Longevity in Jiu Jitsu is something that I think a lot about.
I know I’ll be doing Jiu Jitsu for a long time but I also recognize that many of the moves that younger practitioners take for granted like rolling inverted or speed passing might not carry over well into the masters division.
Not only does your technical ability and focus change the longer you train, but also your mindset and approach changes as well.
While a younger athlete might be solely focused on winning tournaments.
An older athlete might focus more on fitness and maintaining health.
When I look at the demographic of many academies. It’s easy to see that the average student is a late 20’s or early 30’s working professional. Training for fitness and fun, not championships or titles.
Not to knock my older athletes out there. But typically at this point, Jiu Jitsu is more of an exciting hobby or a part of your daily routine that you do in addition to your career, your relationships, children, etc.
Depending on where you are in life. Your priorities will be different.
I’m going to cover a few topics that have allowed me to keep training at a high level despite injuries and other setbacks for many years.
When you’re doing Jiu Jitsu it helps to think long term. Because everything takes so long. It takes time to develop the proper movement skills, fundamental techniques, and conditioning that you will even need before you can fully dive into your practice.
I love the saying, “Jiu Jitsu is a marathon and not a sprint”.
If you really want to get better at Jiu Jitsu then it will help to…
Diet
The more I train, the more I realize how important diet is to your performance on and off of the mat.
It doesn’t take a scientist to know that eating the wrong foods before training, or not allowing yourself enough time after eating to digest can negatively effect your rolling.
Rather than focusing on the word “diet”. Instead, focus on nutrition–eating high quality proteins, carbs, and fats and most importantly, not starving yourself. The major difference between dieting and nutrition is the sustainability. You can maintain a diet for a few weeks, but nutrition is a lifestyle.
For my non-diet experts out there, you want to avoid most sugary drinks and foods including: soda, fruit drinks, fancy starbucks lattes, and all things processed (if it doesn’t have an expiration date, leave it alone).
Here is a general list of foods to avoid: Dairy (grassfed is an exception) Refined sugars Modern vegetable oils Processed foods
Knowing what not to eat is the first step in nutrition and it will take time to implement. Nothing is harder than not being able to eat a familiar comfort food (ex. pizza) or not being able to grab a meal with your teammates after a grueling practice.
You just have to find the right balance.
Quitting cold turkey works if you’re experienced in following diet plans or have a lot of self restraint, but for most people, it’s best to wean yourself off all processed stuff slowly.
Quality
Of course, the quality of the meats and vegetables that you get matter. If you have access to grass fed, locally grown items then go for it.
You can find quality ingredients from any grocery store nowadays, but the ones that I personally use include:
Whole Foods Costco Trader Joe’s Fresh Market Local Farmers Market
For the cash-strapped up-and-comers, get the best quality that you can afford, even if that means looking for deals using coupons, sales, or buying in bulk. A great way to save money is by shopping online through sites like Amazon, US Wellness Meats, and Tropical Traditions.
Sleep
It doesn’t matter how good you are. If you don’t get a proper amount of sleep. You’re going to be off.
Sleep is the single most important part of your overall health. During sleep, your body goes through a lot of integral processes including tissue repair and growth, as well as memory consolidation.
So if you’re training a lot, more than anything else you do, sleep could make the difference in your performance. .
Aim for 7-9 hours nightly if you can. There are apps out there (such as Sleep Cycle) that can help you monitor how much time you sleep and measure the quality of your sleep as well.
Training Partner Selectivity
There are some training partners that you have to be careful rolling with. There’s no shame in avoiding them. Especially, if they have a history of injuring others.
There is nothing worse than worrying about someone injuring you while you’re training with them. There’s a good chance that you won’t get anything out of the training anyway. So you should probably not roll with them or if you can’t get out of it. Focus on rolling conservatively. Being careful not to leave any body parts exposed or in vulnerable positions.
You have to develop a hyper awareness almost like a “spidey sense” because a lot of times your partner might do something crazy or something you don’t see coming.
