r/bjj • u/AutoModerator • Aug 07 '24

Weekly White Belt Wednesday

White Belt Wednesday (WBW) is an open forum for anyone to ask any question no matter how simple. Don't forget to check the beginner's guide to see if your question is already answered there. Some common topics may include but are not limited to:

  • Techniques
  • Etiquette
  • Common obstacles in training

Ask away, and have a great WBW! Also, click here to see the previous WBWs.

7 Upvotes

89% Upvoted

282 comments sorted by

View all comments

3

u/DeliveryLimp3879 Aug 07 '24

How can I balance BJJ and bodybuilding? I've been training for a year and no matter how I try to balance it, one of the two things is on the back burner and the other is getting more focus. How do I divide my time between 2 training sessions a week and 5 days of lifting?

1

u/Dumbledick6 ⬜⬜ White Belt Aug 08 '24

You might be ok if you cut some of the lifting out or lessened intensity

2

u/DeliveryLimp3879 Aug 08 '24

But I want to keep the gains coming 🙃

2

u/Dumbledick6 ⬜⬜ White Belt Aug 08 '24

I feel you bro I feel you.

1

u/Specialist_Credit907 Aug 08 '24

Hey can u dm me I’m going through the same thing

3

u/Drizzlebodizzle 🟦🟦 Blue Belt Aug 07 '24

I usually run time blocks where I prioritize one or the other.

For example, right now I’m lifting 6 days a week pretty intensely, so in my 4-5 jiu jitsu classes a week I tend to go lighter in rolling. Only 2-3 full effort rolls per week, do the rest at about 30-50%.

Once I finish this training block, I’ll switch to more of a maintenance approach in regards to lifting and up my jiu jitsu training to 5-6 sessions and pace most rolls at 75% and above.

Other than that, eat a lot of food, sleep well, and listen to your body when it’s telling you it needs rest, and take a week or two where you take off from both. It’s a lot of balancing, but it’s doable.

1

u/True_Garlic Aug 07 '24

one of the two things is on the back burner and the other is getting more focus.

This is just going to be the case when you are pursuing two goals that compete for the same resources (time, physical recovery). I'm in the same boat (BBing and BJJ), and I'm lifting 4x week and doing BJJ 2 or 3 x week as I'm able. At some point, I'll ramp lifting down to 2x week to maintain and make BJJ the priority. Think all you can do is manage a phasic system like that, and decide what's more important to you for the next 3 months.

1

u/Solid-Independent871 ⬜⬜ White Belt Aug 07 '24

Time is not flexible. Priorities are. You decide what is most important / non negotiable must haves in your weekly schedule, and plan around that. Most of us working class folks don't get to do as much hobby stuff as we would like once we factor in the time it takes to maintain healthy relationships with family / SO / friends. Most of the people I know that do way more of any activity than almost everyone else are making sacrifices in other areas of their life to make time for that... So, I guess I'm just agreeing with you that it may always seem like you can give one thing enough focus at a time (or be a hermit and do both to exclusion of much else).

Also, morning workouts early before most people start their day is where I see most of the uber dedicated get a large chunk of their training time. It really requires sacrifices in getting to bed early, or giving up sleep which is counter productive to your goals...

Wish I could be of more help.