Bodyweight

Body-weight squats Body-weight squats will develop strength and stability in the lower body. Strength in the legs is something the Japanese pride themselves on. That is one reason why they develop so much power when they execute a technique. Make sure when you are squatting that you get low enough so that your thighs are parallel to the floor. Drive through your heels, don’t fall backwards and maintain your balance.

Burpees One of the hardest and best body-weight exercises on the planet. Burpees develop leg power and upper body strength and when done as part of a circuit or in a Tabata interval will dramatically increase your fitness levels. Simply squat down, extend your legs out into a push up position, perform a push up, bring your legs back to a squatting position and proceed to explode upwards jumping as high as you can.

Pushups Whether it is traditional, close grip, wide grip, box, or scooping pushups the fact of the matter is that push-ups will give your upper body a strength boost. Having a strong upper body will result in you being able to create really good reactions when you fight which can assist in your throwing your opponent.

Chin ups One of the hardest but most beneficial exercises in not just the bodyweight exercise category, but in strength training as well. The ability to pull your chin above a bar will greatly improve your strength and overall success on the mat. Whether it is close, wide or alternate grip chin ups, if you make chin ups a part of your regular gym programs you will not only get a stronger back but also have a greater strength when it comes to pulling your opponent off balance.

Rope climbs Similar to chin-ups, the rope climb is one of the most beneficial exercises for judokas. The rope climb is utilized by all top level judo players due to the fact that it not only increase your arm, back and core strength but also increase your lactic acid buffer in your forearms and arms. This is a great attribute to have in the last few minutes of a judo match. If you are constantly climbing the rope week in, week out you will see an increase in your ability to not only grip fight hard, but grip fight for longer.

Elastic band open shuts Judokas are constantly gripping and flexing the forearm and wrist muscles and as a result most have a muscle imbalance in forearms. This imbalance can lead to injuries such as RSI and tendinitis. Elastic band open shuts will slowly strengthen the opposing muscles (wrist and forearm ex-tensors) creating a muscle balance in the wrists and forearms. Simply wrap an elastic band around your fingers and open and close them for 50 reps a day for the first week and slowly increase week after week.