Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu was already proven as the most effective martial art and became popular especially after UFC. However, there’s still a lot of doubts about the effectiveness of Jiu-Jitsu as physical activity. People wonder if BJJ brings other benefits in addition to teaching how to fight. For example, one of the most common questions is: does Brazilian Jiu Jitsu help you lose weight?
As a general rule, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu does help you to lose weight. This martial is excellent for fat loss, as a single 1-hour BJJ training session can burn up to 1100 calories. Adding Jiu-Jitsu training 3 to 4 times a week can make an average individual lose about 1.1 lbs per week (500g).
Losing weight is not an easy battle for most people. Cutting some pounds of fat usually involves (literally) blood, sweat, and tears. The most important pillar for weight loss is the diet, but you’re not going too far without exercising. In that sense, BJJ can be a huge ally in your weight loss journey.
Brazilian Jiu Jitsu: A Powerful Exercise For Weight Loss
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is a great ally for those who want to learn how to fight, as it is considered the most effective martial art. It’s an important ability to learn, but training BJJ brings several other benefits, which are not limited to self-defense skills. Training Jiu-Jitsu increases confidence, improves flexibility, cardiovascular capacity, and helps A LOT in the weight loss process.
The Only Way To Lose Weight
Generating a caloric deficit is the only guaranteed way to lose weight for real. The daily calorie balance is calculated as follows: CALORIES EATEN – CALORIES BURNED = CALORIE BALANCE. If your calorie balance is negative, you will lose weight. If it is 0 or close to zero, the tendency is to keep the current weight. Now, if the value is positive, chances are you will gain weight. Of course, these changes are not visualized in just 1 or 2 days, but over the course of a week, it is already possible to clearly see the impact of a good combination of exercise and nutrition. You can reach great results only through diet, but it’s easier to make train hard and eat clean. In terms of burning more calories, BJJ can help you a lot: a single session can burn more than 1000 calories. That’s way more than running, for example.
The Science Behind BJJ Calories Burned
Imagine a 75kg-person training BJJ for an hour. A very conservative training class could be divided in the following way: 5 minutes stretching, 5 minutes warming-up, 25 minutes practicing techniques and drilling, and, finally, 25 minutes of sparring (known as roll). This person training in a BJJ session like the one described would burn 1015 calories. So does Brazilian Jiu Jitsu help you lose weight? Hell yeah! The science behind these numbers is in the table below.
| Exercise | Calories Burned (for each kg of body weight per hour) |
| BJJ Stretching | 1.81 calories |
| BJJ Warm-Up | 2.43 calories |
| BJJ Techniques and Drills | 3.25 calories |
| BJJ Sparring (Roll) | 4.87 calories |
Weight Loss With BJJ: A Comprehensive Guide
1) BJJ: Your Main Goal Should Not Be Losing Weight
Brazilian Jiu Jitsu does help you lose weight. It’s safe enough to say that you’ll lose weight immediately after if you start training Jiu-Jitsu, but keep something in mind: your main goal with BJJ should not be losing weight, but learning the martial art. BJJ is way more than self-defense or competitions. It’s a lifestyle. If you’re not ready to compromise and to integrate the principles and fundamentals into your life, it’s almost certain that you’re going to abandon the sport after some classes. There’s absolutely no problem in tracing a goal to lose weight with BJJ, but it can be the main reason why you’re training. Once you fall in love with the art, will be easier to find the discipline to keep training when things become harder (and believe me, they will).
2) Train Hard (At Least Three Times A Week)
What would you feel like to lose about per week (about 2kg a month)? Well, training hard three times a week can be all that you need to reach this bold goal. To burn 1kg of you need to create a caloric deficit of about 7700 calories. As pointed before, to do so you need to reduce your caloric intake or add more exercise to your routine. For beginners, 7700 calories can be hard, so let’s start with an easier goal: burn 3500 calories per week (lose about 500g). Considering an average individual and the potential is possible to say that training Jiu-Jitsu three times a week is enough to burn about 3500 calories a week. That’s great news for those seeking to lose weight. If you keep the same diet, Jiu-Jitsu alone can help you to lose about 1,1 pounds (500g) per week.
