Best Supplements for BJJ: A Simple Stack for Grapplers Over 35

TL;DR: The best supplements for BJJ are a short list added in the right order: a prebiotic fibre for your gut, enough protein, a daily joint formula, and creatine monohydrate. Add one every two to four weeks so you know what each one is doing. Everything else on the shelf is optional.

Walk into any supplement shop and ask what a grappler should take.

You will walk out with six tubs, a pre-workout and a lighter wallet.

If you try to do everything at once, you do nothing for nothing.

Here is the order I would use with any athlete I coach.

1. Gut first: a prebiotic fibre

Every other supplement and every meal has to get through your gut. It is phase one of everything.

Our partially hydrolysed guar gum (PHGG) is an unflavoured prebiotic fibre that dissolves clear in water. The label suggests starting at 5 g a day and building to 6 g.

Your action: two weeks of fibre before you add anything else.

2. Protein: food first, then top up

Research pooling 49 trials found gains from resistance training levelled off around 1.6 g of protein per kilogram of body weight per day. For an 85 kg grappler, that is roughly 135 g.

Most men over 35 eat less than they think. Track it for three days and see.

If you fall short, a scoop of whey protein isolate after training is the easy fix. Check the label for grams of protein per serve.

Your action: count your protein for three days before you buy any.

3. A daily joint formula

Jiu-jitsu loads knees, shoulders, fingers and neck in ways the weights room never does. Men over 30 carry the most injuries in the research, so this is the step that keeps you on the mat.

Look for collagen peptides, glucosamine, chondroitin and MSM together, with every dose on the label. Ours is Complete Joint Care, all four in one 5 g scoop with vitamin C.

Each 5 g serve provides 40 mg of vitamin C, which contributes to normal collagen formation for the normal structure of cartilage and bones. It also provides zinc, which contributes to the maintenance of normal bones.

The full breakdown is in joint supplements for BJJ.

Your action: take it every day, rest days included, for at least 8 to 12 weeks.

4. Creatine monohydrate

The most researched supplement in sport, and well suited to the repeated short efforts of a roll.

3 to 5 g a day, no loading, plain monohydrate. Our creatine monohydrate is a 5 g heaped teaspoon per serve. The detail, including weigh-ins, is in creatine for BJJ.

Your action: start it once your strength sessions are locked in.

What you can skip

• Pre-workouts. Evening training plus caffeine costs you sleep, and sleep is your real recovery tool.
• Anything with a proprietary blend and no doses.
• Five products bought on the same day.

Your action: if a product can't tell you what is in it per serve, leave it on the shelf.

How it fits together

Supplements sit on top of training, sleep and food, never instead of them. If you are starting out, read BJJ after 40 first, then recovery after BJJ.

Your action: pick step one today.

If you are on medication, carrying an injury or have a medical condition, speak with your healthcare provider before starting any new supplement.

Grant Jenkins is an ESSA Accredited Exercise Physiologist and high-performance athletic development coach with almost 30 years of coaching behind him, including national academy and professional athletes. He is a co-founder of Propel Health Australia.

References

1. Morton RW, Murphy KT, McKellar SR, et al. Br J Sports Med. 2018;52(6):376-384.
2. Kreider RB, Kalman DS, Antonio J, et al. J Int Soc Sports Nutr. 2017;14:18.
3. Santos SP, Soares HHP, Perez Neto S, Caseiro Filho LC, Girasol CE. Revista Brasileira de Ortopedia. 2024;59(3). doi:10.1055/s-0044-1785662