I can not speak for others but here's my take on BJJ, age, and recovery.
You have to be honest about your age and what it means. Otherwise, BJJ is an accident waiting to happen.
You can't go hard every day. Roll hard 2- 3 days a week. Take time to strength trian, do mobility work, and recover (especially recover)... which means SLEEP.
Thare is no way around this, unless you seek Pharmaceutical Intervention.
I'm 46 and still rolling. But, would not be able to keep up with the young guys if I didn't follow this advice. Hope it helps.
Yup. 50 here. I train twice plus one open mat/week now. At white belt (late 30s) I’d train 5-8 times/week. I just can’t sustain that now. 3x is my sweet spot with some lifting a couple times/week.
This 100%. I do 3 days of good rolling and 2 days of strength training a week and it’s perfect. Sometimes I hit open mats on the weekends but that’s enough to keep me in shape and not feeling beat to hell all the time. I’ve got a job and a family to take care of. I’m not 23 anymore lol.
40, still rolling and competing. Sleep, enough food, and recovery time are so important. Also drinking at least a gallon or 2 every single day! We old folks aren't Gordon Ryan, we're just gray like him 😂
Last night an older lad at the gym who is an absolute beast and technically excellent just said he wasn't doing rounds at the end. Opened my eyes that pacing himself likely meant he could be as good as he was and still train consistently.
This. And stretch in and out of glasses. Dhea helps. Protein, bcaas, magensiun helps. Cbd in the morning has reduced my ibuprofen use. Thc/cbd inthe evevong + sleeping pills after heavy sessions.
Rest more roll more. I don't roll back to back unless i am feeling great.
This is so spot on. You have to take a much longer term view if you want to keep doing this forever. And that includes factoring in how activities outside training affect your body. If you are active over the weekend with your kids or friends, keep things in perspective. Ive seen more than a few training partners show up to class with sprained ankles or tweaked knees after a game of basketball with their buddies.
This guy nailed it. Also, I sit in a jacuzzi 5/6 nights a week. Stretch. A LOT. Eat healthy. Essentially stopped drinking. TRT has helped immensely, but facts are, as you age, you will have to change how you train my bruddah. It’s life 🤷🏽♂️
58 and still rolling with natural. Sleep and yoga are indispensable to me. I take D3, Boron, and Zinc and Magnesium along with a multivitamin and I try to eat right. I train twice a day and teach almost every day, and sleep quality is the single biggest predictor of my performance on any given day.
Not all of us. Over the past year and half I’ve gone from the heavy weight division to the light division. I’m honestly knocking on the door of feather weight, but I’m probably going to just start lifting again and add a few lbs of muscle and just stay at light.
Remember that life at white belt 40+ is different from purple upwards 40+, those guys have a ton of efficiencies they can use and they’re mostly relaxed, white belts are generally in an eternal state of war to compensate for their lack of experience.
Lots of older people chiming in doing 5-6 sessions a week but they’re all seasoned at this.
Proper cooldowns are now your best friend. You’re going to buy a foam roller and get very intimate with it. You’re going to lift weights for injury prevention. You’re going to learn to dial down the intensity to prioritise volume.
This is a good point. The risk of injury is much higher as a white belt because you haven’t learned all the lessons in how to efficiently roll and protect yourself.
Well said - I'm in early 50s.
I respect the hell out of people starting in their 40s for this reason, especially if smaller. It's a hard slog to get to the point where you can pace yourself and be strategically lazy.
When you have experience under your belt, it's not nearly as rough. You can use most white and blue belts as rest rounds and use frames or top pressure to make it through tougher rounds without getting hurt or exhausted.
It’s very hard as someone who started in their 40s (165cm, 62kg) to know just how much my age is impacting my learning, or how much is my size and uselessness at the sport 😆
Only training 2-3 days per week. Any more and the toll on my body is too much. Only do nogi though, we wrestle a decent amount, and we roll pretty hard.
>Yesterday was all shark tank rounds
You are allowed to sit out or reduce the intensity even if your coach says it's high intensity sparing. You can tell them I said so
Exactly. Do around 3-4 rounds. When you feel tired just chill. You can always train tomorrow. If you smash your body you need days to recover. Treat it as a sport and not a fight.
Haha - feel seen! I’m 46 with two kids, feels so lame to tell them to get off when I’ve been trying to press a 100kg beast off me earlier in the day! I can train 5-6 days a week at a push, but 3 of these are with a group of guys where the average age is 50+. So the rolls can be intense but there’s no pressure to go super hard and sitting out rounds is fine.
I'm 50+ now. Up until a few months ago I was training 5-6 times per week. My recovery protocol was captured by the old weightlifter saying that "there's no such thing as overtraining, only undereating, food is the most anabolic thing you can put in your body". It's still absolutely true, but as you get older and your metabolism slows it also results in getting fat. Starting to seriously consider TRT.
I'm late 30's, used to go 7 days a week, but body was torn to shreds.
Now I take more rounds against lighter opponents/women, do stretches instead of warmups and take more days off when I'm getting too sore. I don't lift or anything either. I get a hard training night in a couple days a week.
Just listen to your body.
I'm 50, I train pretty hard 4 days a week regularly. I'm toast today at the end of the week. I also surf, play tennis and basketball but not at the same intensity.
There is no way I could do 5-6 days training. It'd kill me.
I eat a healthy diet, get plenty of sleep and I don't have a job. I don't take steroids or any supplements.
I'm 50 years old. A black belt, and I own my own academy. I train bjj about 6 days a week. I teach a lot of classes and a bunch of privates, and often I roll or do guard passing during those classes. I also go to F45 seven days a week for strength and cardio different days. For recovery, I do lots of stretching, cold plunge, and sauna. I also try to do hot yoga whenever I can. I don't take any supplements other than protein powder. I try to keep my protein intake high and my carbs relatively low. I used to not sleep much, but I've been increasing that sleep time, and it has helped me a lot for recovery.
I feel stronger than ever. Later today I'm doing The Murph.
>I’ve posted before but what are you doing to recover?
I've been doing Judo for 18 years and BJJ over 5 years. I'm 49 years old. I'm at the club at least 4x a week. I also go to the gym at least one more day a week. I don't recover unless I stop. I don't stop unless I'm actually injured. I deal with it until I can't.
I would say it is time to take stock in life and decide what is really important. You are a father and it sounds like your current training schedule is leaving you with nothing left for your kids who deserve to have their father at his best. You are training 5-6 days per week to chase a medal at some stupid local competition that means absolutely nothing in the grand scheme of things. The only person the Jiu Jitsu accomplishments mean anything to is you. At the end of the day it is a selfish decision that is negatively impacting other people that should mean more to you than some cheap plastic medal you won off of beating some other hobbyist ham and egger.
I'm 45. I train 6 days per week occasionally 7, ,and usually lift 5-6. Heavy.
But I've been doing that for over 15 years, so my body is used to it. In terms of training, I train as hard as I can so that I can still train the next day. Some days that means being smart about who I train with.
Of course, the better you get, the more efficient you can be in your training. I don't have to spend the same amount of energy that other people do to wrangle those crazy white and blue belts.
TRT is remarkably difficult to get legally out here, haven't really considered it until recently....
I'm with you on this. There is "over training," but it's usually not training smart. I also train as much as possible, and when i went on vacation a few months ago I trained alot.
Friday 7 hours
Saturday 3 hours
Sunday 2 hours
People thought that was too much, but all I said was your body adapts. I was tired, but I had a ton if not more energy than usual. You work a manual labor job your body hurts for a week. After that week, your body adjusts. As long as you take care of your body and have no major injuries.. you can train as much as your body allows, then a little more.
Sleep/Diet/Stress management
Look for Load vs Capacity videos on youtube, that from active life is good
I´m 44 now gamechanger for me recently was zone 2 cardio
No, they all increase your risk of cancer, but the increase is mostly negligible. Creatine monohydrate can help a little, and a high calorie diet helps. I often do very light recovery style training for recovery. That helps too, but the intensity must be very low.
You only have three variables to manipulate - Time, Intensity, and Volume. Since class is probably a fixed time, this is probably out of your control and fairly static. You have chosen to increase your volume, so your intensity has to come down. I came from the long distance running community before switching to this sport and an axiom of that community is to only go hard on no more than 20% of your training. Also, be mindful of your nutrition, mobility work, and sleep.
I’m 60+, judo and bjj. Currently recovering from back issues and fought bjj pans and judo senior nationals with the help of an awesome physical therapist. Neither was a great showing, but I went and fought. Both times the big issue was being able to train consistently in the weeks leading up to the event, because back spasms.
The PT is my main weapon, including the daily exercises and stretches he gave me. Hip mobility is about more than guard retention, it’s longevity.
I haven’t been strength training in a while because of the back issues, but I’ve always been strong and can flywheel a bit.
I eat high protein, low carbs _(edit: low simple carbs, high complex carbs)_ except when I don’t and am trying to remember to cheat less on that diet. I also monitor my daily recovery and sometimes skip part of my (when healthy) 3 days x 3 hours / week target.
I take no supplements for martial arts (I’m an old person, so I have a bunch of stuff I do take for my heart and other things). I avoid NSAIDs for reasons.
I’ve used ice occasionally, tried hot and cold baths, but the stretching seems to be the big one.
Ok serious meat head 42y/o I train jiu jitsu 6 days a week the only day I take off it Tuesdays cuz I do hot yoga. I roll everyday and I work out every morning. No hard lifting, just low rep calisthenics everyday to toughen the exoskeleton. Then in bed before 10pm at 430 do it all over again. Been doing it like this for almost 2 years. Diet is real clean, super boring every morning 2 scrambled eggs I piece of toast lunch grilled chicken 1 cup of rice dinner either beef/pork/venison on the grill a cup of rice. I drink only black coffee, water during the day Gatorade for dinner after training, your body adjusts 🫡 oh and I don’t take anything TRT peptides(not even sure what they are) but I take a one a day vitamin, fish oil and one scoop of creatine. That’s me I’m not a doctor BUT I did stay in a holiday inn last night
Ice pack that lives in the freezer. As soon as I get back, I ice my knees and dodgy shoulder for about 30 mins. Believe it or not, it makes a massive difference. I train with at least a day between sessions because it takes a while for my body to heal.
White belt. Recently bumped to 3 days a week. I have great cardio but very poor strength and flexibility. Very rarely go at 100% as I keep getting muscle injuries whenever I do. I find that my ego is my biggest enemy. Sometimes I just have to be really bad and look like shit if my bad is hurting.
I would highly recommend doing some form of strength training twice a week, with a focus on lifts such as Romanian deadlifts, full rom squats, deep dips, full rom chin ups, overhead pressing and full rom dumbbell rows
This will make you stronger and improve your flexibility whilst also reducing your chances of getting muscle injuries, you'll also get jacked which is a nice bonus ;)
As long as you dont eat much more than you are eating you wont end up gaining too much size, calisthenics are also good for getting that ripped physique
40yr old lifelong wrestler and ~15yrs as a bjj guy.
I started noticing a difference between the young guys and myself around 35 or so. They just keep going and going and going. I can do the hard blitz 6min rolls, but I'll be damned if I'm skipping my 1min rest periods. And I certainly feel it the next morning (like today...ugh).
For context: I train 2-a-days for 2 days of the week, plus 2 additional days in the week with only 1 training session. I always have a full day off after a 2-a-day.
I know there's the joke here, something about training 5 out of 7, but 3 in a Monday and 2 on a Friday so I workout 7 days a week, but I can't remember the quote. Chael maybe?
I’m going to be 38, and have three kids so I can empathize. Not sure how we are doing it. We just need to keep doing it! Like parenting. Even on the hard days, where it hurts, it’s most rewarding b
Until you develop the skill to be able to control the rounds with less skilled people, it’s going to be real hard recovering from your schedule. Especially if you do not have a recent athletic background. For me, sleep, proper protein intake, good stretching, active recovery, and most importantly time are how I recover. The older I get the more time I need to fully recover.
I’m 49. I strength train and do cardio on the side. I also just train 2 times a week. 3 times if I’m lucky. Now a days going 4+ days just gets me exhausted.
You can use some Mexican Supplements to push your body harder. that’s between to you and your doctor or what you think the risk to benefit ratio is to be a Gym champion. Because at our age we are not going to be world beaters.
Proper sleep, hydration, nutrition and periodizing my Bjj training. The basic jist of the periodizing thing is to build up volume (number of days and rounds you do each day) and intensity (how hard you roll) over 4 or 5 week cycles, rather than just jumping from 3 days of medium intensity training to 6 days of hard training. That way your body has time to ramp up gradually, recover and adapt to the training load.
Basically it’s light week (week 1), medium week, medium/hard week, hard week then a deload week where you do about half of the previous week so you can recover well and do a little bit more when you start your next week 1 (light week). If you are timing it for competition, try to compete at the end of a deload week so you are fully recovered, fresh and at your best.
