OK, maybe you’v been bitten by the Jiu Jitsu bug. You started training a little bit ago, and now it’s all you think about (maybe you’ve even gone and bought yourself some Jiu Jitsu swag). You get to the gym as often as you can and spend as much time rolling as possible. After a while, you’ve started to notice some stiffness, soreness, and the occasional ache or pain with certain movements. Maybe you’ve been training for a while and have just developed those chronic aches and pains all too common to jiu jitsu athletes. And now, perhaps, you’ve begun to think about finding a good Jiu Jitsu Mobility Program to help prevent injuries so you can spend more time on the mats.

If that’s the case, this article will get you started off on the right foot.

What is Mobility & Why Is It Important?

To start, let’s begin by defining what we mean by “mobility”. Most people think that mobility is the same thing as flexibility, but it’s not. Flexibility is defined as the ability of a joint or series of joints to [passively] move through an unrestricted, pain-free range of motion [1]. Mobility, on the other hand is defined as your ability to move purposefully through your available range of motion [2]. While flexibility really means how much a joint can move (available range of motion), mobility involves physical stamina, strength, balance, coordination, as well as range of motion.

The example I like to give, especially in the context of jiu jitsu is this: say you are flexible enough to do a forward fold stretch (touching your toes) and you can use your arms to pull your knees to your chest without pain. But, when you try to actively bring your knees to your chest without pulling on them, you can only get your knees about halfway to your chest. If that’s the case, then you have high flexibility, but much lower mobility.

While flexibility focuses on the amount of available movement, mobility involves not only available motion, but also motor control within that available range. Especially when it comes to decreasing your risk of injury during jiu jitsu, focus on mobility. That’s not to say you shouldn’t worry about flexibility. But flexibility plays just a part in your overall mobility.

How Mobility Affects Jiu Jitsu Performance & Injuries

Ok, so now we understand what mobility is. But, how does it affect jiu jitsu performance and injury?  Well the first, obvious answer is that being more mobile allows you to safely get in and out of certain positions. For example, inverting to attack the legs or bringing your foot in between you and your partner to retain guard require not just flexibility, but control to safely accomplish. And, if you lack that control, you likely experience an injury, either right then and there, or after several repetitions of the same movement.

In fact, a recent study of Judo, MMA, and Jiu Jitsu athletes showed that Jiu Jitsu athletes experienced higher levels of sprains and strains, as opposed to fractures [4]. This points to the importance of mobility in jiu jitsu performance and injury prevention. Sprains and strains in jiu jitsu result from mobility limitations. These limitations may be forced by a training partner (a kimura for example takes your shoulder into the end range of mobility until you tap) or they may result from natural deficits in mobility.

Sidebar: How the Central Nervous System Affects Mobility

People often fail to realize that what keeps you from being able to touch your toes when you have back pain is not necessarily that your joints can’t move that far, but that your central nervous system is preventing them from moving that far in order to protect you. (Side bar, the sensation you know as pain is actually a protective mechanism created by your brain, as I explain in this video).

If your brain feels like it doesn’t have control of a joint at its end range, then it will tighten up muscles or even create a sensation of pain before you get to that point. As I’ll discuss later on, that’s one reason why strengthening exercises improve overall range of motion, through something called decreased co-contraction of antagonist muscles [3]. Basically, research does suggest that, by getting stronger through resistance training, you can actually increase your flexibility and mobility [5].

How To Improve Mobility for Jiu Jitsu

Ok, so now that we know why mobility is important for jiu jitsu performance and injury prevention, let’s explore how you actually go about improving mobility. This article will cover the high-level principles, with a focus on jiu jitsu-specific movements and joints. We’ll be releasing specific mobility programs that address specific joints or body regions (like the knees, hips, shoulder, and back).

Stretching vs. Resistance Training for Mobility

Here’s the 30,000ft summary: you can only have mobility where you have strength.

