Gassing sooner at night classes...

[Matburn]

For the first 5 months of my BJJ training I always went at night and only two times a week. I worked hard, my cardio improved, and I saw small improvements in my performance. But I would still be draggin at the 4th roll. I figured this was normal. A slow progression "fitness wise"

A few weeks ago I started going 3-4 times a week. Usually hitting a noon class once or twice a week as well. I began to notice how crappy I felt at my night classes compared to the day classes. My day classes my cardio was better and I had an all around good class.

As opposed to the night class, where by the 4th roll I was really gassing and my concentration would falter. Now I know, I am gonna be more tired etc. etc. And I am 35 years old and age can start to play a roll etc etc...

I am getting 8-10 hours of sleep and getting at least 3000 calaories of healthy, nutritious food (peanut butter, whole wheats, protein, water, etc. etc).

Is there something I could drink an hour or so before class or eat something different for lunch or dinner to give me that extra burst so I can feel like I do during the day? All natural and healthy of course....

Anyone else notice this happen to them? If so, what do you do?

Oh and my night classes are at 8:15 PM.

[KayRoc]

Ask Cracky about Steroids.

on a more serious note.. Are you eating enough? You are used to just two nights a week, you need more energy if you are training more. Not sure what to tell you... El Macho should be more help.

[Deadmeat]

Interesting thread. Most of my training is late afternoon/early evening except for Saturday mornings, and come to think of it I am usually more energetic at the Saturday sessions.

The only thing I could suggest from my limited experience in nutrition is that if you are training so late, perhaps you should reconsider the timing of your meals?

[Teh El Macho]

Vitamin B complex should help. But your main issue is recovery, and for that, nothing beats glutamine (5-10g a day minimum) and vitamin C (1000mg a day, minimum with at least 300mg 1 hour before training.)

But it also boils down to conditioning. You have had enough conditioning to train twice a week. Now that you are training more often you are starting to strain your ability to recover. Understandably, your night classes would be the ones that bear the brunt.

If you think about it, on those days, you have been awaken for most of the day, nearing your time to go to sleep. If you are already pushing yourself, it will most naturally be that you are going to feel depleted at the end of a long day.

I'd suggest you look at glutamine and vitamin C - tired or not, any person doing sports should be using them. Look at B-complex products. Incidentally I just did a review of Tactical Nutrition "Explosive Endurance" (see the sticky thread in these forums.) I strongly recommend that.

Also, I'd recommend you cut your training to 3 days if your night classes are being severely affected. Now this is entirely subjective. If you evaluate that 4 classes a week are draining you to the point that they not only suck, but you can't just suck it up and they are being detrimental, then that's your body telling you to scale back the frequency.

So do that, and your own do some additional roadwork as active recovery on day when you are not training (.ie. on a weekend.) It's not a serious conditioning session, but just simple roadwork, 2-4 miles, for recovery.

That'd be the hardest part. You'll think you could do more than some simple roadwork, you'll think you are wasting time if you don't do more. But if you do, you'll be back to square one. This is for active recovery, plain and simple.

Once 3 days of training become manageable, then go to 4. That'd be my advice. If you eat well and rest well, the transition from 2 classes a week to 4 should not last more than 4-8 weeks.

[KayRoc]

Yea, the C + Glutamine & Multivitamins worked wonders for me when I had that problem. Not magical, but they help.