Other/Mixed Tournament Recovery

[kevsooner]

Hi all,

I've been reading thru easy strength and i'm trying to put together some best practice ideas for recovery between tournament matches.

I recently began competing in Jiu Jitsu ( masters division ).

I'm closing in on one year Jiu Jitsu, and I've competed in two tournaments.

I walked away with a 2nd place finish in each tournament . Each time by the time I walked into the finals , I was feeling closed to cooked.

There are a few obvious factors which you to mind for me .

1. I haven't competed in anything in 20 + years. So, I was amped to the max in early matches .

2. During most recent tournament , I had just rolled out of bed with a 2 week flu bug.

3. I need to improve my refueling and food intake during the day

Curious about suggestions for calming my system and mind down
In between matches .
And curious about deloading /tapering ideas.

Thanks in advance

 

[Steve Freides]

Meditation, Tai Chi, Buteyko breathing, or other "soft" practice, plus regular joint health and flexibility work.

-S-

 

[Tony Gracia]

@kevsooner there are lots of variables at play here. A few things to consider:

1) How efficient you are in your matches, i.e. your pacing
2) Were you in dominant positions most of the time or were you mounted, side control etc?
3) How many scrambles, especially for takedowns were there in your matches?
4) How warmed up were you prior to going in?
5) What was your overall strength & conditioning level going into the tournaments.
6) How nourished and especially hydrated were you going into the events? A lot of this will have to do with tournament policy regarding weigh-ins. For example IBJJF you weight in immediately before you compete, no chance to rehydrate.

Obviously you had the odds stacked against you in the one where you were just getting over the flu. The one most people don't pay enough attention to (imo) is pacing. I coach my students to try and breath only through their nose as much as possible. It is nearly impossible to get "cooked" when you're only breathing through your nose. Obviously the pace you roll at will dictate whether or not this is possible. During scrambles you will not be able to maintain nasal breathing, but when the position settles do your best to get back to it asap.