Thinking back to that original definition of mobility as the ability to move purposefully through your available range of motion, you see how you can’t have mobility without first having the strength necessary to move at those ranges. Typically, when people talk about mobility, they mean at the “end ranges” of available motion (or, at the ned of your flexibility). So, because mobility means not just motion, but control and stability throughout that movement, improving mobility means building strength. That’s why all good mobility programs target both strength and flexibility together.

In fact, mobility programs that address motion and strength also tend to be more effective at addressing pain.

Mobility, Exercise & Pain

Research suggests that resistive exercise (strength training) is associated with lower severity of pain [6]. Now, the reason behind the decreased pain levels remains unclear. Without getting too nerdy into the neuroscience of it all, research does show that the thalamus, amygdala, and medial prefrontal cortex seem to play a pivotal role in the exercise-pain effect [6].

Why do those brain structures matter?

The amygdala is a key structure in the fear response —the acquisition & expression of fear conditioning and extinction, to be precise [7]. As a great book called The Body Keeps the Score describes it: the amygdala is the watchtower looking for the forest fire. When it sees smoke or flames, it sends the alarm signals to kickstart the fight or flight response. When the danger passes, the amygdala sends the “all clear” signal to calm things down.  The medial prefrontal cortex, on the other hand, is required for the expression of learnt fear and consolidation of that extinction memory [7]. This becomes important when understanding how the nervous system affects our mobility.

What does that have to do with mobility and pain?

Well, if pain is a protective mechanism of the brain (where the amygdala & prefrontal cortex live), then it’s important to know that exercise affects major parts of the brain that drive the fight/flight and survival response. Simply put: if your amygdala perceives danger in a certain movement or position, it starts the alarm signals. In most cases those alarm signals show up as pain, tight muscles, and restricted motion. That’s the reason many people with chronic low back pain feel discomfort when they bend down to touch their toes. There may be some tissue damage causing the pain, but more often than not in the case of chronic pain, the sensations of discomfort come from the amygdala thinking that you will hurt your back by bending down.

I actually did an interview with another PT about the difference between acute and chronic pain, but for many people that I train with on the mats, the aches pains that they deal with are more chronic than acute, especially if they’ve been training jiu jitsu for a long time. We all know that brown belt with a bad neck, or bum knees, or wrecked shoulders.

Often times, there is weakness or instability in that body part that seems to be causing pain. But, that weakness and instability often comes from lack of use because of pain (or fear of pain). And that pain comes from a learned fear response in the brain, which also results in tight or stiff feeling joints and muscles.

Strength & Mobility

So how do strengthening exercises decrease pain and improve mobility for jiu jitsu athletes? Well, research about Jiu Jitsu athletes and injury seems to show that improvement in strength not only improves performance, but also improves resilience to injury [9].

In addition, increasing strength throughout your available range of motion means that your nervous system (your brain and amygdala) will be less likely to perceive potential danger as you get to the end of your range of motion. For example, if you have good strength at the end of your range when lifting your arm over your head, your amygdala is less likely to sense danger, so you may be less likely to experience pain or discomfort in your shoulder (which can help when you’re trying to get out of those head and arm chokes).

Simply put: stretching alone won’t improve your mobility. You’ll need to focus on increasing strength throughout the movement that you are trying to improve. For example, if you feel that you lack shoulder mobility, or your shoulder feels tight when someone isolates your arm over your head, then you’ll want to increase strength throughout that overhead movement.

Summary

Ultimately, especially for jiu jitsu athletes, mobility plays a key role in performance, injury prevention, and overall quality of life. Not to be confused with flexibility, mobility involves not only available movement, but the ability to purposefully control your body throughout that movement. That’s why stretching alone is not enough to improve your mobility. Especially in jiu jitsu, where our limbs tend to get isolated at the end range, improving mobility helps prevent injury. It also helps you improve your performance. Keeping a strong knee-elbow connection, guard retention movements, even some attacks involve and require good mobility to safely accomplish those movements without injury.

Jiu Jitsu mobility programs should focus on strength and flexibility together. Ideally, you’ll want to focus on the more common areas that are affected in jiu jitsu athletes (back, knees, and wrists), but build your program to include any problem areas you may have developed over the years (like your neck, hips, or elbow).