Prehab and Physical Therapy
I’m a big believer in doing conditioning outside of just training Jiu Jitsu.
For some people this might mean lifting weights, doing yoga, or cross training in other sports.
I make it a habit to really focus on mobility and strengthening those injury prone joints.
You know the ones I’m talking about.
Those knees and shoulders.
Keeping these joints strong makes it harder to injure them and will decrease the time it will take to get them up and running if they do get injured.
Injuries are a part of this martial art. There’s no way to completely safe guard yourself from them. I’m sure everyone has something nagging them.
Just don’t let that keep you from training. But if it’s a serious injury that prevention function and range of motion, then you need to take a break. A lot of Jiu Jitsu practitioners are hard headed in that reguard. They get hurt but they continue training and actually make the injury worse.
This is when you need that long term training mindset.
Take time off when your injury is not serious and let it heal instead of doing more damage.
Of course, consult a physical therapist or doctor and take steps from there.
“Some good habits to develop early on in jiu-jitsu career that will help increase longevity is to work on muscle imbalances and joint restrictions, allow for adequate rest and recovery, and to train smart with no ego.
Evidence shows that the biggest predictor of future injuries (aside from a previous injury), is asymmetry in strength or flexibility. If you only learn to pass going to one side, or only play guard on one side you are over using one muscle group and neglecting another.
When preparing for a tournament we tend to focus on increasing the intensity of our training, or adding a strength and conditioning program but rarely schedule set times or days focused on recovery. To help prevent burnout, we need to make sure we’re getting adequate sleep, having a healthy, well balanced diet and, most importantly, listen to our bodies when we are exhibiting signs of overtraining. These include persistent fatigue and muscle soreness (beyond what’s expected from the workout), difficulty sleeping, irritability, depression and malaise.
Lastly, we have to train smart with no ego. This seems obvious, but in the heat of the moment during an intense roll our competitive nature can get the better of us. Training with no ego doesn’t only mean tapping when a submission is locked in, it is also about knowing when to give up on a position. Twisting your knee that extra bit to help create an angle for the knee cut pass, muscling your way out of the folders pass when your hips are pinned and your back is twisted, or exploding out of a stacked pass to create a scramble will all have a cumulative effect and something is going to give.”
Clinton Gouveia, PT, DPT
Proper Movement
Knowing how to move, and knowing how your body, and your partner’s bodies are supposed to move will keep you healthy and training hard for many years to come.
Does your knee feel weird while knee cutting? Maybe don’t knee cut on that side or try a different passing technique.
Proper movement dynamics is something that you will see in a lot of high level athletes. Having that proper alignment, not forcing techniques, and knowing when to let go or give up a position comes with experience.
I’ve seen so many people put themselves into a bad position and then try to force their way out. It’s scary.
Again, you need to develop that body awareness or grappling “sense” that will keep you from doing anything to injure yourself.
Technique over physical attributes
This is probably one of the biggest factors in determining how long you will be able to enjoy your training.
When you’re young or healthy your physical attributes can and do cover for a lot of your technical holes in your game.
We all know those students that get away with a lot in training because they are phenomenally strong.
There’re practically a superhero in a gi (or rashguard).
But their strength can become a crutch for them. Because of it, they don’t have to rely on as much technique. And this works for while. At least until, they come across someone even stronger than themselves.
There’s always going to be someone stronger, or faster, or more flexible.
We only have so much wiggle room in how far we can push ourselves physically.
But there is no limit to your technique. It can continue to get better the more time and work you put into it.
There is so much that goes into to training Jiu Jitsu. Especially, for a decade or more. But I do think that taking care of yourself, your body. Is what’s going to keep you in the game.
No matter how much you love Jiu Jitsu. If your body is ruined or you abused your body, then you’re going to limit yourself in your training.
All the older guys I train with treat their bodies like a temple. Of course, enjoy life and everything. But it’s important to find balance and to maintain yourself as well.