Is a day without training really wasted? – About the power of resting

A good number of coaches I’ve worked with were pushing training every day no matter what, often penalizing skipping a few with comments. The idea was that anytime you skip training you give your opponents a chance to become better than you. Many claimed a day is wasted because you didn’t get any further on your path and you are no better than yesterday. I beg to differ.

The truth of the matter is, it is not only the direct training that takes us forward. Muscles build when we rest, the brain solidifies knowledge when we sleep. Being on the mat is just one part of the story, and from the perspective of overall progress, not necessarily the most impactful one. Repetition is necessary, context is important as progress in BJJ has its demands, just like all fight sports. Having a lot of mat experience is all cool, but all those pieces gathered in the grind fall together when resting and reflecting.

Cleaning up the path

Just like many rookies, I was out of training due to injury quite often at the start of my BJJ journey. Sometimes I was out because life got difficult outside of the club, and with the combination of both injuries and the hustle to live, it happened at times that I was out for almost a year. I couldn’t put training back into a daily routine for quite a while, neither in the club nor at home.

I did something else, though; I built up my master plan. I reorganized my view on what matters most to me, what I want from my training, and how I will get it. I was collecting information on the training structures available, the techniques, and the mental demands, and started to look into how to adapt them to my case. I was progressing fast, but in a much less obvious way. Had I spent that time actively practicing, I would have had half of the knowledge that I have now. Not being on the mat wasn’t a breakup with the sport, because building a game plan was still about being in the game. I kept the cord mentally.

Sometimes, however, I had to put even the mental connection aside. During my practice-free year, I was reorganizing some matters and reconciled with my family after a long time. I was cleaning the skeletons out of my closet. Completely unrelated to BJJ. Or so it seemed. But with that, I was cleaning up the path in front of me, identifying and removing the emotional blockers and those life circumstances that made it hard for me to focus, express myself, and move freely. And it showed big time.

When I could finally return to the club, I not only didn’t fall back, but after catching up with the drills, building back my core strength, I was noticeably better. I was faster, more creative in my responses, and I was freed up. I got a new belt in a couple of months and was asked a lot what did I do; was it some online class or coaching that brought the change. It wasn’t at all conscious or planned or strategic, and I only know through reflection that what I did during that time without going to the club, in fact, was build the emotional foundation for myself, releasing a lot of very old tension that locked up a huge amount of energy. Having that released made me able to put more of myself on the mat, which improved my game tremendously.

Incubation time

Not any less fruitful are the lazy Sundays I still have, when I just sit in my recliner, enjoying the sun coming in from the terrace, seemingly idle for hours. Seemingly, because I’m charging up. From the outside, it might look like nothing, but that me-time is absolutely needed after all those push and pulls with co-workers, mates, and relatives. Some of those games I won, some I lost, and I know only after letting the dust settle how much these hustles cost me and where I need to cut back to have more for me.

Things fall into their place when you let the mind be quiet, and the battles of the week get into the right folders in the head. It’s a regular mental maintenance I need to do to stay sane, and I prioritize it over actual training when needed. I would have much less energy for training and competing otherwise. Overall, everything I do for myself improves my game. Simply because I step out onto the mat as a whole human, with whatever is left of me after that week. This makes me very aware of the full context of training and helps keep training in perspective, as one important part, but not the only part of the story.