What is your favorite recovery method? We all have one, even if it is just a hot (or cold) shower and a good night’s sleep in a comfortable bed. You also might be into Yoga, foam rolling, or saunas. There are plenty of activities you can do to recover from training .the one thing they have in common is that they tend to get a bit boring after a while. Particularly the repetitive ones, like foam rolling or Yoga. So, how to recover from BJJ training in an interesting and efficient way? Float therapy.
Float therapy is not something that’s new to the BJJ world, although many people haven’t actually tried it. We’ve all heard about it from Joe Rogan, as he’s been advocating it fro the last 10 years or so, really actively. That said, those that have tried it really do swear by it. I’m not talking about eating mushrooms or getting high on DMT here and going into a flotation tank. The idea is to figure out how to recover from BJJ training, and the tank provides an interesting option that extends to your mind, rather than just your body.
What Is Flotation Therapy?
Floatation therapy is a fairly new thing. In fact, it is still not really widespread around the world. In the USA, though, you can easily find a flotation tank somewhere nearby. Flotation therapy takes place in specialized flotation tanks. They’re filled with six to twelve inches of water, which is heated to a specific temperature, similar to your body’s core temperature. Moreover, there’s Epsom salt in the water, in ample quantities. The role of the salt is to help keep you afloat.
The tank is constructed in a way that has sensory-depravation qualities. That means there’s no sound or light coming from the outside. Combined with the feeling of weightlessness from the salts, this makes up for a very unique surroundings. You can stay inside for different amounts of time, depending on your goals, or comfort in such an unusual environment. While you let your mind meditate, the salt and water do their thing helping your body heal and recover. In all honesty, along with Yoga Nidra, float therapy is one of the laziest ways to effectively recover from any athletic endeavor.
A slight logistical issue in terms of how to recover from BJJ training with float therapy might be the vicinity, or lack there of, of such a tank to your academy. This can easily be remedied with a few visits to a facility that’s near on days you don’t train. Or perhaps even just once a week. The experience is more than worth the trouble, and the recovery benefits are immense.
How To Recover From BJJ Training With Float Therapy?
Float therapy might not be as much hands-on as other recovery aspects, but I think this is actually an advantage. We try and control everything in Jiu-Jitsu anyhow. In a flotation tank, you get all the benefits of active recovery methods, and then some, all the while doing absolutely nothing. I mean it, it is the calmest, most quiet environment you can find on Earth!
When it comes to the physical side of things, muscle relaxation is a huge benefit of float therapy. In a flotation tank, all your muscles will relax. Not only that, but they relax at the same time, which other methods can’t achieve. Apart from the muscles the joints also get much-needed relief. Floating is the only thing you can do to get the weight of all your joints. In all other means of recovery, bar Yoga Nidra and sleep, your joints are still under stress. In a flotation tank, they get to release and recover, allowing for that much-needed space to form so that your body can do its thing.
There’s also the magnesium in the salt that enters through the skin. We’re all pretty deficient in it anyway, and training only accentuates that. The Epsom salts contain lots of this mineral, along with other essential ones that help restore your body to balance. Even if sleep is your favorite way of how to recover from BJJ training, a flotation tank can help. Your sleep quality will increase massively from doing just one or two sessions in a float tank.
Additional Benefits Of Floating
Apart from the physical aspect of things, float therapy offers additional benefits which are key in how to recover from BJJ training. Those benefits have to do with your mind. I already mentioned that you’ll notice improvements in your sleep from float therapy. There’s more, a lot more.
Being in a sensory deprivation chamber will give your mind a place to rest. Granted, the first few times you’ll feel weird, and you might even become anxious a bit, but that quickly passes. The sensory deprivation float tank allows your brain to take a break from constantly taking things in. In modern days, we have input all the time, and it does cause us to overthink and tire out our brains Not to mention all the BJJ related stuff that’s in there, especially right after training.
In fact, using a float tank right after Jiu-Jitsu training is a great way of organizing everything you learned in a meaningful and efficient way. You’ll get the chance to reflect on things, maybe come up with questions, and figure out what you want to retain from class. You can even use a float tank to visualize your game plan for competitions, really working out any kinks you might not notice otherwise.
Summary
If you ask me how to recover from BJJ training, I’d definitely go for the “lazy” methods. My proffered method is Yoga Nidra, but only because there’s no float therapy where I am based. If there was, I’d probably be in there almost as much as I am in the Academy. There’s something unique about being in those chambers with all the salt, floating around with just your thoughts to keep you company. Give it a try, particularly if you’re a competitor or coach, and let us know what you think!
