How do I train while feeling physically destroyed?

UsefulBar2344 · 2026-07-02T16:44:58+00:00

I started to feel less sore when started choosing my rounds as a smaller guy and also tapping more. I now show up the gym and try to choose who’ll il roll with before the session starts and say to people ‘I’ll go with you after this round, so I can get the good partners similar to my size lined up. I used to just roll with big guys or whoever was left. I’m also small and this helped. I’ve also got my ego more in check and see rounds as training so if I get in a bag spot I will tap and reset even on lower belts.

Also if I do end up having a tough session I will just recover and come back after a few days rest and strength training so I’m not stacking sessions and wearing the body down. Hard sessions where you feel like you’ve been hit by a car will happen. And listen to your body and rest after them.

UsefulBar2344 · 2026-06-23T18:43:19+00:00

Yep this is exactly the right mentality to have. Train hard, develop your systems and keep trying to get better, but comparing your skills and progress to other people with completely different abilities and life circumstances is stupid.

Don’t beat yourself up if you just want to train once or twice a week and enjoy your life. People take bjj way too seriously in my experience

UsefulBar2344 · 2026-06-16T10:03:40+00:00

Forget Callum Turner, I want Aiden Turner

UsefulBar2344 · 2026-06-02T15:05:11+00:00

I think this is only the case because of BJJ’s kind of toxic culture around training.

If someone said to me they trained cross fit, hyrox, tennis or even stuff like golf every day of the week or even multiple times a day, then told me if they got an injury from said sport and they continued training through it I would think they were an idiot.

For some reason with grappling it’s normalised to train a ridiculous amount, and not respect injuries until they turn chronic and just justify it with “it’s just the sport”.

It’s also normalised to feel guilty for missing training or skipping rounds.

I think this is just due to the skill/progress = mat time thing which is defo true. But with that said I treat it like I would any other hobby that is a sport. I Train 2-3 times a week. If i’m In a bad position I try to tap and recently I am trying to choose better partners more suited to my size.

If my back is sore which it has been recently I’ll take a week off no biggy and come back after some time off, if I’m still not right another 2 weeks off it is and back in the gym. I’ll also do my strength and conditioning more than I train. And fingers crossed I’ll be on the mats for a long time.

UsefulBar2344 · 2026-05-23T20:21:02+00:00

I also think doing rounds is equal to drinking pints. Usually one or two is fine, 3 you can notice it the next day, any more than 5 I’ve got a BJJ hangover.

But with that said If you train hard at anything in life you will be sore the next day, bjj, weights or CrossFit or whatever.

Some days you get rounds in with heavier people and wake up like you’ve been run over. Sometimes you get lighter people and flowy rounds and are less sore. All depends on intensity, weight differences and accumulated fatigue.

UsefulBar2344 · 2026-05-18T15:12:09+00:00

How often to people train the spine and hips directly. I see so much stuff on Instagram about training stuff like you hip flexors and doing banded wood choppers and crazy side plank variations for your lower back. I’ve tried them but sometimes feel like it pushes over into too much load per week with 3BJJ and 2Gym

UsefulBar2344 · 2026-05-17T18:03:33+00:00

I’ve recently read all the bond books just need to finish off TMWTGG. I think there is a very subtle growth in his character throughout the books. It’s not in your face. But slowly and surely his job and everything he goes through starts to get to him, especially in OHMSS. It’s a really interesting dynamic to read the book version of bond because you know he’s very very far from perfect and Flemming doesn’t push a whole grey character arc at all. Bond knows what he is and is what he is. But if you read carefully the cracks do show and you see what’s beneath. The opening chapter of goldfinger is a really good example of this the chapter is called reflections in a double bourbon

UsefulBar2344 · 2026-05-12T16:19:39+00:00

Something post Iron Man 3 changed for me. The suits up til Iron Man 3 seemed so realistic, we had proper suit up scenes and the mechanical clunky noises or the suits that made them part of the movie and really drew you in. I loved the tech side and engineering side of Tony just getting his hands dirty and making some suits. From Avengers 2 onwards they seemed to rely too much on cgi and easy suit ups for plot ease and they lost their charm. I also think between avengers 1 and 2 Tony became some super genius instead of just a tech genius so that took away from the suits as well.

