How To Strength Train With Only 2 Days / Week

December gets busy. Work deadlines, family stuff, travel, and big dinners can eat your training time. Lots of grapplers fall into a "forget about it" trap and stop training until January. That usually costs strength, muscle, and conditioning. It does not have to be that way.

I use a simple idea with the athletes I coach: "Minimum Effective Dose Training".

Do the least amount that keeps your hard-earned gains. If you follow a few clear rules, you can spend less time in the gym and still show up in January feeling strong and dangerous.

Which Athletic Qualities Matter For Jiu Jitsu & How Fast Do They Drop Off

• Strength: Slow to build, slow to go. Maintains the longest.
• Hypertrophy (Muscle Tissue): Takes work to grow, but muscle fibers stick around if you maintain minimal volume.
• Strength Endurance: Falls off faster than raw strength due to conditioning and energetic demands.
• Speed & Explosive Power: Neurological. Drops faster and needs more frequent stimulus.
• Conditioning: Aerobic can start to slip in ~2 weeks; anaerobic also drops, but can be maintained with short sprints.

My "Athletic Maintenance Protocol" For The Holidays (Or Any Other Busy Season In Life)

You do not need long gym sessions. Here is the exact protocol I use for myself and my athletes when life gets busy.

Strength Maintenance (1–2 sessions per week)

• 1-2 compound lifts for the upper and lower body across those workouts.
• Keep intensity around 80–90% of your max or an 8–9 RPE.
• Hit 2–4 reps per set and hit a total of 10–20 quality reps per exercise in the session. That could be five sets of two, or four sets of five, or ten singles.
• Keep the session tight. About 30 to 45 minutes.

Hypertrophy Maintenance (~6 working sets per muscle group per week)

• 6 working sets per muscle group per week. That can be tacked on as accessories after your strength work.
• Keep reps in the 5–30 range and stay within 1-2 reps of failure.
• BONUS - Blood Flow Restriction Training: A simple BFR protocol: inflate upper limb cuffs to about 40% limb occlusion pressure, lower limb cuffs to about 60%. Do one set of 30 reps, rest 30 seconds, then three sets of 15 reps with 30 seconds rest between sets. Incredible for maintaining muscle when time or load is limited.

Speed & Explosive Power (Microdose it)

• Add a couple of very short, low intensity, explosive drills into your warm-up
• Superset strength sets with dynamic effort movements (Example: Zercher Box Squat + Plyo Push Up, or Bench Press + Broad Jump)

Conditioning (Match the time domain)

• Anaerobic: Match conditioning to the kind of strength & hypertrophy work you did. If your strength sets take 15–20 seconds / set, finish with short, high-intensity intervals of the same length. (Example: 6-15-20s ON // 45s OFF)
• Aerobic: Save one extra day for a 30–45 minute steady state cardio or a GPP Giant Set circuit to build work capacity.
  • GPP Giant Set Template:
    • Upper Body Giant Set: Pick 4 exercises for the upper body and perform 1 set of 60 seconds each in a circuit. This is 1 round. Rest 60s between rounds. Perform a total of 4 rounds. Rest 5-10 minutes then move into Lower Body Giant Set.
    • Lower Body Giant Set: Pick 4 exercises for the lower body and perform 1 set of 60 seconds each in a circuit. This is 1 round. Rest 60s between rounds. Perform a total of 4 rounds.
      
      

How To Structure A Workout

1. Brief mobility and warm-up, including small explosive drills.
2. Strength work: 1–2 compound lifts, accumulate 10–20 total reps at 80–90% of max.
3. Hypertrophy work: 1–3 exercises for 6 total working sets per muscle per week. Add BFR if short on time.
4. Conditioning finisher: short high-intensity intervals that match the strength time domain.
   
   

Mindset: Understanding "Seasons" and "You Minimums"

Training has seasons. Sometimes life demands focus elsewhere. That is fine. Saying yes to family or work now means saying no to a few long gym sessions. What matters is staying above your minimums. Know the few numbers you must hit even on a bad day. That prevents a downward spiral into into "forget about it" territory.

Something is always better than nothing. A few short, smart sessions each week will keep your gains and let you enjoy the holidays without having to start from scratch again in January.

FAQ

Q: How many strength sessions do I need during busy weeks?
A: Aim for one to two heavy strength sessions per week. Pick 1–2 compound lifts per session and perform 2-4 reps / set, accumulating 10–20 total reps at 80–90% intensity for that exercise.

Q: Can I keep muscle with only a little training?
A: Yes. About six working sets per muscle group per week is usually enough to maintain muscle. BFR can reduce time while keeping results.

Q: How often should I sprint or do explosive work?
A: Microdose explosive work across sessions. Add a few brief jumps or med ball slams in warm-ups or between sets to maintain power.

Final Thoughts

The holidays do not have to derail your progress. Follow the "Minimum Effective Dose" protocol, defend your minimums, and you will keep most of what you built. If you want a FREE training program to kickstart your grappling athleticism in just 30 days, join my FREE Grappler Accelerator!

LIFT HEAVY. ROLL HARD.

- Coach J 👽