The Biggest Lie About Jiu Jitsu Injuries | Your Physical & Mental Guidebook to Injuries in BJJ
www.electrumperformance.info/...
☝️Protect your body with Team EP - the BEST S&C service in jiu jitsu. Above link for a 7 day free trial!
If you've spent any time training jiu jitsu, you've experienced an injury of some kind. That's why I like to look at our ability to deal with injury as a skill in and of itself. With this video, I'll arm you with the physical tools needed to address injury to every major joint (neck, shoulder, elbow, wrist/hand, low back, hips, knee, foot/ankle). I provide simple options to begin to tax these regions directly, so you can immediately begin working on the SOLUTION instead of stewing and fixating on your injury and what you cannot do.
I also give examples of preventative exercises for each major joint. This may not be as sexy, but a sensible Strength and Conditioning plan will make you more resilient and less likely to get hurt throughout your BJJ career. If you want more specific guidance, I strongly recommend checking out the Team EP link above - we provide access to over 60 S&C plans for BJJ, each with its own specific focus. And we release a new plan every single month! I also provide form checks and coaching through our Facebook group, all for the price of 29.99/month. I'm confident you won't find a better resource for jiu jitsu practitioners, and with a more experienced coach - which is why I let you try it for 7 days free.
But perhaps the most important thing that I discuss in this video, is the appropriate mindset necessary to deal with injury. This "Anti-Fragile" mindset allows you to assess where you currently are, develop an actionable plan to return to your sport, and take steps to do just that.
Contrary to what other videos claim, you aren't just "one injury away" from ending your jiu jitsu career. The human body is incredibly adaptable and resilient, and can heal from insane amounts of physical trauma. All you have to do is provide the right physical and mental environment for it to do so - and this video is a great framework to do just that.
Credit to the wonderful Chance Saller for the videography
Timestamps
00:00 - Jiu jitsu origin story
01:51 - Who is Alex Sterner/What is Electrum Performance?
03:23 - How does strength training prevent injury?
06:04 - What is covered in this video?
07:22 - Neck
08:51 - Knee
10:48 - Lower back (thpinal)
13:10 - Shoulder
15:00 - Elbow
16:25 - Hip
17:45 - Team EP
18:08 - Anti Fragile Mindset
Anything for fingers?
Check out our rice bucket tutorial! 👇 kzhead.info/sun/o5Fml9puhYSYlJ8/bejne.html
switch to nogi and stop that shitty gi training
I've found rice bucket very useful for wrist pain, forearm and hand strength
Don't keep grips, let them go. Not worth having them snap open over and over. Find new grips as you release the ones being challenged.
I think it's also important to address the fact that there are still a lot of healthcare professionals (esp the ones without background in strength and conditioning or even just lifting) out there who still tell their injured patients "you won't be able to train/compete anymore". These are the ones that who actually hinder injured athletes in getting back to the lifestyle that they enjoyed.
You aren't kidding. I understand them fearing any liability, but it most definitely causes harm long term. Good point
So you got (any injury whatsoever)? Take ibuprofen and stop doing your sport!
very luckt with my physio, he used to do judo so he gets it.
Best advice for bjj I can give anyone... TAP OUT EARLY.. class is for learning tuff guy..
Super true, and this can avoid a lot of injuries. But others still happen!
It's fine to tap late to chokes.
@MrCmon113 agreed but not neck cranks I was out two weeks once for fighting one off.