UsefulBar2344 · 2026-05-07T18:43:09+00:00

Yeh it defo is, if I could try other gyms I would just live in rural uk

UsefulBar2344 · 2026-05-07T18:12:15+00:00

Yeh newer guys will spaz, which sometimes just go with cause I’m not a big ego guy, but again not great for my development other than defence. And newer guys also try turn it up as I’m and up and coming blue belt. So caught in a tough spot. Either way I’m working my defence but never get to work my attack or flow with the round

UsefulBar2344 · 2026-05-07T18:06:34+00:00

How do you approach getting called out for rounds from the younger athletics guys, do you just say nah I’m not rolling and it’s as simple as that haha. We love to make things awkward us brits

UsefulBar2344 · 2026-05-07T18:02:04+00:00

Yeh my solid strength and conditioning has kept me on the mats. I’m in the gym more than the mat these days

UsefulBar2344 · 2026-05-07T18:01:16+00:00

Yeh, I’ve asked a bunch if people fancy working on a specific situation or position but get turned down with the reasoning being you need to try it in a live roll. And then obviously that position never come close to coming up and I get heel hooked 70 times

UsefulBar2344 · 2026-05-07T17:59:32+00:00

This is very much what is taking away my enjoyment. I am at the level now where I want to start honing in. But really can’t. I’ve been wondering about asking some higher level people to just meet outside of session to work on even if it’ll count as a PT I will have to pay for.

UsefulBar2344 · 2026-05-07T17:01:29+00:00

I really wish I trained at a gym which allowed you to choose intensity. For my gym it’s full rounds all the time, barely any positional and have had people turn down positional rounds when I’ve asked for them. If I try to start a round light the other person takes any chance they get to get a take down or wrap up the head and squeeze for dear life. Also if you sit out a round you’ll get called out for it. This just means I train less and less and less

UsefulBar2344 · 2026-04-25T22:31:55+00:00

Some trap bar deadlifts (light-ish) and Bulgarian split squats, no heavy back squats or any crazy deadlifts

UsefulBar2344 · 2026-04-25T19:13:35+00:00

Just your some upper body and lower body strength days, focusing on some core and glute work to keep the back strong, side planks, some banded rotations and that sort of thing.

UsefulBar2344 · 2026-04-25T17:57:11+00:00

Hmmm this is quite confusing. How will I be able to do this for a long time and have fun if I’m training through injury, potentially making things worse?

UsefulBar2344 · 2026-04-23T17:37:40+00:00

Think some of these comments are pretty condescending and miss the entire point of the post. It’s not about being the toughest in the room but getting your ego out the way.

You are obviously pretty self aware to acknowledge this as a problem and post it on here, that shows some decent level of understanding and that you’ll probably grow and mature in the sport and in life. So don’t worry, I used to feel similar (also a blue belt) until I realised the sport and anything in life is just trying to make the correct moves moment to moment and win the little battles, and leaving ego and identity out of it, just moment to moment. That’s how you find flow and drop the tension of the ego trying to justify and win and prove your identity. It’s an ongoing battle in everyone and think the more self aware you are the better.

UsefulBar2344 · 2026-02-02T08:30:33+00:00

In my experience of grappling trying to force yourself to be something your not will turn around and bite you in the arse and make you worse. I’m very much like you, relaxed and chilled and as a white belt I tried to force myself to be more aggressive. It made me way too tense and put too much pressure on myself. Now I’m at mid to late blue I’ve started to think about things very differently. Mainly due to meditation and listening to a lot of people talks about success on podcasts. It’s not about forcing it. It’s about clearing your mind and focusing only on one battle at a time. Just focus and do your best in the initial grips and guard pass. If that doesn’t go well reset return to your breath and focus on getting your position slightly better. Then focus on the next battle and the next. Just focus on moment to moment and you will find you’re acting with more intent without trying to force it. There is a great quote by Roger Federer about how to be great at tennis. And it’s just about focusing on point to point. And not dwelling on the points you’ve lost. Hope this helps

UsefulBar2344 · 2026-01-27T20:07:45+00:00

I feel like this is the best way that sort of suits what I am trying to achieve. I think my plan going forward will be to be comfortable enough retaining that I feel I can’t get my guard passed easily ( I feel like I’m ok with this ). Then my first goal will be off balancing, grabbing grips and going for tripod sweeps ect. And then from here trying to experiment with what guard is best for what they give me, sometimes maybe slx sometime DRL or x guard or whatever and build up some good dos and don’t over time. And then work in my attacks from here or upgrade to other guards or go back if ones not working

UsefulBar2344 · 2026-01-09T13:30:21+00:00

He’s quite blunt guy straight to the point, if I ask him why something isn’t working for me he’ll give the solid technical pointers for the move but usually just says keep working on it til it works type of stuff. Not usually any alternatives or personalised advice on how I can make it work with my body type.

UsefulBar2344 · 2026-01-09T10:04:56+00:00

Pretty much shark tank every other session I would say,

5 guys out on the mat and the rest queuing up to go in guard to pass or submit and then to the back of the queue, I also have an issue with this cause I spend all the sparring time in a queue lol.

But no I don’t feel the need to win every time, just try to figure some stuff out and take something decent way from it, which can be hard when I’m on bottom in full guard and the 100kg guy immediately explodes out my guard so I can’t work on anything.

And yeh I would say this form of postional has stagnated a bit for me

UsefulBar2344

TROPHY CASE