Slatersan
Level 5 Valued Member
I mostly do bjj in the AM. I work until midnight Wednesday then have class at 8:30 am Thursday. That is why I have a max of 6 hours on that night if I jumped in bed as soon as I got home and went right to sleep. The work to school thing is obviously out of my control as far as changing it. It isn’t ideal. I actually was supposed to do it online but they changed the policy to where the class is now on campus. So I all of a sudden had to wake up an hour earlier than I had been planning. I work at a drug and alcohol treatment center and it can be high energy and stressful to the point it takes me a bit to “wind down” afterward.You are seeking to alter and adjust your training, but are you also looking at the other variable in the equation...your sleep circumstances and how to optimize that as much as possible?
You can change your training all you want, but if you don't do something to change your sleep environment and quality (the things you have control over, there are things like work schedules and crying newborns that are more tricky), it will be all for nothing.
Many things to look at here .... any routine to quiet your mind (@elli suggestion of yoga for example is excellent), meditation, turning off electronics and if you like so many people use a cellphone as an alarm clock, have it way out of arms reach so not rolling over in the night and scrolling the internet, room temp, blackout curtains or eye shades, timing of caffeine intake, ruling out sleep apnea and snoring and if that is a factor treating that, etc. You mention having trouble "winding down", how close to "bedtime" is your BJJ practice and do you do anything specific to "wind down" for sleep after...any way that could change, or even number of days per week you practice?
I've been a shiftworker many years, so sleep is near and dear to my heart. At pushing 50 yrs old and with still with that type of schedule S&S is quite enough for me at the moment, and having some days in the last few weeks of occasions of not able to leave work and up almost 24hrs, I either do not do a session at all and just focus on mobility and a walk, or like other said dial down to 2 handed swings or just do a regular session with a lot more rest than I usually need. Depends on how I have slept, how I feel when I wake up, if I have to work again that day, etc.
You are young, and it is good you are looking at this now. There are many of us who are "older" who wish we would have been smarter when younger in the sleep department....and being how difficult it is to look ahead to one's "future self", so many who do not truly realize how serious chronic sleep deprivation is.
Yesterday when I hadnt slept well the night before it got me wondering how does training fit in here and should I just opt out of any kind of training for the day to allow proper recovery from everything else during the week.
I have had jobs before where I was constantly experiencing sleep deprivation and that had a massive impact on my recovery and old injuries.
Like you said I am looking to train smart and for the rest of my life so I don’t want to put my self in a position where I’m doing more harm than good.