At Easton, training is more than a routine; it’s a way of life. Whether you’re on the mats every day or a couple times a week, the essence of training comes down to quality and consistency.
As you dive deeper into your training, you realize that it’s more than just tough sparring and intense workouts – it’s about sustainability.
Overtraining can lead to injury, and injury means time off the mats. Potentially even worse, overtraining often leads to plateauing in your development. Not only are you draining yourself mentally and physically, but you’re not growing at the same time.
So, how do we stay healthy while progressing? Take a look at the whole picture: your goals, your timeframe and your anticipated limitations.
If you’ve got a full time job and two kids at home, your training schedule will look a lot different than a college student whose main focus is competing. Your needs and goals may also be different.
The key is looking at training holistically. Rather than comparing yourself to your classmates on the mat, take an honest look at what you want out of your experience. Then, strategically plan how your training can get you there.
When time is limited, shift your focus to train with intention. Even short, focused sessions can yield significant progress when approached with purpose. By managing your time wisely, showing up consistently and setting goals, you can make meaningful strides both on and off the mat.
[Why Competitors and Hobbyists Must Coexist]
Training cycles and balance
Training has two primary aspects – ramping up and cooling down, and it’s important to take a balanced approach to both. With the first, you’re pushing yourself to your limits and building endurance.
This might look like increased cardio and strength training, longer sessions on the mats and a higher level of resistance in those sessions. You may bring it up to 100% in those rounds and test your threshold.
Though hard training is necessary for testing yourself and pushing your limits, it’s also important to turn down the intensity sometimes, work on technique and drills, and focus on recovery. Use recovery days for light activities like walking, stretching, or deep cleaning to stay active without overtraining.
Incorporating stretching and mobility work into your routine will help prevent injuries from overuse. Set aside 1-2 days a week for these activities to improve flexibility and recovery.
Ramping up
Because jumping straight into an intense training session can increase the risk of injury, to make real gains in skill level, you want to make sure you can sustain your training over a long period of time. One way of making sure we stay on the mats for the long haul is through warming up.
Warming up before class also helps prevent injuries and increase flexibility in both Jiu Jitsu and Muay Thai. Try to get on the mats 5-10 minutes early for muscle activation and dynamic stretching to make a significant difference.
For Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, this can involve specific movements to get your joints and muscles prepared for grappling. Dynamic stretches like leg swings, hip rotations, and arm circles will help lubricate your joints and activate key muscle groups. This helps prepare your body for the explosive movements in BJJ, such as sweeps, submissions, and scrambles.
In addition, incorporating movements like hip escapes, bridges, and shrimps into your warm-up routine can further engage the muscles most used in grappling. These movements not only enhance mobility but also reinforce the technical movements you’ll be executing during sparring, ensuring your body is both physically and mentally primed for the session.
Similarly, in Muay Thai, warming up might include shadowboxing, footwork drills, and light pad work to engage your muscles and prime your body for striking. This allows your muscles to stretch while also practicing techniques at a slower pace, preventing tightness or strain during harder rounds.
Muay Thai training engages heavily on power generated from the hips, so making sure your hip flexor muscles are warmed up will help prevent strain or injury – likewise with your groin muscles, which help maintain stability and proper form during kicks and clinch work.
Your hamstrings and shoulders are also critical to keep safe for optimal performance, as the need for achieving high kicks and a range of arm movements becomes crucial as you train.
Proper warm-ups and stretching of these muscle groups will help improve flexibility, allowing for more fluid and effective strikes while reducing the risk of strain or injury.
[Unlock Your Potential: the Best Stretches for Muay Thai]
Cooling down
Just as warming up prepares your body for the intensity of training, cooling down afterward is equally important to ensure proper recovery and reduce the risk of injury. After an intense session, your muscles and joints are fatigued, and your body needs time to return to its resting state.
Cooling down allows your heart rate to gradually return to normal, helping to prevent dizziness, fainting or overexertion. This process also promotes blood flow to your muscles, aiding in the removal of metabolic waste products like lactic acid, which can contribute to soreness and stiffness.
