Training BJJ After a Meniscus Tear

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Training BJJ After a Meniscus Tear

What’s it like training BJJ after a meniscus injury? How long after surgery before I’m back on the mats? Will my knee ever be 100% again? These are some the commonly asked questions that I get from my blog and some of my videos. If you’re reading this I’m sure you’re probably experiencing some sort of issue with your knee.

I’ve had the unfortunate luck to have experienced two tears. A lateral tear when I was 19 on my right knee, and a medial tear on the left last year. Both knees had arthroscopic surgery performed on them to shave down the meniscus. Rather than a repair.

I’m not a doctor and I can’t diagnose your issue. But I know that getting injured, being forced off the mats and getting ready for surgery is frustrating. So I’m going to share my experiences to give you an idea of what to expect in case you are currently experiencing a tear yourself.

The Symptoms I experienced

  • A general uneasiness with my knee
  • Knee locking out
  • Inability to fully straighten my leg
  • Inability to fully bend my leg
  • Pain ranging from a dull ache to sharp shooting pains when it locked up

*It’s worth noting that I didn’t have much swelling in either case. 

 

The Surgery 

The surgery itself was pretty easy pretty easy. In fact my most recent surgery was at 7:30 AM and I was home eating lunch by 12:30 PM. After both surgeries I was up moving around within the first day albeit with some discomfort. In both cases though I was up on my feet walking within the first week.

 

Training after surgery

When it came to getting back to BJJ after surgery. I competed exactly 6 weeks after the first surgery. Keep in mind I was a 19 year old kid and didn’t make the best decisions. I wouldn’t advise this.

After the surgery last year I was on the mat a week later. I wasn’t rolling. I was teaching people and helping run classes. I just like being in the gym with everyone. I tried to be a bit smarter this time and waited 4 weeks and then started to drill techniques lightly with absolutely no rolling.

Getting Back to Normal

When getting back to training like normal it’s best to side with caution. It was about 8 weeks for me till I felt like normal, and even then I still had some residual tenderness in my knee. For some of you junkies out there I know this time spent healing will be frustrating and you most likely feel it’s time wasted or time lost, but it’s important that you allow your body the necessary time to recover so that you don’t run into the same injury again. Even once I got back to normal training, if I felt something in my knee, regardless of how small, I would stop training that day. So be sure to listen to your body and put special attention towards your physical therapy work.

 

Your body is out of commission but not your mind is not. You’re never quite as hungry to train as when you physically can’t train. So harness that energy anyway you can by preparing for when you get back.

Things you can do while you’re waiting for your leg to heal.

  • Plot out BJJ tournaments for when you make your return
  • Watch videos to try and get ideas for new moves to work on for when you come back
  • Make a list of techniques you want to drill once you get back
  • PT work to make sure your knee is ready to go quicker and to prevent further injury
  • Address others issue you might have in your body
  • Light exercise for the upper body
  • In general become a student of BJJ if you aren’t already by reading, watching and taking in as much BJJ related info as possible while you physically take a back seat.

In my case, last year I used the time spent resting to formulate a game plan for me and my students once I got back. I also consumed countless hours of competition video trying to find some new techniques to play with. Because I had a clear game plan of what I wanted to drill and work on, this helped me hit the ground running with a direction once I was back.

 

Will your knees ever be the same?

The good news is that your knee will probably be fine. There are instances where the surgery has issues afterwards but in most cases everything heals well. The bad news however is that your knees will never quite be the same. They’ll feel great and you’ll most likely be able to resume the same level of activity as before. For me, unless there is some sort of other injury bothering them, I rarely notice my knees. For lack of a better way of explaining it, you’ll just “feel” the knee a little bit more than you use to. But whether by surgery or just age alone, this is going to happen.

I don’t want to paint too gruesome of a picture though. I’ve been able to tear it up on the mats and train at a very high-level with a scoped knee for over 10 years with almost no issues. So if you are going to have the surgery I’m optimistic that you’ll be fine.

PT is Important

I can’t stress enough how important your physical therapy work is and just taking care of your body afterwards. My recovery was much better the second time around and I believe it was because I was very serious about my PT work, whereas when I was 19, I didn’t care.

 

I also made a couple of videos talking about my experiences

 

 

 

So, yea, I think that’s about it. Good luck to you if you’re experiencing a knee related injury. I hope this helps and if you have any questions in particular that I did not help answer, feel free to contact me.