And, if you want help and guidance from a licensed clinician to safely return to the mats, feel free to give us a call or book an appointment online.

Bonus: Mobility Framework for Jiu Jitsu Athletes

Ok, so what should you focus on in your jiu jitsu mobility program? Well, research shows that these body parts are most affected by pain or discomfort in jiu jitsu athletes [4]:

• Lumbar Spine (90%); low back pain
• Knees (90%); knee pain 
• Wrist/Hands (60%); mostly wrist pain, though many people that train in the gi experience pain at the finger joints

So, that being said, I’d focus your mobility program on those regions of the body, definitely as a preventative strategy. If you are already experiencing pain or limitations in another area of the body, work those in as well.

Jiu Jitsu Mobility Program Example

OK, here’s an example or starter mobility program you can incorporate in your jiu jitsu training to maintain/improve mobility targeting the 3 most common areas that feel pain before, during, or after a jiu jitsu training session. I recommend trying to incorporate this both before &/or after a training session.

1. Forearm Wrist Stretch

This exercise can be graded up, or down by doing this against a bench, the wall or the ground. Doing this exercise on your hands and knees will provide the most stretch and require the most stability. As you put less body weight through your wrists, it becomes easier.

To complete this exercise:

1. Start on your hands and knees (or against a wall/table/bench to make it easier). Rotate your wrists so that your palms are on the ground and your fingers point towards your knees (rotate your wrists towards the outside.
2. Next, lean away from your wrists (if you’re on your hands and knees, you can do this by sitting your butt back on your heels). Don’t push into pain; you should feel a stretch.
3. Move in and out of this position 10-15 times, holding each repetition for 15-30 seconds.

2. Lumbar Twist & Reach

This exercises two major areas: the spine & the shoulder.

To complete this exercise:

1. Lay on the floor on one side. Flex your top hip to about 90 degrees, like you’re about to step up with that leg.
2. Flex both shoulders to 90 degrees, so that your arms are straight out in front of you.
3. take your top arm and begin to reach up and toward the other side of your body, keeping the back of your hand against the floor the whole time. You’re basically making an arc over your head with your top arm. Keep your top leg and hips still, while your upper body & thoracic spine twist towards the direction of your moving hand.
4. Do this slowly, taking 5+ seconds to complete the arc. Hold the end position for 3-5 seconds. Repeat 10-15 times.
5. Roll to your other side and complete the same sequence with your other leg/shoulder.

3. Kneeling Lunge to Pigeon Pose

This exercise targets the hip flexors, glutes, hamstrings, and lumbar spine. If you’ve got low back pain or stiffness, especially from a tight muscle like the piriformis muscle, this exercise can help relieve the pain.

To complete this exercise:

1. Start in a kneeling lung position with one knee up and one knee down
2. Squeeze your glutes/hamstring of your back leg so you feel a stretch at the front side of that leg (your hip flexor)
3. Move in and out of this stretch 10-15 times, holding for 15-30 seconds
4. Drop your front leg to the ground so that it is bent at a 90 degree angle in front of you
5. Keeping your check up and your hips square, pull your body forward over your leg. This should push the side of your front leg towards the ground
6. Move in and out of this stretch 10-15 times, holding for 15-30 seconds
7. Come up into a squat and position, however low is comfortable for you, and hold for 15-30 seconds
8. Repeat on the other side

4. Toe Touch Squat with Reach

This full-body squat warm up that targets all the major parts of your body. It involves your thoracic spine, lumbar spine, upper back, hips, and ankles. It’s also really good at targeting your low back in a dynamic way.

