Cardio is a fundamental for all sports, whether it be combat sports such as MMA, BJJ, Wrestling or other sports such as football, basketball etc. Having elite cardio allows us to perform with maximal effort & power and can be the difference between winning and losing in most cases. Bottom line is that cardio for BJJ is exceptionally important, but it’s very tricky to find information that isn’t confusing or contradictory.

In this article, we will deliver the best no nonsense guide on how to transform your cardio to an elite status – focusing on the anaerobic energy system.

What Is the Anaerobic Energy System?

The Anaerobic system can be divided into 2 categories, Lactic and Alactic. For the purposes of this article, we will be focusing on the lactic system. Check out this article where we go in depth into the alactic system and how you can improve it so that your cardio skyrockets!

The lactic system allows you to continuously perform at a near max pace for around 30 – 90 seconds at a time. It provides quick bursts of energy that the body can use in order to keep up with the high energy demand & intensity that the sport demands at times.

How does it work?

Anaerobic & Aerobic sound very similar but are very different. This is because the anaerobic energy system occurs in the absence of oxygen whereas the aerobic system occurs in the presence of oxygen. You may be wondering about the strengths & weaknesses of both systems, we will discuss these later on as to avoid confusion.

In order to provide energy, glycolysis occurs within the cytosol. This process contains the breaking down of 1 glucose molecule – into 2 molecules of pyruvate. Since anaerobic metabolism occurs without oxygen, the pyruvate molecules are reduced to lactate (lactic acid). After 10 reactions in the cytosol (component within a cell) a grand total of 4 ATP molecules are produced. However, 2 molecules of ATP are required for this process to occur, due to the phosphorylation of glucose. Therefore this process generates 2 molecules of ATP for the muscle to use.

Many people believe that the lactic acid acidifies our blood (acidosis) and is the reason why we feel burning & fatigue after intense exercise. However the actual reason for this is because ATP molecules are split into hydrogen ions, and the accumulation of these ions actually causes burn & fatigue.

Aerobic vs Anaerobic

While both energy systems are closely related, they have different strengths, weaknesses and uses. Like the amount of ATP produced, aerobic metabolism generates 30 ATP molecules compared to the anaerobic energy system, which produces only 2. Although the number of ATP produced between the two are very different, ATP generated via anaerobic metabolism is able to be rapidly delivered in short intense bursts of exercises and vice versa for the aerobic system.

So Why is This Important for Grapplers?

Within our sport, many techniques such as sweeps are very anaerobically dominated due to their short but intense exchanges. It is said that there is a 6:1 work to rest ratio, meaning that our bodies have very little time to replenish our phosphagen system (replenishing our ATP with creatine phosphate) and therefore glycolysis is more favoured to produce ATP.

With poor anaerobic endurance, fatigue tends to build up more quickly and therefore sweeps and chokes become far less effective since we simply don’t have the energy to carry them out to the best of our ability. Meaning that our skills that we work tirelessly on the mats can’t be transferred into competition.

So here are the ways you can train your lactic energy system & massively improve your cardio!

Improving the Anaerobic Energy System

By training the lactic system, we are delaying the onset of muscle fatigue, training the system to remove lactic acid build more effectively & quickly & improve our lactic threshold – the exercise intensity at which lactate builds up in the blood faster than the body can remove it.

Studies often vary on the work,rest & sets but the optimum training routine for the lactic system seems to be a 1:2 work to rest ratio as shown in this study where the participants saw improvements in their lactate threshold, glycolytic work, and overall power. They performed high intensity cycling for 6 sets, 3 times a week

Exercises

Any exercise which allows you to reach high intensity for a sustainable amount of time will work great. These include sprints, air bike, cycling, jump squats, rows, swimming etc.

Conclusion

HIIT training with a 1:2 work to rest ratio seems to effectively build and train the anaerobic lactic energy system. By training not only anaerobically but also aerobically, it will lead to a delay in muscle fatigue, lactic acid build up & help improve pacing and short intense moments within a fight. Ensure to recover well and see what works best for you!