Hi there. This is a really fantastic video. Reminds me a lot of some of Bren Veziroglu’s videos on pain science, have you heard of him. Smart guy and a great bjj practitioner as well. I’ve developed a fear of injury recently after my sister ruptured her ACL and obliterated part of her medial meniscus (it literally just disappeared according to MRI and an Arthroscopy). Videos like this one have really helped to ease my mind lately but I still have more work to do. I have noticed that you have asked a lot of commenters what sort of training they are doing for recovery and prehab and since a lot of them have not answered I thought I would go ahead and mention some of my daily exercises for injury mitigation as a kick-boxer and martial arts enthusiast. Dead hangs, and active hangs are a daily staple for shoulder health for me. 1 min of dead hanging, and 1 min of alternating active hangs to arched hangs. Neck bridges are my go to for neck and spine. I’ll generally do 10-15 slow rocks from crown to forehead and that has kept my neck and back feeling pretty good. I do calisthenics wrist warm ups and strengthening very day as well for some wrist injuries I’ve had (TFCC tear and ECU tendonopathy). The most important are wrist push-ups to work the forearm flexors in a lengthened position and wrist extensions against the floor where I open my fingers to go into flexion until the back of my hands are on the floor and then I close my fingers and contract the extensors to bring my wrists back into neutral position. Lastly, I work high repetition body weight squats almost daily. I particularly like to do Hindu squats, or baithak as it’s correctly called, mostly for the cardio and explosive strengthen in the calves and quads, but also to get a lot synovial fluid moving around in the knee joint. Do you have any other recommendations of stuff to try or add? I’m thinking that it might be good to do some more hamstring work since they are important for stabilizing the knee during kicks.
Appreciate the kind words! I haven't heard of him but will definitely look into him at your suggestion! I love how you're addressing issues you've identified - and on many you're on the right track! I'd recommend some more "traditional" S&C - whether it's a machine, barbell, dumbbell, or anything in between. While you're definitely activating and loading (to some degree) problem areas, many of the modalities you mentioned do not progress all that much via load. There is ample data to show that many tissues of the body remodel the most in response to changes in load. It's not that more traditional training is magic, or that it should replace what you're doing entirely - but it *does* allow you to progress load in a very convenient, straightforward manner. I don't fully subscribe to any one school of thought, but I do believe there is often some low-hanging fruit if we're not doing *some* of a particular training paradigm. Just adding in a few loaded compound movements (press, pull, hinge, squat, lunge) per week and loading it progressively could pay off big time. Hope this helps, and appreciate the comment!
When I first got into lifting, I used to be like "bicep work is boring and not functional, I don't need to do it if I'm doing pullups anyway", and then my biceps got injured in jiu jitsu, once due to an armbar, and once while practicing headlock escapes. That's when I realized that biceps have the very important function of helping you position your hands in space. That is arguably one of the most important things for humans to be able to do.
Kinda wild that people will convince you that good ole arms (bi's and tri's) aren't 'functional.' I think it's important to realize that a weight room movement doesn't have to perfectly mimic a real life/sport movement to transfer to it. When you target and stress a tissue until it adapts - through any means (whether it's an isolation movement, compound movement, a machine, dumbbell or hell even a rock) that "upgraded" tissue can express its newfound capacity in nearly infinite contexts. Any time that tissue encounters outside force, it can better deal with it - and it can likely encounter *more* force until it fails (injury). Any time a coordinated movement calls upon this tissue to produce force for locomotion or sport, it can do so more rapidly and have a greater output. Think of our training in the weight room as upgrading the racecar. You still have to practice racing to become a better driver, but with a better outfitted car, your skills can be better expressed. Love how you've come around! Keep it up 👊
Very informative & easy to follow! Thanks!!
Appreciate the feedback! Did you take away anything useful?
really good presentation of mindset. currently out of Bjj cause of patella luxation during a Bjj tournament. thanks!
Focus on the stuff you can do right now! How long ago was the injury?
This could possibly be the best video I’ve seen on S&C alongside bjj. Thank you 🙏🏼
That means a lot 🙏
Great video! TY!
Appreciate it, did you learn anything helpful?
This is amazing!!! 😍😍😍😍
Appreciate you more than you know, Keith 👊
Thank you for putting all this AMAZING content available for free on the internet. This video solely will save many old folks like me. ❤
That means a lot 🙏 I'll keep it coming!
Just found your channel...Excellent content!
Welcome! And thank you - more on its way this week!
Thats some amazing content
I really appreciate the feedback. I tried hard to compile a ton of useful info, so I'm glad it helped 🙏
Excellent video! S and C, proper nutrition, adequate hydration, high-quality sleep, safe training partners, monitoring and managing the stimulus to fatigue ratio very carefully. Thanks for posting.
Glad it resonated, and definitely agree with every point you made 👊
Good video! I'm just starting bjj but I'm nervous about injuries. I've been lifting weights for a long time though so hopefully I will have some resilience
Lifting will definitely go a long way! Try to adopt that anti-fragile mindset, and refer to this video or (ideally) an in-person PT in your area when an injury does arise. Welcome to jiu jitsu!
