This aspect of Jiu-Jitsu is generic to many sports: it
demands health and fitness for those who are serious. For
this simple reason, I recently got over two old habits,
coffee and alcohol. I mean I have started to be able to
control them (for the sake of my sport), not the other way.
About my good old friend, coffee, I only got serious since
Memorial Day 2018, four weeks after sparring, and found out
that coffee-every-day elevated my heart-rate and over time
made me sick to the point I couldn't enjoy training. This
discovery turned things around right away. For three weeks,
I was able to drink one cup only on Sat morning. There were
no cravings on no-coffee days.
Alcohol was not new either. I had enjoyed a glass of wine or
very small amount of hard liqor with supper for years. There
were times when I had more than good for me and went to bed
not being able to sleep or getting up in the middle of the
night for water but afterward not being able to get back to
sleep for hours. It was interesing I had ignored all these
even after regaining my health after 40.
Sparring made me think. I quickly realized that, as long as
I didn't enjoy being ground and submitted by my partners on
the mat all the time, I'd better recover quickly and sleep
quality was a big part. The turn-around came really after I
read Matthew Walker, the author of "Why We Sleep." In an
interview, he offerred the following tips on sleeping
- Go to bed and wake up at the same time every day, even
after a bad night’s sleep or on the weekend.
- Keep your bedroom temperature cool; about 65 degrees
Fahrenheit is optimal for cooling your body towards sleep.
Wear socks if your feet are cold.
- An hour before bedtime, dim the lights and turn off all
screens. Blackout curtains are helpful.
- If you can’t sleep, get out of bed and do something quiet
and relaxing until the urge to sleep returns. Then go back
to bed.
- Avoid caffeine after 1 p.m. and never go to bed tipsy.
Alcohol is a sedative and sedation is not sleep. It also
blocks your REM dream sleep, an important part of the
sleep cycle.
I have only done no. 2 and 5 and my recovery problem seemed
gone. I have stopped drinking only for the past week. But I
know I am getting over the habit because I haven't felt cravings.
Jiu-Jitsu is shaping my definition of health. In the pursuit
of the sport, I have been able to keep good habits, rid of
not-so-good ones, and review things long taken for granted.
I am so blessed. Thank You!
