Diary of a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu White Belt: 1

This is not the actual beginning to my training in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. I started training over two years ago but suffered a back injury that prevented me from training for over a year and a half. I have been back into training now for almost three months.

I train at WNY MMA & Fitness, Team Alliance Buffalo. I strive to live up to the Alliance name and will pursue my training with ever growing fervor. This is only the beginning and I look forward to the journey ahead of me

To begin my training I have decided to ease myself into classes. For the month of March I will attend Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) class once a week. Class consists of a beginning fundamentals class, starting at 5:45pm, followed directly by Intermidiate class at 6:30. As I have not been able to train with any real intensity in over a year and a half, I felt that by easing myself into training I would lower any chance of reinjuring myself. To supplement the one day a week of Jiu-Jitsu, I will do strength and conditioning work 3 other days of the week. This totals at 4 days a week of training.

You might wonder why I don't just train BJJ 4 days a week if my goal is to become great at BJJ. There are two reasons I have chosen to follow this particular plan.

1. Since I have trained in the past and fought (it was actually a kickboxing match, not jiu-jitsu), I know how taxing 2 1/2 hours of training can be. This is especially true if you spar at the end of every class like we do in my gym. By limiting myself to once a week (usually Friday night class) I allow myself to rest and heal up over the weekend.

2. I recently started a new job and I am still trying to figure out the balance of my schedule. Commuting to and from work and training.

Today, is a strength and conditioning day. I will run and do calisthenics. Possibly, I will incorporate kettle bell swings into the workout as well.

To supplement my training and speed recovery time, I have purchased a number of supplements. Including: Protein powder (Optimum Brand Gold Standard whey), Fish Oil (generic brand), Men's Multivitamin, Amino Acids (Optimum Brand Amino 2222) and also Saw Palmetto. I have also begun to ease myself back in to a much cleaner diet. Lean meat, lot of vegetables and fruits, little junk food and I am cutting back on my beer consumption.

That is the program that I will be starting with. I'll update periodically to show my progress, or lack there of, over the course of the month.