bodyfat, never have gotten higher than 20.

If you have access to kettlebells, I would seriously consider learning to do a good swing with them and do so in addition to cardio or as a warm up.

I just noticed you're in Chicago, what gym do you go to that has kettlebells? Are they pastel colored and hollow?

Hahahahaha! My old school (POW Kickboxing) had colored kettleballs by the time I had to move away.

My gym/school is here:

http://www.ultfitev.com/aboutultfit.html
http://www.newbreedchicago.com

The kettleballs are black and iron. Like cannonballs with handles.

Agree with the "looks good" comments.

Random:

A good exersize for functional strength = Turkish get-up. I just started doing these and they kick ass.
http://www.tacticalathlete.com/tguarticle.htm - decent description, but a little... entheuastic about it.

How to deadlift = buy the book starting strength. It's worth it. Way worth it. No, better than that. Buy, borrow or steal you a copy. Best book on lifting _ever_.
http://www.startingstrength.com/

Hahahahaha! My old school (POW Kickboxing) had colored kettleballs by the time I had to move away.


Don't laugh, at least not until you google "cardiobells"

I was in Chicago last week visiting the in laws. Some of the ads I saw for gyms (where they do workouts with Bo-ken or other such BS) seemed borderline retarded. This was North Chicago, BTW. Seems like you got a good hardcore gym though. Nice.

North Chicago is a suburb near Waukegan; north Chicago is Wrigleyville, Rogers Park, Edgewater, etc.


And I've seen cardiobells. :(

Primary Goals:
1. Develop functional strength for BJJ
2. Develop explosiveness for BJJ
3. Develop muscular endurance for aik-, I mean, BJJ
4. Work all major muscles of body to avoid imbalances

Lose weight, look better, etc., too

Fitness Plan:

Sunday: Rest
Monday: Lifting Day - Lower Body
Tuesday: BJJ - 2.5 hours
Wednesday: Rest and/or Grip Training
Thursday: BJJ - 2.5 hours
Friday: Lifting Day - Upper Body & Abs/Back
Saturday: Rest or BJJ

General plan - do supersets of unrelated muscles to save time and keep heart rate up. Be in and out in under 2 hours, including shower, warmup, and cooldown.

Monday Lifting:
Unless specified, exercises are done with 4 sets of 6 reps

10 min jump rope warmup
Light dynamic stretching

Superset 1 - Barbell squats & Neck exercises (Bridges, elevated raises, etc, done to near-failure)
Superset 2 - Calf raises and Hip Adductor/Groin muscles
Superset 3 - Hamstring curls & Toe Raises (done to near failure)
Superset 4 - (using rubber resistance bands) Straight leg raises to the front to near failure
Superset 5 - (using rubber resistance bands) Side leg raises to the front to near failure
Superset 6 - Hip flexor raises

Cooldown


-------

Friday Lifting: Upper body + Back/Abs
Unless specified, exercises are done with 4 sets of 6 reps

10 min jump rope warmup
Light dynamic stretching


Superset 1: Dumbbell Bench Press + Abs (Jackknife situps done to near-failure or with medicine ball)
Superset 2: Dumbbell Military Press + Neck exercises (Bridges, elevated raises, etc, done to near-failure)
Superset 3: Lat Pulldown or Wide-Grip Pullups + Back extensions
Superset 4: Chinups (with or without extra weight) + Obliques
Superset 5: Towel Grip Hangs




Again, comments and suggestions welcome.

Ha ha ha! Functionality and explosiveness indeedy! Do your legs work seperate from your upper body in BJJ? Explosiveness! You aren't doing a single explosive exercise! Ha ha ha! Do you think explosiveness grows on trees? Overthrow your shitty workout, stop doing them like your a fucking anatomy chart, and start doing full body movements! Power Curls, Push Presses, Swings, Switch Grip Chins, Rice Bucket Gripping, Jesus, think about your goals and train accordingly!

First of all do you have any goals you want to get to due to a competition coming up or do you just want to start training harder?

I would scrap the workouts of upperbody one day and lower body the other. I have been doing full body workouts 2x a week for over a year now and it is great.

I would squat one day and dead the other, that pretty much gets rid of all that hip flexor/groin/ham curls/adductor/abductor exercises. Save a good amount of time and will build strength better, which is your goal. Your hip flexor/groin/ham curls/adductor/abductor will all be worked out by squats/deads as they try and stabilize the heavy weights you will be pulling/pushing.

Now throw some upperbody in, a vertical press (military) and a vertical pull (weighted pullup) one day, and a horizontal press( bench) and a horizontal pull (rows) the other day. You now have two complete time conscious full body workouts to increase absolute strength in all major movements.

Repsxsets seem cool, just lift fast, as fast as you comfortably can anyway. Exert as much pressure on the bar as you can (even if it is moving like a snail on heavy weights you lift as fast as you can) to increase your explosivness.

Personally I waited until I developed my goal absolute strength before working specifically on explosiveness because I read on a few places its easier to condition a strong athlete compared to trying to get a conditioned athlete strong. Once you get strong enough, mantain it and use the extra time to work on olys or plyos more.

Lastly for conditioning I have recently been doing pushup, pullups, divebombers no rest max and am never really gassed anymore at all.

Two basic full body workouts for a normal gym:

Day 1: Bench, Squat, BOR (Strenght)
Push press, speed squat/bench (explosiveness)

Day 2: Military, Dead, Weighted Pullup(strength)
oly technique practice (get good technique with moderate weights to learn movement for a while)

After every workout go for bodyweight exercise like burpees, pullups, divebombers etc.(muscular endurance)

No straps or other equipment, don't go to failure a lot, keep a log, always look to increase speed or poundage.

^^^^Knows what hes talking about Judah. Unlike some other guys, he doesnt neglect an area or think "only bodyweight" or "only powerlifting!"

I was trying to get in a 3day weight program, but could never get the thrid one in, so I would say "ok this week I wont have time so Ill just do 2x full body, but Ill get 3x next week", but the 2x full body is working great. I havent been deadlifting just

Squat, Bench, Row, Incline Bench and Dumbbell Clean and PushPress. Making good gains so far.

I hadnt thought about doing my bodyweight stuff after my weight workout, Ill do that methinks.

BTW I know LI GUY 1 knows what hes doing cause he lives upstairs, where the civilized folk get to live. "OOOOO LOOK AT ME!!! I GET HEAT UP HERE!!!OOOOOO"

Look into complex movements as well. They are great for anereobic/lactic conditioning. Thats right a a grapplers alley. I have also been working on "man killers". I honstly can't remember the name of the movement at 4 in the morning. But it's done on the machine that basically puts you into the splits and you have to close your legs against resistance. It has greatly imptoved my leg endurance and ability to keep pressure on a guy while he is in my gaurd or I have him in mount.

First of all do you have any goals you want to get to due to a competition coming up or do you just want to start training harder?

Training harder, for now. If I was competing, I'd probably do 4-5 days of BJJ and maybe 1 full-body workout a week.

Pushups and the other bodyweight conditioning, I can do at work. But it'd probably be a bad idea to do a lot of that stuff at work, then go to the gym and try to pump some serious iron, right?

That's why I do the bodyweight after my lifting. I do it on off days sometimes to, getst the blood flowing for active recovery in addition to the conditioning.

I do my grip stuff whenver I feel like it by the way. Every other day I at least get something in. Only using the CoC for now but will start pinching plates in 5 minutes.