Here’s a question for you: if one of your teammates showed up
for class, dropped their bag on the floor, plopped down in the
chair next to you, and said “I do NOT want to be here today”, do
you:
a) Call him a wimp for sitting on the sidelines whining prior to
training?
b) Run and tell the instructor and take the chance of being branded
the school snitch?
c) Tell them that maybe they’re burned out from training and needs
a “grappling vacation?”
d) All of the above
As much as I would like for the answer to be “d – all of the
above”, I’m gonna have to stick with my outline and say “c -
grappling vacation.”
And if you’ve been grappling for any period of time, you’ve felt
exactly like the grappler in the scenario above.
Unfortunately, most grapplers don’t recognize the symptoms of
“mat burnout” and just keep trying to push through it until they
either get hurt while training or stop training completely.
So, just in case you’re not sure if you’re suffering from mat
burnout, here’s The Wise Grappler’s “10 Signs You Need a Grappling
Vacation!” Checklist:
You need a “grappling vacation” if:
1. You’re tired even before the class or workout starts.
2. You have to talk yourself into training (or competing) from the
time you wake up that morning until you actually get to the
academy.
3. You intentionally show up late for class and, once there, are
constantly looking at the clock the entire time waiting for it to
end.
4. You start thinking about how cool it would be to just go
straight home to relax and watch anything on TV instead of
training.
5. You look for any excuse (e.g. taking your dog to get a teeth
cleaning or you forgot to wash your kneepads.) to get out of
training.
6. You’re happy when a holiday, special event, or tournament
happens so that the school will be closed and you don’t need an
excuse to skip training.
7. You can’t catch opponents with your go-to techniques because
your movements and timing are off.
8. Your body’s sore all the time, even though you’re not getting
ready for an event.
9. Classmates that you usually perform well against or dominate are
kicking your butt all over the mat.
10. When you think to yourself, “It’s finally over, now I can get
the heck outta here and go home!” once class is over.
During my grappling journey, I’ve experienced many of these signs
myself, but refused to take time off to recuperate. For some
foolish reason, I used to think it was better to train with a
miserable mindset than to rest and give both my mind and body a
chance to rest.
Once I discovered that taking a couple of mini-vacations during the
year helped my grappling, I stopped fighting it and learned that
taking a mental rest break is just as important (if not more
important) than a physical rest break.
So, stop making excuses for not training (e.g. you didn’t train
because your gi is dirty) to justify to others for skipping
class. Take your “grappling vacation”, and watch how being
physically and mentally rested will put you back on track to
achieving your grappling goals!