Chewy

Build Grip Strength With No New Equipment

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On the mats, one thing I pride myself on is having a particularly strong grip. Whether it’s gi or no gi I’ve always been able to get a death grip when I need it.

The funny thing to me is how people over complicate the process of developing a strong grip. There are literally hundreds of exercises and methods you could use to develop your grips. I’m going to share just several that you can easily incorporate into your lifting routines with things found in a conventional gym. I say conventional gym because in most big gyms you’re limited on the speciality equipment. In a gym like mine we have several axle bars, fat grip attachments, old gis and a ton of other fun toys lying around to use. In a conventional gym you’re usually limited to barbells, dumbbells and plates. Which is what we will use.

 

Deadlift grips

1.Double Overhand Grip on Deadlifts

By now, most people add deadlifts into their lifting routines. It’s such a fantastic exercise for building overall strength and is a great movement for Brazilian Jiu-jitsu practitioners. Standing guard breaks anyone?

Traditionally the deadlift is performed with an alternating overhand and supinated grip. This keeps the bar from rolling out of someone’s hands while they are pulling up. If you switch your grip to a double over hand you’ll be forced to squeeze tight to keep the bar from falling out of your hands.

When I first started doing this with my deadlifts my grips were weak and I couldn’t pull the mid 300s off the ground without alternating my grip or using straps. Over the years I’ve consistently used the double overhand grip. I’ve since been able to pull in the high 400s using double overhand grip with no straps.

Doing my deadlifts this way has probably had the biggest impact on my grips other than grip training on the mats.

 

Also, if you don’t have the option to deadlift at your gym because it’s too loud or something. . . change gyms.

2.Deadhangs

If you aren’t strong enough with your grips to get a good deadlift workout using the double overhand method. Don’t compromise your training because your grip can’t hold up. After you’ve done your regular sets. Try a couple of sets of dead hangs. Simply load the bar, stand to the top position of the deadlift and just hang till your grip gives out.

Take note of the weight and the time and work on increasing the weight and/or time held.

 

farmer carry

3. Dumbbell or Kettlebell Farmers Walk

My second favorite exercise for develop grip strength is the farmers carry. If you have the farmers carry bar, then great, if not you can make due with dumbbells and kettlebells.

To perform the exercise, pick up the weights and hold them at your side and walk. I prefer to use a moderate weight and do longer walks opposed to heavier weight and shorter walks.

Video about how to do a farmers walk

 

 

4. Dumbbell or Kettebell Deadhangs

If walking around with weights at your side isn’t an option. Then do dead hangs with the weights instead similar to the method described above.

Plate holds

5. Plate Holds

Another solid exercise to throw into the end of your routine to exhaust your grips are plate holds.

If you’ve got the type of plates that have a lip on the end, hold then with your finger tips for time.

If you have the type of plates with no lip, similar to bumper plates as shown above, then try holding them inside your hands for time.

 

Derby City MMA Highlight

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It’s really hard to capture the awesomeness that goes on in our gym. And this video fails miserably at doing so. But it was fun filming the training and I have plenty to work with and make more in the future. Hopefully I’ll be able to piece together something more substantial in the future.

 

 

 

Morning Pre Training Smoothie

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Morning Pre Training Smoothie 

I got a question from one of my students in my “morning crew” the other day. He was curious what to eat for breakfast, even if he was in a rush or running behind to the gym.

Most of the time I prefer to eat eggs and veggies for breakfast and I generally like to wake up early enough to relax and enjoy a little time to myself. Because once I leave the house I’m busy and don’t get home till nearly 10pm. But if I don’t have the time to cook or just don’t feel like it, I’ll make a smoothie in the blender. It’s a fast way to take in everything I need to get me through a good morning session of BJJ or weight training. It also only takes a couple of minutes to make.

Keep in mind that this recipe has a fair amount of carbs. I wouldn’t make this recipe unless I was planning to work out in the morning. Also, if you’re wondering why I’m using the seeds and cacao in the smoothie, just do a search for health benefits of them. I don’t want to give you a long winded explanation about them as there are far more intelligent people who have written information on the subject.

Side note. A really good idea for bananas that are getting too ripe or going bad is to freeze them. Just peel, stick them in containers and stuff them in the freezer for a later day. They’re great for making homemade not-terrible-for-you ice cream and smoothies like the one below.

