7 Ways To Increase Flexibility For Jiu-jitsu Players
Jiu-jitsu players and athletes know the importance of flexibility to help them excel in their passion. Flexibility is key for a variety of reasons – from increasing your range of motion, to preventing injury, and improving performance.
These 7 tips will help you increase your flexibility without having to spend hours on end stretching!
1) BJJ classes typically begin with a warm-up that combines both cardiovascular exercises and stretches.
While the main purpose of warming up is to get muscles loose before engaging in strenuous physical activity, it has the added benefit of improving flexibility over time. In fact, most students are pleasantly surprised to find their flexibility improved greatly within just a few short months of starting BJJ. Typical BJJ warm-ups include:
- Hip escapes
- Trunk twists
- Break falls
- Technical stand-ups
- Toe touches
- Alligator crawls
- Yoga poses
2) The shoulders are an integral part of grappling.
They can be very flexible, but certain types of exercise may impact them negatively if done repeatedly over time without recovery periods in between sessions. The shoulder is made up of three bones that connect at the clavicle and scapula, which themselves move separately from one another to allow for a wide range of movement on its own or with other areas such as the hips when applied together during some forms of exercises like yoga positions. However, performing these types of activities repetitively increases the risk for injury because it puts stress put on joints more than they were designed to handle. A healthy workout includes strengthening muscles alongside flexibility training using different kinds of movements targeted towards each area (flexibility/mobility).
3) When it comes to mobility training, dislocators are the best way to ensure your shoulders have an optimal range of motion. A useful hint is that you should use a band instead of a bar or stick when doing dislocator exercises.
4) BJJ requires high levels of flexibility in the hips. Start off slow and build up to more difficult moves, like rubber guard.
Hips are an important focus when practicing Brazilian Jiu Jitsu because it is crucial for all types of guards that require hip movement, including inverted ones such as rubber guard or butterfly position. Even though there isn’t one specific level to start at with regards to your own abilities, you should know what will be best suited based on how much experience you have doing BJJ so far This advice can apply equally well whether someone wants a little extra help getting flexible or if they want some quick tips before their next class!
5) BJJ promotes body awareness, which in turn helps practitioners identify areas of the body that are stiff and inflexible. When a BJJ student has trouble performing a certain movement they must attempt to determine why for this deficiency. Part of this process involves identifying whether any personal physical limitations preventing their performance from happening or not happen at all. Following identification, if these limitations students can then begin devoting additional time towards improvement by focusing on specific exercises.
Some of the most common mobility issues that BJJ players face include stiff hips, shoulders, and ankles. In some cases, these limitations can be corrected by learning to properly perform certain movements or stretches for your body type – but it is important to first identify what you need help with so you do not waste time doing things incorrectly.
6) BJJ Movements
By practicing Jiu-Jitsu movements like the hip escape, you can stretch your muscles in ways that would not occur during normal daily activities. This leads to increased flexibility and is especially beneficial for your back health because it doesn’t usually get stretched this way on a regular basis. Proper rest after practice, recovery nutrition, and continued training with these moves will improve overall flexibility so keep up the good work!
7) To build the habit of stretching daily, create a routine that targets your specific goals.
If you are looking to improve an area on BJJ specifically, work towards it. Otherwise, if basic flexibility is more important for you then focus on this aspect instead by reading further down in the article. Finally, once every day becomes natural over time try and fit these stretches into other parts of your day whenever possible because producing results requires consistency!
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