BJJ After 40: A Coach's Guide to Starting and Lasting on the Mat

TL;DR: Starting BJJ after 40 is realistic, and plenty of men do it, but the men who last treat their body as phase one and their jiu-jitsu as phase three. Train two or three times a week, tap early, add two short strength sessions, and build a daily nutrition habit for your connective tissue before you chase more mat time. Start with one change this week, not ten.

You walked into your first class at 38, 42, 47.

Everyone else looked 24 and made of rubber.

Three weeks in, your neck is stiff, your fingers ache and you are wondering if you left it too late.

You didn't.

But the way a 24-year-old trains is not the way you should.

Is BJJ after 40 worth starting?

Yes. Jiu-jitsu runs on leverage and timing, and both improve with patience.

There is a whole competition structure built for you. The IBJJF Masters divisions start at 30, and a 36 to 40 year old competes as Master 2. You will roll and compete against men your own age.

The honest part: a 2024 review of 2,847 jiu-jitsu practitioners found men over 30 and beginners carried the most musculoskeletal injuries. If you are a man over 35 who is new, you are in both groups.

That is not a reason to stay off the mat. It is a reason to prepare for it.

Your action: decide now that your first year is about turning up, not about winning rolls.

The three phases I use with every athlete

I have coached for almost 30 years. Every program I write follows the same order.

• Phase 1, a healthy person. Sleep, food, gut, and any niggles sorted first. This is 90% of the work.
• Phase 2, a healthy athlete. General strength and movement: hinge, squat, push, pull, carry, twist.
• Phase 3, a healthy grappler. Only now does sport-specific volume go up.

Most men over 40 jump straight to phase three. Five sessions a week, hard rolls every night, nothing else.

How long does that last? For most, not long.

Your action: write down which phase you are honestly in right now.

How often to train BJJ over 40

Two or three sessions a week is the sweet spot for the first year.

Leave a day between hard rolling sessions where you can. Recovery time is the biggest difference between you and the 24-year-old, so plan it rather than hope for it.

I have written a full week-by-week plan in recovery after BJJ: how to train over 40.

Your action: pick your two or three fixed nights and put them in the calendar.

Your joints are the limiting factor

It is rarely your fitness that stops a 40-year-old grappler. It is a knee, a shoulder, a neck or ten sore fingers.

Jiu-jitsu loads joints in positions most training never touches. If you want the detail on what the research says, read is BJJ bad for your joints?

Two short strength sessions a week do more for your joints than any product. Then look at what you eat every day.

Your action: book two 30-minute strength sessions into the same weeks as your rolling.

What to take daily, in order

Food first. Then a short list, added one at a time.

• Gut first. A prebiotic fibre to support the gut that digests everything else.
• Enough protein. From food, topped up with whey if you fall short.
• A joint formula. Collagen peptides, glucosamine, chondroitin and MSM in one scoop.
• Creatine. The most researched supplement in sport. See creatine for BJJ over 40.

For the joint step, ours is a collagen and glucosamine formula for men who train. Complete Joint Care is a comprehensive blend of collagen peptides, minerals and traditionally used botanicals formulated to support joint mobility, flexibility and connective tissue health.

The full stack, with the reasoning behind each, is in best supplements for BJJ.

Your action: add one thing this month. Only one.

Competing in BJJ at 40

Masters competition was built for older grapplers. Same age, similar life, similar recovery.

Give yourself at least six months of consistent training before your first comp, and treat the four weeks before it as phase three: more specific rolling, less new strength work.

Your action: find your local Masters bracket and put a date six months out in the diary.

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. Santos SP, Soares HHP, Perez Neto S, Caseiro Filho LC, Girasol CE. Epidemiology of Injuries and Their Implications in Jiu-Jitsu Practitioners: An Integrative Systematic Review. Revista Brasileira de Ortopedia. 2024;59(3). doi:10.1055/s-0044-1785662
2. International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation. General System of Competition Rules, age divisions.