THE ADAPTIVE
HEALTH GUIDE TO
NUTRITION PRE
BJJ TRAINING
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INTRO
An often overlooked factor for BJJ athletes
(from recreational all the way up to high
level competitors) is the timing and
composition of their pre training nutrition.
While it may not directly impact your level
of skill on the mats, the difference that
nutrition can make to your performance is
significant.
Appropriate fuelling will mean more energy
availabilty, a fuller gas tank and better
digestion during training.
This guide will give you some simple but
effective insights into how we can optimise
our pre training nutrition to set ourselves
up for the best possible chance of a
successful training session!
DISCLAIMER: EVERYTHING CONTAINED IN THIS GUIDE IS FOR
EXAMPLE PURPOSES ONLY AND IS TO BE USED WITH USER
DISCRETION. USE THIS ADVICE ALONGSIDE ANY ADVICE
FROM YOUR MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL. THE AUTHOR OF THIS
GUIDE CANNOT BE HELD RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY ILLNESS,
ALLERGIC REACTION OR OTHWERISE NEGATIVE REACTION
INCURRED DUE TO FOLLOWING THE ADVICE CONTAINED IN
THIS GUIDE
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THE PRINCIPLES
We want to start our session well hydrated. Even a small drop
in hydration levels can mean a dip in performance. Pair this
with the fact that many will sweat a lot during BJJ and we are
likely to see some dehydration. Ideally we should have clear
to straw coloured urine pre training, while sipping some
water all the way up until training starts. You could also
include some electrolytes pre training to ensure that any that
are lost in sweat during the session don't need to be
replenished afterwards, or just lightly salt your pre training
meal.
The exact timings of your pre training meal may have to
depend on the structure of your day, however if we can aim
to have any larger meals or higher fat/fibre meals finished
2.5-4 hours pre training then we'll be doing great. For the
specific pre training meal I would aim for 1-1.5 hours pre
training. Many BJJ athletes will go straight into training after
a big dinner but this is the last thing we want. Even a small
snack too close to training will mean we're doing most of the
digestion during our training!
The portion size of your pre training meal will depend on your
individual nutrition needs and the exact foods will depend on
your preferences and any allergies / intolerances however
there are some general rules we can apply apply that will hold
true for most people. We want our pre training meal to be low
in fat and fibre as both of these will slow down digestion. We
also want a decent serving of fast digesting carbohydrates
and a serving of protein which will offer us a nice amount of
energy availability while being easily digested. We want to
choose foods that we enjoy, that we tolerate well from a
digestive perspective and foods/portions that fit with our
individual daily nutrition needs.
On the next pages are some examples of meals that fit the
criteria to eat 1-1.5 hours before training
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EXAMPLE 1
25G WHEY PROTEIN
250ML LOW FAT MILK
1 WHITE BAGEL
15G HONEY
1 BANANA
THIS OFFERS US RELATIVELY LOW FIBRE, FAST DIGESTING CARBS
THROUGH THE BAGEL/BANANA/HONEY/MILK. IT ALSO CONTAINS A
DECENT SERVING PROTEIN AND HAS AN ADDED BONUS OF
PROVIDING HYDRATION AND SOME ELECTROLYTES THROUGH THE
MILK. THE LOW FAT MILK OPTION MEANS THAT DIGESTION WILL
OPERATE SLIGHTLY FASTER THAN A HIGHER FAT CONTENT MILK
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EXAMPLE 2
250G 0% FAT GREEK YOGHURT
100G GRAPES (~20 GRAPES) (OR FRUIT OF CHOICE)
3 CARAMEL RICE CAKES
AGAIN, HERE WE HAVE A RELATIVELY LOW FIBRE AND LOW FAT
OPTION, WHILE GETTING IN A NICE HIT OF PROTEIN AND FAST
DIGESTING CARBS
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EXAMPLE 3
50G LOW FIBRE CEREAL OF CHOICE
500ML PROTEIN MILK (SOME FOR CEREAL, SOME TO DRINK)
BANANA OR PIECE OF FRUIT OF CHOICE
THIS OPTION ALSO COVERS ALL OF OUR NEEDS. AS WITH THE
OTHER OPTIONS, IT'S ALSO DELICIOUS!
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A FINAL NOTE
One other factor we can consider for a training boost is caffeine.
Caffeine takes approximately 45 minutes to peak in our system so we
can utilise this also pre training. however as many BJJ sessions will be
in the evening, I feel this is best avoided for most in order to not
impact that night's sleep, particularly for those more sensitive to
caffeine. caffeine has a half life of 5 hours meaning that for any
caffeine consumed, half of it will still be in your system 5 hours later
and so on.
A nice option is to have a decaff coffee as this may provide a placebo
effect for some, without providing any actual caffeine!
List of options that could be used as fast digesting carb sources:
Bread / bread products (particularly white bread)
Cereals / cereal bars
Rice cakes
Crackers (particularly low fibre crackers)
Sports carb drinks
Jellies
Honey / jams
Fruit / fruit juices
List of options that could be used as lean protein sources:
Low fat dairy
Whey protein
Chicken
White / lean fish
Low fat beef / pork
Tofu
Tempeh
I HOPE THIS GUIDE IS USEFUL FOR YOU IN OPTIMISING
YOUR BJJ TRAINING! PLEASE FEEL FREE TO REACH OUT
WITH ANY QUESTIONS OR QUERIES TO
SEAN@ADAPTIVEHEALTH.IE
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