When Gordon Ryan casually mentioned that his bench press outweighed his squat, exercise scientist and BJJ black belt Dr. Mike Israetel of RP Strength had a take that might surprise serious lifters: legs are overrated in jiu-jitsu.
Ryan maxed out his bench press at 395 lbs for three reps at a bodyweight of 235 lbs. That kind of pressing power from a competitive grappler is rare, and Dr. Mike was quick to acknowledge it.
“When someone with Gordon Ryan’s technique is able to have the force to bench press 400 lbs, that is so dangerous because you’re not getting out. You’re not going to out technique him and he’s stronger than you. What do you do after that? I’m not sure,” he said.
But it was Ryan’s admission that his squat lagged behind his bench that sparked the more pointed discussion. Dr. Mike offered a perspective that runs against conventional sports training wisdom.
“The legs are overrated in jiu-jitsu,” he explained. “If you have strong enough legs to jump up a reasonable height into the air, sprint a few times, and walk up a flight of stairs, you probably have strong enough legs to do everything with your legs that you would need to happen with them in jiu-jitsu. Bringing people in closer to you, pushing people away, your legs are kind of overqualified for that.”
That is not an argument for skipping leg training entirely. Dr. Mike suggests keeping one or two leg movements in the weekly routine, particularly posterior chain work like deadlifts, stiff-legged deadlifts, or good mornings, alongside a leg press, squat, or lunge. Beyond that baseline, however, the return diminishes quickly.
The real emphasis for jiu-jitsu, in his view, belongs to the upper body. Gripping a gi, controlling an opponent’s wrists and shoulders, pulling someone into a position and pushing them out of one, all of it demands significant upper body output.
“Your upper body’s ability to grip the gi, grip people’s forearms and shoulders without the gi, your ability to pull people in, your ability to push people away is huge and more important than what you could do with your legs,” he said.
This shapes how gym training should actually look for BJJ practitioners. Rather than the cleans, overhead squats, and athletic compound movements many assume belong in a combat sports program, the reality is far more straightforward.
“The way you train for jiu-jitsu in the gym is going to look much more bro-like than many of us would like to believe,” Dr. Mike noted.
Ryan’s own training reflects this. His weight sessions lean heavily into hypertrophy methods, sets of 10 to 15, drop sets, and partial reps, targeting the chest, arms, back, and shoulders. The approach is unapologetically bodybuilding-focused, and Dr. Mike sees that as the right call.
