Training frequency and recovery

TheGZA said:
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If one is a pure amateur, going through cycles (even if you get your hands on the Mexican variety) is negative EV. What do you have to gain? Is being the local district champion where there's no money or anything and at most maybe a FB post a couple of days later worth it? It ain't for me, but to each their own
 
Foppa21 said:
maybe a FB post a couple of days later worth it?
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Don't underestimate the power of social media. That's why so many people are sandbagging and fighting less experienced guys for years so that they can keep posting gold medals on FB.
 
cakemuncher said:
Don't underestimate the power of social media. That's why so many people are sandbagging and fighting less experienced guys for years so that they can keep posting gold medals on FB.
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I get it, some are into that sort of glory. Unfortunately where I'm at, my tax dollars tend to end up supporting these "pro" athletes..
 
Stick to 3 hard sessions and 2 lighter rep and drill focussed classes. Multiple hard sessions won't take you to your goal. Recovery, hydration, stretching, reps and game planning.
 
DanaWhitesButler said:
I have training BJJ for two years and doing well in regional tournaments. I have been going 3 or 4 x a week and recently increased to 6 and sometimes even doing two a day. I have been very sore and not recovering well. It makes it hard for me to train well. Anyone have advice for training hard 6 days a week, making that transition to much higher training frequency? Should I train with less intensity?
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One thing that really helped me as I got into my 30's was taking BCAAs. Ideally I make the drink before class, take it, and drink half of the drink sporadically through class. I then drink the rest of it after class. Those have helped me majorly with next day soreness and stiffness.

Another thing I've done is cool down. You may already do this but I used to just walk off the mats right after class and be done. Now I make an actual effort to cool down.

I'm also a fan of rolling hard most of the time, but I do more specific training goals now to mitigate soreness. I love to do some risky things in my game, and I am comfortable working from bad positions, but when I've already trained a few times for the week, or if I'm sore I'll change it up. For example, I may have a goal of staying on top. So normally where I might chase subs to the bottom to finish, or go for rolling kimuras or rolling front headlock sequences, I will have a day to just stay on top and not sacrifice position. Or I'll make sure if I'm rolling with someone that has a good body triangle to make sure to give up the mount instead of the back to them. Or I'll focus on sweeps or guard positions that allow less compression on my body. These are just a few examples.

Another thing I'll do is train no-gi. No-gi can be more explosive and have more movement, but there also is no fabric for people to contort and hold your body in positions like the leg drag, leg weave, or stack pass, that twist your spine and stack you on your neck.

I also do some sessions where I just Ryan Hall or Rafa Mendes style flow drilling where there's a specific goal in mind. I don't do the 10th Planet warmup style flow drilling, that seems more like kata. Another thing I do that I never used to do is take a round off every now and then, and be more selective over training partners.

Making sure I stay very hydrated and get quality sleep is good too. I've also started eating cleaner, and lifting weights a few times per week. Lifting I think is important for helping injury prevention and joint soreness after grappling nights.

I know this is all over the place but I was very sore last year training 3x per week and now I'm training 5-6x per week at a more intense level and I'm feeling healthier and less sore. I think these are some reasons why.
 
A big thing I've been doing that's very popular right now due to guys like Rafa, Craig Jones, the DDS, etc, is to roll with a lot of blue belts. So if the average class has 6-8 rolls, right now I'm rolling a couple with other brown or black belts. And the rest is mostly blues, and maybe a purple or two. if some of us upper belts want to roll together we usually set aside one or two times a week where we all can come in and roll hard with each other and have those more difficult battles.

The point of rolling with lower belts mostly is to really work your offense a lot. So the idea isn't to bully anyone or only take easy rolls, but there are a ton of high level guys advocating rolling with people not as good as you for the majority of your day in and day out rolls. It makes a lot of sense and my jiu-jitsu has improved a lot since I've been doing it.

That's obviously helped me recover better because I'm not in battles as much as when I tried to only roll with other upper belts.
 
Foppa21 said:
If one is a pure amateur, going through cycles (even if you get your hands on the Mexican variety) is negative EV. What do you have to gain? Is being the local district champion where there's no money or anything and at most maybe a FB post a couple of days later worth it? It ain't for me, but to each their own
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I agree that what you are describing is risky and stupid but that is not quite my situation. I am on steroids not just for BJJ but because I am getting older, and they make me feel better (motivation, libido, injury recovery, better mood, etc.) I have a doctor here in the area that prescribes them to me with correct dosages and does blood work routinely. All of my hormone levels are kept at the optimal but still normal range, i.e. the range one might expect of an athlete in their physical prime. So, there's very little risk to my health. The added benefit is that I can train a bit harder and do better in the sport of BJJ which I love and unfortunately just discovered a few years ago. I am past my physical prime, and I want to see how good I can get at BJJ before I get truly old.
 
mataleaos said:
A big thing I've been doing that's very popular right now due to guys like Rafa, Craig Jones, the DDS, etc, is to roll with a lot of blue belts. So if the average class has 6-8 rolls, right now I'm rolling a couple with other brown or black belts. And the rest is mostly blues, and maybe a purple or two. if some of us upper belts want to roll together we usually set aside one or two times a week where we all can come in and roll hard with each other and have those more difficult battles.