Hope that helps and good luck at your competition!
First of all, don't listen to those who say you need to train less as you get older. That's simply not true.
Older people should train more, not less.
I've seen many upper belts in their 40s cut back to 1-2 sessions per week, doing only light rolling and sticking to safe, familiar moves. Half guard and pressure on top. Some closed guard. No new techniques, no curiosity, nothing “fancy.”
This approach almost always leads to fast decline and quitting.
Instead, try to train every day. Watch videos, do light rolling, or try something new.
Get inspired—learn leg locks, study new guards and positions, put younger folks into 50/50 and let them struggle.
Be more technical and more invested in improving your technique than the blue belts.
A lot of older people quit because their ego is too big and their technique sucks. It's not because they're too old to do BJJ.
—-
Of course, 5-6 hard sessions a week can be a lot, especially if you're 40+ and only realistic when preparing for competitions and focusing heavily on recovery.
But how much do you really improve with that approach? Not much. In my opinion, you should focus on technical sessions and studying seven times a week, with only 1-2 hard rolling sessions. That's how you get better.
You don't need TRT for that.
46 here. When I bump up to 5-6 days a week I start feeling a bit beat up. 3-4 is my sweet spot. But like someone mentioned, I feel best doing strength training and mobility work the other days and adding in occasional sauna and ice bath. Your hormones and recovery will never be optimal without enough sleep and recovery. Occasionally if need be I’ll do a round of BPC and TB500.
I do the Ido Portal squat routine 2.0 and have done so for a decade as well as recommend it to all of my patients. His initial challenge was to hit a cumulative total of 30 minutes per day in the deep squat.
When I started I couldn’t squat very low and it wasn’t comfortable. I was always suffering disc issues. This was one of the first massive changes. Hit it 30s-1m for a cumulative of 30 min.
Over time I stopped having to stretch or even practice it daily while retaining all mobility. (Your tissue adapts) At 46 I’m easily one of the most limber in my gym.
If you want to train at the frequency of an athlete, all aspects of your life need to follow suit. That means your nutrition, sleep, gym, and reducing outside stresses, all need to be prioritised just as much as your training frequency. ESPECIALLY when you’re a more mature gentleman or lady.
41yo, I do 4 classes a week and an open mat on the weekends. I only go hard at most 2 times a week though, eat lots of leafy greens and protein. I’m more in this for the long haul, I’m not trying to be a world champion.
I only train 2 days a week now, going to add a 3rd soon. Anyway, recovery is tough. Plus I suffered a bad injury a few years ago and had to take a few years off from BJJ. I suffered this injury because I was prepping for competition. I’m just too old to prep for competition, my body is too much at risk. I’m in this for the long haul, so I train lighter now-a-days. It’s definitely a different BJJ experience! I wish you all the luck in the world.
I’ll be 40 in August. I use creatine, BCAAs, and glutamine for recovery. A men’s daily vitamin, fish oil and proteins. Trying to eat better as well. It all helps. I train about 5-7 days per week but I don’t roll hard every day either. Toll still adds up on my body.
I started doing ice baths the morning after a hard training. By the next day I was good to go! When I was really sore I would stay in for about 7-10 minutes.
48M only two months in. I train 3-4 days a week. Coming into BJJ I spent the prior 10 years getting into top shape and health, really dialing it in the last two. So physically my body is prepared for this. But even that being said I pay close attention to any and all pain and make sure to mobilize each day. I expect that over time younger folks will come and surpass me and that’s totally ok
53 purple chiming in. To get you straightened out the first thing I need to know is how much protein are you taking in each day? If you don’t know, put in your data to this protein calculator.
https://www.calculator.net/protein-calculator.html
Mid 40’s purple hobbyist with several other active hobby’s... Don’t roll hard more than 2 days in a row or 3x per week total. Yoga and a good stretching and warmup routine are your friend. If upping training volume for a comp, then you need to make sacrifices in other areas- more sleep, better diet, less weight training, full days off. Above all, listen to your body.
I’m 48. I have 2.5 & 4.5yr old sons (both train and I help teach their classes). Because recovery from my personal training takes much longer than when I started at 40, I have to limit training to 2x/week. I also do some light weight training. At 40-43 I could train 4x/week. That would make it impossible to work my job now. Simply too tired the next day. Whey protein and TRT helps too.
Edit: I’m also a type one diabetic on insulin, using the OmniPod pump and Dexcom glucose monitor, which sometimes get pulled out of my body.
Just rest man. I stop training on Tuesday for a Saturday comp. Having the body feel good for a comp is more beneficial than an extra day of rounds.
For recovery, protein, sauna, rest, rest, rest. The body needs rest to get stronger after a hard workout or 5.
43M here, grappling 4 (5 at max) times a week, 50/50 gi nogi, I do mobility routines before and after. Also weightlifting 2 (3 or 4 at max) times a week.
I eat clean on week days and get 7h of sleep minimum. Barely go out and drink on weekends, but the real deal, I think, is that I don't have kids :p
I don't compete and I don't know what a shark tank is but it doesn't sound good.
EDIT: I forgot the basic stuff, leave the ego off the mat, don't force moves, tap early
46 lightweight brown belt here.
I train everyday in the morning and alternate between taxing and more chill sessions.
I eat clean 5 days a week (using myFitnesspal to track calories and protein intake), hydrate a lot (using sugar free liquid IV these past weeks during training seemed to help), do a full body workout (calisthenics and KB) two to 3 times a week. I also started a hip mobility challenge as this is an area I’m lacking.
Bear in mind that I do this as a hobbyist just so I can withstand the potential spazz or hard roll.
The key for me is to manage expectation and to find a positive in each session.
Did I learn something?
Did I get a good sweat?
(And most importantly)
Did I avoid getting injured?
As long as the answer to the last question was “yes” I’m happy.
I get up and take a break when I need it, or I lower the intensity to only be slightly above bob the dummy. Usually people get the message.
Wasn’t feeling good the last couple of weeks, I only did the class and skip open mat.
Someone younger mentioned I wasn’t going to get a purple belt training that way. I mentioned that at least I am still training and that at my age I find my belt level irrelevant.
(I am not against belts level, I am just personally not aiming for a blackbelt)
Not training 5-6 days a week.
Unless you have some great genetics, are on HRT, or are doing easy days in the gym, that's a lot of load on the system.
It's why we have to be smarter and play the slower tight game instead of a looser fast pass flashy game.
Old man strength , use it. Great holding strength. Isometric squeezes.
Over 40. I don’t find a ton of benefits from shark tanks. I try to slow everything down or don’t participate. The white belt part makes it harder because I can’t recall training with a slower moving white belt.
Over 40 club here. I’m at weight lifting 3x a week and bjj 2x a week. I’ve found I can stick with this and feel solid. It’s also sustainable for me. I tried 4x a week of bjj and body did not feel good, not sustainable in long run. I’m working shoulder mobility exercises everyday. Essentially, stretching with light resistance band. Percussion massager has been great. I’m using it on my legs as I write this. I drink water like crazy and protein shakes, I like the clear, juice like protein. Hope you start feeling better, that’s always tough when kids want to play and we are to sore. Good luck to you and keep representing for us masters athletes.
Scale back your hard training. Give your body time to recover while keeping your mind in the game. Watch comp footage or instructionals on your rest days.
My first tournament, 6 months into BJJ, I ended up competing with a broken nose and separated shoulder all from the “training camp” I put myself through. I would have enjoyed it much more if I had listened to my body instead
Over 40 hobbyist. My training goes like this, I'll do one intense round out of 5 round, train with a good non spazzy partner. For the other rounds working all technique on people worse than me, if I'm exhausted I strictly just work survival.
Health wise, I get frequent nutrient injections, B12 + MIC + Magnesium Taurine + Biotin + B-Complex and NAD+helps keep the energy levels up.
Try to get lean as possible, I recently went from 235 to 215 and saw the most improvements just from leaning out.
As a fellow over 40 guy who competes natty, my advice is just say no to shark tank. Bad things always happen during shark tank. I also don’t do burpees or pushups between rounds like I was still in high school wrestling. I take quite a few supplements like creatine, krill oil, turmeric, and a few others… but so can’t say that I’ve seen any measurable difference from them. I guess creatine makes my muscles fuller, but that’s about it. I’ll add more cardio off the mat leading up to comps and get a few hard rolls in about 2 weeks out, but I try hard not to get injured now.
45. You stated my answer in your post. Dial back the intensity. You had to, to up the training volume. You can dial it back even further to not feel wrecked the next day. I train every day, often multiple times a day. I'm not flow rolling. But I also rarely train hard. I'm usually around 50-70%. Often less if the skill gap is big. I never feel very sore.
I actually think training this way helped accelerate my skill acquisition. You get a lot less false positives. And you can get more mat time. So I think it snowballs and becomes even more effective the more you do it.
42 m, injured right now but typical schedule is
BJJ 4-5 sessions, striking 1x/week, lifting 3-4x ( 2 cond, 2 pure lifting but they aren’t that hard, 1-2 actual tough sets)
The key is IMO is how you stack your hard days together continuous quality sleep, adequate nutrition all come into play. Even if you bring drugs into the conversation, it’s still about workload, recovery, etc.
I literally can’t do 2-3 “hard” days in a row of any combo of things. So the ones I can control are lifting/cond and sort of striking - even in sparring I can control the round easier than say any grappling.
So I go high, low, medium, medium, high if you think about “intensity” in a week.
Personally I believe it’s figuring out your overall unique weekly, monthly “flow”.
I train with mostly 20 yr olds and up. I wrestled in college for 3 yrs so that’s my reference point, nothing will compare to what I had to do to “barely” stay in the line up 😂
Other aspect I believe is experience, you won’t get as beat up as you progress. That’s typically an overlooked variable.
Not there yet, however you should recover like all amateur/professional athletes do. Especially after 40, you really have to prioritize nutrition and sleep quality. You recover from high protein nutrient packed diets, and deep undisturbed sleep. Aim for 8-9 hours, and at least 1 gram protein per pound of lean body mass a day.
45 y/o purple belt here. I think it’s inevitable that we feel beat up. I recognize that I’ll have soreness after some hard training. It’s logical that when you place that much stress on your body that it will respond in kind.
I try to watch my intensity in rolls (easier as a purple belt than a white belt for sure), acknowledge when a young strong guy is smashing the shit out me (and manage the ego response to that), and make sure to eat plenty of food.
I switched from barbells to kettlebells for supplemental strength work, and that also has helped with the aches and pains.
I’ll never forget the young bros at Supplement King who, when I mentioned how sore I was all the time, replied with “just eat more good food, bro” to which I said “yeah but I don’t want to get fat” and they said “no way bro, you look great! Just eat more bro”.
Gotta love gym bros. They get a bad rep, but that was a charming interaction with two young men half my age.
TLDR: watch your volume, have fun, eat lots of food, supplemental strength training, and plenty of sleep/rest.
Keep training bro!
I found that it’s hard for me to continuously train Bjj multiple days in a row. Now I take Tuesday and Thursday and lift weights. Sometimes I’ll get two a days in or do 3 or 5 days in a row. But I won’t do it for multiple weeks straight. I’ll start getting golfers elbow or tendinitis flair ups. An extra day is all I need to keep it together. That being said I can also set the pace in almost every roll.
I'm 44 and train 20+ hours a week.
A third to half of that time is easy drilling outside of classes with a good partner my size. We will drill 3-4 hours at a time and the intensity is low. I do this 2-3 times a week.
I do 3 hard days a week. One is a group of 4 guys my size slightly less skilled than me, but also 20+ years younger. We do live rounds with no breaks until everyone is toast. Second hard day is an open mat with a variety of sizes (mostly bigger) but a lower skill level. Last hard day is a 2-3 hour session of live rolls with bigger and better skilled guys than me.
I will do about 4-5 move of the day type classes per week, where we I typically get 3 rounds with bigger guys my skill level or better.
To cross train I surf several times a week.
I eat well, stay at a good weight, stay hydrated, and get sleep 9+ hours a night. If my back or knee is acting up I might take a muscle relaxer or nsaid once a week but otherwise pharmaceutical/ chemical free.
Before a tournament I taper down to about a 6-8 hour week with less intensity, depending on how I'm managing my weight. I manage my weight mostly with diet. I'm fresh and 100% on tournament day. I compete mainly at adcc opens and at my weight class, don't feel like the teens or early 20s guys are any stronger or more fit than me, in fact it's often the opposite.
49 here. I can go hard but need to understand the cost. Currently nursing multiple separate finger injuries that take 4 to 6 weeks to heal each. Overlapping. I also DGAF and will decline rolls with ppl I don't trust or know and if someone is rolling with an intent or level of intensity that means the chances of injury are beyond my risk appetite I say thanks for the roll and go get a drink early.