Amazing video
That means a lot! Did it help/did you learn anything throughout that you think you can apply?
Great video
Appreciate it, hope it helped 🙏
Great video and nice approach to managing injurys🙌🏻 im dealing with a meiscus tear right now, no pain whatsover, i can roll with no problems. But i still have a nagging/stiff sensation in day to day life. Getting thoese reps in tho and trusting the process 🙌🏻 Osss
Glad you're staying positive. Are you lifting at all?
@@ElectrumPerformance Yesisrr! But only with some weights at home. Gotta go back to the real stuff in a gym
that little ending to the intro that was brutally specific. and even though i would ask if there's anything you want to share with us, in this particular case i'm gonna ask to please don't share lol
Not a fan of happy baby? 😂
@@ElectrumPerformance i'm a masters bjj guy. only yoga we do round here is involuntary, mostly rolling with the ultra heavies like myself lol
DPT, strongman competitor, and BJJ brown belt here. Great video
That means a ton 🙏 appreciate it!
Very well done. The neck is certainly a problem area and I like the approaches presented. Would the old fashioned isometric resistance exercises with something like a towel have any benefit?
Yes any form of isometrics are a great place to start! But I think if you really want to increase resilience, you should aim to then load through an active ROM. Appreciate the feedback!
Just wanted to say thank you for such a solid video. Hope your channel takes off. Much appreciated how this wasn't just conceptual mumbojumbo but actually had some practical recommendations. As a casual 40-somethin' year old, I try to focus my limited time for exercise on strength and conditioning 80% and bjj 20% . It's a waste of bjj-gym dues I'll admit, but for what I want out of bjj I like being able to roll full strength and I understand the limitations of my age and my average physique. Even with trying to do everything right, I made the mistake of not picking the right person to roll with (ie. not the roided out MMA fighter who cranks every kimura 100%... ) 😅
Really appreciate the feedback 🙏 How long have you been training?
I dislocated my shoulder at bjj a month and a half ago. I had only been training for a little over a month and now I'm doing PT but I'm nowhere near healed, I can barely raise my arm to chest level ,let alone over my head. I had been strength training before i joined as it was one of my favorite hobbies I have a busy schedule including working 6 days a week, playing live music/practicing music a couple times a month or busy with mycology so when I joined BJJ, going to the weight gym took a backseat because I had trouble balancing everything and I think that affected why I got injured unfortunately. I probably wont be going back when I recover, such a shame I really was enjoying learning bjj but my whole life has flipped.
I really do empathize with an injury that gets in the way of so many important things. That sucks. Have you learned any skills as it relates to this injury + rehab yet? Because whether you train BJJ or not moving forward - you'll almost definitely get injured again at some point. I don't say this to be a downer! But focusing on how to rehab is SUCH an underrated skill that can allow you to bounce back from injuries faster, smarter, and better equipped at dealing with future ones. I wish you all the best, and much healing. But also soak up what you can from this experience!
@@ElectrumPerformance right now I'm currently going to physical therapy and doing the exercises at home. I have done rehab exercises at home before for smaller injuries that I learned on KZhead.
Out since Feb 19 with ACL sprain...finished PT...have been doing knees over toes protocol...I can do deep sqiats after warm with knees way over toes..still can't sit seiza without pain down lateral calf. Hoping to get back on mats soon but feeling pretty discouraged.
The knees over toes protocols can work but they aren't magic! You can hit some traditional work as well (good ole squats, lunges - maybe add a deficit). It'll also be good to train hammies since they directly brace the ACL (I know nordics are in their protocol but even machine hamstring curls or RDLs can help too). Its natural to feel discouraged, but the sooner we recognize that injuries are inevitable the better off we'll be. Let's be grateful the tear wasn't a complete rupture and try to learn from this rehab experience! You'll be back, and better equipped to deal with injury. Keep that as a focus.
Thanks for the video! Doing the lords work.
Hope it helped!