A proper post-training cool-down should include gentle stretching to help lengthen the muscles that were worked and contracted during training. This can improve flexibility and mobility, reduce muscle tightness, and promote overall recovery.
For Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, a cool-down might include gentle hip stretches, deep lunges, and arm stretches to alleviate the tension that builds up from grappling and submissions. Incorporating movements like the child’s pose, seated forward bends, or even light rolling and or using a strap to stretch can help your body relax post-training.
In Muay Thai, focus on stretching the hip flexors, hamstrings, quads, and shoulders to counteract the muscle engagement required during intense strikes and clinch work. Incorporating static stretches, such as seated forward folds for the hamstrings or a low lunge for the hip flexors, can help relax these key muscle groups.
Gentle mobility exercises, like slow arm circles or controlled leg swings, can also aid in loosening up the joints and preventing stiffness. By making cool-down a regular part of your training routine, you set yourself up for a solid recovery and ensure longevity in your practice.
[Stretching for Recovery, Performance and Injury Prevention]
The silent part of training: sleep
Another essential and often overlooked element to training is sleep, as it allows your body to repair, recover, and show up feeling refreshed to your next training session.
While most frequently saved for and discussed in articles specifically pertaining to recovery, we can’t underestimate the power of sleep in the role it plays in your daily performance on the mats.
Getting quality rest supports muscle repair, cognitive function, and mood regulation, all of which are crucial for maintaining focus, coordination, and the ability to learn new techniques during training. Without adequate sleep, your body and mind won’t be able to perform at their peak, leading to slower progress and an increased risk of injury.
Sleep also plays a critical role in regulating the hormones that control appetite, stress, and growth. Inadequate sleep can lead to elevated cortisol levels, which can negatively affect both your mental state and your ability to recover from physical exertion. Over time, this can contribute to fatigue, reduced motivation, and even overtraining.
On the other hand, getting enough restorative sleep ensures that your body is primed to make the most of each training session. A well-rested athlete is more likely to push through difficult techniques, adapt to challenges more efficiently, and ultimately make faster progress.
Aim for seven to nine hours per night to enhance both physical performance and mental health. Resting allows your body to recover and grow stronger, preventing burnout and injury.
Deliberate training
Lastly, mastery in martial arts comes from deliberate practice, not just power or repetition. Practice must be focused and intentional to internalize techniques and make them your own.
Working something slowly and deliberately on repeat will mean a higher level of success when you can whip it out in a live setting later.
This requires honesty about your strengths and limitations, as well as the willingness to adapt techniques to fit your personal needs. It’s also important to embrace failure as part of the learning process, recognizing that even partial success is a step forward.
When you focus on strategic progress, you zero in on what you need to better your game. Often, it’s especially helpful to have a coach on your side, helping you identify holes in your game and what works for you, as well as giving you different new things to test out.
Take it one step further – get clear on your goals before you even find that coach. For example, depending on what you’re looking for, a competitor or elite athlete may not be the best person to coach you.
Find someone who exemplifies your goals and has found success in the path closest aligned with what you wish to take. For example, Renzo Gracie black belt John Danaher has never competed, yet he’s widely regarded as one of the best instructors in BJJ through a focus on systematization.
If you understand your goals before you enter the training room, you’ll set yourself up for an even more successful, deliberate style of training to achieve them.
[Martial Arts: The Cycle of Training]
Incorporating both strength training and cardio into your routine
We mix strength training with conditioning exercises so that your body has a balance of power and stamina. Incorporating both strength training and conditioning into your fitness routine builds a balanced foundation, improves overall performance, and prevents injury.
Grappling and striking sports demand not only technical skill and mental acuity but also physical strength, making strength training a vital yet often overlooked component of success. It reduces injury risk by reinforcing joints and connective tissues, helping practitioners endure the sports’ physical demands and train more effectively.
For Muay Thai practitioners, strength training aids performance by improving striking power, speed, and explosiveness, allowing for stronger punches, kicks, and rapid movements. It also builds core and lower body strength for better balance, stability, and clinch control. For grapplers, it also increases explosiveness and speed for takedowns and transitions, and enhances body control and balance for better stability.