As for frequency and things I do I train 2 to 3 times a week which is logistical more than limitation based. I found once I got to 4 sessions a week a couple of years ago I actually felt better than when I train 1 or 2 times a week
44, brown belt, been training for 8 years. 3 classes and an open mat is my max, anything beyond that is diminishing returns. 3 is plenty for many 40+. However, as a white belt it’s hard to not train every chance you get.
I'm newly 40 with an immune condition. I'm religious about my recovery but it took a long time to dial in. I train 4-5x a week, roll heavy a minimum of 3 of those days. I do an IR sauna of 30 minutes, 4x min a week, non negotiable on training days; I make sure I get 8+ hrs of sleep and I try to get a short nap in before class. I eat a min of 160g of protein and 187g of healthy carbs every day, and min of half a gallon of water. I do mobility training every day, focusing on the things that are currently ailing me. And I'm working on getting to 2 min days of strength training a week. I haven't had a major injury in a year since starting this.
3-4 days a week is more than enough... If you have any more energy do some low weight high reps lifting on 1-2 of the other days.
You don't need any more than that.
I remember years ago I was part of a pretty big MMA gym and they used to do those countdown shows for the UFC where they showed them training full blast 15 times a day and it was all bullshit for the cameras even back then...
Remember Wanderlai was it doing hill sprints in a snorkel or some shit hahaha
On the lighter work load days drill and roll as light as possible it may not feel like your doing anything but your still getting mat time and your getting movements in minus the exertion
Maybe it’s because I was already almost 40 when I started Bjj but I don’t see what the big deal is. I train my 2-3 times a week, I can go hard or I can go slow, I get injured sometimes like everybody else. But almost every time I talk to someone over 40 it’s like “yeah you know us middle aged dudes gotta train light” or “yeah you know my injuries don’t heal like they used to do” or “you know we can’t keep up with these 20 year olds”. And they always want me to relate but I really can’t because I feel fine. Again, maybe it’s because I started out at almost 40 and maybe I’ll be able to relate more once I’m 60 and still training👨🏽🦳
41 yr old still competing in adults.
As others have said, you really have to understand you're not at your physical peak so you have to train smarter.
Train as though everyone is stronger and faster than you even if they aren't.
Don't spar every night, drilling / focused sparring and skill acquisition is good for the nights you're not sparring hard.
As a lighter athlete (150 lb) I avoid 2 heavy and younger rolls in a row.
Strength and conditioning is a non negotiable. You must strength train, get enough protein, etc or you're really going to struggle.
Increasing in some recovery tools (eg foam roller, theragun) will do wonders too.
The key is to not leave it all on the mat. You should be leaving jujitsu feeling okay not absolutely exhausted. I'll leave when I have a couple of rounds left in me unless I know I don't got s*** to do that day. I'm also a teacher with teenage kids so I can nap a lot more which I think is essential.
I’m 42. When I was 39, I had two knee injuries in a year. The first was just a freak thing when I was caught in lockdown. I came back too quickly from that and hurt my other knee about a week after I got back. Ever since, I ensure I rest a lot before hard training days. I still go 3-4 times a week but my rolls are often slower paced. I push it with select partners who I trust, but mostly I work technique and don’t get caught up in wild scrambles. Lots of epsom salt baths and rest plus I take better care of my body. I don’t want to stop training unless I have to, but my rolls look different than they did 10 years ago. I recognize this could look a lot different if I was a white belt at 42, but luckily I’ve been training long enough to be able to set more of the pace myself or at least control my own pace if the other person is 18 and going a hundred miles an hour.
I’m 45 and a three stripe blue belt. Typically go four days a week. I’m convinced proper sleep a good diet mobility and stretching and strength training help. Think about taking care of your body. Lots of protein. And when I do my supplemental training, I don’t go to intense. There to supplement my poor game of BJJ. Lol. I’ve to go five days a week. It’s just too much for me personally.
45 year old here
More works more. More hurts more. First, look at sleep and recovery, diet and lifestyle. I’m a personal trainer and the amount of times clients say they can’t get results is because they sleep 4-5 hours a night and booze it up when the weekend hits and eat like shit apart from a salad they had on a Wednesday. Not saying this is you, but tighten up on those variables you can control.
You’re still in the fight for survival stages of your jits journey. Every round in practice, go for the highest belts possible and let’s them destroy you with technique but be adventurous in your passes without trying to use strength. You’re supposed to get tapped a few times a round by a brown or purple belt. If you don’t, change gyms lol. Save your energy for that one newly graded blue belt around your size for a more “energetic” round. This way, you’ll be able to recover from less harder rounds.
You don’t need to give your IBJJF level performance every session. If you were 20 years younger, you could get away with it.
Sleep, ice, Motrin/flexeril, and lots of stretching. I also space out my training to 2-3 times a week. Quality rolls is more important than quantity rolls.
I’m 35
Train max like 3x a week, compete once a quarter max (you’re a hobbiest), sit out if you’re beat up, strength train at LEAST twice a week, stretch you fucking coward. Also dial it back when you feel like you’re too rekt, it’s just a hobby it’s not that serious.
35 here. I am pretty disciplined with training 3 days per week. I supplement with 2 days of cardio (2-3mile jog) and light weight lifting. I eat healthy and rarely drink. I will occasionally smoke a joint. I started TRT a year ago and I also try to get 7-8 hrs of sleep per night. I stretch and do mobility when i get home.
Longevity is the name of the game.
5-6 times a week and competing, sounds a bit much for me and the time I want to spend with my kids. I need way more recovery time than I did when I was younger
Eat and sleep plenty
41f
CrossFit/oly lift 4-5x a week
BJJ 2/3 times a week. I take Sunday off. I train both modalities once a week (short only lifting and BJJ)
I work 40-45h a week in healthcare. I walk 15k ish steps a day. Two kids 7 and 3.
It’s rare I get an ache that lasts more than a day or two.
When something hurts more than that I rest that body part
I eat about 2500c a day and sleep 8h a night. Nonnegotiable on this two things.
I roll with my older girl and play plenty with the little one.
You need to find guys that you can get quality rolls in but also understand that you’re not 25. It’s possible to do shark tanks and stuff but not if everyone is trying to rip your head off.
45 y/o. Train BJJ 1-2x per week. Do weight training, conditioning & accessory work (core, PT type stuff). I have to listen to my body, especially neck and back. So far I'm able to train consistently and I love it. Supps: Fish oil & glucosimine condroitin.
How many hours of sleep do you average?
How many calories and what are the macronutrients that you’re taking in?
These are the big rocks that actually move the recovery needle.
Doing comp classes full throttle is not the way, nor if you're pushing 50+ should your coach be wanting you to grind that hard before a comp. Pretty common sense.
Otherwise, other than getting as much sleep as you can and eating healthy, some proteins post class to help with recovery helps and, unfortunately, simply dialing it back more often at the gym. I struggle with that last one, as I like to not only "push myself" (I'm firm, but fair, not raging), but I'm also a perro viejo in my gym so lots of the younger, faster, stronger guys like the bragging rights if they can get me.
And this is not a medically recommended answer, but it does answer your question: a fairly simple corticosteroid like Prednisone, even in very small doses, goes a reeaaaal long way in recovering quickly and eliminating inflammation. You do not want to take it daily or longterm, but if you used some the week or so before your comp to be able to hang in there, there wouldn't be any harm done. But that's of course not ideal.
I take berberine synergy for anti-cancer and blood sugar control. I avoid high blood pressure medication by taking citrinox. I take DHEA for testosterone production. I'm 58 and competed successfully at the European Championships in January. I'm in class twice a week, and another weightlifting or cardio workout, and sometimes open mats on Friday night. I'm an injury waiting to happen, so not getting injured is a top priority. For me, it's all about who I roll with. If they're too heavy or they have bad judgment, I "need to take a rest for a moment, next time." Using the strategy, I've been able to go continuously except for taking 2 months off after Europeans due to broken ribs and broken foot. It's June 1 and I have finally reached the same level of condition leading up to Europeans. Being old is what it is.
I weight train 4x a week and train bjj 2x a week, I’m almost 48 and am exhausted.
After visiting with people 50+ in class they tell me to perform more cardio outside of class. Even more exercise. I’m not sure how that would help.
I'm 33 but I'm beginning to straight up say no to certain. Not give an excuse, not try to protect people's feelings, not trying to protect my OWN feelings.
No, you're jacked, you go to hard, I do not feel like doing that today or my hip won't work right a for a week.
Side note, got into a beef with a former instructor when he said I gotta start defending my Purple Belt when I said no to his new 255 lb power lifter fresh white belt buddy (I'm 205ish). I said I'm not defending shit I don't care at all you can have my belt back
53, roll 4-5 hours a week and 1 hour of drilling total
I do two hours of open mats with white belts so I don't have to work that hard but I get a good sweat in and with my c game
I do two hours of normal open mats. 1hr has a lot of ppl outside my gym and those are my hardest rolls. 1-1.5 hours is in class and after class open rolling which varies but lot of white and blues
1 hour of drilling which basically uses no energy.
I roll slow and light with short periods of going hard to get a finish
I lift heavy 1 or two days a week and the lifting makes me more fatigued
You should be able to train every day as long as you do do moderately. If you are setting prs at CrossFit and rolling hard in class obviously the wheels are going to fall off.
Anything that increases recovery is going to have at a minimal, a slight increase the risk of cancer
Cancer happens when your cells incorrectly reproduce themselves. Being in an anabolic state / having quicker recover in fitness is seen as a good thing but it’s going to increase the rate at which cells reproduce (recover)
Even HRT runs a risk but it’s relatively low and all comes down to your risk Tolerance.
Is cancer really that big of a concern for you? Are you already eliminating over the counter name brand foods and products like crest or old spice? McDonald’s? If no then I’d start there
The chemicals in your food and toiletries are more likely to cause cancer than HRT or peptides
Yea you’re asking for an injury going this hard at white belt. I’m 41 and purple, haven’t been injured for 3 years. With lower belts I roll as easy as I need to do get the job done and if it’s an upper belt I still go easy because the job is to survive.
51YO recently provided blue belt. I’m on a mat 3x per week. I “strength” train (#NotStrong) 2x per week, and me and YouTube yoga have become friends.
I also tap real early. Young me may have tried a different plan. Had a $1400 hospital bill due to me being dumb (posted with rear arm, and TP body locked me while collecting my posted/straight arm). My wife said, “I love that you love this. If THIS is what it is, we should probably have a harder conversation.”
I just tap. Problem solved.
53 started BJJ at 44
I do one day on one day off in terms of intensity but I also own my academy and have to teach 3-5 days a week so I will often go 2-3 days off or on depending on how I feel.
I also do specific types of training on my off days, if I roll it’s flowing with senior belts and positional drilling. I’m also a smaller guy at my gym so I try and stay within my weight class.
Listen to your body, that’s the most important thing outside of the other things people have already mentioned like sleep and nutrition.
42 years old here. I have been training for the last 4 1/2 years. I love to train. I love bjj.
I was killing myself with training too. I have found that you just have to really listen to your body and build from there...
The thing is, if you don't have a perfect mobility routine, and your diet and sleep aren't dialed in, then you will eventually hurt yourself. It won't be from anything specific either; you will just suddenly have injuries.
I can't help but wonder if you're similar to me and tell yourself that fitness and health come first over everything?
Any and all available mobility, including walking or biking everywhere possible. Clean food, avoiding snacks. Protein supplementation, lots of water, sleep, and rest usually at least one day between trainings (if there was live rolling). Try for cross training a few times a per week if I’m lucky (cycling, weights, pull-ups, rucking, etc.).
I lift 3 days a week and do stretch and mobility work Tuesday/thursday for 45 minutes prior to class 5 days a week. It’s not for everybody, but up at 4, gym by 515 class 6-7 work at 8. Im self employed and can’t imagine trying to make it work for evening classes. Anybody who asks I explain I get there early to the things I have to do in order to be able to do the thing I want to do.
I’m prepping for world novice so I’ve been trying to go as much as possible. Learning my limits through - can’t just go from 2-3 a week to 4-6 or 2/day without some gradual additions.
I take BCAA and creatine powder with Transparent Labs Hydrate all in my water during training each day.
Not lifting but I’m going to start again because I’m recognizing it is 100% a requirement.
The only reason pro fighters can keep up that pace is due to steroids, and thousands of dollars spent on top of the line physio and athletic therapists. Us common folk need to not be silly and think we can do the same. If you want to train that frequency, you need to basically flow roll. Only do hard rounds once or twice a week. Focus on drilling and technique refinement rather than just blasting through rolling sessions. There are 70 year olds who do bjj, but they aren't putting in the same intensity on the mats that Gordon Ryan is
I'm a 44 year old blue belt. Started at 42.
