Peaking for a Grappling Meet

Bigger Stronger Leaner
1

I am looking for information on how to properly peak for a grappling meet. I have been practicing no-gi BJJ for about 6 months now, and plan on competing in a meet at the end of August. I want to be prepared mentally and physically, but am unsure on how to plan for it.

I am 23, 5’8", and about 215 pounds, and will be dropping to the 190-205 weight class.

I feel that I am explosive and in good shape endurance wise (although both have room for improvement) and I have a great coach whom I trust.

How can I balance strength, conditioning, and skill to properly peak for a meet in ~26 weeks.

Need I even worry about it this far out?

Thanks for your time,
Howie

2

26 weeks is a long time dude… a REALLY long time. Just keep going to practice, slightly overtrain 2-3 weeks out, and 6-10 days before just meditate stretch and rest.

3

Just rest up a week or two before. Keep training and sparring, but at a slower pace to get the blood flowing and “stay sharp”. I personally keep lifting till a few days out, but I keep weights light and do things like power snatches and push presses.

Try to get enough sleep. If you’re one of those guys, like myself, who tends to get anxious trying to sleep, hit the sack a little earlier.

Get used to the pace you plan to compete with. Nothing nice about gassing in a match because you were grappling harder than normal.

And that’s it. You’re a beginner right now, so focus on technique and crafting a “game”. Are you a top player? If you go with another top player how long will you fight for the takedown before you pull guard? Is your guard game decent enough to do so?
Get good at a few connected things, e.g kimura/armbar/sweep combos, armbar/triangle/omoplata/flower sweep from guard.
To pull a quote from the internet: Get your feet wet everywhere, but dive into deep ponds, not shallow oceans.

Also heads up on your height/weight. Perhaps it’s different where you’re at, but BJJ guys tend not to be avid lifters. As such you may find many competitors in your category to be taller than you, and it would help if you had a similarly built training partner to get used to the different leverages.

4

Thanks for the solid advice guys, much appreciated.

I was thinking of a periodized approach, but I could just be over thinking things.

Right now I am training BJJ 4x a week, Judo/wrestling 1x, weight lifting 2x, and strongman 1x.

Do you suggest I just keep training smart on a day-to-day basis and not worry about the small details?

Also, my coach/training partner is about 5’10" 280-300 pounds. Some of the guys I roll live with are a bit taller than me but not much. Most are 135-160 or so, but a couple are 190, and my conditioning and strength is much better than both, my technique better than one of them, and a bit lesser than the other. They provide for great training partners as they are weighing what I will be competing with. Around here I think my biggest obstacle will be taking on good wrestlers.

My coach trained with Phil Torres if any of you have heard of him. He is teaching me quite a few combos as well as judo throws at the moment. I love this shit.

I am proud of a 275 power clean and 225 power jerk so I think that power is something that I can bring to the table in my weight class. I am using CT’s layering system 2x a week, once with each movement. This provides me with whole body workouts, as well as some pretty awesome conditioning. And of course strongman stuff once a week, which is great to clear my head and have some fun (not that the rest of my training isn’t fun!).

And of course nutrition - I am basically eating until I am full, and not worrying about stuffing my face as if I was bulking. Damn it feels good. Chicken, rice, steak, potatoes - the basics.

Also I would like to make clear (since I mentioned strength and conditioning) that I am well aware that these are not everything, but I do think that they supplement skill quite well. Being stronger and having better endurance has saved my ass a few times at practice, where I was unable to sub an opponent. But skill is everything and I plan on being the best I can.

I will be competing at a Midwest Grappling Challenge in Sioux Falls, South Dakota this coming August.

5

[quote]howie424 wrote:
I am looking for information on how to properly peak for a grappling meet. I have been practicing no-gi BJJ for about 6 months now, and plan on competing in a meet at the end of August. I want to be prepared mentally and physically, but am unsure on how to plan for it.

I am 23, 5’8", and about 215 pounds, and will be dropping to the 190-205 weight class.

I feel that I am explosive and in good shape endurance wise (although both have room for improvement) and I have a great coach whom I trust.

How can I balance strength, conditioning, and skill to properly peak for a meet in ~26 weeks.

Need I even worry about it this far out?

Thanks for your time,
Howie[/quote]
You’ve been doing it for 6 months and already you care enough about competition that you are preoccupied with peaking? Just work on learning and getting better…and having a life. A low level comp is not the SATs.

6

[quote]zecarlo wrote:

[quote]howie424 wrote:
I am looking for information on how to properly peak for a grappling meet. I have been practicing no-gi BJJ for about 6 months now, and plan on competing in a meet at the end of August. I want to be prepared mentally and physically, but am unsure on how to plan for it.

