BJJ is a unique combat sport. But oftentimes you hear unrealistic goals and routines including training twice a day with a lifting session in between and the like. While some can keep that pace up, for the majority of practitioners the body needs to respect the limit.
Legendary UFC champion Georges St. Pierre knows firsthand the pitfalls of overtraining in mixed martial arts. Recently, he cautioned martial artists about pushing too hard in their training camps in order to avoid burnout and injuries.
According to St. Pierre, the ideal approach is to find the “perfect line” of training volume and intensity. Go too far below that line, and you risk undertraining. But go over that line through overtraining, and the consequences can be dire.
“Being over the line is worse,” St. Pierre asserted during a recent Q and A session.. “The reason is if you’re over the line, you don’t recuperate well. You get hurt. And that’s when all sort of problem happens.”
The dangers of overtraining include elevated cortisol levels, poor sleep, irritability, higher injury risk, and suppressed immune system function. St. Pierre confessed that earlier in his career, he would sometimes get carried away trying to prove himself in the gym and end up injured. “I learned it the hard way,” he admitted.
To avoid overtraining pitfalls, St. Pierre says fighters must truly know themselves and when their bodies have had enough. Telltale signs include declining performance on vertical jump tests, low energy, lack of motivation, and elevated resting heart rate.
Coaches also play a pivotal role in monitoring athletes and pulling them back when they see those heading down an unhealthy overtraining path. St. Pierre fondly recalled times when his coaches like Firas Zahabi would send him home to rest even when he wanted to keep pushing through exhaustion.
Now in his 40s and retired from competition, St. Pierre says he still sometimes struggles to throttle down his legendary work ethic. But all martial artists should take notes on the wisdom he’s gained about finding balance, listening to your body, and staying firmly on the right side of that fine line between optimal training and dangerous overtraining.