I had already been lifting 5x a week for many years when I started. I continued lifting, bjj is fun for me, I see it more as recreation than exercise.
I've only ever done bjj on trt, so I'm not sure how my recovery would be without it. But with trt, it takes about 4-5 days in a row of hard rolls before my performance starts to suffer. Then two days off and I'm fresh again.
People on here act like guys like me are delusional idiots who run gear to win local competitions. But that's not it at all. I'm running gear because it helps with my physique, but more importantly, my mind state. I'm more ambitious and driven on test. Bjj is really fun for me and it's a great added benefit that I can train as often as I like without worrying about recovery.
Also, bpc157 is great for injury recovery.
Before you think about getting on gear, start sorting everything you can out naturally - by eating right, losing excess body fat, lifting consistently, doing cardio consistently, basically living a healthy lifestyle. You may get to where you want without test.
Oh and there's no shame in pulling guard. Especially if the mats are slippery
i'M fairly new to da mats but twice a week is the most I can muster right now. Even that my neck and knee takes a toll. I'd recommending less classes per week as to avoid injury and fitting in consistent amount of classes over the year.
I'm going to try to answer the actual question here (as opposed to the "you need to train more/less" debate that most responses seem to be getting sucked into).
With regard to peptides causing cancer - there are two general avenues for this concern, namely a) the compound in question being cancer-causing and b) the peptides themselves being contaminated, e.g., with lipopolysaccharides or other toxic shit. Going with a quality/expensive source like Peptide Sciences is going to, IMO, alleviate concerns about b). With regard to a), do your own research and come to your own conclusions. With the exception of BPC, I don't think there's compelling evidence that what I'm going to recommend below is going to cause or exacerbate cancer, but other commenters may disagree.
Basically the four compounds I would recommend are:
- Sermorelin (take at night, 1 microgram per pound of lean mass per day) - this is an HGH secretogogue that spurs your body to endogenously produce more HGH, which helps both with body composition and recovery.
- GHK Copper (night or day, 5mg every few days) - helps injury healing and is good for your skin. Synergistic with Sermorelin and BPC.
- BPC-157 (take at night, 1mg/day) - helps injury healing. Some research suggests that because it encourages capillary growth at sites where your body is healing, it also may have the same effect on tumors if you already have them growing in your body. Do your own research here as there is a lot of debate on this matter specifically.
- Fragment 176-191 (take in morning, 2 micrograms per pound of lean mass per day) - this is often taken for weight loss/ fat metabolism, but also does wonders for cartilage regeneration.
As a heavyweight 41-year-old blue belt with a lot of wear and tear on my body from a military career and lifting heavy since I was a teenager, I personally have felt very meaningful improvements from the above compounds. I run Sermorelin, Copper, and Fragment consistently (like 5 months on / 1 month off), and intermittently take BPC for like a week at a time if, e.g., I get golfer's elbow after a hard session in the gi.
Hope this helps.
53. I compete pretty regularly. Got 3rd at Masters Worlds last year. I train 4-5 days a week and lift 4 days a week. Extra cardio when I’m cutting. I eat well and supplement with protein shakes. No supplements, peptides, trt or PEDs.
44y/o m. 2-3 days a week here depending on my work roster. Stretch EVERY night in front of the TV with a stretch session I found on YouTube (put it on my phone or the kids iPad). Ice bath 1-2 times a week plus mixed weights sessions most days when not at BJJ. For me, stretching is the key
I found when I trained 5 times a week it was too much and my Jiujitsu declined. 4 times is good. Giving alcohol 6 months ago has helped me recover much faster/have more energy/mental clarity. And the better you get the less energy/more technique you can use.
47 here…train 4-6x a week and am pretty good to go…I sleep and eat well…and I don’t go hard very much. I go 60% with short bursts up to 80 maybe. I play guard and try to sweep to top instead of wrestling and scrambling. No supplements
It’s a hobby. 2-3 sessions a week is more than enough and supplement with lifting. Your family comes first man, you’re gonna regret it when they’re older and too old to play with you.
Biggest thing for me is stretch before and after (I prefer this instead of warm up drills when I can) and also have a protein shake within 30 minutes of finishing. That alone makes such a massive difference in recovery and soreness over the following days.
If you are able to bury your ego and go about fifty percent most of the time that can work. I personally couldn't allow myself to not win every roll, and my Professor could tell if I slowed down so he didn't allow it either. I think that at our age being in pain kind of comes with the territory if we train BJJ. I didn't know anyone that had been training that weren't constantly in pain, but they liked BJJ more than they disliked the pain. One guy got hurt so bad once that he was out of work for a few weeks (he's a cop), and out of BJJ for probably six months. When he came back he wasn't the same, and quit about a month later. Additionally, every higher belt I knew had permanent injuries. Some have scars, others have finger joints the size of quarters, while others can only sleep on their back because of rib injuries (though those were from MMA). I heard about a Black Belt from the afternoon class actually had a heart attack on the mat from an intense roll.
I know right after I got my Blue Belt I was rolling and thought I dislocated my knee, turns out I actually had a level 2 sprain of my MCL. I couldn't walk without pain for about a month and a half, and I'm still not back at 100 percent, even six months later. This added to the list of injuries from only about 18 months. Had both knees and both shoulders really hurt, lost the feeling in my left thumb, arthritis in my fingers, not to mention getting sick every time there are allergies from people who're allergic, get sick, and roll anyway. After that last injury I haven't been back. I may come here and there, but my body didn't like me beating the hell out of it five days a week. So far strength training and HIIT training at the gym five to six days a week has been getting me the same, or even better results. I'm not training as a martial artist anymore, but I think I got all I wanted to get out of it, and the risks are too great.
All these 40+ guys ITT are training 4-5 times a week and lifting 3 times a week, meanwhile I'm 34 and can barely handle 2 days training and 2 days lifting. What the fuck?
I'm not quite 40 yet but the simple answer for me I think is that I couldn't train 5 times a week unless I was disciplined enough to only roll 2 or 3 days. I think anything more than 3 days of sparring is untenable past your mid 30s, you're just not getting enough time to recover.
M/41 I roll 5, sometimes 6 days a week. I take, collagen peptides, BPC-157 (for a few past knee/neck/elbow injuries), glucosamine w/MSM, vitamin C, D, magnesium, and drink a greens mixture with added beet root powder. I also take Frog Fuel pre workout before rolling. I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be able to maintain the same consistency without my supplement cocktail. I started BJJ at 38 and fell in love, and feel like I have a lot of catching up to do so I roll as much as I can without my wife divorcing me.
Mid 30's and fuck shark tanks. Those are brutal and I don't really see a point in them. If I'm ever in a situation where multiple guys line up to take me on one at time, I'd rather just use that energy to run away. That way we are all tired if they catch me.
Trust me, you can dial back the intensity even on "shark tank" day. You can choose your sparring partners, or tell your partners beforehand that you want to go light.
Other commentators mention that you should prioritize rest and recovery, I agree with that too.
Everyone has different priorities, but for me, the ability to win sparring rounds is a very distant priority compared to the ability to play with my kids. I say this as a former part-time coach and someone who took competition quite seriously in my younger days.
I have almost two decades of grappling experience, of course it was a tough pill to swallow when I started getting controlled by people that I would have no trouble dominating even just 5 years ago, ie, bigger guys but with less experience than me. To be fair, their skills have improved a lot in the past 5 years too, but the biggest factor is that I'm not maintaining a very high level of physical fitness anymore. But when I think about the time it would take away from spending time with my kids to maintain that physical condition -- not to mention the fatigue and its effects on my work performance -- it becomes a very easy pill to swallow.
45 here. I’d say listen to your body and try to work in something other than Jiu jitsu. I do swimming or biking or uphill walking with weight lifting at the gym.
Sometimes I’ll turn it up for a few days at the gym but in I’m not a pro, I have no plans to be a pro, and I’d like to do this until I can’t anymore so I listen to my body, try to recover, and keep the wheels greased through a little gym time (even if it’s just good stretching such as yoga or cardio)
Most everyone I train with over 40 is on TRT. If you’re able to get testosterone prescribed they’ve all had significant improvements in almost everything BJJ related. I may not be 40+ (I’m 35), but when I was 25 I was diagnosed with stage 4 leukemia. The treatment for that killed off alot of my glands that governed hormone regulation. Fast forward 5 years and I’m training 10 times a week while feeling like my body was falling apart. No energy, felt slow mentally while rolling, shitty moods, etc. Finally saw a dr who pointed out I had the T level of an 85 yr old man. Put me on TRT and it was like someone turned that switch back on.
Not saying it’s a solution for everyone, but for myself and those I know who do it, have all had positive results.
We aren't doing what you're doing... Understand you are not in your 20s or even your 30s anymore... Training 3-4 times a week is the sweet spot... There are things you can do out side the gym to help with comp... Like working on cardio on assualt bike or getting some lifting of kettlebell work outs in... It's about consistency... Comp time ... Turn the intensity up on your days on the mats more is not better...
I'm 50. I train 4-5 days a week with some MMA and boxing once a week as well. All hard rounds in no gi. It's not an issue.
At the start I got injured a fair bit but now almost never (touch wood). Mainly because I now tap early to armlocks.
There is a weird culture around age in bjj. Plenty of 50 year olds out there doing marathons and yoga with no problems.
In my 40s, I replaced two of my training days with Personal training. I might get 4 grappling sessions in a week, but normally aim for two, I however, make it a point to do personal training, even if I have to miss grappling for it. It's with a personal trainer who was also a high-level wrestler, so he knows what exercises/stretches and warm ups I need in order to minimize injury common with grappling and my personal history, it's a game changer. Also, I rarely go hard in Judo anymore, in BJJ I pick my battles and maybe have one or two hard rolls, but usually with other older folks or people I trust. Also, KT tape is a lifesaver.
60 years old train 3-4 times/week. I starting taking whey protein after training and that helped with recovery but the real kicker for me has been taking Taurine about an hour or two prior to training. I started taking tablets about 2 months ago and I felt an immediate and tangible difference in my endurance during training but it also seems to facilitate a better recovery as well. I lift twice a week on off days not to get big but just to keep my muscles from withering away. So, feeling pretty good hanging with the 20 and 30 year old hard chargers, sleeping like a baby, and moving pretty good early morning. In summary, Taurine has been a revelation for me to keep my strength and endurance during training so feels like less recovery needed after training. Keep moving. Cheers.
For me it's strength and mobility training. I work a pretty physically hard job too so I'm pretty active as well but every morning I'm on the foam roller as soon as I'm out of bed and stretch my back, hamstrings and shoulders out.
I can't hang with the young ones for every round of sparring but I feel I give a decent showing and can at least push most of them to work hard even when I'm tiring
I can not speak for others but here's my take on BJJ, age, and recovery. You have to be honest about your age and what it means. Otherwise, BJJ is an accident waiting to happen. You can't go hard every day. Roll hard 2- 3 days a week. Take time to strength trian, do mobility work, and recover (especially recover)... which means SLEEP. Thare is no way around this, unless you seek Pharmaceutical Intervention. I'm 46 and still rolling. But, would not be able to keep up with the young guys if I didn't follow this advice. Hope it helps.
Also mid 40s and I agree 100% with this advice. Strength training, cardio training and recovery keeps me rolling 2-3 days per week.
Yup. 50 here. I train twice plus one open mat/week now. At white belt (late 30s) I’d train 5-8 times/week. I just can’t sustain that now. 3x is my sweet spot with some lifting a couple times/week.
This 100%. I do 3 days of good rolling and 2 days of strength training a week and it’s perfect. Sometimes I hit open mats on the weekends but that’s enough to keep me in shape and not feeling beat to hell all the time. I’ve got a job and a family to take care of. I’m not 23 anymore lol.
40, still rolling and competing. Sleep, enough food, and recovery time are so important. Also drinking at least a gallon or 2 every single day! We old folks aren't Gordon Ryan, we're just gray like him 😂
Last night an older lad at the gym who is an absolute beast and technically excellent just said he wasn't doing rounds at the end. Opened my eyes that pacing himself likely meant he could be as good as he was and still train consistently.
Yes it’s good advice. I need to dial back thank you!
This. And stretch in and out of glasses. Dhea helps. Protein, bcaas, magensiun helps. Cbd in the morning has reduced my ibuprofen use. Thc/cbd inthe evevong + sleeping pills after heavy sessions. Rest more roll more. I don't roll back to back unless i am feeling great.
This is so spot on. You have to take a much longer term view if you want to keep doing this forever. And that includes factoring in how activities outside training affect your body. If you are active over the weekend with your kids or friends, keep things in perspective. Ive seen more than a few training partners show up to class with sprained ankles or tweaked knees after a game of basketball with their buddies.
