---
title: "Your cardio sucks… Here’s how to fix it | BJJ Cardio Guide"
description: "\"Just roll more\" is terrible advice when it comes to improving your cardio for jujitsu. Yes, doing more jujitsu will make you more efficient at the jujitsu movements and therefore it will reduce the..."
url: https://yosekbaez60.ws/2026/05/14/your-cardio-sucks-heres-how-to-fix-it-bjj-cardio-guide/
date: 2026-05-14
modified: 2026-05-14
author: "yoselkbaez36ck"
categories: ["Health"]
tags: ["Baj cardio", "get fit for Baj", "how to get better cardio for jiujitsu", "how to improve my Baj gas tank", "jiujitsu cardio", "jiujitsu specific cardio", "this is how to get better cardio for Baj"]
type: post
lang: en
---

# Your cardio sucks… Here’s how to fix it | BJJ Cardio Guide

“Just roll more” is terrible advice when it comes to improving your cardio for jujitsu. Yes, doing more jujitsu will make you more efficient at the jujitsu movements and therefore it will reduce the amount of energy you need when rolling, but it will not improve your cardio fitness above a certain threshold. There’s two strategies you need to use to improve your overall cardiovascular fitness for BJJ. Number one, aerobic base training and number two, VO2 max training. aerobic base or aerobic base training is specifically meant to increase your aerobic threshold.

![](https://images.pexels.com/photos/3931000/pexels-photo-3931000.jpeg?auto=compress&cs=tinysrgb&h=650&w=940)Or in other words, your ability to perform steady state work for long periods of time. Base training workouts generally revolve around low and slow principles, meaning you’re operating in the upper limit of zone 2 training. Your aerobic threshold is a limit to which your blood lactate begins to increase below your aerobic threshold, which is Zone 1 and Zone 2, the exercise intensity is quite low and enables you to maintain this effort for longer periods of time. Or in other words, if we can raise the floor of your aerobic base, it means that you can operate at a higher output before you begin to exponentially increase your blood lactate levels and you’ll also be able to recover faster in between rounds. This is the direct correlation between improving your aerobic base and improving your jiujitsu fitness, zone 2 training and aerobic base different intensities of cardio output can be categorized into the five different cardio zones.

Each zone is associated with a different energy system and therefore has a different your source at play. But why is zone two so special? Well at zone two the exercise intensity is at a level where you are operating just below your aerobic threshold, you are stimulating your cells mitochondrial function, and your body can make its demand ATP by only using fat and oxygen in your mitochondria. If you were to increase your output just a little bit more, your body would then start to utilize more carbohydrate to create ATP through glycolysis and thus it will be utilizing a glycolytic energy system and your potential to maintain that output is reduced. zone 2 do cardio is the most beneficial type of cardio to improve your aerobic base.

It increases the number and efficiency of your mitochondria in your body and improves your endurance cardiovascular health recovery work capacity, which includes both strength training, and of course jujitsu as well how to stay in zone two, there are different methods to determine whether or not you’re in zone two. The first one is probably the easiest and it’s by tracking your heart rate. In zone two, your heart rate should be approximately 60 to 70% of your maximum heart rate. Another simple way to determine your zone 2 is the talking test or the conversational pace method. The best way I’ve seen this described is you should be able to maintain a conversation with a friend on the phone, but the other person that you’re on the phone with should be able to tell that you’re exercising how to perform zone 2 training.

What I recommend is doing 45 to 90 minutes of low intensity cardio bouts while staying in your zone 2 heart rate zone or at a conversational pace. The exact type of cardio that you choose is completely up to you. You can do something like jogging, hiking, even fast paced walking, cycling, or if you’re feeling up to it, you can even do swimming, cardio or cardiovascular fitness is defined as the maximum amount of oxygen you can utilize defined by your VO2 Max. This is simply your maximum rate of oxygen consumption during intense exercise. And it’s highly correlated to overall fitness, health and longevity.

The most efficient way to target the anaerobic system with cardio training is with interval training. You’ve probably heard of HIIT training before and it stands for High intensity interval training. The reason why it is so effective is because you can get a lot of work done in a very short amount of time. And it has been shown in studies to be one of the most effective methods of increasing your VO2 Max therefore increasing your overall cardio fitness. I’m going to recommend two methods of improving for VO2 Max which I find a highly effective for grapplers method number one, a four by four by four method or form for four minute rounds of 85 to 90% of your maximum efforts.

With four minutes of rest in between each round. The cardio modality can vary depending on what you have available to you your current fitness level and what you prefer to do. Method 2, tabata sets. You’ve probably heard of Tabata before, but it’s 20 seconds of absolute all out maximum effort cardio output, followed by 10 seconds of rest performed eight times for a total of four minutes. I recommend to perform two Tabata sets back to back with about four minutes of rest in between each Tabata set.

If you’re crunched for time, you can perform these as a workout finisher, after a strength and conditioning session. I recommend doing Tabata sets on something like a sprint treadmill and assault bike, stationary bike or simply do outdoor sprints. How often should you be doing cardio for jiujitsu? For most people, you can get a huge benefit out of doing just one to two cardio sessions per week. I recommend doing a longer zone 2 cardio session once per week, and one to two high intensity interval sessions throughout the week.

You can add these high intensity sessions at the end of your strength and conditioning workouts to save on time. So a sample week could be something like two to three jiujitsu sessions 2 strength and conditioning sessions with two rounds of Tabata finishes at the end of each session, one long and slow aerobic base session. And you can do this once per week or once every other week if you don’t have much time. If you want to get strong for jiujitsu, though, you can download a free 2-day strength and conditioning workout program specifically designed for jujitsu athletes. Link is in the description.

Let me know in the comments how your gas tank is for jujitsu and if you tried to do any cardio to support it. Thanks for watching.

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