How Often Should I Train Jiu-Jitsu? (Solved!)
BJJ or Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is a great form of martial arts and one of the best ways to relieve yourself of stress. However, like every other thing in this world, BJJ requires some sort of schedule and continuity, otherwise the training will seem to be no short of a burden.
When beginner trainees join the group sessions, they think that they’ll train every day, and they’ll improve to a godlike level in a matter of months or a year at max. The reality is often disappointing, and sadly we can’t say otherwise in this case as well.
The amazing thing about BJJ training is that it’s enjoyable. The more we train as beginners, the more confident we get. At some point, our ego comes into play, and we feel the urge of reaching a certain level.
This is the reason why most people end up overtraining themselves, which results in diminishing returns. The key here is finding the sweet spot. “how often should I train Jiu-jitsu then?” You might ask. I wish I could tell you a simple answer.
You’ll find a lot of answers such as, “Two days a week is enough!” But the thing is, there are different schedules for attaining different results. Here, we’ll talk about that in detail.
Different Training Frequencies for BJJ Training and the Expected Result
“How often should I train Jiu-Jitsu?” if that’s the question you’re asking yourself, you’re taking the wrong approach. The correct approach would be asking yourself what your aim is. If you’re a beginner and you want to attain a certain level that’s close to your current skill set, there’s one frequency, and if you’re an intermediate who wants to hold onto the skills he has, you must follow a different training method.
Let’s find out the answer to “how often should I train Jiu-Jitsu?” below:
1 Day a Week
Training a day a week will make your improvement process very slow, and for most people, it may result in diminishing returns. However, if you’re on a tight schedule and have a lot of things going on around, you should consider spending at least a day, rather than not training at all.
If you’re training once a week, don’t even think of doing better than the people who train more than you. This is irrational thinking, and it may lead to frustration.
Plus, training once a week doesn’t provide enough opportunities for remembering everything you learn. So, you should try to review what you learn once in a while.
2 Days a Week
If you’re a complete beginner, training twice a week might be the most viable schedule for you. Training twice provides the opportunities you need to remember and learn the skills you want to master, and it will not burn you out.
However, the learning curve will still be very steep. You’ll take a lot of time to learn and master old tricks, so you won’t have much of a time for learning anything new.
Still, if you’re only starting, you can start with two days, as you get used to training more than that.
3 Days a Week
Most people consider training thrice a week to be the perfect schedule. If you train three days a week, you can not only learn new techniques, but you can master and improvise the ones you already know, and you can do so with lesser stress.
If you start training three times a week instead of two, you’ll start noticing a lot of differences. For starters, you’ll see that your muscle memory is coming into play. Before you even notice it, your body will move to the appropriate positions, perform the perfect rolls, and the technique that’s perfect for that time.
However, if you train three times a week, you’ll notice that you’re burning out. In such a case, you won’t be able to focus on other physical activities that much, and you may feel exhausted if you do so.
4 Days a Week
Are you looking forward to competing? If the answer is yes, you can opt for training 4 days a week. Even if you don’t want to compete, and if BJJ is your only hobby and only focus, you may consider training 4 days a week.
However, if you have little to no athletic background, you shouldn’t’ train 4 days a week. If you do so, it will exert a huge level of stress on you, and you won’t be able to cope up with it. It not only will exhaust you, but it may lead to physical injuries as well.
If you’ve trained BJJ for 2-3 days a week for at least a year, and if you’re confident that you can take the stress, you can practice 4 times a week. However, you may have to minimize any other physical activities, or not perform them at all, as the training will wear you out.
5 or More Days a Week
If you train 5 or more days a week, it may result in diminishing results for you. If you’re a beginner, it will completely wear you out and will injure you, and even if you’re an expert, you should think twice before committing to sessions of 5 days or more.
Rushing into this will not help at all it may end up harming you permanently. So, we advise you not to train for 5 days or more than that a week.
Recognizing Overtraining and Avoiding it
If you overtrain, you might suffer from a weaker immune system. For example, a few of the practicioners have reported that they suffered from general conditions such as a sore throat, weak legs, or a running nose when they overtrained, for no other reason.
If you see any of the following symptoms without any apparent reason, you might be overtraining:
- Performance drop
- Headache
- Irritability
- Pain in the joints
- Muscle ache
- Fatigue
- Common cold
If you see any of these symptoms, you are probably overtraining, and you should take steps to fix your schedule. The first thing you should do is to stop training at least for a week. You have to rest until you feel you’ve recovered.
Plus, if you feel that you’ve overtrained, chances are high that you’ve drained yourself and you might suffer from dehydration. To avoid this you should take a lot of water. Plus, we highly recommend you maintain a balanced diet, which will provide the necessary nutrients.
If you take the aforementioned steps, you’ll be able to overcome overtraining without any fuss. Overtraining results in nothing but diminishing returns, but there isn’t any definite limit. Different people have different limits, and you should find out how much you can push yourself.
Another thing is that your limit increases with your training. If you can train for four days a week at maximum, doesn’t mean that it’ll be the same after a few years of training.
The Longer You Train, The Better You Get
If you want to get better at it, you need to keep at it for a long time. It does matter how frequently you train, but what matters more is how consistently you’re doing it. If you take breaks now and then, you might not improve that much.
If you see that you can’t keep up a consistent pace of training by training 4 days a week, and you have to take occasional breaks, you should reduce the frequency. Rather, if you train consistently for two months by training 2 days a week, you’ll improve much more.
That’s why we urge you to find the sweet spot for yourself. Once you do that, work hard on that, and you’ll certainly improve.
Can’t Get Better No Matter How Hard You Try?
There are times when we all feel like hitting a concrete wall, that no matter how hard we try, we can’t seem to push through it. And trust me, it’s equally true for every kind of sport and art, not only BJJ.
In such cases, consistency and patience is the only way to push through. If you hit such a wall, keep working at it even if you aren’t improving, change the approach of your training, and slowly you’ll be able to grasp it.
A lot of practicioners get frustrated when they hit such a wall but think in such a way. Everyone faces it, and it’s only natural to do so. Instead, keep on trying for developing yourself.
Final Thoughts
Hopefully, by now you’ve understood that there’s no direct answer to the question “how often should I train Jiu-jitsu?” It all depends on how much you want to improve, which level you want to reach, and what your plan is about BJJ.
We wish you all the luck, and we hope that you’ll be able to find out the perfect schedule for yourself. Enjoy the journey! Ossssss.
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