What to eat on Competition day for BJJ

Next time you are at a BJJ competition take a look around.

You will see people eating all sorts of crazy and wonderful foods that they think will help give them the edge on the mat. People are looking to get the smallest of advantages on their opponents and walk away with some precious metal around their neck.

But are they wasting their time or even worse, hindering their performance?

The object of this blog post is to try to give you a bit of a better idea on what to eat come competition day.

Before I start going into details of food types etc I am going to have say the classic line of “Speak to your coach and Doctor before you undertake any major changes in diet”. Your coach will know your past history with making weight and your performance, and therefore will know you a lot better than me! Please use this as a rough guide and speak to your coach first.

Making weight for a competition is a highly individual topic well beyond the scope of this blog post. If you are having trouble making weight or are thinking about moving a weight class then speak to your coach or a professional.

OK, so lets talk competition day!

I’m going to assume that most of the people that are reading this post have cut a little weight but nothing to drastic (no silly water cuts etc), you probably wake up on comp day, check your weight then either panic like mad and go running or find you are right on the line and are ready to fight.

This will be about 90% of people.

Most people walk around a few kilos over their weight category and cut a little weight before the competition. They wake up right on the limit that they can be, then head to weigh in. This all goes fine but it is what happens after the weigh in that makes most people feel crap. They eat the wrong foods and either under hydrate or over hydrate to quickly.

So let’s take a look at an idea situation.

Wake up.

Check weight and make sure you are either right on the line or have a little wiggle room. Having a few KG to spare is best for most people as more and more competitions are following the IBJJF lead and having competitors weigh in really close to fight time (let’s assume for this article it’s 45 mins before the first fight).

So if you do indeed have a few KG to spare I recommend having a breakfast of some low GI carbs and a little fat. If you handle gluten well, then oats are a good bet with a spoon full of natural peanut butter.

If you are right on the line then just have a few sips of water and head to the event.

After weigh in.

Now you have 30-45 mins to hydrate and fuel up for the first fight. This is why doing massive water cuts and starving yourself is a bad idea. You’re not going to be able to fuel yourself and hydrate for optimum performance. You also run a high risk of cramp when you are in the fight.

After you have weighed in you want to do the following things,

·      Hydrate.

·      Top off glycogen stores by having some fast acting, easily digestible carbohydrates (being bloated and stuffed when about to fight is a terrible idea).

·      Start warming up.

Now because this is happening in a short time window I recommend having a liquid carb drink that has a low osmolity (clears the stomach quickly and digests easily). Carb sources such as waxy maize, vitargo and highly branched cyclic dextrin are great here. You want to have between 60-100g of carbs depending on your size in about 1500ml of water.

This will allow you to sip this while warming up and be ready to fight in 45 mins. I personally like to have 50g in 600ml water as soon as I have weighed in and another 50g while I am warming up in 1000ml of water (remember I have a few KG to spare and I am not very dehydrated).

Some people like to eat after weighing in. This is fine but you should choose a carb source that is easily digestible and doesn’t give you any issues. This is completely personal and you should know what works best for you due to what you normally eat. White rice or bananas is a safe bet for most people.

What you DON’T want to do is to be eating this like pasta, sandwiches and cheap protein bars. These are often high in sugars and gluten which can effect your already nervous digestive system.

Between Fights

Now at this point you’re not going to have much time between each match.

You want to keep your energy topped up and available for the next fight but not feel full and sluggish.

Most of my clients sip on a carb drink of about 50g of carbs between fights in 2 litres of water. For most people it’s a bad idea for them to try and eat anything as it just makes them feel heavy and bloated.

Obviously if you are fighting in the absolute division or are doing NoGi on the same day then you will want to have something between the two categories. Since there is often a few hours between them this is a good opportunity to have some solid food.

Again you want to stick with easily digestible foods and preferably foods that you are used to. Chicken and white rice with a little bit of olive oil is a very good option for most. This will give you energy but won’t hamper digestion.

Make sure that you are sipping water all the way through the day. Most people pee a lot more on competition days due to nerves and the fight or flight response we all get to people wanting to choke us and pull our limbs off. Ideally you want your wee to be clear every time you go to the toilet.

Having a well though out and organised plan for competition day is a must for every athlete intent on taking home a medal. It gives you one less thing to worry about so that you know that you are fuelled up and ready to fight.

Plan your nutrition just as serious as your training and I guarantee that you will see a difference.

Stay Healthy,

Mike