Tips for Starting BJJ in Your 30s or Later

I consider myself a late bloomer. When I was a kid, I was more of a nerd than I was athletic and did not participate in team sports like my friends. After I graduated with my Masters degree in my early 20s, I decided to do something for myself. So I started kickboxing to get in shape... which eventually lead to jiu-jitsu at age 30. I see this two ways: as a blessing and a curse. A blessing because I found jiu-jitsu and a curse because I wish I started much earlier in life when my body could better handle the day-to-day beatings on the mat.

However, like the saying goes, it’s better late than never. Now that I’m in my mid-30’s, I look back on the last seven years and reflect on the things that I could have done differently when starting my BJJ journey.

Below are a few tips that I believe will help anyone enjoy BJJ whether they are starting in their 30s, 40s, 50s or older. 

Attitude is everything. If you think the glass is half full, the glass is half full. If you see it as half empty, it’s half empty. What I mean by this is that if you keep telling yourself that you’re too old for jiu-jitsu, you will believe it and never try. Also, if you keep in mind that nothing is expected of you when you start jiu-jitsu and focus on the training experience rather than trying to win every time you spar, you will learn to control your ego (which will ultimately make your training experience so much better). 

Listen to your body. As we get older, our bodies start to change. It takes more time to recover from tough training and injuries. You get tired faster and your body doesn’t move the way it used to like when you were in your twenties or your teens. But the good thing is that with age, comes awareness. You are more in tune to your body and what feels good and what would be an “uh oh” moment. Rely on your instincts to avoid unwanted injuries.

Train smarter. Approach training more intelligently by training smarter, not harder. Rather than risk exhaustion and injury, drill more and choose your training partners wisely. While sparring is one of the more fun aspects of training, drilling a technique and adding it into a sequence that you’ve got down can be just as fun. Drilling and getting the repetitions in also help you nail those awesome techniques in sparring later. If you do spar, choose partners that are devoted to the learning process rather than medal chasing or proving that they are the alpha of the group. 

Don’t be afraid to use supplements. While taking time off to heal is essential when your body is recovering, taking supplements such as BCAAs, fish oil, protein, etc., have proven to slow the effects of aging, increase the healing process, and improve your overall health. 

Warming up and stretching is essential. Both can seem monotonous when you’re excited to train and get to the technique of the day but without a proper warm up and stretching later (when your body is warm), your body is prone to injury. And don’t be the guy that shows up after the warm up. Unless you are under the age of 20, you are no longer considered a spring chicken.  

If you keep these things in mind, I am positive that you will enjoy your time on the mats. If you take care of your body, your body will take care of you. Most importantly, remember that BJJ is for everyone at any age no matter the circumstance!