How to Improve Your Cardio for Jiu-Jitsu
This article is general information only. If you have a heart condition or any health concerns, check with your GP before starting a new training program.
Every grappler knows the feeling: two minutes into a roll, your arms are burning, you’re gasping for air, and your training partner looks like they’re barely warming up.
Better cardio helps you think clearly, keep good technique late in rolls, and enjoy training more. But in jiu-jitsu, gassing out isn’t only about fitness. How you breathe and how tense you are matter just as much.
Why you gas out in jiu-jitsu
- Holding your breath. Many beginners hold their breath during scrambles, escapes and submissions without realising.
- Being too tense. Squeezing every grip as hard as you can and muscling every movement burns energy fast.
- Going 100% all the time. Constant explosive effort empties the tank quickly.
- Poor positioning. Fighting from bad positions takes far more energy than holding good ones.
- Fitness. Your aerobic base and ability to recover between efforts.
The first four come down to skill and awareness, and they’re often the quickest wins.
Fix your breathing first
- Breathe out during effort. Exhale as you bridge, shrimp, frame or pass, just like lifting a weight.
- Breathe through your nose when you can, especially in calm moments. It helps you stay relaxed and slows everything down.
- Use stalemates to recover. When the roll pauses in a stable position, take a few slow, deep breaths.
- Check in mid-roll. Ask yourself: “Am I holding my breath?” You’ll be surprised how often the answer is yes.
Learn to relax
Experienced grapplers look effortless because they only use as much energy as each moment needs.
- Grip firmly, but don’t crush every grip at full strength.
- Let go of grips that aren’t working rather than fighting them.
- Use frames and structure instead of pushing with your arms.
- Flow rolls are a great way to practise moving efficiently at a lower intensity.
Build your aerobic base
A strong aerobic base helps you recover between bursts of effort, both within a roll and between rounds. It’s built with steady, moderate cardio where you can still talk in short sentences.
Good options:
- Brisk walking or hiking
- Cycling or a stationary bike
- Rowing
- Swimming
- Easy jogging (if your joints are happy with it)
Aim for two sessions of 20–40 minutes a week. Low-impact options like cycling, rowing and swimming are easier on your joints, which makes them a great choice for grapplers.
Add some interval work
Jiu-jitsu is full of short bursts of high effort followed by brief recovery, so intervals help prepare you for that.
Option 1: Bike or rower intervals
- 30 seconds hard, 90 seconds easy
- Repeat 6–8 times
Option 2: Bodyweight circuit
- 30 seconds each: burpees, sprawls, bear crawls, squat jumps, rest
- Repeat 3–4 rounds
Option 3: Grappling-specific drills
- 1 minute each: shrimping up and down the mat, technical stand-ups, sprawls, bridges
- Rest 1 minute, repeat 3 rounds
Once a week is enough if you’re already training jiu-jitsu several times a week. Hard rolling is already a form of interval training.
The best cardio for jiu-jitsu is jiu-jitsu
Nothing builds “mat fitness” like rolling. If you can, stay for extra rounds, do positional sparring, or try rolling a few rounds back to back without long breaks. Just build up gradually, and balance harder training weeks with easier ones.
Look after the basics
- Sleep well. Tiredness drains your energy faster than anything.
- Stay hydrated, especially in hot Australian summers and warm gyms. Drink water through the day, not just at training.
- Eat enough to fuel your training. Training on an empty tank makes everything harder.
- Be patient. Cardio improves quickly with consistency. Most people notice a difference within a few weeks.
The bottom line
Better cardio for jiu-jitsu starts with breathing and staying relaxed, then gets a boost from a couple of easy aerobic sessions and one interval session a week. Combine that with consistent time on the mats and you’ll be the one still going strong in the last round.
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