Today I am going to talk about how much should you rest after a tough week of bjj training. This is a question I often hear when I travel to give jiu-jitsu seminars.
What should we do after a really tough week of bjj training? Right now, I am preparing myself for the World’s next month in California. I train jiu-jitsu Monday to Friday. This week I have also done physical conditioning, judo and wrestling. So, by Friday, I feel that my body is falling apart, especially now that I have turned 30 years old. I’m not that young anymore.
I remember when I was around 18, 20 or 22 years old that I was really tired by Friday, after a hard week of bjj training. However, by Saturday afternoon, my body was recovered and I felt good again. My recovery time was very fast.
However, nowadays, since I just turned 30 years old, by Friday I’m crazy tired and on Sunday, my body is still crazy tired.
What I have done throughout my career, and I think Marcelo Garcia does the same, is to rest on the weekends. The weekends for me are times of rest. Normally, I do not train jiu-jitsu on the weekends. Sometimes I do some other form of physical exercise on Saturdays, but it’s not bjj training. Maybe I jog or I go to the gym to lift weights. I don’t lift heavy weights but lighter weights so I can break a sweat.

I usually don’t drill bjj much but sometimes on Saturdays I do. It’s not really drilling, but more like specific positional training. I pick one specific position and do some resistance training with my training partner.
I prefer to rest on the weekends. I rest my body and prepare to train very hard for the upcoming week. However, many times I have to travel on the weekends for jiu-jitsu seminars. Then it’s different because I have to teach and train during the seminars.
My focus on the weekends is to rest my body, because I think resting and recovering is as important as bjj training. I believe when I rest that I can reflect upon my hard week of bjj training. I like to think about my week of bjj training, absorb what I did, and relax in order to prepare for the new week of hard bjj training.
I understand that many people are not professional grapplers and that they do jiu-jitsu as a hobby. So, they don’t have much time to train during the week due to work. If that is the case and you want to train jiu-jitsu on the weekends then I think that is great. I would do the same.

Here is the breakdown of the key points of how much you should rest after a tough week of bjj training:

1. If you train like a professional Monday through Friday, then I recommend that you take the weekends off from bjj training. If you still have energy on Saturday, then I suggest doing a different form of physical exercise such as swimming, jogging or lifting weights.
2. I believe resting on the weekends is as important as bjj training. When I rest, I like to reflect on my week of tough bjj training. I think about how my training went and what I need to work on.
3. Sometimes on Saturday I drill or do specific positional resistance training with my training partner.
4. If you train bjj more as a hobby and you don’t have the opportunity to train much during the week, then I think training on the weekends is great. I would do that too.

I hope this tip on how much you should rest after a tough week of bjj training helps you. Oss.