A Jiu-Jitsu Times reader messaged me talking about one of the challenges or being a BJJ athlete over 40.
What is the ability for the body to recover fully in between training sessions? The student who boasts a few gray hairs in his beard said that his much younger training partners invited him to train every day, but if he tried to train that often, he quickly became too sore and fatigued.
Is there any solution to assist recovery?
Yes, here are my two best ideas for the over-40 athlete (I am 49 and on the mat 5 days per week).
Make sure you’re eating right.
Perhaps the most significant factor in your ability to recover and repair is your nutrition. Let’s be honest here: when was the last time you consumed fresh green vegetables?
Good nutrition is not exactly a news flash, but how many guys are actually making an effort to get several servings of fresh vegetables in their diet every day? The carrot and celery sticks with your wings just aren’t enough!
Many BJJ black belts love their juicers and Vitamix blenders, where they can easily prepare fresh kale or spinach smoothies. The effects on your body inflammation and joint pain can be dramatic!
“Flow with the go.”
This is Rickson Gracie’s famous malapropism from the movie Choke. Flow rolling will allow you to spend more time moving between positions and exchanging techniques. For more advanced students, improvement comes not from the acquisition of more and more techniques. The ability to move and transition quickly and smoothly between positions becomes more important.
Renzo Gracie black belt Shawn Williams has perhaps the best way of explaining how to correctly flow roll in this video.
This method of training is far easier on your body, but allows you to spend more time rolling in a week while mitigating the stress to your physical body.
Try it out old timer!
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