There is only one smart way to train: hard! You cannot train this way if you did not design a smart training program and if your body has no energy to cope with the load. What’s most important, my friends, when trying to energize your body, is to eat good carbohydrates. Get it? No? Let’s try again.

Your muscles and your nervous system need carbs to hook you up with long lasting energy during training. If you want to train smart and hard, carbs must become the main source of energy to keep you going. Why? Because carbs become glucose when they are processed by the digestive system — you know the importance of glucose for your muscles and nervous system right? If you don’t, slap yourself and let us know so we can take care of that.

Carbs and Polysaccharides

Let me dig further into this extremely important issue of carbs. You actually need complex carbs the most — polysaccharides. Don’t ask me why scientists find ways to make simple matters complicated with that type of name for such an important thing — they need to look at names like Yahoo, Google and Facebook! Don’t start throwing stuff at me yet. I am not saying that other carbs are not needed. I am just saying that in jiu jitsu, you fight with your entire body so you need plenty of energy to handle that stress.

If you follow a martial arts training program (you should if you train at Easton BJJ) you need to eat all the necessary complex carbs and avoid the sugar carbs. When I say necessary, I am talking in regards to your training volume. There are many levels of hard training. My hard is not Professor Chaun’s hard — as we all know, he is from a different planet.

Next week, let’s talk about when to eat complex carbs, what type of complex carbs are the best, and how much is necessary for you. See you on the mat, my friends.

UPDATE: Part 2 of this article on Understanding Carbs and Training is now up!

About Guy-Patrice Tchoumba

Guy-Patrice Tchoumba is a former Marine Corps Martial Arts Instructor. He served in combat as a Force Protection Operator, a Counterintelligence Specialis, and an Interrogator Translator. He is a Brazilian jiu jitsu purple belt and teaches BJJ and Combatives at the Parker location. He has been training in martial art disciplines since 1989. Guy-Patrice discovered BJJ in 1996 and started training regularly in 2005 with John Danaher at the main Renzo Gracie in New York City. His goal is to help you realize your full potential as a warrior through the study of the different aspects of Jiu-Jitsu.