3) Make Better Choices In Your Diet
To maximize your weight loss doing Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, you need to eat clean most of the time. If you never followed a protocol or a specific diet, I have a good suggestion for you: starting with little changes. Making better choices in your routine and you’ll start to shift your mindset for big accomplishments. I love the principle that Ben Bergeron uses in his diet. He is one of the most successful coaches of Crossfit champions, such as Matt Fraser. He says that in order to lose weight and be healthy you need to “Eat Real Food, Not Too Much, Mostly Plants”. That’s pretty much all that you need to do in order to reach your goals in terms of weight loss training Jiu-Jitsu. Focus on preparing your own meals and eating clean most of the time. The “mostly plants” part is not about going vegan or something like that, it’s about adding fruits and vegetables to your routine to make your gut work as it should. It’s super important. Finally, drinking a couple of beers and eating a burger 1 or 2 times a week is not a problem in most cases. Your daily routine is what is going to make a real difference.
4) Avoid Liquid Calories
Talking about diet and better choices, a good tip that my doctor gave me and changed my life (really changed) is to avoid drinking calories. I looked for him because I was following a great meal plan, eating clean, training hard (weight training and BJJ) but I was still not burning fat. He asked me to track my daily calories for a week a see him again. After a few minutes, he said to me: do you realize that you’re drinking about 400 calories a day? That was a shock for me. I love Gatorade and there was a time in my life that I used to drink 2-3 bottles a day, one after each workout or BJJ. BTW, Gatorade can be an excellent drink, full of nutrients and minerals important for us, but is not free of calories. So I was adding about 400 calories in my day when I could be just drinking water. Plus: liquid calories are not going to keep you satiated for a long time. And I’m not even talking about soda and other drinks full of sugar, those should completely eliminated of our lives.
5) Drink Plenty Of Water
If drinking calories is not a good idea, drinking plenty of water is mandatory for those who want to cut some weight and get in shape. Drinking water is important to everyone, but for those who want to lose weight training Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, it’s a MUST. In a BJJ training session, an adult can lose between 1.5 and 2 kg immediately after the class, especially when it’s a GI training. But don’t get excited: this loss is almost exclusively water, minerals, and impurities, that are eliminated in sweat. Except for impurities, it’s very important to drink a lot of water to replace the liquid. My recommendation is to start with a daily amount of water to drink of about 35ml per kg of body. That’s way more than most people consume, and following this tip can generate several benefits, such as:
- Improved kidney function.
- Increased satiety (less hunger, as I’m always hungry I love this one lol).
- Improved skin health.
- Less retention of fluids (fewer pounds on the scale and a better looking body in the mirror).
6) Track Your Progress
Choose a day of the week to track your progress and start a journal. Before the start of every week, take a shirtless picture and note how many pounds you are weighing. This is the best way for you to know if the process is working or not. At the end of every week, compare your current status with the prior data. If you gained too much weight (more than 500g a week), or you’re noticing that you gained too much fat, maybe you need to add more training or reduce some calories. If you’re losing about 500g a week, you’re on track for amazing results in a short period of time.
Related Questions
Is Jiu-Jitsu a good way to lose weight? Jiu-Jitsu is one of the best ways to lose weight. A single training session of BJJ can burn up to 1100 calories, way more than 1-hour running, for example. And that’s not all: Jiu-Jitsu also increases overall fitness, flexibility, and reduces stress.
Can Brazilian Jiu Jitsu get you in shape? As a general rule, training Jiu Jitsu can get you in shape. Training 3 or 4 times a week is enough to lose more than 500g weekly. Combining BJJ with a great meal plan and weight training is an incredible way to be stronger and fit.
How many calories does Brazilian Jiu Jitsu burn? As a general rule, an average adult can burn up to 1100 calories in a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu training session. BJJ sparring is what burns the most calories, about 4.87 calories for each kg of body weight per hour.
