I'm considering a big increase in training frequency for a short period, like 2 weeks. My question: does a short term period of vastly increased training frequency have big long term benefits for a recreational BJJer? Or is it just extra training time - i.e. if I pack 9 weeks of training time into 2 weeks do I just get an extra 7 weeks of experience and then the benefits go away after a couple months (since I can't possibly keep up anything remotely at this level of frequency) - or is the value much more than this? More detail: I am a recreational BJJer with about 2 years of training who really loves BJJ. Currently I train 3 times per week most weeks (less the last 6 weeks or so - very busy at work and a couple injuries from training) for about 6.5 hours of mat time per week - when I train I usually do 2 classes back-to-back. I haven't competed yet although I do intend to at some point (probably very infrequently to be totally honest), pretty happy with my progress nonetheless and just enjoy training and learning/applying new stuff. I'm in my mid-30s and would say I have a very busy lifestyle (work as a physician with research/teaching/clinical responsibilities, time with family, church, other recreational stuff like computer games&watching MMA with friends). I would say my life is pretty tight timewise with little time left over and requires careful time management to keep it all balanced properly, but I kind of like it that way and it all works out pretty well much of the time. For the next 2 weeks I have a vacation, woohoo! Spending it at home to rest up and relax as I just finished a particularly intense work period. Other than spending more time with the family etc which will happen, I'm considering having an "increased BJJ" type vacation as well - maybe training for a short period like guys who are more life-focused on BJJ - maybe training 2-per-days, for 5 times per week (estimate something like 18 hours of mat time per week for each of the 2 weeks), and spending some time during the day doing some drills and looking at training videos. Potential benefits would be: having fun with it, getting a lot more exercise (needed after the holidays), making a lot of progress that would be long-lasting (would it??? or would the benefits disappear in a couple months). Potential downsides would be lack of benefit for time spent (???), and getting injured since I ain't as young as I do notice that random little injuries tend to bug me more than when I was in my 20s. So...thoughts? Anybody had periods where they really upped the training frequency for a short period, did it have long-lasting BJJ benefits?
Yes. It is my opinion that 14 practices over 2 weeks has far better lasting skill retention than 14 practices over 2 months.
The results of the training will not be proportional to 9 weeks if you do the work in 2 weeks, but the benefits you get will stay with you as long as you roll semi-regularly. I'd say do it, you can only get better from it (Unless you hurt yourself, be careful).
Pick something you want to work on and really focus on it for the two weeks. There is no way it won't be an improved part of your arsenal after you're done.
Yeah, do this if you can. I've spent 3 weeks this summer training 3 times a day getting constantly smashed by almost exclusively black belts with only short periods of me destroying rare white belts. Then I got back home, and though it wasn't immediately apparent to me, everyone was impressed by a jump in technical ability and conditioning (I've trained 3 times x 2 hours a week for 9 months before this). Some stuff weared off in a month or so but it was too high a leap to just disappear completely. There was a fresh blue belt with me who got even more of this trip (because he wasn't as green as me and understood more of what was shown) and a 2-month white belt who is now consistently placing at competitions. The only problem is- injuries and recovery. 3 times a day for even a short period of time is exhausting and nearly kills you. But I'll do it again if I have the chance.
