A lot of people struggle to lose their excess weight. Some don’t get to see results after trying different boring programs and strict diets. The good news is that martial arts are a fun alternative to weight loss programs you see in the gym. While others enter a BJJ gym for self-defense or because they want something competitive, others enter BJJ for weight loss.
BJJ is the kind of activity that can help you stay physically and mentally fit. Rolling and drilling can be exhaustive, allowing BJJ practitioners to stay fit. And for those who need to lose weight, this can be a good alternative to your monotonous treadmill routine.
BJJ for Weight Loss: Does It Actually Work?
Does BJJ make you lose weight? And if so, why is it that there are still a lot of practitioners who are overweight?
So let’s get to the point. BJJ can help individuals lose a lot of weight. Brazilian Jiu Jitsu or any other martial art is effective in burning a tremendous amount of calories. It’s a great way to burn calories since BJJ involves the use of your entire body. You’re using your hips, legs, and arms all at the same time. Plus, your core is also engaged most of the time, especially when playing bottom.
However, you still have to know the basics of weight loss. If you’re eating more than what you’re burning, then BJJ still won’t work to make you lose weight.
Also, another factor that can play a role in using BJJ for weight loss is your skill. Efficient practitioners tend to burn fewer calories than beginners who exert extra effort to hit a move. This is common among higher belts. You’d see black belts go on autopilot while less experienced practitioners make 100% effort just t to progress their position.
With all these things said, never start at 100% intensity if you’re a beginner. You’d be surprised just how tiring BJJ can be. Instead, you want to do the moves properly to avoid injuries as well. There is also a reason why a lot of gyms don’t want their new students to spar in their first weeks.
How Much Weight Can I Lose Doing BJJ?
So how much weight can you lose if you start doing BJJ? Just like any new physical activity, you’d most likely lose a lot of weight in the beginning. If you’re starting from zero physical activities, it’s not surprising if you lose 20 pounds from your first 3-4 months. And from there, your weight loss may hit a plateau from there.
But for those who need to lose a lot of weight, BJJ can help you start your fitness journey. It is not crazy to lose even a hundred pounds in a year or so.
Start With the Class That’s Right for You
However, there are different BJJ classes. There are BJJ classes mainly for movements that will help beginners. Also, some classes are designed for competition. Between a movements-only class and a competition class, expect the latter to be more intense. But then, you also have to be realistic about which classes you attend. Some classes are designed for those who are going to compete soon, while some classes are for regular students.
Either way, attending BJJ classes can help you burn calories and lose weight. Now, whether or not you could lose 10 pounds in x number of weeks, depends on different factors.
Eat Right
There’s a cliché in the fitness industry that you can’t out-train a bad diet. This is true even for BJJ. Serious competitors who need to lose weight not only use BJJ to lose weight. If you’ll look at competitors who cut a tremendous amount of weight, it’s common that they count calories. This way, they are in constant caloric deficit making sure that they’d get to their weight class on the day of the tournament.
Increase Your Muscle Mass
Another factor that can contribute to your weight loss is your muscle mass. Having an ideal muscle mass allows you to lose weight faster with BJJ. Between body fat and muscles, muscle burns more calories than fat. 10 pounds of muscle can burn 50 calories while resting while 10 pounds of fat only burns 20 calories.
Also, doing BJJ isn’t like joining any gym where you get to do your workout and leave. It has a sense of community where fitness is promoted. BJJ gyms have people who even prepare their meals before and after a workout. And if you spend a lot of time with them, you may also adapt some of their good habits.
Is BJJ Good For Burning Calories?
Compared with running, swimming, and other regular workouts, BJJ is a better alternative for most people. The reason is that BJJ is also mentally stimulating that keeps the activity fun. So does it burn more calories than other workouts? Though different classes will provide different intensities from students, a regular BJJ class involving reps, drills, and sparring can burn more calories than running or even swimming.
Next, different individuals will burn different number of calories. For one, weight is a factor when it comes to burning calories in BJJ. The heavier you are, expect more calories are needed to get your body to move. The intensity of the class is also going to become a factor. How many rounds of sparring do you usually do in a session? Is this a competition class where you go 100% every round to win rather than to just flow?
And lastly, you will also have to consider proficiency. Commonly, new students tend to burn more calories than experienced grapplers and that’s because novice students muscle every move. Consequently, they exert more effort when rolling.
So how many calories can training jiujitsu burn in 30 minutes? Also, how many calories does a 2-hour BJJ class burn? To answer these questions, we used a calculator developed by BJJPassion.com. This calculator breaks down a typical BJJ class into stretching, warmup, technique, drilling, and rolling.
According to the calculator, here’s the amount of calories burned per pound of body weight per hour.
