Why BJJ Is The Only New Year's Resolution You Need

Written by Lucy Dunnet, Tuesday 7 Jan 2025

I know, I know. Everyone hates New Year’s resolutions: nobody sticks to them and yet they are all everyone can talk about for weeks after the exciting, overflowing with potential for change new year has started. But fear not, Women Who Fight have a solution: Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. We hunted through some of the UK’s most popular New Year’s resolutions and realised that BJJ can be the solution to all of them (well, almost all). So whether you need to cross out your list and write “start BJJ,” “train more BJJ,” or “keep training BJJ,” Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is the only New Year’s resolution you need and here is why:

Exercise more and build muscle

It is widely accepted that Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is a fantastic option for an intense full-body workout. More importantly, however, BJJ is an addictive and highly enjoyable sport, so rather than forcing yourself to the gym daily to achieve your New Year’s resolution of “exercise more”, you will have to force yourself to take rest days.

The first time anyone complimented me on my (mildly) visible muscle definition was after I had been training BJJ for a while: “Wow, you must have really been hitting upper body day in the gym.” I had the joy of informing them that, no, this was not the case, I had just been framing on sadistic brown belts who stuck me in side control every day. Sparring rounds and competition drills are also the most intense form of cardio that push you to your limits and beyond in a way most people will not have experienced before.

If “exercise more” is one of your New Year’s resolutions, change it to “BJJ more” because more BJJ will equal more exercise, more desire to exercise, and more exciting, long-term results.

Eat healthier and drink more water

Never have I seen so many adults consistently carry around and fill up tanks of water as I do in the BJJ community. When you have experienced the brutality of a no-water break competition class, where the beads of sweat on your training partners have started to look mouth-wateringly good, you learn to respect your body’s need for water and make sure to fuel it properly. The same goes for food. When your body is the only tool you have to battle your opponents, you really want to make sure it is full of the best nutrients. Weight cutting and competition can make healthy eating more challenging, but it is very doable with so many BJJ-based nutritionists and resources now out there.