 

Cinnamon Vanilla Cacao Smoothie

What you’ll need. . .

-1 scoop of vanilla protein.

– 1/4 cup of chia seeds.

– 1/4 cup of hemp seeds.

– 1/4 cup of raw cacao.

– Half a frozen banana. A regular banana works too, but a I like the frozen ones better for smoothies.

– 1 tablespoon of honey.

– 1 tablespoon of almond butter.

– 2 cups of water or whatever type of milk you prefer. Use more for a thinner smoothie.

– Substitute ice in place of milk or water for a thicker, cooler smoothie.

 

Directions

1.Start by placing the chia seeds, hemp seeds and cacao into the blender. Blend till everything is broken up.

2. After the seeds and cacao are almost a grainy flour consistency. Add in the rest of the ingredients and blend till everything is mixed well and the smoothie is . . . well. . . smooth.

3. Drink and then get your ass to the gym.

 

Less sugar and carbohydrates

If you don’t plan to train soon after and want to lower the sugar and carbohydrate of the smoothie. Just remove the banana and the honey.

50 year old black belt training

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So I saw this video this morning of this 50 year old black belt rolling with a young BJJ purple belt world champion. As a newly 30 something, it’s encouraging to watch older guys still staying active and moving around on the mat. As I’ve gotten older I definitely have to take care of my body and be way more intelligent about the way that I train and who I train with.

If you watch the video there are definitely a couple of subtle lessons to be learned in respects to longevity.

1st. You don’t have to train like a mad man every single time your step on the mat.

2nd. You don’t have to crush your training partners every chance you get.

There are certainly times to turn up the intensity and push each other. But there is also a need to tone down your effort. If you’d like to have a long life in this sport and martial art.

 

Cosgrove’s Evil 8 workout for BJJ

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One of my good friends turned me onto this one years ago. It’s a great workout that takes less than 15 minutes usually and will leave you a sweaty mess. It’s a barbell complex.

Cosgrove’s Evil 8

Here is the work out.

8 exercises performed without rest. The 1st round will consist of 6 reps of each exercise. Followed by a 90 second rest. Then 5 reps of each exercise with a 90 second rest. Then 4 reps, 90 second rest all the way down to the last round of 1 rep each.

 

The 8 lifts are and should be performed in this order.

Deadlift

Romanian Deadlift

Bent over Row 

Power Clean

Front Squat

Push Press

Back Squat

Good Morning

 

Another nasty part of the work out is that you should do each set of lifts without releasing the bar. This will test your grip if the weight is heavy enough on the first few sets. After this short workout you’ll be dripping with sweat and will have essentially worked your whole body out. When deciding the weight to use. Start light, especially if you’ve never done the workout before. The heaviest I’ve ever gone personally is 135lbs which was pretty rough.

 

So if you are looking for a quick, nasty workout that will hit the whole body. Give it a try.

 

Check out this article on T Nation for other lifting complexes to supplement cardio.

 

Chewy

 

 

 

Floor Press for BJJ

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Often I get students who ask what they should do to build strength for BJJ. The exercise shown in this video is one of my favorites for developing explosive upper body strength. One of my trainers turned me onto it. When I asked why he put it into my training program, he said it was to develop strong triceps but also because it would give me quick explosion from the positions I find myself on the mat.

After doing the floor press for 4 weeks I noticed a big difference. Again, as  I state in the video. You don’t want to rely on pure strength for BJJ. But a little strength goes a long way when it’s used properly.

So if you’re looking for a little extra power from your upper body. Give this exercise a try. It’s great!

 

2 ways I’ve dealt with a BJJ shoulder injury

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About a month ago I felt something in my shoulder and it didn’t feel that bad, but slowly the pain progressed to a constant ache that would persist after training. The pain was very uncomfortable and I could just “feel” that something wasn’t right with my shoulder. I looked up a few self-tests to perform and I successfully figured out that my injury was a strained subscapularis (my student who is a PT confirmed my suspicion) which makes up part of the rotator cuff. At this point I came to the realization that either I’m hanging around my Physical Therapist student too much, or I’m getting injured too often. I’ll side with the latter, because I like hanging out with Eugene.