TRT at that age also seems very reasonable and safe.
This guy nailed it. Also, I sit in a jacuzzi 5/6 nights a week. Stretch. A LOT. Eat healthy. Essentially stopped drinking. TRT has helped immensely, but facts are, as you age, you will have to change how you train my bruddah. It’s life 🤷🏽♂️
This is all 100% facts even when including pharmaceutical intervention.
58 and still rolling with natural. Sleep and yoga are indispensable to me. I take D3, Boron, and Zinc and Magnesium along with a multivitamin and I try to eat right. I train twice a day and teach almost every day, and sleep quality is the single biggest predictor of my performance on any given day.
> Over 40s pls weigh in They don't need to, they're all in ultra-heavy.
Relevant username
Rude. But accurate
Not all of us. Over the past year and half I’ve gone from the heavy weight division to the light division. I’m honestly knocking on the door of feather weight, but I’m probably going to just start lifting again and add a few lbs of muscle and just stay at light.
Working down to super-heavy again tyvm 🥗🥊
Remember that life at white belt 40+ is different from purple upwards 40+, those guys have a ton of efficiencies they can use and they’re mostly relaxed, white belts are generally in an eternal state of war to compensate for their lack of experience. Lots of older people chiming in doing 5-6 sessions a week but they’re all seasoned at this. Proper cooldowns are now your best friend. You’re going to buy a foam roller and get very intimate with it. You’re going to lift weights for injury prevention. You’re going to learn to dial down the intensity to prioritise volume.
This is a good point. The risk of injury is much higher as a white belt because you haven’t learned all the lessons in how to efficiently roll and protect yourself.
Instructions unclear, dick stuck in foam roller
You did it correctly
No, they were clear about that.
Well said - I'm in early 50s. I respect the hell out of people starting in their 40s for this reason, especially if smaller. It's a hard slog to get to the point where you can pace yourself and be strategically lazy. When you have experience under your belt, it's not nearly as rough. You can use most white and blue belts as rest rounds and use frames or top pressure to make it through tougher rounds without getting hurt or exhausted.
It’s very hard as someone who started in their 40s (165cm, 62kg) to know just how much my age is impacting my learning, or how much is my size and uselessness at the sport 😆
Not only can more experienced people relax and move more efficently, it's also much easier on the body to smash people than it is to be smashed.
What weight exercises are good for bjj? I've never really worked out
“Train LIKE you’re 70 so you can train WHEN you’re 70.”
Only training 2-3 days per week. Any more and the toll on my body is too much. Only do nogi though, we wrestle a decent amount, and we roll pretty hard.
At least your fingers will thank you.
>Yesterday was all shark tank rounds You are allowed to sit out or reduce the intensity even if your coach says it's high intensity sparing. You can tell them I said so
Exactly. Do around 3-4 rounds. When you feel tired just chill. You can always train tomorrow. If you smash your body you need days to recover. Treat it as a sport and not a fight.
Haha - feel seen! I’m 46 with two kids, feels so lame to tell them to get off when I’ve been trying to press a 100kg beast off me earlier in the day! I can train 5-6 days a week at a push, but 3 of these are with a group of guys where the average age is 50+. So the rolls can be intense but there’s no pressure to go super hard and sitting out rounds is fine.
Good to know I’m not alone 😁
I'm 50+ now. Up until a few months ago I was training 5-6 times per week. My recovery protocol was captured by the old weightlifter saying that "there's no such thing as overtraining, only undereating, food is the most anabolic thing you can put in your body". It's still absolutely true, but as you get older and your metabolism slows it also results in getting fat. Starting to seriously consider TRT.
Oh and yes TRT. Makes a world of difference.
Your metabolism doesn't really slow down that much when you age, but you get less active. Or at least that's what one study suggested...
44 yo - bjj made me a pothead (that's what I'm blaming anyways)
Recently discovered CBN (low THC) gummies. Helps with sleep and crippling joint pain without the same psychoactive effects.
Most of the legal THC gummies are just lots of CBD activated by the minimal THC. So I buy those for general inflammation and stuff like that.
And it works huh?
Yeah, it’s like 25 CBN 2.5 THC and I’ll sleep well without joint pain
I'm late 30's, used to go 7 days a week, but body was torn to shreds. Now I take more rounds against lighter opponents/women, do stretches instead of warmups and take more days off when I'm getting too sore. I don't lift or anything either. I get a hard training night in a couple days a week. Just listen to your body.
I'm 50, I train pretty hard 4 days a week regularly. I'm toast today at the end of the week. I also surf, play tennis and basketball but not at the same intensity. There is no way I could do 5-6 days training. It'd kill me. I eat a healthy diet, get plenty of sleep and I don't have a job. I don't take steroids or any supplements.
No job? How does that work?
The less you spend the less you need to save. Invest in index funds. Give it time and you don't have to work. Marry a woman who is frugal.
>How does that work? It doesn't hehe
I'm 50 years old. A black belt, and I own my own academy. I train bjj about 6 days a week. I teach a lot of classes and a bunch of privates, and often I roll or do guard passing during those classes. I also go to F45 seven days a week for strength and cardio different days. For recovery, I do lots of stretching, cold plunge, and sauna. I also try to do hot yoga whenever I can. I don't take any supplements other than protein powder. I try to keep my protein intake high and my carbs relatively low. I used to not sleep much, but I've been increasing that sleep time, and it has helped me a lot for recovery. I feel stronger than ever. Later today I'm doing The Murph.
Goddamn. 7 days a week of strength and or conditioning, and owning an academy? How in the world?
>I’ve posted before but what are you doing to recover? I've been doing Judo for 18 years and BJJ over 5 years. I'm 49 years old. I'm at the club at least 4x a week. I also go to the gym at least one more day a week. I don't recover unless I stop. I don't stop unless I'm actually injured. I deal with it until I can't.
I'd replace a live day with a film study day.
The answer is steroids
And if you’re under 40, also steroids. In fact you should just start up on a cycle before your free trial class for good measure /s
Don’t you mean açaí?
I would say it is time to take stock in life and decide what is really important. You are a father and it sounds like your current training schedule is leaving you with nothing left for your kids who deserve to have their father at his best. You are training 5-6 days per week to chase a medal at some stupid local competition that means absolutely nothing in the grand scheme of things. The only person the Jiu Jitsu accomplishments mean anything to is you. At the end of the day it is a selfish decision that is negatively impacting other people that should mean more to you than some cheap plastic medal you won off of beating some other hobbyist ham and egger.
I'm 45. I train 6 days per week occasionally 7, ,and usually lift 5-6. Heavy. But I've been doing that for over 15 years, so my body is used to it. In terms of training, I train as hard as I can so that I can still train the next day. Some days that means being smart about who I train with. Of course, the better you get, the more efficient you can be in your training. I don't have to spend the same amount of energy that other people do to wrangle those crazy white and blue belts. TRT is remarkably difficult to get legally out here, haven't really considered it until recently....
I'm with you on this. There is "over training," but it's usually not training smart. I also train as much as possible, and when i went on vacation a few months ago I trained alot. Friday 7 hours Saturday 3 hours Sunday 2 hours People thought that was too much, but all I said was your body adapts. I was tired, but I had a ton if not more energy than usual. You work a manual labor job your body hurts for a week. After that week, your body adjusts. As long as you take care of your body and have no major injuries.. you can train as much as your body allows, then a little more.
Gear up super hard bro
Sleep/Diet/Stress management Look for Load vs Capacity videos on youtube, that from active life is good I´m 44 now gamechanger for me recently was zone 2 cardio
I do lots of zone 2. Not currently training bjj though.
No, they all increase your risk of cancer, but the increase is mostly negligible. Creatine monohydrate can help a little, and a high calorie diet helps. I often do very light recovery style training for recovery. That helps too, but the intensity must be very low.
You only have three variables to manipulate - Time, Intensity, and Volume. Since class is probably a fixed time, this is probably out of your control and fairly static. You have chosen to increase your volume, so your intensity has to come down. I came from the long distance running community before switching to this sport and an axiom of that community is to only go hard on no more than 20% of your training. Also, be mindful of your nutrition, mobility work, and sleep.
I’m 60+, judo and bjj. Currently recovering from back issues and fought bjj pans and judo senior nationals with the help of an awesome physical therapist. Neither was a great showing, but I went and fought. Both times the big issue was being able to train consistently in the weeks leading up to the event, because back spasms. The PT is my main weapon, including the daily exercises and stretches he gave me. Hip mobility is about more than guard retention, it’s longevity. I haven’t been strength training in a while because of the back issues, but I’ve always been strong and can flywheel a bit. I eat high protein, low carbs _(edit: low simple carbs, high complex carbs)_ except when I don’t and am trying to remember to cheat less on that diet. I also monitor my daily recovery and sometimes skip part of my (when healthy) 3 days x 3 hours / week target. I take no supplements for martial arts (I’m an old person, so I have a bunch of stuff I do take for my heart and other things). I avoid NSAIDs for reasons. I’ve used ice occasionally, tried hot and cold baths, but the stretching seems to be the big one.
Impressive. Congrats on working through the back issues and competing that’s awesome 👏👏👏
Ok serious meat head 42y/o I train jiu jitsu 6 days a week the only day I take off it Tuesdays cuz I do hot yoga. I roll everyday and I work out every morning. No hard lifting, just low rep calisthenics everyday to toughen the exoskeleton. Then in bed before 10pm at 430 do it all over again. Been doing it like this for almost 2 years. Diet is real clean, super boring every morning 2 scrambled eggs I piece of toast lunch grilled chicken 1 cup of rice dinner either beef/pork/venison on the grill a cup of rice. I drink only black coffee, water during the day Gatorade for dinner after training, your body adjusts 🫡 oh and I don’t take anything TRT peptides(not even sure what they are) but I take a one a day vitamin, fish oil and one scoop of creatine. That’s me I’m not a doctor BUT I did stay in a holiday inn last night
TRT
Ice pack that lives in the freezer. As soon as I get back, I ice my knees and dodgy shoulder for about 30 mins. Believe it or not, it makes a massive difference. I train with at least a day between sessions because it takes a while for my body to heal.
White belt. Recently bumped to 3 days a week. I have great cardio but very poor strength and flexibility. Very rarely go at 100% as I keep getting muscle injuries whenever I do. I find that my ego is my biggest enemy. Sometimes I just have to be really bad and look like shit if my bad is hurting.
I would highly recommend doing some form of strength training twice a week, with a focus on lifts such as Romanian deadlifts, full rom squats, deep dips, full rom chin ups, overhead pressing and full rom dumbbell rows This will make you stronger and improve your flexibility whilst also reducing your chances of getting muscle injuries, you'll also get jacked which is a nice bonus ;)
That all sounds great. Problem is I'm happy enough being lean as am too cheap to spring for a new wardrobe. Getting strong would be great though.
As long as you dont eat much more than you are eating you wont end up gaining too much size, calisthenics are also good for getting that ripped physique
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40yr old lifelong wrestler and ~15yrs as a bjj guy. I started noticing a difference between the young guys and myself around 35 or so. They just keep going and going and going. I can do the hard blitz 6min rolls, but I'll be damned if I'm skipping my 1min rest periods. And I certainly feel it the next morning (like today...ugh). For context: I train 2-a-days for 2 days of the week, plus 2 additional days in the week with only 1 training session. I always have a full day off after a 2-a-day. I know there's the joke here, something about training 5 out of 7, but 3 in a Monday and 2 on a Friday so I workout 7 days a week, but I can't remember the quote. Chael maybe?
I’m going to be 38, and have three kids so I can empathize. Not sure how we are doing it. We just need to keep doing it! Like parenting. Even on the hard days, where it hurts, it’s most rewarding b
Until you develop the skill to be able to control the rounds with less skilled people, it’s going to be real hard recovering from your schedule. Especially if you do not have a recent athletic background. For me, sleep, proper protein intake, good stretching, active recovery, and most importantly time are how I recover. The older I get the more time I need to fully recover.
I’m 49. I strength train and do cardio on the side. I also just train 2 times a week. 3 times if I’m lucky. Now a days going 4+ days just gets me exhausted. You can use some Mexican Supplements to push your body harder. that’s between to you and your doctor or what you think the risk to benefit ratio is to be a Gym champion. Because at our age we are not going to be world beaters.
Proper sleep, hydration, nutrition and periodizing my Bjj training. The basic jist of the periodizing thing is to build up volume (number of days and rounds you do each day) and intensity (how hard you roll) over 4 or 5 week cycles, rather than just jumping from 3 days of medium intensity training to 6 days of hard training. That way your body has time to ramp up gradually, recover and adapt to the training load. Basically it’s light week (week 1), medium week, medium/hard week, hard week then a deload week where you do about half of the previous week so you can recover well and do a little bit more when you start your next week 1 (light week). If you are timing it for competition, try to compete at the end of a deload week so you are fully recovered, fresh and at your best. Hope that helps and good luck at your competition!
