137. Are you overwhelmed?

Ever considered walking away from jiu-jitsu due to overwhelming stress? This episode is for you. We dive straight into the heart of this topic, exploring how to deal with the feelings of being overwhelmed in your jiu-jitsu journey. We start by discussing the importance of taking a pause and reaching out to your instructors and training partners to gain a better understanding of why you're feeling this way. We delve into how jiu-jitsu ought to be a fun, engaging, and stimulating experience, but when interlaced with other life responsibilities, it can easily turn into a draining chore.

We dissect the potential sources of your overwhelm, be it physical exhaustion or mental fatigue, and provide strategies to handle it. We share an enlightening story of a student in his 50s who felt burned out by attending three classes a day. By tailoring his training to his needs and modifying his schedule, he regained his love for jiu-jitsu. We also address how external pressures from family and work can impact your performance on the mat. Remember: jiu-jitsu should be a fun escape. If you're feeling overwhelmed, there's no shame in reaching out to those around you. Your instructors, coaches, and training partners can help you tackle your stress levels and continue your jiu-jitsu journey.

Ask me questions on IG @rozdzynskibjj, I will personally respond to you and record the episode with an official answer.

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Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:07

James G is dropping a question. I am overwhelmed and I don't know what to do next. I'm thinking about quitting. So first things first. I this situation, I would first say pause, pause everything. Talk to your instructors, talk to your training partners and try to understand why you feel overwhelmed.

Speaker 1: 0:30

What is which part of training feels overwhelming to you? One is the medical, the mental factor of it. Is it the physical aspect of it? And what are the components in your life that conflict? The training and judizo.

Speaker 1: 0:46

See, I personally believe that judizo itself shouldn't be overwhelming. It should be fun, it should be engaging, it should be stimulating. However, as a combination with other parts of our life, I do see how it could become overwhelming, it could become draining, it could become a chore, and that and that moment, at that moment, right there, we are losing interest, we are finding other things to do because, simply, we don't want to do judizo anymore and we're trying to avoid that situation. When we get to that point, we really have to step back and we really have to evaluate the situation, having a deeper understanding of why this is happening. Once we understand why, we can begin fixing. What do they say? A step one of fixing a problem is identifying. There is one, so we have to find out what is causing that conflict. If it's a physical component, meaning our body is exhausted, perhaps scaling down with your training, perhaps attending different classes, perhaps looking at the schedule of your training and your participation requires some attention. Maybe you need to take a look at what you're doing, how often you're doing, how long you're doing it for.

Speaker 1: 2:04

As a matter of fact, recently I had some conversations with one of my students. He is in his 50s and he brought a very similar point of listen. If I attend three classes in one day, I feel completely, completely burned, and then I cannot attend any classes for next two to three days. So we came up with a solution of modifying his schedule when he can come in three or four times a week. However, the training is scaled down to his needs. He has specific classes, he has specific goals that he wants to establish and he wants to attain and, based on those, he attends a very specific classes to gain the skills and improve or make improvements in the areas where he is looking for. And after just a couple of weeks, the response was pretty simple Because this works much better. I don't feel overwhelmed physically, I don't feel drained, I don't feel like I can't do this anymore, and it actually becomes much more fun.

Speaker 1: 3:08

So I would suggest that, at the same time, physical drain or overwhelming feeling although being overwhelmed is not the only factor here we also mentally could be exhausted, right? What is happening in your life, what's happening in your family's life, what's happening in your job, your profession, right? All that could have an impact on how you are performing on a mat. So I encourage you to step back and really take a look at it. End of the day, jiu Jitsu should be fun. End of the day.

Speaker 1: 3:40

If you are a hobbyist, jiu Jitsu should be fun. If you are a professional, this might not be as applicable, because then you're training schedule and training methods and training goals will be very, very different. But for most of us, when we are hobbyists, when we enjoy Jiu Jitsu, we should enjoy it, it should be fun, it should be engaging and it should be. You know, many consider this as a getaway point. Many consider this as a place to get out of the stress zone and have fun by stimulating ourselves with our minds, physically engaging in a physical contact, sport or activity, and then obviously having the community factor. And the last final part is one of the most important parts of Jiu Jitsu you have friends, you have training partners who do care about you. Talk to them, talk to your instructors, talk to your coaches, coach, talk to your professors, and I'm confident that you can figure it out how to lower down the overwhelming factor for yourself and continue training. See you in a minute. Peace.