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Off-Topic Jiujitsu + sleeping

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Gary W

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Hi guys, for those of you that do bjj, i just started 4 weeks ago and on days ive done rolling i get home at 8pm and like last night had dinner bath bed by 930pm and couldnt sleep untill nearly 1am to get up at 6am.
Im normaly falling asleep on the sofa at 9pm so 1 is just ridiculous for me and im paying for it at work today!

Is this normal after rolling and is there anything i can do to help me sleep?
 
I'm far from an expert, but typically any strenuous activities in the evening is not conducive to sleep. I assume it's a hormonal thing with cortisol and adrenaline. If you're taking any caffeine or other energy drinks or supplements to help you with your BJJ, you could stop that. Something else I would urge you to try is taking a hot epsom salt bath before bed. Other types of magnesium supplementation can help too. Do your research

If all else fails, show your wife how to put you in a rear naked choke to put you out.

Good Luck
 
Very normal. Used to be a major issue for myself and training partners, but we would often leave the gym between 9-10pm. One guy went as far as to change his work start time to around 10am. I think jiujitsu is particularly stimulating.
 
I'm the complete opposite... I usually train BJJ midday, head back to the gym (work), shower, eat, and take a nap on the couch in my office... and go to bed early. But maybe I'm just getting old.

On a serious note (not that I wasn't being serious about napping and going to bed early... but you know what I mean), try doing something relaxing... long, hot shower; reading; light stretching; herbal tea; etc.

You may end up going to bed & sleep later than your 9 PM sofa session, but it should still be better than 1 AM...
 
Cheers for the suggestions guys, normally a very sleepy person haha
Feel pretty achey today from last nights bjj guess the lack of sleep doesnt help repair the muscles
I will defo try epsom salt bath too
 
I've always been an evening trainer (karate and weight training), you're probably suffering from an over stimulated CNS, being that BJJ is fairly new to you.
The no sleep thing will pass with time, in the meantime try some sleep inducing tea, I always found that a cold shower made me sleep better (ironically)
 
i just started 4 weeks ago and on days ive done rolling i get home at 8pm and like last night had dinner bath bed by 930pm and couldnt sleep untill nearly 1am to get up at 6am.
Same sort of thing happened to me when I started, about 4 months ago. For me I think it was a combination of the increased stress hormones and my bad mental habit of fixating on things. I would lie there and re-hash the class in my head for what seemed like forever. It's not nearly so bad now. I train from 6-7 and can at least get to sleep before 11, usually by 10:30. I think the key was 1) learning to relax a little while I roll, and 2) getting over the steepest part of the learning curve (drinking from a fire hose). Now that I'm more comfortable with the positions and transitions, I feel better about just layering on each new piece of information as it comes, instead of trying to learn as much as possible as fast as possible so I didn't get my a$$ kicked all the time. Also, I got more used to getting my a$$ kicked ;)
 
Same sort of thing happened to me when I started, about 4 months ago. For me I think it was a combination of the increased stress hormones and my bad mental habit of fixating on things. I would lie there and re-hash the class in my head for what seemed like forever. It's not nearly so bad now. I train from 6-7 and can at least get to sleep before 11, usually by 10:30. I think the key was 1) learning to relax a little while I roll, and 2) getting over the steepest part of the learning curve (drinking from a fire hose). Now that I'm more comfortable with the positions and transitions, I feel better about just layering on each new piece of information as it comes, instead of trying to learn as much as possible as fast as possible so I didn't get my a$$ kicked all the time. Also, I got more used to getting my a$$ kicked ;)
being okay with getting your a$$ kicked is a key part of enjoying jiujitsu
 
Haha yeah im ok with tapping, i try to tap early as im worried about injurys and im not there to win anything or impress anyone.
I got my first submission after 3 weeks, made a 4 month white belt tap with a cross collor choke, man it felt good to get the first one out the way.
Ive always worked out in the mornings so its completely new training in the evenings.
Still feel beaten up today, everything is sore!
Feel like my strength training is taking a back seat as the bjj is kicking my a#@
 
Training late in evening comes with a few disadvantages, like not being able to fall asleep when one should, having to eat later than optimal et cetera. I have similar experiences, and have yet to solve the riddle, but I've been trying some sleep promoting tricks from Buteyko breathing, of which the most radical is to tape my mouth when going to sleep. Breathing (only) through nose is meant to promote better sleep quality, and the experience has been promising thus far.
 
I picked up some epsom salts today, not cheap is it! 1kg bag at recomended dose is 2 baths!
Ill try it Wednesday see if it helps to relax after bjj class, maybe help with soreness too
 
I carry ZMA and melatonin with me to BJJ and take it as I’m leaving. Since I started doing this I have no problem sleeping. Before this I hardly slept before midnight.
 
I won't bore you with the details, but I've been playing around with a continuous glucose monitor and figured out that I can use changes in blood sugar to get a rough idea how stressful something is. If I'm even remotely on target with the measurements and theory, the open roll part of my BJJ class produces 2-3 times the stress response that one of my regular kettlebell workouts does (heavy snatches). At least for me, I can say it's pretty potent.
 
Well, i had class last night came home had dinner, epsom salt bath
I find it really hard to lay in the bath for more than 5 mins tops haha
Ive read that to get the benifits of epsom salt baths you should soak in it for around 20mins! Ive got no chance of that, i managed 10mins.

I must have fell asleep about 10pm so thats much better.

I think the thing that made the most difference tho is that i took rolling more steady and slow, thought about my moves rather than just going nuts.
 
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