The key word here is control: no matter how much power you can generate through strength, it’s always better to focus on using technique over intensity in martial arts, and the right amount of training can help you hone that line.
While strength training focuses on building muscular power, endurance, and bone health through resistance exercises like lifting weights or bodyweight workouts, conditioning emphasizes cardiovascular fitness and stamina. Activities like running, swimming, or HIIT can help you maintain energy, react faster, outlast opponents on the mat and recover better.
Although these two approaches differ, they complement each other, enhancing functional fitness—the ability to move freely and perform daily tasks with ease—and promoting both physical and mental well-being.
To create a well-rounded practice, it’s important to balance strength training (2–4 times per week) with conditioning workouts (3–5 times per week), allowing for recovery and growth. Integrating variety, such as rock climbing or yoga prevents plateaus and keeps workouts engaging.
Ultimately, combining strength and conditioning not only supports long-term health and reduces the risk of chronic disease but also fosters confidence, agility, and resilience. By evaluating where your current activities fall on the strength-conditioning scale, you can identify gaps, switch things up, and develop a fitness plan that aligns with your goals.
Consistency and longevity
Success in martial arts is less about being the best and more about perseverance. Many talented individuals quit due to shifting priorities, ego, or difficulty facing the truths the mat reveals. Those who stay and trust the process grow the most — developing mental toughness, forging friendships, and discovering a deeper sense of self.
Longevity, however, requires more than just showing up. It depends on maintaining your body and preventing injuries through flexibility and mobility training.
Flexibility refers to the range of motion a body has. Mobility is what strength there is at the end of a range of motion. Our weakest points live at the limits of our flexibility.
Stretching, mobility drills, and weighted exercises like kettlebell squats or Turkish getups strengthen the body at its weakest points, improving range of motion and reducing injury risks. Simple practices like these keep you on the mat longer, ensuring sustainable progress.
While slumps and plateaus are inevitable, they’re a natural part of growth. Consistency helps you push through, and maintaining an open mind allows you to embrace challenges as opportunities to improve.
Fitness plateaus and training slumpsSlumps are inevitable in any long-term training journey, and they can be disheartening. It’s that frustrating time when you feel stuck, unable to put things together, and even those less experienced seem to be outperforming you.
The key is to view them as a natural part of the process. Slumps can stem from external pressures, injuries, or self-doubt, but it’s crucial not to internalize them. Instead, focus on the small victories and the learning curve that comes after each setback.
To overcome slumps and fitness plateaus, mix up your routine, increase intensity, or try new exercises to challenge your body in different ways. Setting specific, achievable goals can help reignite your motivation, and with consistency and patience, you’ll break through the plateau and see continued improvements.
Remember, motivation is fleeting, but discipline keeps you going. Don’t let outcome bias cloud your view—results don’t always reflect your true progress. Instead, embrace the challenges, stay disciplined, and trust that every slump is a stepping stone toward growth.
There is no final destination – only continuous improvement and shared growth with a community of like-minded individuals.
[Training Hard? 6 Ways to Recover]
Beat slumps through experimentation
Some techniques may take years to perfect; patience is crucial, as are creative risks and an understanding that there are no shortcuts. The academy is the lab where experimentation and failure are opportunities for growth, and mastery is achieved when a technique feels natural.
Remember – martial arts progress is rarely linear; it’s a journey of fluctuating growth rather than constant improvement.
Initially, you experience rapid progress as you move from having no skills to securing your first submission or belt stripe. However, as the honeymoon phase fades, you may encounter plateaus where more experienced practitioners begin to outpace you.
This can be discouraging, and you may find yourself tempted to quit due to ego or frustration. Yet if you push through these difficult phases and stick to consistent training, eventually you’ll experience breakthroughs in your skill development!
As martial arts becomes a lifestyle, you learn to accept the inevitable ups and downs, and you grow to understand that setbacks are part of the process. The key to long-term success is embracing the journey, focusing on personal development, and continuing to show up, regardless of the previous day’s performance.