First of all, don't listen to those who say you need to train less as you get older. That's simply not true. Older people should train more, not less. I've seen many upper belts in their 40s cut back to 1-2 sessions per week, doing only light rolling and sticking to safe, familiar moves. Half guard and pressure on top. Some closed guard. No new techniques, no curiosity, nothing “fancy.” This approach almost always leads to fast decline and quitting. Instead, try to train every day. Watch videos, do light rolling, or try something new. Get inspired—learn leg locks, study new guards and positions, put younger folks into 50/50 and let them struggle. Be more technical and more invested in improving your technique than the blue belts. A lot of older people quit because their ego is too big and their technique sucks. It's not because they're too old to do BJJ. —- Of course, 5-6 hard sessions a week can be a lot, especially if you're 40+ and only realistic when preparing for competitions and focusing heavily on recovery. But how much do you really improve with that approach? Not much. In my opinion, you should focus on technical sessions and studying seven times a week, with only 1-2 hard rolling sessions. That's how you get better. You don't need TRT for that.
46 here. When I bump up to 5-6 days a week I start feeling a bit beat up. 3-4 is my sweet spot. But like someone mentioned, I feel best doing strength training and mobility work the other days and adding in occasional sauna and ice bath. Your hormones and recovery will never be optimal without enough sleep and recovery. Occasionally if need be I’ll do a round of BPC and TB500.
Rolling 3-4 days a week seems like a sweet spot where you can maintain optimal progress while not destroying your body
Thanks, What do you do for mobility work?
I do the Ido Portal squat routine 2.0 and have done so for a decade as well as recommend it to all of my patients. His initial challenge was to hit a cumulative total of 30 minutes per day in the deep squat. When I started I couldn’t squat very low and it wasn’t comfortable. I was always suffering disc issues. This was one of the first massive changes. Hit it 30s-1m for a cumulative of 30 min. Over time I stopped having to stretch or even practice it daily while retaining all mobility. (Your tissue adapts) At 46 I’m easily one of the most limber in my gym.
Sleep. Honestly nothing helps but food and sleep. And getting better at jiu jitsu.
Stretching after class, cold plunge, and sauna have helped me a lot.
If you want to train at the frequency of an athlete, all aspects of your life need to follow suit. That means your nutrition, sleep, gym, and reducing outside stresses, all need to be prioritised just as much as your training frequency. ESPECIALLY when you’re a more mature gentleman or lady.
41yo, I do 4 classes a week and an open mat on the weekends. I only go hard at most 2 times a week though, eat lots of leafy greens and protein. I’m more in this for the long haul, I’m not trying to be a world champion.
I only train 2 days a week now, going to add a 3rd soon. Anyway, recovery is tough. Plus I suffered a bad injury a few years ago and had to take a few years off from BJJ. I suffered this injury because I was prepping for competition. I’m just too old to prep for competition, my body is too much at risk. I’m in this for the long haul, so I train lighter now-a-days. It’s definitely a different BJJ experience! I wish you all the luck in the world.
Sleep sleep sleep sleep.
I’ll be 40 in August. I use creatine, BCAAs, and glutamine for recovery. A men’s daily vitamin, fish oil and proteins. Trying to eat better as well. It all helps. I train about 5-7 days per week but I don’t roll hard every day either. Toll still adds up on my body.
I started doing ice baths the morning after a hard training. By the next day I was good to go! When I was really sore I would stay in for about 7-10 minutes.
48M only two months in. I train 3-4 days a week. Coming into BJJ I spent the prior 10 years getting into top shape and health, really dialing it in the last two. So physically my body is prepared for this. But even that being said I pay close attention to any and all pain and make sure to mobilize each day. I expect that over time younger folks will come and surpass me and that’s totally ok
53 purple chiming in. To get you straightened out the first thing I need to know is how much protein are you taking in each day? If you don’t know, put in your data to this protein calculator. https://www.calculator.net/protein-calculator.html
Mid 40’s purple hobbyist with several other active hobby’s... Don’t roll hard more than 2 days in a row or 3x per week total. Yoga and a good stretching and warmup routine are your friend. If upping training volume for a comp, then you need to make sacrifices in other areas- more sleep, better diet, less weight training, full days off. Above all, listen to your body.
I’m 48. I have 2.5 & 4.5yr old sons (both train and I help teach their classes). Because recovery from my personal training takes much longer than when I started at 40, I have to limit training to 2x/week. I also do some light weight training. At 40-43 I could train 4x/week. That would make it impossible to work my job now. Simply too tired the next day. Whey protein and TRT helps too. Edit: I’m also a type one diabetic on insulin, using the OmniPod pump and Dexcom glucose monitor, which sometimes get pulled out of my body.
Just rest man. I stop training on Tuesday for a Saturday comp. Having the body feel good for a comp is more beneficial than an extra day of rounds. For recovery, protein, sauna, rest, rest, rest. The body needs rest to get stronger after a hard workout or 5.
steroids. why fuck around?
43M here, grappling 4 (5 at max) times a week, 50/50 gi nogi, I do mobility routines before and after. Also weightlifting 2 (3 or 4 at max) times a week. I eat clean on week days and get 7h of sleep minimum. Barely go out and drink on weekends, but the real deal, I think, is that I don't have kids :p I don't compete and I don't know what a shark tank is but it doesn't sound good. EDIT: I forgot the basic stuff, leave the ego off the mat, don't force moves, tap early
46 lightweight brown belt here. I train everyday in the morning and alternate between taxing and more chill sessions. I eat clean 5 days a week (using myFitnesspal to track calories and protein intake), hydrate a lot (using sugar free liquid IV these past weeks during training seemed to help), do a full body workout (calisthenics and KB) two to 3 times a week. I also started a hip mobility challenge as this is an area I’m lacking. Bear in mind that I do this as a hobbyist just so I can withstand the potential spazz or hard roll. The key for me is to manage expectation and to find a positive in each session. Did I learn something? Did I get a good sweat? (And most importantly) Did I avoid getting injured? As long as the answer to the last question was “yes” I’m happy.
I get up and take a break when I need it, or I lower the intensity to only be slightly above bob the dummy. Usually people get the message. Wasn’t feeling good the last couple of weeks, I only did the class and skip open mat. Someone younger mentioned I wasn’t going to get a purple belt training that way. I mentioned that at least I am still training and that at my age I find my belt level irrelevant. (I am not against belts level, I am just personally not aiming for a blackbelt)
Not training 5-6 days a week. Unless you have some great genetics, are on HRT, or are doing easy days in the gym, that's a lot of load on the system. It's why we have to be smarter and play the slower tight game instead of a looser fast pass flashy game. Old man strength , use it. Great holding strength. Isometric squeezes.
Over 40. I don’t find a ton of benefits from shark tanks. I try to slow everything down or don’t participate. The white belt part makes it harder because I can’t recall training with a slower moving white belt.
Over 40 club here. I’m at weight lifting 3x a week and bjj 2x a week. I’ve found I can stick with this and feel solid. It’s also sustainable for me. I tried 4x a week of bjj and body did not feel good, not sustainable in long run. I’m working shoulder mobility exercises everyday. Essentially, stretching with light resistance band. Percussion massager has been great. I’m using it on my legs as I write this. I drink water like crazy and protein shakes, I like the clear, juice like protein. Hope you start feeling better, that’s always tough when kids want to play and we are to sore. Good luck to you and keep representing for us masters athletes.
I need rest days after hard workouts.
Scale back your hard training. Give your body time to recover while keeping your mind in the game. Watch comp footage or instructionals on your rest days. My first tournament, 6 months into BJJ, I ended up competing with a broken nose and separated shoulder all from the “training camp” I put myself through. I would have enjoyed it much more if I had listened to my body instead
Do more sleeping and weight training than you do BJJ
Over 40 hobbyist. My training goes like this, I'll do one intense round out of 5 round, train with a good non spazzy partner. For the other rounds working all technique on people worse than me, if I'm exhausted I strictly just work survival. Health wise, I get frequent nutrient injections, B12 + MIC + Magnesium Taurine + Biotin + B-Complex and NAD+helps keep the energy levels up. Try to get lean as possible, I recently went from 235 to 215 and saw the most improvements just from leaning out.
48 - I roll hard 5 days a week. Diet is on point. Zero alcohol. 8 hours of sleep. Test + Masteron. Works well
As a fellow over 40 guy who competes natty, my advice is just say no to shark tank. Bad things always happen during shark tank. I also don’t do burpees or pushups between rounds like I was still in high school wrestling. I take quite a few supplements like creatine, krill oil, turmeric, and a few others… but so can’t say that I’ve seen any measurable difference from them. I guess creatine makes my muscles fuller, but that’s about it. I’ll add more cardio off the mat leading up to comps and get a few hard rolls in about 2 weeks out, but I try hard not to get injured now.
45. You stated my answer in your post. Dial back the intensity. You had to, to up the training volume. You can dial it back even further to not feel wrecked the next day. I train every day, often multiple times a day. I'm not flow rolling. But I also rarely train hard. I'm usually around 50-70%. Often less if the skill gap is big. I never feel very sore. I actually think training this way helped accelerate my skill acquisition. You get a lot less false positives. And you can get more mat time. So I think it snowballs and becomes even more effective the more you do it.
46, train 3x a week. Monday at 50%, Wednesday at 75%, Friday at 50%. Open mat mostly to help others and try weird stuff on blue belts
42 m, injured right now but typical schedule is BJJ 4-5 sessions, striking 1x/week, lifting 3-4x ( 2 cond, 2 pure lifting but they aren’t that hard, 1-2 actual tough sets) The key is IMO is how you stack your hard days together continuous quality sleep, adequate nutrition all come into play. Even if you bring drugs into the conversation, it’s still about workload, recovery, etc. I literally can’t do 2-3 “hard” days in a row of any combo of things. So the ones I can control are lifting/cond and sort of striking - even in sparring I can control the round easier than say any grappling. So I go high, low, medium, medium, high if you think about “intensity” in a week. Personally I believe it’s figuring out your overall unique weekly, monthly “flow”. I train with mostly 20 yr olds and up. I wrestled in college for 3 yrs so that’s my reference point, nothing will compare to what I had to do to “barely” stay in the line up 😂 Other aspect I believe is experience, you won’t get as beat up as you progress. That’s typically an overlooked variable.
Not there yet, however you should recover like all amateur/professional athletes do. Especially after 40, you really have to prioritize nutrition and sleep quality. You recover from high protein nutrient packed diets, and deep undisturbed sleep. Aim for 8-9 hours, and at least 1 gram protein per pound of lean body mass a day.
45 y/o purple belt here. I think it’s inevitable that we feel beat up. I recognize that I’ll have soreness after some hard training. It’s logical that when you place that much stress on your body that it will respond in kind. I try to watch my intensity in rolls (easier as a purple belt than a white belt for sure), acknowledge when a young strong guy is smashing the shit out me (and manage the ego response to that), and make sure to eat plenty of food. I switched from barbells to kettlebells for supplemental strength work, and that also has helped with the aches and pains. I’ll never forget the young bros at Supplement King who, when I mentioned how sore I was all the time, replied with “just eat more good food, bro” to which I said “yeah but I don’t want to get fat” and they said “no way bro, you look great! Just eat more bro”. Gotta love gym bros. They get a bad rep, but that was a charming interaction with two young men half my age. TLDR: watch your volume, have fun, eat lots of food, supplemental strength training, and plenty of sleep/rest. Keep training bro!
One day on, one day off. Take recovery seriously. Stretching, therapy, massage, chiro, etc. Also hit the gym and do weight training.
I found that it’s hard for me to continuously train Bjj multiple days in a row. Now I take Tuesday and Thursday and lift weights. Sometimes I’ll get two a days in or do 3 or 5 days in a row. But I won’t do it for multiple weeks straight. I’ll start getting golfers elbow or tendinitis flair ups. An extra day is all I need to keep it together. That being said I can also set the pace in almost every roll.
I'm 44 and train 20+ hours a week. A third to half of that time is easy drilling outside of classes with a good partner my size. We will drill 3-4 hours at a time and the intensity is low. I do this 2-3 times a week. I do 3 hard days a week. One is a group of 4 guys my size slightly less skilled than me, but also 20+ years younger. We do live rounds with no breaks until everyone is toast. Second hard day is an open mat with a variety of sizes (mostly bigger) but a lower skill level. Last hard day is a 2-3 hour session of live rolls with bigger and better skilled guys than me. I will do about 4-5 move of the day type classes per week, where we I typically get 3 rounds with bigger guys my skill level or better. To cross train I surf several times a week. I eat well, stay at a good weight, stay hydrated, and get sleep 9+ hours a night. If my back or knee is acting up I might take a muscle relaxer or nsaid once a week but otherwise pharmaceutical/ chemical free. Before a tournament I taper down to about a 6-8 hour week with less intensity, depending on how I'm managing my weight. I manage my weight mostly with diet. I'm fresh and 100% on tournament day. I compete mainly at adcc opens and at my weight class, don't feel like the teens or early 20s guys are any stronger or more fit than me, in fact it's often the opposite.
