Judo exercises

**IsThisRight?** · Posted On: 10/06/2011 5:27am

Hi,

So i've gotten access to a really really good gym with all the freeweights that anyone could ever want. How should I take advantage of this for Judo? I've never used a gym before, all I use were bodyweights and kettlebells since thats all I have in my house. What exercises do you guys recommend for Judo?

**CrackFox** · Posted On: 10/06/2011 5:50am

First up, if you're training for judo don't sacrifice any judo training time for weight training. It's not a good trade-off. (Don't forget to factor recovery time into this.)

Secondly, you're much better off going in with a set program than just picking things at random to do - but if you're going to do anything, I think that squats, dead-lifts and power-cleans have been the most beneficial for me. Over head pressing would also be up there.

Cleans are a pretty technical lift and they need to be coached and take a while to get right. I'm glad I learned how to do them, and I feel they really helped with my entry into a lot of ashi-waza, but looking back I can't say that doing them was the best use of my time from a strict judo perspective.

**1point2** · Posted On: 10/07/2011 12:18am

I agree with everything CrackFox said except that taking a little time off of judo worked in my situation. I was very weak, and fixing that weakness turned out to be more beneficial than anything I was learning in class.

My judo got a whole lot better when I did a couple months of a modified Rippetoe's Starting Strength program. I got much stronger and fixed a bunch of mobility problems. Believe you me, technique gets a whole lot easier when you can squat and deadlift more than your bodyweight.

If you don't have a coach I'd recommend one of the SS variations that uses pull-ups and chin-ups instead of power cleans. That'll be plenty to learn and work on. Once you know how to properly squat, deadlift and press with a barbell, you can look into judo-specific programming. I doubt the judo-specific programming will be very different: more upper-body bodyweight work and some power cleans would be it, really.

Strength and conditioning is meant to get you strong, tough, fast, and powerful while giving you a solid gas tank; sport-specific stuff should stay in judo class.

**Oonjuk** · Posted On: 10/08/2011 12:05am

http://www.youtube.com/user/BeyondGrappling
This is by Matt D'Aquino. He wrote many of the "fitness for judo" articles at judoinfo.com, and I think it's a good reference you can use.

http://judoinfo.com/new/alphabetical...y-matt-daquino
This article is written by the same guy. Hopefully this helps.

Also, if your gym has a C2 erg machine, I recommend indoor rowing along with HIIT on the treadmill for additional cardio. It will boost your stamia.