5 Tips to Maximise Your Training Time
Training jiu jitsu is usually a labor of love. When you first start, you spend a wildly disproportionate amount of time thinking about how to get better and how to find more hours on the mat. The…
By Sam Joseph
Training jiu jitsu is usually a labor of love. When you first start, you spend a wildly disproportionate amount of time thinking about how to get better and how to find more hours on the mat. The reality is that most of us don't get to train BJJ for a living. We've got jobs, families, and commitments that all pull at our mat time — and a lot of people in this community found the sport in their 30s, 40s, or beyond, which means longer recovery between sessions, too. A conversation with one of my students about exactly this got me thinking about how to squeeze the most out of whatever training you can get. Here are five tips.
Tip 1: Use your ten minutes.
I mean the five minutes before class and the five after. The time before is usually dead — people file in, sit around, make small talk waiting for things to start. Use it to drill: basics, or whatever was covered last session. You warm up physically and mentally and bank extra reps toward mastery. The five minutes after class can be just as productive — drill what you just learned, or grab one more roll. Those post-class rounds have a bonus: you're tired, and learning to execute clean technique while fatigued is exactly what you'll need when you're gassed in a real match. I came up watching a brown belt who stayed after every single class for "one more" round because his job kept him from training daily. That determination to wring value out of every minute rubbed off on all of us.
Tip 2: Actually try the new stuff in sparring.
There's a world of difference between hitting a technique on a compliant partner and hitting it on someone resisting at your level or above. When we spar, there's a strong pull to only do what we already know works, because we want to "win" the round. I'd argue that definition of success can rob you of prime learning time. The technique you just drilled is fresh — trying it immediately, against real resistance, is often exactly what cements it. Don't get so attached to winning the practice round that you skip the reps that would help you win the matches that count. Train hard, absolutely — just don't let "hard" become an excuse to never risk anything new.
Tip 3: Train all the time you're training.
This isn't an anti-fun tip — I'm all for laughter in the room, and a relaxed culture genuinely makes people train better. What I mean is intent: get all the reps you can while drilling, hustle to and from the water break, cut the chit-chat during rounds. If your conditioning isn't there yet or you're coming back from a layoff, learn to pace yourself or sit a round — but stay engaged. You'll often surprise yourself with what you can do, and at minimum you'll get sharper at telling the difference between honest fatigue and the kind of pain that means you should stop. The best training partners I've had treated every minute on the clock like it mattered, and it made everyone around them better.
Tip 4: Listen with your ears and your eyes.
When the instructor is showing a technique, be fully there. Hear the small details and watch how they're physically applied — so much of how a technique really works is communicated non-verbally. When I coach a position, I point students at world-class examples of it done perfectly, because seeing it executed flawlessly, on repeat, lets you absorb details nobody could put into words. You've never had better access to that than now: pull up the exact position on YouTube or an instructional app and watch the best in the world do it ten times before you drill it once. Reinforce the lesson with your eyes, not just your memory.
Tip 5: Stay focused on what you're covering today.
It's tempting to let your mind drift to some flashy move you saw online — and there's nothing wrong with that, unless it pulls you out of the day's lesson. When it's time to work the technique, even one you think you already know, be dialed in. Jiu jitsu is a sport of inches and tiny details, and you never know when the light bulb will go off and a small adjustment changes everything. You can't catch that moment if you're mentally somewhere else. Be in class when you're in class — be the attentive student — and watch how much faster your learning curve climbs.
Put these into practice and you'll keep taking real steps forward, even with limited hours. Stay positive, control what you can control, and get in the room whenever you're able — keeping jiu jitsu in your life is worth the effort. See you on the mat soon.
Originally published in Jiu Jitsu Style by Sam Joseph. Refreshed for 2026.