When your jiu-jitsu training gets harder leading into competition, you have to look at what you’re asking of yourself in the weight room. The lifting needs to support the work you’re doing on the mats. That was our priority with Dante Leon as he prepared for ADCC.
Dante had spent months and years building his strength. That gave us room to reduce his lifting as his jiu-jitsu demands increased. We kept the work he needed, adjusted based on his feedback, and made the sessions short enough to be achievable alongside hard jiu-jitsu training. As his strength coach, I want the work I give him to be an asset, not a liability.
The work before the competition buildup matters
A lot of what allowed us to adjust Dante’s training came from the work he had already done.
He had built what I consider a strength surplus: a foundation that gave us room to pull back on strength development and put more of his available effort into jiu-jitsu. We still needed to maintain that foundation, but we weren’t trying to solve a strength problem in the final weeks before competition.
That takes time. You build it through consistent training over months and years. When the demands of the sport increase, that preparation gives you options.
People sometimes assume that using the Conjugate System means sticking to the same workouts regardless of what else is happening. Dante’s preparation shows how we modify the training within the system based on the athlete in front of us.
Be selective about the main movements
As Dante’s jiu-jitsu workload increased, we removed the max-effort work and became more selective about the main movements.
We used exercises such as the leg press, belt squat, and machine presses. These gave us more predictable ways to load him, with less technique to manage than a free-barbell movement.
Machines still require proper execution. The reason for choosing them was that, for Dante at this stage of preparation, I felt the benefit justified their place in the program. We could provide the work we wanted without asking him to manage as many moving parts.
That doesn’t devalue barbell training. He had already done plenty of it, and that work helped give us the opportunity to pivot. We also kept selected free-weight movements where they served a purpose.
The exercise selection followed what we needed from the session.
Reduce accessory work while keeping what matters
Most of our training volume comes from accessories. As Dante’s jiu-jitsu demands increased, we reduced that volume by roughly half through a combination of fewer exercises, sets, and repetitions.
We kept selected sled drags, upper-body dumbbell exercises, band work, reverse hypers, and abdominal and trunk exercises.
Sled work remained part of his strength and conditioning. Dumbbells gave us options for targeting the upper-body areas we wanted to train. Band exercises, including triceps work, provided another way to keep useful work in the program. We also retained work for his lower back and trunk.
We weren’t trying to keep every exercise in every session. We selected what mattered for him and adjusted the amount.
There isn’t an exact exchange rate between jiu-jitsu volume and weight-room volume. I can’t say that an extra hour on the mats means removing a particular number of sets. It requires a coaching judgment based on the athlete’s workload, feedback, and preparation.
For Dante, the priority was to leave him able to get more from his jiu-jitsu training while maintaining the physical qualities we had developed.
Make the entire workout achievable
If an athlete has just finished a hard jiu-jitsu session, another hour or hour and a half in the weight room is a lot to ask.
Dante would do the work I put in front of him. As his coach, I still have to decide how much work is useful.
We aimed to make the entire lifting workout achievable in twenty or thirty minutes as we reduced the training demands. That included the main movement and accessories. Sessions became shorter again as competition approached.
His final three recorded lifting sessions were nineteen, seventeen, and fourteen minutes.
Those times describe what we did with Dante. They aren’t a rule for how long every athlete should lift. The point is that we gave him sessions he could complete alongside his jiu-jitsu preparation, with a clear purpose for the work.
I wanted him going into competition ready and trained. That meant keeping enough training in place to support his preparation while reducing work that could take away from it.
Trust the athlete’s feedback
We use BridgeAthletic to deliver programs and collect feedback after workouts. Dante’s final three recorded sessions each received an overall effort rating of three.
Those ratings were part of the picture. We also spoke by phone, in person, and through text messages.
Dante has the training experience to tell me how his body feels and how his lifting fits alongside jiu-jitsu. I trust his professionalism. If he tells me he’s tired, I take that seriously.
That communication helped us make small refinements. Sometimes he might feel he needed more grip work, or we would adjust the abdominal and trunk work. There wasn’t a whole lot we needed to add. He had already built the foundation.
The purpose of the feedback was to help us judge the amount and type of work he needed as his preparation progressed.
What you can take into your own training
If your jiu-jitsu workload is increasing, review your strength training alongside it.
Start with three questions:
- What do I need from the weight room right now? Be clear about whether you’re trying to develop a quality or maintain something you have already built.
- What is each exercise contributing? Look at the purpose of the work and the total amount you’re asking yourself to complete.
- How am I responding on the mats? Pay attention to your experience during jiu-jitsu and communicate that to your strength coach.
Before adding more work in the gym, look at what you need to get out of your next jiu-jitsu session. Use that to help judge which parts of your lifting to keep, reduce, or adjust.
If you’re looking for help with your strength training for jiu-jitsu, explore our month-to-month programming, which includes coaching support and the ability to schedule a training call. We also offer nine-week programs available for a one-time purchase, including beginner and competition options.
