Any tips for BJJ endurance performance?

[RatioFitness]

I have a BJJ competition coming up and I was wondering if anyone has good tips and what I should do to maximize endurance performance.

I was thinking of taking baking soda (increase bicarbonate to buffer hydrogen ions) and a 5-hour energy (caffeine).

What do you all think?

[Joshua Naterman]

Get ready for "acute gastrointestinal distress" hahahahaha!!!!!

Seriously though. That's research lingo for "explosive diarrhea."

Bicarbonate loading only works for repeat bouts with short rest periods, not single event endurance. In nearly 100% of subjects, across studies, effective doses also cause them to explosively empty their colon. That may startle an opponent into an easy armbar, but I'm not sure that's the best way to progress to brown belt.

Your honest to god best bet for endurance is to be well hydrated, to have consumed a good 45-60% carbohydrate diet of slow carbs and vegetables for 7 days with a decreasing workload on days 1-4 and 1-2 rest days before competition where you don't do anything but very easy 1/4 speed rolls on one day and absolutely nothing on the other. Combine that with proper distribution of protein across the day and healthy fats to fulfill the remainder of your calories and you will have everything you need.

Outside of that, the same diet with specific endurance training for the muscle groups you will be using (rowing machines, arm cycles, high rep foot supported rows with thick rope for handles) and closed guard sit ups come to mind) the most will be your best bet. This will not help the way it should without enough carbs in your diet.

[RatioFitness]

Get ready for "acute gastrointestinal distress" hahahahaha!!!!!

Seriously though. That's research lingo for "explosive diarrhea."

Bicarbonate loading only works for repeat bouts with short rest periods, not single event endurance. In nearly 100% of subjects, across studies, effective doses also cause them to explosively empty their colon. That may startle an opponent into an easy armbar, but I'm not sure that's the best way to progress to brown belt.

Your honest to god best bet for endurance is to be well hydrated, to have consumed a good 45-60% carbohydrate diet of slow carbs and vegetables for 7 days with a decreasing workload on days 1-4 and 1-2 rest days before competition where you don't do anything but very easy 1/4 speed rolls on one day and absolutely nothing on the other. Combine that with proper distribution of protein across the day and healthy fats to fulfill the remainder of your calories and you will have everything you need.

Outside of that, the same diet with specific endurance training for the muscle groups you will be using (rowing machines, arm cycles, high rep foot supported rows with thick rope for handles) and closed guard sit ups come to mind) the most will be your best bet. This will not help the way it should without enough carbs in your diet.

I know the gastrointestinal discomfort is a possible problem, but it's not guaranteed, which is why I am starting to use some now to make sure it doesn't effect me adversely. The research behind it's improved performance seems to be pretty solid. Like you said, it's best for shorter duration, intermittent bouts, which is what BJJ is. A really intense BJJ match will get your H+ going (especially in the forearms) which is what the baking soda is good for buffering. I also plan to split the dosage so as to even further minimize the possibility of pooing on my opponents.

Basically, I plan to use .3g/kg of baking soda in 1L of low sodium Gatorade. I will drink half the solution 90 minutes prior to competition and the other half 30 minutes prior. I will drink the 5 hour energy about 45 minutes prior.

I've never seen any research that has people use both at the same time, so I definitely need to test it to make sure my guts don't explode and also that my heart doesn't explode.

Do you have any concerns about stacking the two? That's what I'm mainly worried about.

[Joshua Naterman]

I haven't got a clue, but I wish you the best at your tournament!

[Larry Roseman]

Besides working on local muscular endurance as J mentioned, you can also work on your general

aerobic conditoning. If that is an issue. It will improve the delivery of blood and removal of waste products to and from the muscles. You'll have more stamina in general and better recovery between rounds.

Coincidently, recently I took about a teaspoon of bicarb and had a blood test about 48 hours later. My bicarb levels were above normal (by 1mmol) an likewise CO2, as the two are always in balance. Can only imagine what that the

reading would be after truly loading with it!

http://www.limitlessathletics.com/Index ... oading.php discusses loading it for a few days

prior to the torney as an alternative to game day.

[RatioFitness]

I haven't got a clue, but I wish you the best at your tournament!

Did I stumble upon something that Slizzardman doesn't have an opinion on? HAHAHA. Now that's funny!

Thanks for your well wishes and also for your other advice!

[RatioFitness]

Besides working on local muscular endurance as J mentioned, you can also work on your general

aerobic conditoning. If that is an issue. It will improve the delivery of blood and removal of waste products to and from the muscles. You'll have more stamina in general and better recovery between rounds.

Coincidently, recently I took about a teaspoon of bicarb and had a blood test about 48 hours later. My bicarb levels were above normal (by 1mmol) an likewise CO2, as the two are always in balance. Can only imagine what that the

reading would be after truly loading with it!

http://www.limitlessathletics.com/Index ... oading.php discusses loading it for a few days

prior to the torney as an alternative to game day.

Thanks, future, but it is too late for me to do any local muscular endurance training as I fight this Friday!

Very interesting about the bicarb! I am going to take some everyday up until the tournament in addition to the day of protocol. Unless my test run tomorrow shows me that it's going to make my colon explode! :shock:

[Joshua Naterman]

I haven't got a clue, but I wish you the best at your tournament!

Did I stumble upon something that Slizzardman doesn't have an opinion on? HAHAHA. Now that's funny!

Thanks for your well wishes and also for your other advice!

