Training for the Podium

There are levels to competition. While every competitive-minded athlete dreams of competing at the highest levels of his or her sport, the reality is that not everyone will have the opportunity.

For some, that might be due to limitations of age or physical abilities, for others it might be family and career obligations. The time, energy and investment it takes to reach the highest levels of Brazilian jiu-jitsu is comparable to a full-time job, at the very least. It demands sacrifices that many cannot, or are not willing to, make.

That is not to say that the rest of us can’t achieve excellence in our own right. We can use the same strategic training the best in the world employ, in order to reach the top of the podium at our own levels of jiu-jitsu competition.

Here’s how:

Train Consciously

It is important to be an active participant in both your day-to-day training and during your training camps. You might be thinking, “This is silly, of course I’m an active participant. It’s jiu-jitsu.” Yes, valid. However, there is a difference between being active and being consciously active.

The former entails going through the motions and giving little thought to elevating your understanding of the technique, drill or movement. The latter entails focusing on the purpose of the movement, the reasons behind hand, foot, or body placement, and how changes in your opponent’s reaction might affect how you perform the movements. This is training “consciously.”

Why is this important? In competition – regardless of the level – we face opponents that might move or react very differently than our training partners. By training consciously, we develop a more holistic understanding of those techniques, and we are able to better and more quickly adapt in the higher stress context of the competition mat.

Train Strategically

All athletes must train strategically. However, training strategically is especially important for athletes that have limited time or other obligations.

The most important element of training strategically is managing one’s training time. Even a full-time athlete has to consider this, as more training is not always better. In fact, more can very easily – and very quickly – become counterproductive. An athlete whose time is limited needs to make the most of his or her time on the mat. Notably, overtraining can still be an issue, even for those of us with busy schedules. One might feel the need to pack too much into those days you do have off, in order to make up for “lost time.” Beware of falling into this trap. In training strategically, you need to consider when is the best time – for you – to train. When are you most alert, and when will your schedule allow for sufficient rest to put forth your best effort each and every time you step on the mat.

Another element of training strategically is identifying what your strengths and weaknesses are. Of course, you’ll want to put in some reps on you’re A-game, but if you want to hit the top of the podium, you will also need to focus on techniques you need to improve. Unfortunately, the typical academy curriculum may not align with those specific goals. If you only have an hour each day, this may require you to choose whether a drilling session with your favorite training partner might be a better use of your time than going to class that day. Not a popular opinion, I know. 

Train for Balance

Here’s another unpopular opinion for you: training more jiu-jitsu is not the only way you’ll get better at jiu-jitsu. Too many people train jiu-jitsu, and only jiu-jitsu. Then they wonder why they’re getting their second ACL surgery before the age of 30.

I’ve preached this before, and I’ll keep preaching it: cross-training is vitally important for the Brazilian jiu-jitsu athlete. This is whether you compete or not, but is especially the case for competitors, as they put themselves under an exceptional level of physical and physiological stress. In jiu-jitsu, we often pass only on one side, sweep only on one side, and do any number of techniques... on only one side. This quickly creates imbalances that can both overly stress certain joints, and leave others weakened and underutilized.

Incorporating strength training, consistent cardio (“consistent” being the operative word… don’t just do cardio two weeks out from your competition), yoga, swimming or other activity that uses your body in different ways will help correct such imbalances. The more balanced you are, the better protected you are from injury. Additionally, the more balanced you are, the stronger you will be in a wider range of jiu-jitsu movements. 

Managing Expectations

Last, but certainly not least, one of the most important considerations in “training for the podium” is managing your expectations. You will always overestimate the amount of time you have to put into training for a competition. You will always overestimate what you can get done in that time. You may either overestimate or underestimate how well you might do at the competition. In either case, you will always put too much pressure on yourself to perform well, possibly because you think others – your coach, friends, family – might expect it of you.

Expectations are natural, they’re healthy, and they can be motivating. They can also be insidious and demoralizing if you allow them.

Have expectations, try to meet them, but always be willing to shake it off and forgive yourself if you don’t meet them. The beauty of competition is that, all other things being equal, chance still plays that tiny little part. Sometimes it’s just your day, sometimes it’s not.

Train on, and see you on the podium!