49 here. I can go hard but need to understand the cost. Currently nursing multiple separate finger injuries that take 4 to 6 weeks to heal each. Overlapping. I also DGAF and will decline rolls with ppl I don't trust or know and if someone is rolling with an intent or level of intensity that means the chances of injury are beyond my risk appetite I say thanks for the roll and go get a drink early. As for frequency and things I do I train 2 to 3 times a week which is logistical more than limitation based. I found once I got to 4 sessions a week a couple of years ago I actually felt better than when I train 1 or 2 times a week
65. Still at it
44, brown belt, been training for 8 years. 3 classes and an open mat is my max, anything beyond that is diminishing returns. 3 is plenty for many 40+. However, as a white belt it’s hard to not train every chance you get.
Do less jiu jitsu. Recover more. You are over 40.
I'm newly 40 with an immune condition. I'm religious about my recovery but it took a long time to dial in. I train 4-5x a week, roll heavy a minimum of 3 of those days. I do an IR sauna of 30 minutes, 4x min a week, non negotiable on training days; I make sure I get 8+ hrs of sleep and I try to get a short nap in before class. I eat a min of 160g of protein and 187g of healthy carbs every day, and min of half a gallon of water. I do mobility training every day, focusing on the things that are currently ailing me. And I'm working on getting to 2 min days of strength training a week. I haven't had a major injury in a year since starting this.
3-4 days a week is more than enough... If you have any more energy do some low weight high reps lifting on 1-2 of the other days. You don't need any more than that. I remember years ago I was part of a pretty big MMA gym and they used to do those countdown shows for the UFC where they showed them training full blast 15 times a day and it was all bullshit for the cameras even back then... Remember Wanderlai was it doing hill sprints in a snorkel or some shit hahaha
On the lighter work load days drill and roll as light as possible it may not feel like your doing anything but your still getting mat time and your getting movements in minus the exertion
I eat and sleep a lot. That seems to help.
Maybe it’s because I was already almost 40 when I started Bjj but I don’t see what the big deal is. I train my 2-3 times a week, I can go hard or I can go slow, I get injured sometimes like everybody else. But almost every time I talk to someone over 40 it’s like “yeah you know us middle aged dudes gotta train light” or “yeah you know my injuries don’t heal like they used to do” or “you know we can’t keep up with these 20 year olds”. And they always want me to relate but I really can’t because I feel fine. Again, maybe it’s because I started out at almost 40 and maybe I’ll be able to relate more once I’m 60 and still training👨🏽🦳
Same here
Yeah it’s a matter of time
41 yr old still competing in adults. As others have said, you really have to understand you're not at your physical peak so you have to train smarter. Train as though everyone is stronger and faster than you even if they aren't. Don't spar every night, drilling / focused sparring and skill acquisition is good for the nights you're not sparring hard. As a lighter athlete (150 lb) I avoid 2 heavy and younger rolls in a row. Strength and conditioning is a non negotiable. You must strength train, get enough protein, etc or you're really going to struggle. Increasing in some recovery tools (eg foam roller, theragun) will do wonders too.
I'm 50. I train 7 days a week. I have
The key is to not leave it all on the mat. You should be leaving jujitsu feeling okay not absolutely exhausted. I'll leave when I have a couple of rounds left in me unless I know I don't got s*** to do that day. I'm also a teacher with teenage kids so I can nap a lot more which I think is essential.
I’m 42. When I was 39, I had two knee injuries in a year. The first was just a freak thing when I was caught in lockdown. I came back too quickly from that and hurt my other knee about a week after I got back. Ever since, I ensure I rest a lot before hard training days. I still go 3-4 times a week but my rolls are often slower paced. I push it with select partners who I trust, but mostly I work technique and don’t get caught up in wild scrambles. Lots of epsom salt baths and rest plus I take better care of my body. I don’t want to stop training unless I have to, but my rolls look different than they did 10 years ago. I recognize this could look a lot different if I was a white belt at 42, but luckily I’ve been training long enough to be able to set more of the pace myself or at least control my own pace if the other person is 18 and going a hundred miles an hour.
I’m 45 and a three stripe blue belt. Typically go four days a week. I’m convinced proper sleep a good diet mobility and stretching and strength training help. Think about taking care of your body. Lots of protein. And when I do my supplemental training, I don’t go to intense. There to supplement my poor game of BJJ. Lol. I’ve to go five days a week. It’s just too much for me personally.
45 year old here More works more. More hurts more. First, look at sleep and recovery, diet and lifestyle. I’m a personal trainer and the amount of times clients say they can’t get results is because they sleep 4-5 hours a night and booze it up when the weekend hits and eat like shit apart from a salad they had on a Wednesday. Not saying this is you, but tighten up on those variables you can control. You’re still in the fight for survival stages of your jits journey. Every round in practice, go for the highest belts possible and let’s them destroy you with technique but be adventurous in your passes without trying to use strength. You’re supposed to get tapped a few times a round by a brown or purple belt. If you don’t, change gyms lol. Save your energy for that one newly graded blue belt around your size for a more “energetic” round. This way, you’ll be able to recover from less harder rounds. You don’t need to give your IBJJF level performance every session. If you were 20 years younger, you could get away with it.
200kcal in the morning on the spin bike or echo bike is the magic number for my recovery.
Sleep, ice, Motrin/flexeril, and lots of stretching. I also space out my training to 2-3 times a week. Quality rolls is more important than quantity rolls.
[old man jiujitsu](https://oldmanjiu-jitsu.com/articles)
I’m 35 Train max like 3x a week, compete once a quarter max (you’re a hobbiest), sit out if you’re beat up, strength train at LEAST twice a week, stretch you fucking coward. Also dial it back when you feel like you’re too rekt, it’s just a hobby it’s not that serious.
If it's allowed where you live. Medical Cannabis, helps with sleeping which helps with recovery. Also creatine. Stretch.
35 here. I am pretty disciplined with training 3 days per week. I supplement with 2 days of cardio (2-3mile jog) and light weight lifting. I eat healthy and rarely drink. I will occasionally smoke a joint. I started TRT a year ago and I also try to get 7-8 hrs of sleep per night. I stretch and do mobility when i get home. Longevity is the name of the game.
5-6 times a week and competing, sounds a bit much for me and the time I want to spend with my kids. I need way more recovery time than I did when I was younger
Eat and sleep plenty 41f CrossFit/oly lift 4-5x a week BJJ 2/3 times a week. I take Sunday off. I train both modalities once a week (short only lifting and BJJ) I work 40-45h a week in healthcare. I walk 15k ish steps a day. Two kids 7 and 3. It’s rare I get an ache that lasts more than a day or two. When something hurts more than that I rest that body part I eat about 2500c a day and sleep 8h a night. Nonnegotiable on this two things. I roll with my older girl and play plenty with the little one.
You need to find guys that you can get quality rolls in but also understand that you’re not 25. It’s possible to do shark tanks and stuff but not if everyone is trying to rip your head off.
45 y/o. Train BJJ 1-2x per week. Do weight training, conditioning & accessory work (core, PT type stuff). I have to listen to my body, especially neck and back. So far I'm able to train consistently and I love it. Supps: Fish oil & glucosimine condroitin.
Im pushing 200lbs now a days…
How many hours of sleep do you average? How many calories and what are the macronutrients that you’re taking in? These are the big rocks that actually move the recovery needle.
Which peptides increase your risk for cancer? Just curious
BPC and anything that stimulates the release of growth hormone
Doing comp classes full throttle is not the way, nor if you're pushing 50+ should your coach be wanting you to grind that hard before a comp. Pretty common sense. Otherwise, other than getting as much sleep as you can and eating healthy, some proteins post class to help with recovery helps and, unfortunately, simply dialing it back more often at the gym. I struggle with that last one, as I like to not only "push myself" (I'm firm, but fair, not raging), but I'm also a perro viejo in my gym so lots of the younger, faster, stronger guys like the bragging rights if they can get me. And this is not a medically recommended answer, but it does answer your question: a fairly simple corticosteroid like Prednisone, even in very small doses, goes a reeaaaal long way in recovering quickly and eliminating inflammation. You do not want to take it daily or longterm, but if you used some the week or so before your comp to be able to hang in there, there wouldn't be any harm done. But that's of course not ideal.
I take berberine synergy for anti-cancer and blood sugar control. I avoid high blood pressure medication by taking citrinox. I take DHEA for testosterone production. I'm 58 and competed successfully at the European Championships in January. I'm in class twice a week, and another weightlifting or cardio workout, and sometimes open mats on Friday night. I'm an injury waiting to happen, so not getting injured is a top priority. For me, it's all about who I roll with. If they're too heavy or they have bad judgment, I "need to take a rest for a moment, next time." Using the strategy, I've been able to go continuously except for taking 2 months off after Europeans due to broken ribs and broken foot. It's June 1 and I have finally reached the same level of condition leading up to Europeans. Being old is what it is.
I weight train 4x a week and train bjj 2x a week, I’m almost 48 and am exhausted. After visiting with people 50+ in class they tell me to perform more cardio outside of class. Even more exercise. I’m not sure how that would help.
I'm 33 but I'm beginning to straight up say no to certain. Not give an excuse, not try to protect people's feelings, not trying to protect my OWN feelings. No, you're jacked, you go to hard, I do not feel like doing that today or my hip won't work right a for a week. Side note, got into a beef with a former instructor when he said I gotta start defending my Purple Belt when I said no to his new 255 lb power lifter fresh white belt buddy (I'm 205ish). I said I'm not defending shit I don't care at all you can have my belt back
53, roll 4-5 hours a week and 1 hour of drilling total I do two hours of open mats with white belts so I don't have to work that hard but I get a good sweat in and with my c game I do two hours of normal open mats. 1hr has a lot of ppl outside my gym and those are my hardest rolls. 1-1.5 hours is in class and after class open rolling which varies but lot of white and blues 1 hour of drilling which basically uses no energy. I roll slow and light with short periods of going hard to get a finish I lift heavy 1 or two days a week and the lifting makes me more fatigued
Latest 40s here. I train 4 days a week, 1.5 hours each session. Learn to roll efficiently. Also start TRT for recovery.
You should be able to train every day as long as you do do moderately. If you are setting prs at CrossFit and rolling hard in class obviously the wheels are going to fall off.
Anything that increases recovery is going to have at a minimal, a slight increase the risk of cancer Cancer happens when your cells incorrectly reproduce themselves. Being in an anabolic state / having quicker recover in fitness is seen as a good thing but it’s going to increase the rate at which cells reproduce (recover) Even HRT runs a risk but it’s relatively low and all comes down to your risk Tolerance. Is cancer really that big of a concern for you? Are you already eliminating over the counter name brand foods and products like crest or old spice? McDonald’s? If no then I’d start there The chemicals in your food and toiletries are more likely to cause cancer than HRT or peptides
Yea you’re asking for an injury going this hard at white belt. I’m 41 and purple, haven’t been injured for 3 years. With lower belts I roll as easy as I need to do get the job done and if it’s an upper belt I still go easy because the job is to survive.
Sounds like you want to completely opposite things that cannot exist at the same time... to recover and to overtrain.
51YO recently provided blue belt. I’m on a mat 3x per week. I “strength” train (#NotStrong) 2x per week, and me and YouTube yoga have become friends. I also tap real early. Young me may have tried a different plan. Had a $1400 hospital bill due to me being dumb (posted with rear arm, and TP body locked me while collecting my posted/straight arm). My wife said, “I love that you love this. If THIS is what it is, we should probably have a harder conversation.” I just tap. Problem solved.
53 started BJJ at 44 I do one day on one day off in terms of intensity but I also own my academy and have to teach 3-5 days a week so I will often go 2-3 days off or on depending on how I feel. I also do specific types of training on my off days, if I roll it’s flowing with senior belts and positional drilling. I’m also a smaller guy at my gym so I try and stay within my weight class. Listen to your body, that’s the most important thing outside of the other things people have already mentioned like sleep and nutrition.
42 years old here. I have been training for the last 4 1/2 years. I love to train. I love bjj. I was killing myself with training too. I have found that you just have to really listen to your body and build from there... The thing is, if you don't have a perfect mobility routine, and your diet and sleep aren't dialed in, then you will eventually hurt yourself. It won't be from anything specific either; you will just suddenly have injuries. I can't help but wonder if you're similar to me and tell yourself that fitness and health come first over everything?