No problem, my friend! When I don't know enough to have an educated opinion, I say so lol

The dietary recommendations I made will help you give it your best!

As for the generalized aerobic training, you will probably want to have a focus on training your aerobic systems to replenish the anaerobic systems. There is an article on this somewhere in the 8weeksout.com archives, and basically what you need to do is 1-2 minutes of all out, I mean 100% vo2max (100% of voluntary effort) aerobic training followed by 10 minutes of rest. So 2 minutes at absolute max sustainable pace on rowing machine, 10 minutes rest. repeat 4-5 more times. What this apparently does is cause an very large upregulation in the aerobic enzymes without causing much of any muscle fiber conversion. In essence, you build a very large lactate load and then give the body time to clear it aerobically. By producing spike after spike you get a very good training effect without dealing with steady state training that will work against your goal of repeat sprint performance.

[RatioFitness]

Josh,

In your opinion what should I eat the day of the tournament? I am supposed to compete starting at approx. 1:45.

I am traveling for this tourney by plane so I don't think I can take whey or any type of powder without them freaking out and thinking I have cocaine or something. Tis the disadvantage of not have home field advantage.

[Joshua Naterman]

Hahaha, yes... that would be a bad reason to miss the tournament. Well, you could make homemade energy bars with your protein but you can also just eat the foods that you like. Your best bet is going to be to eat every 2-3 hours, with not more than 500-ish calories per meal. Keep them pretty strictly 55% carbs, 15% protein and 30% fat, because that's going to be what you really need.

Day of is just as important, but not quite as important, as the 2-3 days preceding which is why I gave the earlier recommendations.

Hopefully you have been keeping yourself well fueled and well hydrated and continue to do so! You probably know what foods work well with your training sessions, so you should stick with what you know you perform well with. By far the most important thing is to keep yourself hydrated and fed. Small things like eating 44.78 minutes before your second stretch of your warm up or whatever is both very individual and depends heavily on WHAT you are eating.

I don't like making changes this close to a competition, so I think that your best bet is to simply do what you know works well for you right now in terms of what to eat right before the competition. Later on during a long training period between competitions it would be a good idea to play with foods and timing to determine what the absolute best thing you could do for yourself is.

Buy and cook meat, beans and rice when you get there. Eat all together along with some nuts and/or oil of your choice, getting as close to 55/15/30 as you can (CHO/Pro/Fat). Mixed nuts are probably your best bet for fat sources if affordable. Grains + nuts + beans = complete protein. Grains are a good source of carbs but crap for protein (there is just not enough per serving to make a huge difference compared to nuts) so use the grain (rice, corn, wheat, oats, barley, whatever) for the carbs, beans for carbs + protein, and nuts for protein + fats. Together those should be very nearly as good as meats and let you get close to that ideal ratio for athletes.

[Larry Roseman]

This is also worth a read...

http://journals.lww.com/acsm-msse/Fullt ... ce.27.aspx

ACSM recommendations are not always the latest but generally sound...

[Joshua Naterman]

This is also worth a read...

http://journals.lww.com/acsm-msse/Fullt ... ce.27.aspx

ACSM recommendations are not always the latest but generally sound...

Solid stuff. Basically a longer version of what we are talking about in here, with some more details regarding intra- and post-workout carbs. The big thing to know is that you should not have your sport drink until 5-10 minutes before you actually start rolling.

[Ryan Libke]

I want to echo something said above: don't try anything new on the day of the competition. Stick with what you know you can tolerate. I never competed much, but I did a few Judo tournaments (although my ground work was better than my tachi waza because of my BJJ experience) and the main problems I had were: (1) nerves, and (2) sitting around and waiting after checking in hours before. Because I got so tense, I tired so much more quickly than in usual training, and I know I didn't hydrate well enough. I had to tap out on a choke attempt more from fatigue than any real threat.

[Larry Roseman]

Did the torney happen already? How'd it go in terms of endurance?

[RatioFitness]

Yes, the tournament happened already. It was the Pan Am's, so it was a really big deal! It was actually the biggest BJJ tournament in history.

I came in well underweight, so in the future some changes will need to happen there. Their scales weigh very light. One important thing to know is that for IBJJF tournaments you weight in literally minutes before your first match. You would think this cuts down on weight cutting and would hurt people who do it but it doesn't effect as much as you would think from what I observed.

I was visibly small for my weight class. I need about 10-11 less pounds of fat and 14-15 more pounds of muscle and I can still make the same weight class.

I won my first match on points. The guy was super aggressive and relentless so I just tried to be smart and made moves when I felt openings, scored my points, and came away with the victory.

My second match I lost. I've replayed this 100 times in my head. He jumped guard on me and it pulled me forward. I left an arm-exposed and he snatched it up real quick and that was that. I was so pissed at myself because I don't think I've been in a single tournament where someone didn't pull guard on me and I've always reacted appropriately. Not this time.

Fortunately, the guy ended up winning the whole thing so that made me feel a little better.

As far as endurance goes, it didn't really become much of factor as I only had 2 matches instead of 5 which is what I would of needed to win. I was really tired my first match, which is usually the case because of nerves and whatnot. I felt much more relaxed in the second match.

Thanks for all the advice though. Next year I will become the first BJJ Pan-Am champion for Gymnastics Bodies. With 15 pounds of extra muscle created by gymnastics training and another year of technical improvement, I will destroy, no doubt about it.