[Training Deliberately: Seeking Feedback To Hone Your Game]
Training for competition
While not everyone who trains Jiu Jitsu or Muay Thai chooses to compete, we highly recommend it if you’re interested in expanding your physical and, most importantly, mental toolkit. We can only learn so much in the classroom; to really challenge ourselves and see how we adapt in high-pressure situations, we need to hit the competition mat.
There’s a spectrum of competition, and even those who don’t consider themselves “competitors” can benefit from putting their “hobbyist” skills to the test.
This holds especially true when it comes to local fights or local jiu jitsu tournaments, when the people you’ll compete against are people like you who train a regular amount of time and have a life outside of the mats. You still train hard, and you know your Jiu Jitsu works, but you aren’t traveling out of state or international for tournaments or training full time.
We spoke with several high-level competitors and leaders in our community, and put together a list of things to consider from every angle when considering competition.
The full article includes information on training – like cardio and technique, fuel for training and mindset, and benefits everyone from newbies to more experienced players. Here’s an abridged version!
Set your season and stay ready
Before you jump into competition, it helps to take a wider perspective and look at your entire season: which tournaments will you sign up for? How far apart are they and how will you fit in training and rest? Success comes from balancing regular training and strategic preparation
However, if you compete in Muay Thai or in both gi and no-gi Jiu Jitsu, there’s no defined competition season, so your best bet is to stay consistently prepared. By maintaining a readiness mindset you can take advantage of opportunities as they arise.
Normalize the experience
You may be good at Jiu Jitsu, but competition is another skill entirely. Learning to reframe competition as its own practice will help you not only get better at your martial art but to see the entire process as its own art form.
When choosing a season length and setting goals, look for smaller, more frequent competitions to help normalize the experience. These opportunities help you build confidence and turn failures into valuable opportunities you can learn from before bigger events.
Comp Training: A-Z
- Make a plan: Figure out your schedule, figure out your goals, figure out where and when you’ll compete and then build your daily habits around that. This plan can include everything from drilling to flowing to tough, live rounds and even studying videos of your previous competitions.
- Fight camp: Preparing for a Muay Thai fight will require you to attend fight camp, 6-8 weeks of building strength and power, focusing on speed and fight-specific techniques. As the fight approaches, training tapers to allow recovery while maintaining a high commitment to technical and conditioning work.
- Cardio for BJJ: Well-rounded cardio prep for BJJ involves a mix of low-to-moderate intensity (Zone 2) and high-intensity (VO2 Max) training, using an 80/20 approach. Structured drills, like sweep-and-pass sessions, can enhance cardio and technique while minimizing overtraining, especially for older competitors.
- Cardio for Muay Thai: Aim for both aerobic exercises like running and cycling to build endurance and recovery, and anaerobic bursts like padwork and sparring to develop explosive power and agility. This will give you stamina for multi-round fights while maintaining the speed and strength for high-intensity exchanges.
- Strength training: Essential for enduring the demands of intense training camps and competition, strength and conditioning include resistance training, mobility work, and explosive activities like sprints or high-intensity drilling.
- Technical training: Getting specific with your training goals helps address weak spots, improves defense, and strengthens solid techniques to prepare for competition scenarios. Reviewing past matches and practicing under realistic conditions helps identify and fix blind spots while building resilience and adaptability.
- Nutrition pre-comp: Fuel the body with healthy foods, proper hydration and essential nutrients like protein and carbs to sustain energy and maintain performance. If managing weight, techniques like balanced meal prep, strategic weight cuts and avoiding common pitfalls like cutting carbs help optimize conditioning while preserving strength.
[Training for Competition: a Breakdown]
Ways to study off the mat
Both Jiu Jitsu and Muay Thai are deeply personal journeys where we need time to integrate concepts and stay present and self-discipline plays a vital role. Luckily, there are many ways we can continue to learn outside of the academy, reinforcing and refining our skills.
Mind maps
Things like watching high-level instructionals, analyzing competition footage, and creating flow charts to visualize transitions or mind maps can help solidify techniques. These processes make abstract concepts easier to understand and recall during live training.
