Cardio conditioning is often thought of as dull and boring. Most of us would rather be moving weights than staring at a screen on a treadmill for an hour.
But, improving your aerobic fitness is one of the best things you can do for not only performance, but for longevity.
Your aerobic system uses oxygen to create energy, and is responsible for sustaining energy beyond 60 seconds of work. Meaning, any sport that requires output longer than a minute, like jiu-jitsu, its the aerobic system that’s most important for maintaining performance without tiring out.
The more aerobic energy you’re able to produce, the longer you’re able to sustain energy output.
Your aerobic energy system also has the greatest capacity for improvements, compared to the anaerobic system.
Regarding longevity, a higher VO2 Max generally indicates better aerobic fitness, which is associated with a lower risk of chronic diseases, less chronic inflammation, and a higher quality of life in later years.
So, if better performance and long term health are a goal, improving your aerobic energy system is the way there.
Methods For Improving Aerobic Fitness
Cardiac Output or Zone 2 Cardio
Zone 2 cardio has gotten a lot of attention in recent years, but before that, it was known as “cardiac output” for years by conditioning experts. This is your low and slow steady state conditioning that many of us know.
This method improves your hearts ability to pump blood and oxygen to the muscles. It also improves the endurance of your slow twitch muscles, which is important for sustained performance, as well as assisting recovery of the anaerobic energy system.
Your goal here is to elevate your heart rate between 130-150 beats per minute and maintain it there for 30 to 90 minutes.
This can be done with standard steady state cardio, like jogging, biking, or rowing, but also any variety of movements maintained for that amount of time.
Think rounds of light exercises, like jumping rope, air squats, shadow boxing, and kettlebell swings done in a circuit for 30 minutes, while keeping your heart in the zone 2 range.
Do this 3-5 times per week.
Tempo Intervals
Tempo intervals improve your aerobic fitness and work capacity while helping to speed up recovery.
This method is accomplished by performing 10-15 sprint intervals at a sub-maximal pace of 70% max effort.
Sprints are from 8-12 seconds long with 60 seconds of rest between sprints.
You can do these on a flat surface like a road, track, or turf, just remember to keep your intensity below 70% effort.
Rest for 60 seconds after each sprint, or until your heart rate comes down to 130-135 beats per minute, whichever comes first.
Do 8 to 16 reps of tempo intervals, 2-3 times per week.
High Resistance Intervals
High resistance intervals improve the endurance of your fast twitch fibers and require high power output for short durations like 5 or 6 seconds.
Hill sprints at 100% effort work well for this method.
Rest for 60 seconds between reps or whenever your heart rate comes down to 130 bpm, whichever comes first.
Because the duration is so short, you can do many reps of these intervals, around 10-20.
Do this 1 to 2 times per week.
Final Thoughts
Focusing on your aerobic fitness will help not only on the mats, but off the mats too, with markers of long term health, like VO2 max and inflammation.
The Tempo Intervals will also help you recover faster, another added benefit of this type of training.
These workouts can be done before or after your weight training, but be sure to take full rest days to prevent overtraining.
I put together all of these methods into a simple 4-week BJJ cardio conditioning plan, that you can get for free when you purchase the brand new KB Resilience program.
Most people are focused on training resilience through weightlifting by building the muscles and joints, but the truth is, your heart is the most important factor in long term health.
Plus, it has the biggest capacity for improvements.
Aim for 150-300 mins of cardio conditioning per week.
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