Spend any time on social media or in the gym, and you’ll hear it on repeat:
“You need to get stronger for jiu-jitsu.”
And they’re not wrong. Strength is important.
But in my opinion—and my experience—too many coaches put strength on a pedestal, forgetting that there are other, equally important attributes for BJJ performance and longevity.
When strength becomes the only focus, something important gets lost.
Let’s be clear: strength is useful…and you should definitely strength train.
It helps with frames, scrambles, and finishing submissions. It makes your movements more efficient and more forceful, and your body more durable.
But it’s not the whole picture.
Strength Is Important—But It’s Not Everything
We all get the same 24 hours in a day – and if you’re a grappler juggling work, life, and training, how you spend your time matters.
Too many people chase strength as if it’s the most important quality in jiu-jitsu. They get caught in the mindset that if they just get stronger, everything else will follow – or they’ll be “bulletproof” to injuries.
But here’s a reality check: if raw strength were the key to jiu-jitsu, powerlifters would win every tournament.
They don’t.
Because jiu-jitsu isn’t about who can deadlift more—it’s about timing, leverage, technique, control, and strategy.
Strength can help. But over-relying on strength can actually slow your progress.
You might out-muscle your opponent today—but did you actually improve your technique? Did you learn the timing, the mechanics, the subtle shifts that make jiu-jitsu work?
Mobility: Access Over Output
You can’t express force in a range you don’t own.
That’s why mobility matters just as much as raw strength—especially for grapplers over 35. If your hips, shoulders, and spine don’t move well, it doesn’t matter how strong you are, poor performance and increased chances of injury are likely.
Mobility isn’t just about flexibility, it’s about control, end-range strength, and access to usable positions.
And if you can’t access ranges while up against the dynamic forces of BJJ, those forces will travel to areas that aren’t equipped to handle them – like your joints.
Train to access your full range first. Strength layered on top of dysfunction is just potential injury.
Strength Endurance: What Actually Shows Up in Rounds
Raw strength might help you win a single moment, but strength endurance is what carries you through the round.
The ability to stay strong when you’re tired. To hold position without burning out. To apply steady pressure for minutes at a time. That’s the kind of strength that actually wins in grappling.
A recent Who’s Number One main event illustrated this clearly when two heavyweights remained competitive until about the 6 minute mark. It was obvious the defeated grappler was fatigued and didn’t have the strength or the capacity to escape his opponent’s mount, ultimately losing the match.
He didn’t need more strength, he needed the ability to maintain his strength to execute the technique to escape and fight back.
This is why I prioritize Anti-Glycolytic Training, like Strength Aerobics and isometrics—they build capacity, not just output.
If you can push hard for 30 seconds, but you’re gassed at the 3-minute mark, you don’t need more deadlifts—you need more intelligent strength endurance work.
A Smarter Hierarchy
If I had to build a hierarchy of physical qualities for grappling performance, it would look like this:
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Mobility & Joint Health — Access to range
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Strength Endurance — Repeatable effort under fatigue
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Max Strength — Force production
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Power — Speed of force
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Work Capacity / Conditioning — Recovery between rounds
Max strength is on the list—but it’s not the top, especially not if you’re over 35, balancing training, work, family, and life.
Final Thoughts
Strength matters. But it’s not the only thing that matters.
Train to move well. Build the strength to support your positions. Then build the capacity to repeat that effort under pressure.
Mobility. Strength. Endurance.
Put equal emphasis an all three.
Because the goal isn’t just to be strong. It’s to be resilient—today, tomorrow, and ten years from now.
