Best Stretches for Brazilian Jiu Jitsu
If you have been training BJJ for a while you most likely have noticed that rolling takes its toll on your body. Well, cranking on joints over and over again, being curled up into little balls and having sweaty dudes and girls trying to choke you out is not exactly what your body is meant to do a couple times a week. Therefore most Jiu Jitsu Athletes have sore muscles and aching joints, some type of nagging pain or even an chronic injury somewhere in their bodies.
So if you want to keep doing BJJ for the rest of your life you need to start taking care of your body in the right way. In this post I show you the best stretches every BJJ player NEEDS to do regularly!
BJJ and Yoga - Two Paths that compliment each other perfectly!
Upward Facing Dog - Jiu Jitsu is a martial art that consists of a lot motions and positions that involve a lot flexion in the spine, hips and arms which we need to counteract by going in to extension and activate muscles on the backside of our bodies. Upward Facing Dog helps you to stretch the front side of your entire body while also engaging the entire dorsal muscle chain!
Upward Facing Dog - Urdhva Mukha Svanasana
2. Downward Facing Dog - Down Dog is a great stretch that helps opening the shoulders while simultaneously stretching the back line of of your body. If done correctly this is one of the most powerful positions in your toolkit! There are many great variations of the Downward Facing Dog that you can implement into your routine. The basic form of the Down Dog is still one of the most important poses you can do!
Downward Facing Dog (Variation with a Spinal Twist!) - Adho Mukha Svanasana
3. Happy Baby - Sounds weird and probably looks even weirder. But Happy Baby is the perfect pose to make your hips as smooth as butter and your guard game so much more comfortable! The Happy Baby yoga pose offers several benefits for Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioners. It improves hip flexibility, releases tension in the spine and lower back, strengthens the core muscles, and provides stress relief. These benefits can enhance BJJ performance by improving technique, balance, stability, and mental focus. Incorporating Happy Baby pose into your BJJ training routine can be a helpful addition for overall physical and mental well-being.
Happy Baby - Ananda Balasana
4. Figure 4 Stretch - This is a must do for literally everybody! If you want to hit triangles on your partner and play rubber guard without your knees exploding this is the stretch for you. The reason why a lot knee injuries happen is that in most people have really stiff hips. Imagine going for a triangle choke and trying to make it tighter. What do you do? You grab your shin and pull. But what happens if your hips are stiff and not mobile enough? All the force that you put on your shin by pulling on it is supposed to cause an external rotation in the hip to get a tighter choke. However if your hips are super stiff because you sit in a chair all day what happens is that the joint closest to the hip tries to compensate for the lack of mobility. Which joint is that? Exactly: Your knee. So instead of getting a rotation in the hips you are just cranking on your knee joint. Do this a few time with enough force and your body will tell you to stop. To prevent this from happening work on your external hip rotation with the figure 4 stretch!
Figure Four Stretch - Supta Kapotasana
5. Pigeon Pose - For sure one of my favorite positions. This also helps you with external hip rotation in the front leg while opening your hip flexors in the back leg. There are many great variations of this amazing pose, but the basic upright pigeon pose is already super effective!
Pigeon Pose - Kapotasana
If you want to try these poses in a full body Yoga Routine for BJJ I highly recommend my Yoga for Jiu Jitsu Playlist on YouTube.