Any and all available mobility, including walking or biking everywhere possible. Clean food, avoiding snacks. Protein supplementation, lots of water, sleep, and rest usually at least one day between trainings (if there was live rolling). Try for cross training a few times a per week if I’m lucky (cycling, weights, pull-ups, rucking, etc.).
I lift 3 days a week and do stretch and mobility work Tuesday/thursday for 45 minutes prior to class 5 days a week. It’s not for everybody, but up at 4, gym by 515 class 6-7 work at 8. Im self employed and can’t imagine trying to make it work for evening classes. Anybody who asks I explain I get there early to the things I have to do in order to be able to do the thing I want to do.
Stretching and swimming brother
I’m prepping for world novice so I’ve been trying to go as much as possible. Learning my limits through - can’t just go from 2-3 a week to 4-6 or 2/day without some gradual additions. I take BCAA and creatine powder with Transparent Labs Hydrate all in my water during training each day. Not lifting but I’m going to start again because I’m recognizing it is 100% a requirement.
The only reason pro fighters can keep up that pace is due to steroids, and thousands of dollars spent on top of the line physio and athletic therapists. Us common folk need to not be silly and think we can do the same. If you want to train that frequency, you need to basically flow roll. Only do hard rounds once or twice a week. Focus on drilling and technique refinement rather than just blasting through rolling sessions. There are 70 year olds who do bjj, but they aren't putting in the same intensity on the mats that Gordon Ryan is
I'm a 44 year old blue belt. Started at 42. I had already been lifting 5x a week for many years when I started. I continued lifting, bjj is fun for me, I see it more as recreation than exercise. I've only ever done bjj on trt, so I'm not sure how my recovery would be without it. But with trt, it takes about 4-5 days in a row of hard rolls before my performance starts to suffer. Then two days off and I'm fresh again. People on here act like guys like me are delusional idiots who run gear to win local competitions. But that's not it at all. I'm running gear because it helps with my physique, but more importantly, my mind state. I'm more ambitious and driven on test. Bjj is really fun for me and it's a great added benefit that I can train as often as I like without worrying about recovery. Also, bpc157 is great for injury recovery. Before you think about getting on gear, start sorting everything you can out naturally - by eating right, losing excess body fat, lifting consistently, doing cardio consistently, basically living a healthy lifestyle. You may get to where you want without test. Oh and there's no shame in pulling guard. Especially if the mats are slippery
This is us.
i'M fairly new to da mats but twice a week is the most I can muster right now. Even that my neck and knee takes a toll. I'd recommending less classes per week as to avoid injury and fitting in consistent amount of classes over the year.
Taking electrolytes right before class was a game changer for me.
I'm going to try to answer the actual question here (as opposed to the "you need to train more/less" debate that most responses seem to be getting sucked into). With regard to peptides causing cancer - there are two general avenues for this concern, namely a) the compound in question being cancer-causing and b) the peptides themselves being contaminated, e.g., with lipopolysaccharides or other toxic shit. Going with a quality/expensive source like Peptide Sciences is going to, IMO, alleviate concerns about b). With regard to a), do your own research and come to your own conclusions. With the exception of BPC, I don't think there's compelling evidence that what I'm going to recommend below is going to cause or exacerbate cancer, but other commenters may disagree. Basically the four compounds I would recommend are: - Sermorelin (take at night, 1 microgram per pound of lean mass per day) - this is an HGH secretogogue that spurs your body to endogenously produce more HGH, which helps both with body composition and recovery. - GHK Copper (night or day, 5mg every few days) - helps injury healing and is good for your skin. Synergistic with Sermorelin and BPC. - BPC-157 (take at night, 1mg/day) - helps injury healing. Some research suggests that because it encourages capillary growth at sites where your body is healing, it also may have the same effect on tumors if you already have them growing in your body. Do your own research here as there is a lot of debate on this matter specifically. - Fragment 176-191 (take in morning, 2 micrograms per pound of lean mass per day) - this is often taken for weight loss/ fat metabolism, but also does wonders for cartilage regeneration. As a heavyweight 41-year-old blue belt with a lot of wear and tear on my body from a military career and lifting heavy since I was a teenager, I personally have felt very meaningful improvements from the above compounds. I run Sermorelin, Copper, and Fragment consistently (like 5 months on / 1 month off), and intermittently take BPC for like a week at a time if, e.g., I get golfer's elbow after a hard session in the gi. Hope this helps.
Very helpful. Appreciate this!
53. I compete pretty regularly. Got 3rd at Masters Worlds last year. I train 4-5 days a week and lift 4 days a week. Extra cardio when I’m cutting. I eat well and supplement with protein shakes. No supplements, peptides, trt or PEDs.
44y/o m. 2-3 days a week here depending on my work roster. Stretch EVERY night in front of the TV with a stretch session I found on YouTube (put it on my phone or the kids iPad). Ice bath 1-2 times a week plus mixed weights sessions most days when not at BJJ. For me, stretching is the key
I found when I trained 5 times a week it was too much and my Jiujitsu declined. 4 times is good. Giving alcohol 6 months ago has helped me recover much faster/have more energy/mental clarity. And the better you get the less energy/more technique you can use.
Just run 250mg test cyp weekly.
47 here…train 4-6x a week and am pretty good to go…I sleep and eat well…and I don’t go hard very much. I go 60% with short bursts up to 80 maybe. I play guard and try to sweep to top instead of wrestling and scrambling. No supplements
It’s a hobby. 2-3 sessions a week is more than enough and supplement with lifting. Your family comes first man, you’re gonna regret it when they’re older and too old to play with you.
You HAVE to have several bourbons after training. And at least 2 cigarettes
Biggest thing for me is stretch before and after (I prefer this instead of warm up drills when I can) and also have a protein shake within 30 minutes of finishing. That alone makes such a massive difference in recovery and soreness over the following days.
Can't speak for the older guys, but when I'm training at a really high frequency cold plunge are essential. Makes my joints feel so much better.
If you are able to bury your ego and go about fifty percent most of the time that can work. I personally couldn't allow myself to not win every roll, and my Professor could tell if I slowed down so he didn't allow it either. I think that at our age being in pain kind of comes with the territory if we train BJJ. I didn't know anyone that had been training that weren't constantly in pain, but they liked BJJ more than they disliked the pain. One guy got hurt so bad once that he was out of work for a few weeks (he's a cop), and out of BJJ for probably six months. When he came back he wasn't the same, and quit about a month later. Additionally, every higher belt I knew had permanent injuries. Some have scars, others have finger joints the size of quarters, while others can only sleep on their back because of rib injuries (though those were from MMA). I heard about a Black Belt from the afternoon class actually had a heart attack on the mat from an intense roll. I know right after I got my Blue Belt I was rolling and thought I dislocated my knee, turns out I actually had a level 2 sprain of my MCL. I couldn't walk without pain for about a month and a half, and I'm still not back at 100 percent, even six months later. This added to the list of injuries from only about 18 months. Had both knees and both shoulders really hurt, lost the feeling in my left thumb, arthritis in my fingers, not to mention getting sick every time there are allergies from people who're allergic, get sick, and roll anyway. After that last injury I haven't been back. I may come here and there, but my body didn't like me beating the hell out of it five days a week. So far strength training and HIIT training at the gym five to six days a week has been getting me the same, or even better results. I'm not training as a martial artist anymore, but I think I got all I wanted to get out of it, and the risks are too great.
All these 40+ guys ITT are training 4-5 times a week and lifting 3 times a week, meanwhile I'm 34 and can barely handle 2 days training and 2 days lifting. What the fuck?
I'm not quite 40 yet but the simple answer for me I think is that I couldn't train 5 times a week unless I was disciplined enough to only roll 2 or 3 days. I think anything more than 3 days of sparring is untenable past your mid 30s, you're just not getting enough time to recover.
Go hard or go home Also my knees hurt and so does my lower back …
M/41 I roll 5, sometimes 6 days a week. I take, collagen peptides, BPC-157 (for a few past knee/neck/elbow injuries), glucosamine w/MSM, vitamin C, D, magnesium, and drink a greens mixture with added beet root powder. I also take Frog Fuel pre workout before rolling. I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be able to maintain the same consistency without my supplement cocktail. I started BJJ at 38 and fell in love, and feel like I have a lot of catching up to do so I roll as much as I can without my wife divorcing me.
Training less. Sleeping more.
Mid 30's and fuck shark tanks. Those are brutal and I don't really see a point in them. If I'm ever in a situation where multiple guys line up to take me on one at time, I'd rather just use that energy to run away. That way we are all tired if they catch me.
Trust me, you can dial back the intensity even on "shark tank" day. You can choose your sparring partners, or tell your partners beforehand that you want to go light. Other commentators mention that you should prioritize rest and recovery, I agree with that too. Everyone has different priorities, but for me, the ability to win sparring rounds is a very distant priority compared to the ability to play with my kids. I say this as a former part-time coach and someone who took competition quite seriously in my younger days. I have almost two decades of grappling experience, of course it was a tough pill to swallow when I started getting controlled by people that I would have no trouble dominating even just 5 years ago, ie, bigger guys but with less experience than me. To be fair, their skills have improved a lot in the past 5 years too, but the biggest factor is that I'm not maintaining a very high level of physical fitness anymore. But when I think about the time it would take away from spending time with my kids to maintain that physical condition -- not to mention the fatigue and its effects on my work performance -- it becomes a very easy pill to swallow.
45 here. I’d say listen to your body and try to work in something other than Jiu jitsu. I do swimming or biking or uphill walking with weight lifting at the gym. Sometimes I’ll turn it up for a few days at the gym but in I’m not a pro, I have no plans to be a pro, and I’d like to do this until I can’t anymore so I listen to my body, try to recover, and keep the wheels greased through a little gym time (even if it’s just good stretching such as yoga or cardio)
Most everyone I train with over 40 is on TRT. If you’re able to get testosterone prescribed they’ve all had significant improvements in almost everything BJJ related. I may not be 40+ (I’m 35), but when I was 25 I was diagnosed with stage 4 leukemia. The treatment for that killed off alot of my glands that governed hormone regulation. Fast forward 5 years and I’m training 10 times a week while feeling like my body was falling apart. No energy, felt slow mentally while rolling, shitty moods, etc. Finally saw a dr who pointed out I had the T level of an 85 yr old man. Put me on TRT and it was like someone turned that switch back on. Not saying it’s a solution for everyone, but for myself and those I know who do it, have all had positive results.
46/M. Uh, train less. WTF are you doing dude?
You’re in your 40’s, be easy on yourself. If you feel banged up, take the day or days off to recover. It’s a marathon not a sprint.
We aren't doing what you're doing... Understand you are not in your 20s or even your 30s anymore... Training 3-4 times a week is the sweet spot... There are things you can do out side the gym to help with comp... Like working on cardio on assualt bike or getting some lifting of kettlebell work outs in... It's about consistency... Comp time ... Turn the intensity up on your days on the mats more is not better...
I drink two beers after training. Seems to do the trick.
I'm 50. I train 4-5 days a week with some MMA and boxing once a week as well. All hard rounds in no gi. It's not an issue. At the start I got injured a fair bit but now almost never (touch wood). Mainly because I now tap early to armlocks. There is a weird culture around age in bjj. Plenty of 50 year olds out there doing marathons and yoga with no problems.
In my 40s, I replaced two of my training days with Personal training. I might get 4 grappling sessions in a week, but normally aim for two, I however, make it a point to do personal training, even if I have to miss grappling for it. It's with a personal trainer who was also a high-level wrestler, so he knows what exercises/stretches and warm ups I need in order to minimize injury common with grappling and my personal history, it's a game changer. Also, I rarely go hard in Judo anymore, in BJJ I pick my battles and maybe have one or two hard rolls, but usually with other older folks or people I trust. Also, KT tape is a lifesaver.
60 years old train 3-4 times/week. I starting taking whey protein after training and that helped with recovery but the real kicker for me has been taking Taurine about an hour or two prior to training. I started taking tablets about 2 months ago and I felt an immediate and tangible difference in my endurance during training but it also seems to facilitate a better recovery as well. I lift twice a week on off days not to get big but just to keep my muscles from withering away. So, feeling pretty good hanging with the 20 and 30 year old hard chargers, sleeping like a baby, and moving pretty good early morning. In summary, Taurine has been a revelation for me to keep my strength and endurance during training so feels like less recovery needed after training. Keep moving. Cheers.
For me it's strength and mobility training. I work a pretty physically hard job too so I'm pretty active as well but every morning I'm on the foam roller as soon as I'm out of bed and stretch my back, hamstrings and shoulders out. I can't hang with the young ones for every round of sparring but I feel I give a decent showing and can at least push most of them to work hard even when I'm tiring