The point of rolling with lower belts mostly is to really work your offense a lot. So the idea isn't to bully anyone or only take easy rolls, but there are a ton of high level guys advocating rolling with people not as good as you for the majority of your day in and day out rolls. It makes a lot of sense and my jiu-jitsu has improved a lot since I've been doing it.

That's obviously helped me recover better because I'm not in battles as much as when I tried to only roll with other upper belts.
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Thanks but I am a blue belt hah. I get what you're saying though, and it's good advice. Thanks. I'm on a much higher level than most blue belts (I'm not bragging because blue belt is still very low level), so I do pick and choose my rolls with them when I need to recover. That's probably the best I can do because about half of the purple belts and all brown/black belts near my size and age still crush me.
 
DanaWhitesButler said:
Anyone have advice for training hard 6 days a week
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Don't train hard 6 days a week. Really.

If you want to train that often scale back the intensity in a couple sessions or you'll burn out. Better yet, 2 complete days off per week would likely do you some good for awhile.

Even with PEDs you need to regulate intensity. If Olympians are doing so, you will need to as well
 
Orion said:
Don't train hard 6 days a week. Really.

If you want to train that often scale back the intensity in a couple sessions or you'll burn out. Better yet, 2 complete days off per week would likely do you some good for awhile.

Even with PEDs you need to regulate intensity. If Olympians are doing so, you will need to as well
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Thanks. Is that what the pros are doing? I always get the impression that they're double sessions with strength and conditioning on top 6 days a week. I've done 5 in a row this week with 2 easy ones, and I think my body is getting used to this. I am getting the urge to sleep 9 to 10 hours a day instead of the usual 6 or 7. I can definitely tell I need more sleep. I'm also eating like a fucking pig lol
 
mataleaos said:
One thing that really helped me as I got into my 30's was taking BCAAs. Ideally I make the drink before class, take it, and drink half of the drink sporadically through class. I then drink the rest of it after class. Those have helped me majorly with next day soreness and stiffness.

Another thing I've done is cool down. You may already do this but I used to just walk off the mats right after class and be done. Now I make an actual effort to cool down.

I'm also a fan of rolling hard most of the time, but I do more specific training goals now to mitigate soreness. I love to do some risky things in my game, and I am comfortable working from bad positions, but when I've already trained a few times for the week, or if I'm sore I'll change it up. For example, I may have a goal of staying on top. So normally where I might chase subs to the bottom to finish, or go for rolling kimuras or rolling front headlock sequences, I will have a day to just stay on top and not sacrifice position. Or I'll make sure if I'm rolling with someone that has a good body triangle to make sure to give up the mount instead of the back to them. Or I'll focus on sweeps or guard positions that allow less compression on my body. These are just a few examples.

Another thing I'll do is train no-gi. No-gi can be more explosive and have more movement, but there also is no fabric for people to contort and hold your body in positions like the leg drag, leg weave, or stack pass, that twist your spine and stack you on your neck.

I also do some sessions where I just Ryan Hall or Rafa Mendes style flow drilling where there's a specific goal in mind. I don't do the 10th Planet warmup style flow drilling, that seems more like kata. Another thing I do that I never used to do is take a round off every now and then, and be more selective over training partners.

Making sure I stay very hydrated and get quality sleep is good too. I've also started eating cleaner, and lifting weights a few times per week. Lifting I think is important for helping injury prevention and joint soreness after grappling nights.

I know this is all over the place but I was very sore last year training 3x per week and now I'm training 5-6x per week at a more intense level and I'm feeling healthier and less sore. I think these are some reasons why.
Click to expand...

Thanks for taking the time to give all that advice. I appreciate it. I have started to sleep more and eat more calories as per some of the advice on here, and I have been doing just drilling and light rolling on a few of the training days. It seems to be working. I've been having the urge to sleep more than 8 hours a day now that I'm doing so many training sessions, so I can tell more sleep is needed.

That's interesting you trained with Ryan Hall. I have trained at his gym Fifty/50 in Falls Church, VA in the past. It's a great place, and he and his crew are great instructors.
 
Am I the only one who thinks the keto diet might be suboptimal for someone doing a lot of aerobic and anaerobic-glycolytic (hint, "glucose" is right in the name) activity, which BJJ is?

I recovered like chit when I ate low carb. Did research and found this is true of most athletes. At the very least, try a CKD and load carbs around your harder workouts.

I won't touch the steroid controversy, but it seems to me that if you are going to those lengths, may as well try tweaking diet as well.

And get a massage.
 
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