A few weeks ago, I shared the 3 best strength exercises for better passing.
This week, let’s look at the 3 best exercises for building a stronger, more effective guard.
Playing guard requires a unique mix of mobility, strength, stability, and efficient hip movement. And while there are a ton of great exercises out there, if I had to pick just three, I’d go with the ones that deliver the most return on investment for grappling-specific performance.
Most people (and coaches) stick to squats, deadlifts, presses, and pulls for BJJ strength training. And while those are fine, I prefer exercises that target the exact qualities needed for the positions we actually experience on the mat.
QUALITIES OF an Effective Guard
A good guard player needs:
- Strong, mobile hips
- Core and shoulder stability
- Grip and pulling strength
- Strength endurance (especially isometrically)
- The ability to move through deep ranges of hip and knee flexion, plus internal and external rotation
There’s a constant push-pull dynamic at play—you’re fending off pressure while staying close enough to attack. Your legs may be pushing, lifting, or framing while your upper body is pulling, gripping, and twisting.
You don’t just need strength—you need strength in all ranges of motion that lasts through rounds and dynamic transitions.
Without it, movement becomes slow, inefficient—or worse, injury-prone.
These three movements cover all of it.
1. Turkish Get-Up
The Turkish Get Up is the Swiss Army knife of exercises for grapplers. There is so much packed into just one sequence that it’s a crime to be left out.
Specifically for guard, the Get Up builds isometric strength and stability in the shoulders and core.
This will help forge resilient frames and powerful escapes.
The transitions from the ground to standing challenge your hip mobility, improving range with every rep and fortifying your core and lower back.
The drive up to standing builds powerful leg strength all while forcing your core to stabilize – exactly what you need for the asymmetrical positions you’ll experience in dynamic BJJ.
Plus, the Get Up sequence is an actual BJJ technique used to sweep opponents, return safely to your feet, or create space to escape.
A worthy goal is to work up to a half-body weight get up over time.
(Learn the Grapplers Get Up in detail here.)
2. Shin Box Press to Hip Heist
(This is an excerpt from BJJ Kettlebell Resilience, get the full program here.)
The Shin Box is criminally underrated for grapplers. It improves hip mobility through internal and external rotation, while also building a strong core and spine.
Add a press to increase upper body strength, and a hip heist to challenge your ability to transition dynamically from the ground—critical for wrestle-ups and scrambles.
The Shin Box position also shows itself on the mat in Single Leg X guard, leg attacks like Outside Ashi, and when finishing the Omoplata.
Build up to using a 72 lb kettlebell for most men, and you’ll have more than enough strength and control to dominate from bottom.
3. Rotational Row
No guard strength program would be complete without a row variation. The row builds upper back and arm pulling strength, while building grip strength and endurance.
When you add the rotation to it, you crank the benefits up by improving rotational core strength, isometric leg strength, and hip mobility.
You rarely pull in straight lines while grappling, but rather, at awkward angles, often while twisted.
The Rotational Row sets you up for success by building strength for performance and reducing your chances of injury by improving mobility.
In fact, I often use this one in a warmup just to mobilize my hips, ribs, and upper spine. It’s excellent for total body mobilization.
You’ll use this movement for arm drags, pulling on your opponents head, neck and collar for attacks, off-balances, and setups, and pulling legs into leg attacks.
There’s an old saying when playing guard “if you’re pushing your losing, if you’re pulling your winning.”
Build functional pulling strength with the Rotational Row — and shoot for half bodyweight per arm to build the strength you need to be a force on the mats.
FINAL THOUGHTS
A strong guard isn’t just about benching pressing your opponent’s off of you—it’s about having the right kind of strength in the right positions.
You need power, strength endurance, and isometric strength to have an effective guard.
Plus, these three movements build all of the other qualities you need for guard retention, transitions, and attacks: mobility, rotational control, and resilience.
Train smarter by adding these high-value movements for a better guard.
WHENEVER YOU’RE READY, THERE ARE 3 WAYS I CAN HELP YOU:
1. Start improving your BJJ durability and performance with BJJ Kettlebell Resilience.
2. Fortify your body for BJJ with this free course on BJJ Resilience.
3. Join the free weekly newsletter here.