For prevention of knee injuries, I think a lot of emphasis should be placed on hip mobility as with leg pummeling, the lateral pressure can be taken by a super mobile hip rather than the tension going into the knee
I mean there are lotttts of additional points that could be made - and this video was already 22 minutes long. I'll definitely make individual videos in the future that goes into detail for each joint
I commonly injure my rib, think it's intercostal. Do you have any advice for strengthening or getting up that first step? Thanks for the great video, makes a lot of sense!
Lots of rib questions - I'll definitely make a follow up video on this! In the meantime I answered it a few times in the comments!
Excellent breakdown. Thanks for sharing!
Hope you learned something to use now or in the future 👍
I’m 8 yrs in and I wish I would have never went for singles or doubles and I wish I would have got the iron neck day one. Now I have a bad neck and it’s hard for me to train for more than a couple weeks in a row without a couple weeks off. With that said I always lifted and will always lift. Lifting is the best recovery tool coupled with nutrition and sleep.
That's unfortunate in terms of the neck - do you have any ability to train it currently? If you take it slow you may be able to build up resilience and decrease symptoms over time
What about rib injuries? Particularly costal cartilage tears? Thanks.
This is a common question that I'm gonna make a follow up video on! But I answered a few in the comments in detail, check those out in the meantime 👍
any advice for ribs? popped it almost 3 weeks ago now. It's happened before (years ago) on the other side years ago, kept trying to train until I had to take a solid 4-5 weeks off. now at 3 weeks in it's still pretty ripe. what should I be doing? 45yr old brown belt
Ribs are tricky! I responded to more than one comment in this comment section on this subject. Read those in the meantime, but I'm already planning out a video on exactly that 👍👍
fantastic video. I wish I could have watched it 2 years ago lol
Do you still train? I think it's worth recognizing that future injury is inevitable - and we can learn from past injuries and improve our skill of recovering and dealing with setbacks
@@ElectrumPerformance I train a little but I don't know if I'll ever be able safely to do double or single leg takedowns again after injuring my neck and one of its nerve branches. Grappling just doesn't seem that practical to me if I can't do a takedown. A striker could just light me up . sometimes the wisest move is to cut your losses if you want long term health.
This is a great and very helpful video. From my experience over 14 years i have noticed that the people who do added strength training get injured more often while the ones who do not get injured less often. Is there a reason for this? is it the wrong type of training, or maybe overtraining?
There's ample data to show that strength training reduces the rate of injury in sport - by quite a significant margin. We're subject to confirmation bias, and other limitations when we try to form a conclusion like this based purely on anecdote. PMID 24100287 is a very well designed study with a large data set that shows this quite well
@@ElectrumPerformance great thanks I'll check it out.
Reminds me of how great CrossFit and grappling go together 🙌
I won't hate on CrossFit like many other strength coaches do - I think it's done great things in the realm of making strength and conditioning accessible for the masses. But I do think that the one area that it's not great is managing stimulus-to-fatigue ratio. And to be fair - it really doesn't have to because for most it's an activity in and of itself. But I think many will find benefits of strength training in a context/program that's less fatiguing if they're looking for maximal benefit for BJJ. This may seem like splitting hairs, but I think it's worth stating in case anybody reading this has tried to balance crossfit and BJJ and has struggled from cumulative fatigue. Hope this makes sense 🙏
Strained/pulled a muscle or something of the sort in my forearm fighting an arm bar in my 2nd class back in February. Still hasn’t gotten better since lmao. So freaking annoying. Been icing it multiple times a day, tiger balm, icy hot, took time off from gym and JJ class. Still feel pain. So stupid and frustrating.
Where in your forearm? It might make sense to see an in-person PT in your area. Also - I know it was your second class but tap early and tap often. No need to fight a sub when it's locked in. Not trying to add insult to injury, it's just worth remembering 🙏
Alex the 🐐
Why thank you sir 👊
I train BJJ 3x a week and can only get to the gym when I am traveling for work, about 2x per week. Hotel gyms generally only have dumbbells or a cable machine. I do a full body workout. Bench, OHP, squats, lunges, curls, triceps press, bent over rows. Anything I can add? I can bring bands on the road.