Video analysis
Video analysis is particularly valuable because it allows you to review your performance, identify strengths, and build confidence by reinforcing what you’re doing well. It also highlights areas for improvement, enabling you to pinpoint missed opportunities, understand how to correct them, and integrate these adjustments into future practices.
Utilizing video analysis can also enhance communication between athletes and coaches by clarifying cues and strategies, offering a visual tool that ensures both are on the same page, and it provides a timeline of your progress, showing how much you’ve improved over time.
Besides watching videos of your own matches and rounds, you should also be studying people who are performing your martial art at the highest levels. Watch matches with the sound off, and replay moments throughout the video to analyse how each competitor is performing their techniques and why.
Journaling
With the constant influx of information and techniques, keeping a training journal can be helpful in retaining as much as possible. Training journals allow you to stay organized, track what you’re learning and dive deeper into your study of martial arts. It also lets you track your own development as you see your understanding change over time.
Writing notes by hand strengthens memory and cognitive processing, allowing for better retention and understanding and helps you focus on key concepts, which improves your overall learning process.
Taking time after class to reflect and document techniques has helped build a valuable resource for future reference, aiding in both short-term recall and long-term mastery.
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Be a good training partner!
Most importantly, excelling in martial arts is not just about winning, and training isn’t just about our personal progress – it’s also about our teammates and being a good training partner.
Embrace stewardship
Being a supportive and effective partner on the mats comes down to embracing differences in experience levels. As a more advanced student, you can help teach less experienced ones, and beginners can learn valuable techniques from higher belts.
We believe so strongly in the importance of this that it has made its way into our Core Values as stewardship. Remember what it felt like to be the new kid in class? And how great it was to have someone take you under their wing and show you the ropes? We love that.
You don’t necessarily have to take a white belt under your wing, but your attitude and willingness to share your knowledge can help someone in more ways than one.
Lower belts inherently will look to upper belts for guidance on everything from mat etiquette to social cues. This is your chance to not only help someone get better at Jiu Jitsu or Muay Thai, but to add to the culture on the mats and make sure it stays a positive environment!
Understand resistance
Things like finding the right balance in resistance during drills – providing enough to simulate live scenarios without hindering the learning process – are crucial for growth and mutual improvement.
Nobody can do Jiu Jitsu on a noodle. At their most basic level, techniques need something to push up against in order to be effective. Similar to momentum that helps a move flow, providing some force or “push back” gives your partner what they need to execute the technique successfully.
A good level of resistance when it comes to drilling can range from 20- 50% when drilling, and then if it works for both you and your partner, can go up to 80-100%. Most of the time, your coach will call out what level of resistance you should be using during certain parts of class.
If you are trying too hard, or applying too much pressure so that your partner can’t execute the technique – lighten up. You want to use just enough that it gives them something to push off of, but not so much that they’re unable to perform.
Take care of them
A good training partner in martial arts creates a positive learning environment through safe and effective training. Muay Thai and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu are extremely intense, demanding, so having a trustworthy training space and partners are even more critical.
Always be mindful of your partner’s experience level, especially with more advanced techniques, and give them time to tap during submissions. Because so much of martial arts requires putting yourself into vulnerable positions in order to escape or defend against them, trust and communication are essential.
Your partner needs to feel safe knowing that you’re on their team, and you won’t let anything bad happen to them. Listen to your partner’s needs, respect their injuries, and match their pace during the round. Ask for help when needed, practice good hygiene, and stick to your word regarding round intensity.
Leave your ego out of it
Because so much of being a good partner comes down to how we treat others, it requires us to check our ego. Getting caught up in the game is easy, wanting to finally get that submission on your opponent, but make sure the desire to win doesn’t overshadow the importance of mutual respect and safety.
By leaving your ego at the door, you change your focus from you-first to team-centric. While it may feel unnatural or difficult at first, this attitude helps foster a supportive atmosphere where both partners can learn and improve together.
In the end, you’ll earn more respect from your coaches and training partners and help add even more solid, trustworthy and skilled belts to the room.
