How to live with the pain of training?

[John Bennett]

I would be embarrassed to tell you all how many times I've called in sick to work because I was so wrecked and sore from a hard class the night before.

I earn 8 hours of sick time per month. I now have 267 hours saved up. Use it or lose it!

[NGU]

I agree with Dan. It's probably how you are training. I workout 7 days a week - 6 days on weights. Then about 5 TKD and 3 BJJ on the average. If I overtrain I rest for a couple of days. I also do some cardio. Basically the only hurt I have is a permanently dislocated toe. I work very hard on technique and I tap quickly. The idea is to learn - save the hardcore stuff for tournaments or your joints aren't going to last you. You might also want to look at your nutrition. Take Vitamin C, E and amino acids as supplements - there are some others, but those should help. Oh - and stretch!

[Shrimp]

In my first year of BJJ I would wake up the morning after class feeling like a truck had run over me. That's the best way I can describe it. Most of you know what I'm talking about, though at age 37 it may have been more severe for me.

Anyway, that doesn't happen to me any more. Here are some things that helped. I recommend all of them to you:

1. I don't know how long you've been doing bjj, but your body will toughen up naturally after a while. How long? Maybe six or eight months.

2. Make "staying healthy" your main goal in bjj. Getting good is a marathon, not a sprint, and only by staying healthy will you finish the marathon.

3. Be choosy about who you roll with. Avoid Tasmanian Devils most of the time. You'll learn the most from higher belts, and your body will take the least abuse.

4. Immediately after class, drink something with at least 25 g protein and 50 g carbs. I drink a canned thing called "Super Shake."

5. Take a gram or more of Vit C daily.

6. Listen carefully to your body. When it tells you it needs a day off, obey.

These things (together) have definitely made a difference for me.

[sccr06]

Don't feel bad Miyagi (no pun intended!). I think we are all in the same boat.
I've had both knees popped from not tapping on heel-hooks; one arm barred too far; shin-splints from running (that don't help when kicking the bag); and then this recurring pain in my left shoulder blade that a doc finally ended up telling me was arthritis in one of my discs. (huh?)
So when I hobble into work all hunched over, everyone knows why!

Fun huh? And still I train.....and still my wife nags....

[Patterson]

Maybe you guys are just tapping too hard. Try submitting verbally, I can only imagine how many times you guys tap wildly in one training session.

[dan downard]

Patterson,I am certain you are right.It has to be all that tapping that makes guys sore.

[GuardMaster]

Mr Miyagi

* if you're rolling tap out soon as you;re caught in submission. Work on not getting caught, not on how to resist a submission. This will take away all pain due to not tapping out

* Tell your partner you want to roll light, not get all banged up and they'll usually listen. Treat your body with respect! Just because you take BJJ doesn't mean you have to walk over your body. Ever see Rickson grapple in Choke with his students? He looks almost like he's grappling with water.

* Mix up the training. If you train one bodypart too frequently the cumulative effect will cause injuries quicker. Get rest. Sleep 8-10 hours a night. Frank Shamrock does. Stretch often. Eat properly, with adequate protein intake for muscle tissue repair.

* If you're like me you'll be thinking BJJ for the long haul.. Not the I'll make it big and famous in my twenties (too late for that :-( The long haul means looking at victory from the perspective of months, and years, not just a class or a week.

Good luck to you!

GuardMaster

[McLeod]

I've been rolling for years now. About 6 regularly, 8 if you include tape trading. I ALWAYS get hurt. I just can't avoid it. But one thing is for sure... I get hurt the most by rolling with new guys who are strong as he!!. They just don't have the experience to know how to roll safely yet. So, you being a senior student get told to roll with them, and although you are safe, they are not.
You want to show them that the style is effective, so you don't want to tap to some newbie, even if they are 5'8", 195 lbs of rock solid, NCAA wrestler juicehead. You can roll with them 10 times, and tap them 8 with 2 stalemates due to time or whatever. Of those 8 times you tap them, 7 of them they'l beat the crap out of you by being too rough. So they leave the session with the new knowledge and experience of not getting caught in those again, but you leave with a cranked neck (canopener heaven), busted up lip and bruised eye socket from them dropping their forearms down on you after escaping an armlock or whatever, and endless bruises. The main point? stop rolling with the nebies as much. And try to keep teir rolling to more positional at first, explaining alot.
the other way I hurt myself is by training by myself. I'll over exert on a weight lifting excercise or on the bag. I tore a ligament in my wrist way back in Nov..it's still not better. Needs to be taped up every time I do anything.

So..the conclusion is this... Fighters are really kinda stupid.

[Mr. Miyagi]

Thanks for the replies guys. I am actually very careful in training (ie I never train injured, I tap to subs immedietely, I never lift and train on the same day, I usually stretch). Thanks also to the guys that admit that you will be sore from training no matter what, I think the pain just needs to be minimized, it's something that every training person lives with.