To complete this exercise:

1. Start standing straight up. Lift your arms up over your head and reach down towards your toes.
2. Once you touch your toes (or get as low as you can), bend your knees into a deep squat.
3. When you’re down in the squat position, reach one hand at a time up and over your head, turning to that side.
4. Touch your toes and straighten your legs so that when you get to the top, you’re bent forward, still touching your toes (you’ll feel the tightness in your low back and hamstrings here!)
5. Raise your arms up and reach back as far as you can
6. Repeat 10-15 times

Jiu Jitsu Mobility Strength Exercise Suggestions

On the strength side of things, I’m going to recommend 2 resistance training exercises that I think every jiu jitsu athlete should incorporate into their regular exercise routine: the deadlift & the overhead press. Now, this is just the bare minimum. But, if someone asks for critical exercises or muscle groups to target, these are the two I’d give them. You can definitely get in the weeds with exercise programs for BJJ. In fact, there’s evidence to suggest that a 3-block exercise routine involving resistance training, metabolic training, and technical training may provide an ideal routine to improve performance and prevent injury in jiu jitsu [11]. And, if you really want to focus on strength alone, you can do static-dynamic exercises like pushups, sit-ups, & pull-ups to improve strength and performance in your BJJ game [10].

But, again, if you’re only going to do a couple of exercises, I recommend the deadlift & the overhead press.

Deadlift for Jiu Jitsu Strength & Performance (and even injury-prevention)

So why is the deadlift one of the exercises I recommend to jiu jitsu athletes? Well, for starters, the deadlift has been shown to be an effective way to treat low back pain [12]. And, since the low back is one of the most often painful areas of the body for jiu jitsu athletes, it makes sense to build a program around strengthening and improving movement and mobility at the low back.  In addition to that, research done in the US Marine Corps showed that completing an 8-week deadlift program caused significant physiological adaptations in strength performance … in tactical athletes [13]. This involved an 8-week program involving 3 days of lifting.

Basically, the deadlift as an awesome, full-body exercise that improves strength and performance for athletes involved in combat-related activities.

So the question is: how many reps and what type of equipment or weights should you use when incorporating deadlifts into your exercise program? The equipment part of that question depends on your goals.

For example, if you want to build strength & muscle growth the following has been shown to be effective [13]:

Strength/Hypertrophy Protocol: 

• Day 1: 65% of max weight at 4 sets x15 reps
• Day 2: 75% of max weight at 4 sets x6 reps
• Day 3: 85% of max weight x3 sets x3 reps

In that case, you’ll want to use an olympic style weight bar with bumper plates, since your goal is to lift very heavy weights. I generally recommend getting a straight olympic bar, since it can be used for more lifts than a specialized hex bar specifically for deadlifts.

If, however your goal is to build endurance or treat pain, you’ll want to follow a protocol like the one below:

Endurance &/or Pain Protocol:

• 2-5 sets (2-3 for targeting pain)
• 10-20 reps (increase to 30 to address pain)
• 40-70% of max output (within pain tolerance if addressing pain)
• Moderate-slow speed
• Brief rest period between sets

For something like that, you can get away with using simple kettlebells or dumbbells.

Overhead Press for Jiu Jitsu Athletes

The second exercise I recommend for jiu jitsu athletes is some form of overhead press. Why? Well, I recommend this exercise in particular because it is a good way to target the scapular stabilizers, rotator cuff, upper trapezius musculature, deltoids and triceps [14]. In short, it effectively targets the entire upper body and arm. And, in a sport where you’re very likely to find yourself in a position with an arm isolated in a precarious position, having strength throughout your arm’s available range of motion can help prevent injury and increase your ability of escaping that position.

As far as what type of equipment to use, the research does suggest that using free weights I more effective than machines [14]. In fact, here’s a quote from a study about it: Overhead press performed using a barbell excites muscles more than using machine to stabilize the trajectory of the external load [14]. So, ideally, you’d use a barbell, but you can also use dumbbells or kettlebells.

As far as reps/sets go, I’d just follow the two protocols I laid out up above.

And that’s it! Hopefully this article provided some insights and at least a high-level overview of how to effectively improve your mobility & strength to either treat injured body parts or prevent injury while training Jiu Jitsu. Over the next season, we’ll put out programs to address specific injuries or body regions that jiu jitsu athletes are concerned about.