- 1.81 calories for stretching
- 2.43 calories for warm-up
- 3.25 calories for light jiujitsu training
- 4.87 calories for intense jiujitsu rolling
How Many Calories Do You Burn in 30 Minutes of BJJ Training?
We’ve tried to compute the number of calories burned for a 180-pound guy in a 30-minute sparring-focused class. This includes 5 minutes of stretching, 10 minutes of warm-up, and 15 minutes of live rolling. This type of session burns around 319 calories.
How Many Calories Do You Burn in 2 Hours of BJJ Training?
Next, we tried to compute the number of calories burned by a 180-pound student in a regular class. Usually, most classes are 2 hours long. A typical class covers warm-ups, stretching, techniques, drills, and sparring.
A class that comes with 10 minutes of stretching, 10 minutes of warm-ups, 45 minutes of drilling and technique, and 55 minutes of sparring burns a whopping 1,515 calories.
How Does Using BJJ for Weight Loss Change Your Body?
Brazilian Jiu Jitsu requires a lot of movements. It is even considered both an aerobic and anaerobic activity. And if you’re looking for results, jiujitsu can transform your body in different ways.
One of the things that you’d notice is that you will find yourself having better cardio if you train long enough. A good sign that you’re improving your cardio is your resting heart rate. You might start to notice that your resting heart rate will start to become slower than it used to be. This ultimately means that your heart isn’t exerting too much effort pumping blood across your system.
Also, BJJ can help improve your strength in some areas. You may notice that you’ll have stronger grips than before. Or maybe, you can already do more pull-ups, considering BJJ movements consist of more pulls than pushing mechanisms.
Since BJJ can be an exhaustive activity, you might also start to notice that you sleep better at night. For some, BJJ helped them with their insomnia. That’s because your body is trying to recover. But also, be careful not to take classes that are too late. You might find yourself having a difficult time sleeping at night because your adrenaline is still running high.
Next, it can improve your flexibility. You will notice your lower extremities become more limber given the number of hip movements in BJJ.
Lastly, your body composition is going to improve especially when you watch what you eat and do strength and conditioning. BJJ is a great way to burn body fats. You may eventually notice that your body is going to look leaner.
Can Overweight People Do Jiu Jitsu?
It’s a common excuse for people to delay or not try BJJ because they want to get in shape first. One of the most common misconceptions is that BJJ is only for those who are fit.
Though it is also true that you’d most likely struggle to move around if you’re overweight, this shouldn’t stop you from doing BJJ. There are some instances when additional weight plays to your advantage. For instance, if you’re playing top, this allows you to put more pressure on the person at the bottom. If you are knowledgeable on how to control the hips, gravity, and your weight become a formidable combo.
Can overweight people do jiu jitsu? Definitely. You may have heard that BJJ is for everyone. It’s designed not just for someone who is extremely fit. BJJ is also a good martial art even for those who are small or those who are heavy. It’s all about making sure that you know how to adapt your jiujitsu based on your body type.
And as evidence, there are still active competitors, even in the black belt category, in the super heavyweight divisions. These are guys who you might describe as overweight.
How Many Times a Week Should I Train BJJ to Lose Weight?
How many times should you be training BJJ in a week? Ultimately, it depends on the goal that you have in mind. If you are using BJJ for weight loss, then, it’s ideal if you can do it at least three times a week. It’s even better if you can do it 5 to 6 times a week and just rest for 1-2 days.
Unfortunately, that isn’t realistic for everyone. The good news is that you can still use BJJ for weight loss even if you just attend three regular classes. Just remember that a 2-hour regular class can potentially allow you to burn as much as 1500 calories. Also, it can go higher or lower depending on the intensity of your rolls.
But as a reminder, don’t be too obsessed about joining all classes. Just remember that every individual is different. Some individuals need at least a day to recover after joining a regular class. At the end of the day, just remember that BJJ isn’t a sprint but a marathon.
If you’re also concerned about injuries, you need to take strength and conditioning and recovery seriously. Building muscles can help protect your joints. Plus, it will allow your body to move the right way. As for recovery, getting enough sleep, diet, supplementation and massages are things that you can invest in.
Can you lose weight if you are just training once or twice a week? It’s still going to be better than not training at all. But on the other hand, don’t expect the results to be too obvious when you look in the mirror.
Final Thoughts
BJJ is a great way to stay fit. It can be used to jumpstart your fitness journey especially if you have tried different workouts over the years.
BJJ for weight loss is effective given the number of calories that you can burn from regular training. You don’t even have to be doing competition training to see results. However, you also have to understand that you can’t go 100% every single day of training. Not taking enough rest days can be considered counterproductive. Instead, what you want is to make sure that you live a balanced life. Fix your diet, include strength and conditioning, and also take the time to unwind if needed.