You're definitely hitting some of the low-hanging fruit so keep that up! A hinge pattern would probably be beneficial (like a dumbbell RDL or even a Jefferson curl) and I'm big on focusing on motions of the spine so a side bent could be good too. You're well on your way though!
Do pull ups!
And dips
Any tips for a fractured rib. It's one near the sternum.
Patience, nothin you can do but wait
If it's fractured you're gonna have to take some time for sure. I think it's worthwhile finding things in the weight room that you *can* do, but ribs are tough. Anything requiring you to brace will probably be impossible, so you might be stuck to selectorized machines, isolation work (biceps, triceps, delts, etc) and chasing a pump (higher reps shorter rest periods) for a while. Then on the tail end of recovery, try to train all of the muscles of the trunk through both isometrics (like suitcase carries, front/side planks) and active ROM (side bends, Zercher deadlifts, good mornings, landmine twists, back extensions, toes to bar etc). Ribs suck but you'll get through it!
How about developing a stronger rib cage? I’m a 65kg guy pursuing size, but most of my soreness and pain when doing grappling is found around my rib cage, its sides or back.
That's not as straightforward BUT you can definitely work on the muscles that surround the ribcage. Things like side bends (they're pretty awesome on a Smith machine), Zercher deadlifts, landmine twists, and rotational throws with medicine balls can improve resilience throughout the entire trunk. There are videos for all of these on my channel 👉
@@ElectrumPerformance Fair enough, I thought of emphasizing on Dumbbell Pullovers and other basic exercises which create a meatier coverage for my rib cage. Coach was right then… I need more meat on my bones :(. Cheers, mate! I will follow your advices
Dumbbell pullovers are another great option! You definitely seem to be on the right track. It may seem like a long road, but start chipping away as best you can 👍
Strong and stable knees for life.
Makes such a huge difference! What do you do currently to train your knees?
@@ElectrumPerformanceIts a program run by the master Coach Hadji Firaz Zahabi. Please. Check it Out!
anything for thoracic back?
Good question! Emphasizing thoracic flexion/extension at the same time as the scapular protraction/retraction in horizontal rowing can go a looooong way for this region (think of rounding your upper back as you come to the bottom of a row, and then extending the t spine as you pull the shoulder blade back at the top). Vertical pressing/pulling motions also have a great stimulus for the t spine - and pauses with the arm overhead (in either push or pull) can help build mobility in the t spine while also loaded. Front squats have a significant demand/stimulus for the t spine to maintain the front rack position. Zercher deadlifts/good mornings are great for improving resilience in this region while the spine is flexed. And rotational strength/power exercises are great for t spine rotation (think landmine twist, half kneeling chops, rotational med ball throws etc.). Sorry this wasn't included in the video, but hope this comment helps!
@@ElectrumPerformance Thanks very much :)
Great pointers, but what about the ribs?
Great question - I actually had a call with one of my remote clients on that topic yesterday. As long as you don't have any obvious deformities that you can feel, I'd find ways to load the muscles surrounding the ribs/spine in an isometric fashion. Many people are quick to do things like planks/side planks/dead hangs but starting with bodyweight might be too much too fast. Try things like suitcase carries and single arm lat pulldown/single arm bench to begin loading these muscles in an isometric fashion. Things like Superman cross crawls or reverse hyper iso holds can work as well. Once you've made obvious progress on the isometrics, you can progress to more active ROM/challenging variations or significant load. If you don't see progress I'd definitely recommend getting it checked out by an in person professional. You may have to really take your time with any bracing-centric motion (squats, deadlifts etc) even once you can move through and load a full ROM. Hope this helps!
@@ElectrumPerformance Good suggestions. Thank you.
Been dealing with a sore big toe for a few weeks. Hurts to point it, but otherwise can’t figure out what’s wrong.
And Turkish gets ups also hurt the toe.
Toes can be tough - try to substitute things like lunges for Bulgarian split squats to prevent re-aggravating it for a while. What I'd also do is begin to mobilize it daily, and slowly get it accustomed to loading bodyweight. At first you'll have to remove part of your bodyweight (with a railing or counter) and do movements braced like that as you come up to your toe. I'd also practice kneeling with the top of your foot on the ground with partial bodyweight first (or a towel under your ankle to limit flexion) and progressing to full bodyweight. Because they're called upon so much in daily life, toes can be tricky. But you'll get there!