If you want help and guidance from a licensed clinician to safely return to the mats, feel free to give us a call or book an appointment online.

References

[1] Medicine, S. (n.d.). Flexibility: Sports medicine: UC davis health. Flexibility | Sports Medicine | UC Davis Health. https://health.ucdavis.edu/sportsmedicine/resources/flexibility#:~:text=What%20is%20flexibility%3F,joint%20and%20total%20body%20health.

[2] Mobility. Harvard Health. (n.d.). https://www.health.harvard.edu/topics/mobility

[3] Robert A. Donatelli, Donn Dimond, Chapter 13. Strength Training Concepts in the Athlete, Editor(s): Robert Donatelli, Sports-Specific Rehabilitation, Churchill Livingstone, 2007, Pages 223-232, ISBN 9780443066429, https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-044306642-9.50016-2.

[4] Lunkes, L. C., Reis, A. N., Canestri, R., & Vilella, R. C. (2024). Prevalence of musculoskeletal pain in body segments in judo and Jiu-Jitsu athletes. Brazilian Journal Of Pain, 7. https://doi.org/10.5935/2595-0118.20240010-en

[5] Morton, Sam K; Whitehead, James R; Brinkert, Ronald H; Caine, Dennis J. Resistance Training vs. Static Stretching: Effects on Flexibility and Strength. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research 25(12):p 3391-3398, December 2011. | DOI: 10.1519/JSC.0b013e31821624aa

[6] Wakaizumi K, Reckziegel D, Jabakhanji R, Apkarian AV, Baliki MN. Influence of exercise on pain is associated with resting-state functional connections: A cross-sectional functional brain imaging study. Neurobiol Pain. 2023 Mar 24;13:100125. doi: 10.1016/j.ynpai.2023.100125. PMID: 37025929; PMCID: PMC10070934.

[7] Marek R, Strobel C, Bredy TW, Sah P. The amygdala and medial prefrontal cortex: partners in the fear circuit. J Physiol. 2013 May 15;591(10):2381-91. doi: 10.1113/jphysiol.2012.248575. Epub 2013 Feb 18. PMID: 23420655; PMCID: PMC3678031.

[8] Škarabot, J., Brownstein, C.G., Casolo, A. et al. The knowns and unknowns of neural adaptations to resistance training. Eur J Appl Physiol 121, 675–685 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-020-04567-3

[9] James, Lachlan P. MSportCoach, MExercSc. An Evidenced-Based Training Plan for Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Strength and Conditioning Journal 36(4):p 14-22, August 2014. | DOI: 10.1519/SSC.0000000000000053

[10] TROPIN, Y., & PODRIGALO, L. (2024). Using static-dynamic exercises to improve strength performance in elite brazilian jiu-jitsu athletes. Journal of Physical Education and Sport, 24(5), 1152–1161. https://doi.org/10.7752/jpes.2024.05133. https://efsupit.ro/images/stories/may2024/Art%20133.pdf

[11] James, Lachlan P. MSportCoach, MExercSc. An Evidenced-Based Training Plan for Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Strength and Conditioning Journal 36(4):p 14-22, August 2014. | DOI: 10.1519/SSC.0000000000000053

[12] Fischer, S. C., Calley, D. Q., & Hollman, J. H. (2021). Effect of an Exercise Program That Includes Deadlifts on Low Back Pain. Journal of Sport Rehabilitation, 30(4), 672-675. Retrieved Jun 12, 2024, from https://doi.org/10.1123/jsr.2020-0324

[13] Semper, L. (2024). The Efficacy of Deadlifting for Occupational Performance in the United States Marine Corps (Thesis, Concordia University, St. Paul). Retrieved from https://digitalcommons.csp.edu/kinesiology_doctorate/5

[14] Coratella G, Tornatore G, Longo S, Esposito F and Cè E (2022) Front vs Back and Barbell vs Machine Overhead Press: An Electromyographic Analysis and Implications For Resistance Training. Front. Physiol. 13:825880. doi: 10.3389/fphys.2022.825880