I am 23, 5’8", and about 215 pounds, and will be dropping to the 190-205 weight class.

I feel that I am explosive and in good shape endurance wise (although both have room for improvement) and I have a great coach whom I trust.

How can I balance strength, conditioning, and skill to properly peak for a meet in ~26 weeks.

Need I even worry about it this far out?

Thanks for your time,
Howie[/quote]
You’ve been doing it for 6 months and already you care enough about competition that you are preoccupied with peaking? Just work on learning and getting better…and having a life. A low level comp is not the SATs. [/quote]

Just looking for some sound advice on how to do things properly. I’m new to the sport so I think I’m prone to asking questions. I realize it’s a low level comp but I’d like to do some bigger ones someday and it starts here.

Thanks for your contribution nonetheless.

7

[quote]howie424 wrote:

[quote]zecarlo wrote:

[quote]howie424 wrote:
I am looking for information on how to properly peak for a grappling meet. I have been practicing no-gi BJJ for about 6 months now, and plan on competing in a meet at the end of August. I want to be prepared mentally and physically, but am unsure on how to plan for it.

I am 23, 5’8", and about 215 pounds, and will be dropping to the 190-205 weight class.

I feel that I am explosive and in good shape endurance wise (although both have room for improvement) and I have a great coach whom I trust.

How can I balance strength, conditioning, and skill to properly peak for a meet in ~26 weeks.

Need I even worry about it this far out?

Thanks for your time,
Howie[/quote]
You’ve been doing it for 6 months and already you care enough about competition that you are preoccupied with peaking? Just work on learning and getting better…and having a life. A low level comp is not the SATs. [/quote]

Just looking for some sound advice on how to do things properly. I’m new to the sport so I think I’m prone to asking questions. I realize it’s a low level comp but I’d like to do some bigger ones someday and it starts here.

Thanks for your contribution nonetheless.
[/quote]
Sorry for coming off condescending but my point is that, and it applies especially if you are thinking you will be doing the sport long term, you need to focus on learning and bettering your skills. Get good at the sport/art before trying to get good at competing.

I have seen plenty of guys whose development was stalled because of emphasizing competing. In no gi comps they usually go by experience/time in and not belt levels so the people who started as beginners, after a certain amount of time, are supposed to go to the next level but since they didn’t improve their skill over that time their ability is still that of a beginner. So they either sandbag, because a medal in a minor comp is that important, or they move up and lose.

What division will you compete in? You already have 6 months in and by Aug it will be a year.

8

No worries, point taken.

I will be in the beginner division, which is the lowest division of this tournament. I looked back on the calendar and I am actually about 4-5 months in.

I realize the importance of technique and mastering this skill. I am not really competing for a medal, but I do want to experience a meet and have fun doing so. I understand where you are coming from, but I don’t see how it can hinder my progress, given the proper mindset.

I do plan on improving my skill over this time period though. Having said that, I do understand the fact that I will still be a beginner, and will remain so for years. Again, I trust my coach and think that I can make a lot of progress in the coming 6 months. The past months have been sporadic, but now that I am doing a meet we are training pretty hard. I do understand auto-regulation so I am not afraid of overtraining or burning myself out.

9

Just be careful not to burn yourself out with all the lifting, and you’ll be fine. The topic of S&C for martial arts has been done to death around here, so I’d recommend you search some other threads started in the last six months. Hell read the one on the front page right now about Muscle mass; Xen Nova left a great post right at the end that may interest you.

On a side note, yup, it does seem like you’re over-thinking it. To steal a quote from Kmnyc around here:

Skill
Conditioning
Strength

Just prioritize in that order and you’ll be fine. And sometimes, less is more.

10

That was a very interesting and helpful post by Xen Nova. Thanks to you as well for your post.

I also realize that talking about S&C is just beating a dead horse.

I will just continue training SMART. Honestly it feels good to not have to focus on weights, but to be able to still do them 2x a week. Skill work is my priority right now, with weights/conditioning taking the seat right behind them.

Does anybody mind if I use this thread as a log?

11

Im glad my little tidbits are still making the rounds.

really its your first tournament- go and just enjoy it.
I dont think you need to worry about any kind of periodization - not for a while.
and likely never at all.
you are a young guy- and likely have great recovery
and recovery is everything.
keep training exactly as you are till either your skill work or recovery is impacted
and then back off of some of the non skill work - work.

how lean are you - you seem to carry a decent amount of size at 5’8.

and how much time are you devoting to becoming more flexible
good luck and have fun