Thank you so much! This is very helpful!
Not much you can do to brimg the shoulder back to full health if it's turned into osteoarthritis like mine has. I have done physical therapy for 6 months and changed my diet, still not the way it was before, doubt it ever will be.
Many injuries may not return to the exact state they were previously. This is normal! That doesn't mean you messed up, or that you can't keep slowly trying to ease a little more function out of the joint. It's often capable of more adaptation if you give it the right environment and time! Hang in there 👊
I competed mma and bjj for 9 years and trained for 12. Had 2 shoulder surgeries and a really bad knee sprain. Not to bad given the amount of hours training and number of fights/tournaments. Dont miss it at all. Im only 33 and don't miss the nagging pains or being injured. Saw a guy with a mma shirt a few days ago with his arm in a sling and just laughed to myself, like i don't miss that at all. Do it young and if you do train older be selective with who you roll or grapple with. Limit the days, ice baths, tiger balm or icy hot, and rest. If you're not training to be a world champion, don't train like you are. Enjoy it and preserve your body.
No disrespect, but I think you may have missed the point. We're capable of recovering from serious injuries given the right mental/physical environment. And being truly anti fragile takes that educated confidence and lets you live without constant fear of injury. Today you're younger than you're going to be for the rest of your life. At 33 you have an incredible capacity to heal and recover, but once you begin living to avoid injury - it only gets harder and harder to break that habit (and avoiding injury is impossible in the long run). Instead of you study rehab + recovery, you can get better and better at addressing and recovering from injury so you don't have to fear + avoid it. But yes, appropriate load management + partner selection go a long way and should be encouraged at any stage of training. I hope this doesn't come off the wrong way 🙏
Ribs :( And also Obliques
Seems like this is a common question. I get into details in other comments on this video, and I'm definitely gonna film a follow-up video on this subject so stay tuned!
Sun holing may be good for bjj
LOL guess we'll just take your word for it 🤣
I broke my back….
Was it... THPINAL!?
Dealing with my fourth knee injury in my 10 year ride with combat sports and I feel extremly calm as I already know my plan of getting out of it. I can say that mindset is very important piece of the puzzle.
Love that level of confidence, it'll take you far. Did you at least learn something from the video that you could apply?
@@ElectrumPerformance believe or not but didn't figure out that you can do deloaded version of Poliquin step-up using stick, so yeah always somenthing 😅.
Glad you learned something useful! Cheers to a straightforward recovery 👊
Why can’t you find a better wireless microphone that you don’t have to hold all the time?
Because then I'd have to figure out something to do with my hands 😂
Tag your friends who always get hurt!
@ithappenedbychance
Suck it up and train with what you can do and don’t focus on what you can’t
That's essentially the tldr 😂
Yea, as smaller and older guy, I had to quit. I just couldn't make progress without getting injured over and over again. It was totally frustrating.
This is a common story - how long were you training for? And do you have any desire to get back?
Been casually lifting side by side with jiu jitsu for almost 8 years and have zero nagging pain or injuries. Lifting intelligently helps so much. Training to failure is a downward spiral. Lifting until you feel good is the key. Fantastic video btw
Glad to hear you've found a system that works for you! I think training to failure has its place too - the gas pedal and the brakes are equally important. But redlining all the time is definitely not a solid long term approach. Cheers, hope you learned something in the video!
@@ElectrumPerformanceThat's a fantastic clarification. I have my push days too, which now involve a lot of overcoming isometrics.
Lmfao this vid
What part was funny?
U fucked up at the anti vaxx comment
It's not that deep. If a decision like that makes up so much of your sense of identity that you feel offended, then I won't sweat you seeing yourself out 🤷♂️
Good advice on lifting but fuck you.
Jiu Jitsu is the biggest nerd sport; why do you guys swear you'll beat us boxers in the street? The logic makes no sense.
How'd this video lead to this comment 😂
Because Grappling > striking my friend. Stats prove this
Don't know who said that, but we have over a century of vale tudo competitions and pure strikers typically lose to pure grapplers. "On the streets", that's even worse for you, bcs in a takedown you're being hit with the ground.