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By: Justin Garcia

The BJJ Fighter conditioning section is proudly brought to you by Justin Garcia. Justin
is a brown belt in Jiu-Jitsu as well as a personal trainer. He has been involved in
competitive sports his entire life and has competed at the highest level in Jiu-Jitsu
and submission grappling. In this section Justin will show how to build physical
strength and stamina, two essential elements for competitive success.

For the most part, this workout is designed to increase three-dimensional strength
while simultaneously extending your lactic acid threshold. In English, "Stronger
Longer", my friend. This is NOT a bodybuilding workout! About 50 or so years ago
someone made the decision to make appearance the #1 priority, throwing strength
and health by the wayside. What's so wrong about that? The overabundance of
Lamborghini's with Yugo engines in today's gym scene is proof enough. Quite simply,
if you can't:

- Perform 25 burpees ,

- Bench your bodyweight,

- Squat 2x your bodyweight,

- Squat 100 bodyweight squats, one after the other without rest, that is

You Ain't Shit!!!

So let's get down to the meat and potatoes. First off, you are going to alternate
between workouts, letting days off be decided by soreness. We all train Jiu-Jitsu
(hopefully) so there are going to be days where the Gym thing just ain't happening.
Take a day, and then continue your journey towards man strength. I don't follow a set
schedule, so you shouldn't be limited to one, either. If last time you did a Strength
workout, then do an endurance workout now, and vice versa. I'll even double up on
Endurance days pre-comp time, so there is as much flexibility to the program as

If you've never lifted a weight in your life, hold your horses! Your body needs
to be reminded it HAS muscles so three weeks of my "PRIMER" should suffice.
Alternate primer workout #1 and #2 with the 3rd day off. How about we teach you
how to ride a bike before you enter the Tour De France?

Ok, now as far as the exercises go, you're probably not going to know what all
of them are so I suggest you use the search engine @ "T-MAG.COM". If you can't find
them there, e-mail me or post it and I'll get an answer to you as soon as possible.

Obviously I'd rather teach you the exercises myself but, then again, I've learned
some cool techniques from Baret Yoshida, although we've never met!

Now, I'm not suggesting that you follow this for the rest of your life, but I do
feel, however, that due to it's variety in training stimulus, it could be followed for a
longer amount of time than the usual "6 weeks and switch" approach. Give it a good
8-12 weeks before taking a couple of weeks to do something different.
So enjoy the workout, and by all means, stop being so weak.
-The ChimChim

Primer #1

1. Bodyweight Squats 3 x 25

2. Pushups 3 x 15

3. Military Press w/ Dumbbells 3 x 15

4. Lat Pull downs or Chins 3 x 10

5. Crunches 3 x 15

Primer # 2

1. Dumbbell Sumo Dead lifts 3 x 20

2. See-Saw Press 3 x 12

3. Bar Curl 3 x 15

4. Push Ups 3 x 10

5. Crunches 3 x 15

Strength Days

- Pick 5 exercises. Two upper, two lower, one core.

- 4 sets, 4-5 Reps each

- Always keep two reps "In the Bag". Never let failure occur. If you want 5 reps,
use a weight you can get 7 reps with. Obviously, the first couple of workouts will
dictate weights used.

- Try to alternate exercises from workout to workout.

(I.E. Squat, Dead lift, Sumo Dead lift)

- Keep form strict and through a FULL Range of Motion. For example: Do full
squats, not "Power Jiggles": Where you sit halfway down, and then come up!


1. Squat
2. Dead lift
3. Sumo Dead lift
4. Romanian Dead lift
5. Glute-Ham Raises
6. Leg Curls
7. Reverse Lunges
8. Standing Calf Raises
9. Seated Calf Raises


1. Bench Press (Bar or D.B.)

2. Military Press
3. See-Saw Press
4. Weighted Chins
5. Dips
6. Bicep Curl (B or D.B.)
7. Close Grip Bench
8. Bent Row (B or D.B.)
9. Pullover


1. Hanging Knee Raises

2. Saxon Bend
3. Russian Twist
4. Reverse Hyperextensions
5. Windmill
6. Weighted Crunches
7. Sit Throughs

Endurance Days - "Complex training"

- Choose 5-10 exercises per "complex". Alternate between upper, lower and
core, always finishing with a plyometric movement.

- Perform each exercise of the complex with NO rest in between. If in Pain,

check to make sure your mangina is ok, then continue.

- Allow a set rest period between sets. Try to consistently shorten the R.P from
workout to workout. Start at 1-1/2 minutes. If that's not enough, acknowledge
you're a Romo, then rest as needed.

- Build up to a workload of: 5 complexes, 2 sets each

- Reps should be 10-20 each exercise. Again, failure should never occur,
however, whereas strength days follow the "Two in the Bag", endurance days should
be more lenient, (I.E. "5-7 in the bag")


1. Squat
2. Dead lift
3. Sumo Dead lift
4. Reverse Lunge
5. Step-Up
6. Overhead Squat
7. Overhead Step-up
8. Side Squats


1. Push Up (flat or feet up)

2. Military Press
3. Curl
4. See-Saw Press
5. Lateral
6. Double Kickbacks
7. Dumbbell Row
8. Bent Laterals
9. Hammer Curls

****See Strength Days List****


1. Burpees
2. Box Jumps
3. Plyo Pushups

Example Strength Day and Endurance Day for Me

Warmup: Quick 4 minute walk on treadmill

1. Squat 365 lbs 4 X 5 reps

2. Incline Dumbbell Press 125's 4 X 5 reps

3. Weighted Chins 50lbs 4 X 5 reps

4. Saxon Bends 25's 4 X 5 reps

5. Glute Ham Raises Bodyweight 4 X 5 reps

Complex #1

1. Squat 50lb bar 20 reps

2. Pushup w/ feet on ball 20 reps

3. Box jumps 8step risers 15 reps

4. See-Saw Press 35's 10 reps

5. Sit Throughs 10 reps

6. Russian Twist 35lb DB 12 reps

7. Burpees 15 reps

Complex #2

1. Overhead Step-Up 5 risers, 50 lb bar 10 reps

2. Windmill 35lb DB 10 reps

3. DB Row 50lb Db's 10 reps

4. Sumo Deadlift 35lb DB's 15 reps

5. Laterals 30lb DB's 12 reps

6. Reverse Lunges 25lb DB's 12 reps

7. Burpees 15 reps

Final note: I have a whole belief system when it comes to physical preparation and
improvement, most of which I'm not going to bother writing down here. So feel free
to ask me whatever questions you like and I'll get an answer to you as quickly as

Go Team Groundhog!!!

To find out more about Justin Garcia visit his web site at

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