There was a real problem with the timing of the injury. I was heading down to Costa Rica the next week which was going to consist of surfing and training twice a day, so I really wanted to keep my shoulder together for the trip. I did 2 things and they helped immensely. Hopefully, if you’re experiencing shoulder pain, the suggestions listed below will help.

First, I received a deep tissue massage. My PT friend happens to have an awesome wife who is a phenomenal Massage Therapist. I went into her with some serious discomfort in my shoulder. I left with very little. What she explained to me was, “the  source of the pain is rarely the root of the problem.”  I’ve heard this sort of stuff before but it’s important to remember, because often times if something hurts we focus on the site of the pain, rather than focusing on other areas that might actually be causing the pain. Another example of this was I used to experience back stiffness after long walks or time spend standing. I would stretch and strengthen my back continuously. Come to find out after visiting someone smarter than myself, my back pain was caused by an imbalance between back and core strength. In short, my core was too weak and my back was overcompensating for the difference. After working on my core I have not experienced the same back issues.

During the massage I was told that my pec minor, lats and several other muscles (ones that are used over and over again during BJJ) were way to tight. After she worked on them the relief was immediate.

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Second, I used some KT (Kinesio) tape. This was my first time giving KT tape a try. I’m not going to say that I didn’t believe it worked, but I was a little skeptical. Up until this point, when I thought of KT tape I thought of Sakuraba during the old days of Pride. The skepticism I had was quickly dashed after the first application. While in Costa Rica I was experiencing some residual pain and an unstable feeling. I had my girlfriend apply the KT tape following instructions on a YouTube video. Again, the effects were immediate. I had a much more stable feeling shoulder and didn’t experience any pain. Just to prove to myself that it was for real and not just a mental thing. I removed the tape and trained. That training session was accompanied by a feeling of instability in the shoulder and pain after. After reapplying the tape, my shoulder felt much better. Now granted rest was needed at the time, I was in Costa Rica surfing and training . . . rest simply had to wait. I continued to train hard and surf for the rest of the week with KT tape and it made a huge difference. I’m now a believer.

costawater

If you’re experiencing some shoulder issues, try either of the above, after you’ve had a professional determine what’s causing the issue. A massage by a skilled Massage Therapist can be invaluable. Situations can of course vary, but in mine I felt instant relief after the muscles which are attached to the rotator cuff were rubbed out. In addition, this is not the first time that I’ve had issues resolved via massage. Also, if complete rest is not an option or you want a way to help assist the affected area of your body with day to day activity. Give the KT tape a try. Even when I was off the mats, the tape made a huge difference.

costa

If you’re reading this and your shoulders are feeling a little funky, good luck!

Chewy

7 Fun BJJ Rolling Drills

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There’s never anything wrong with a good ole round of full rolling but sometimes it can be fun and beneficial to mix it up a bit. You can focus on your cardio by being bombarded with a constant stream of fresh opponents or zero in on a weak area of your game you want to improve. Below are a list with descriptions of some different ways to mix up the time and structure of live training. You can use these drills during an open mat training session or during a class if you’re the instructor.

 

King of the mat – Probably the favorites at our gym, the “King of the mat” drill is a great way to get some quality time in a particular area of the game and push the cardio a bit. Start by picking a particular area of focus for the training. For example if the focus is bottom of full guard. Start in full guard and do a pass/defend sweep/submit round. If the top person passes to dominant position or if the bottom person sweeps or submits then the round is over. The winner remains on the mat and the loser goes back to the line. The line will rotate a new opponent in and the previous winner will start on their back with full guard. Then repeat. You can do this with takedowns, escapes, passing, etc. If you stay in for several rounds you’ll definitely start to wear down a bit as you’re faced with a fresh opponent over and over again. It’s always fun to see a less experienced white or blue belt topple a worn down purple or brown belt during this drill. A side benefit is that it gives an instructor a chance to roll with a lot of their students in a relatively short period of time.

 

2 minute / 10 minute Match – Similar to the king of the mat drill. This one is focused more on the tournament aspect of BJJ and being conscious of points. In this style both players will start on the feet and a regular match will start. After 2 minutes whoever is ahead on points and submissions stays on the mat. With no rest, a new fresh opponent will come in for another 2 minute match. Go for 10 minutes (or whatever time you like) with the aim of trying to stay in the whole time. Towards the later rounds if you’re still in you will most likely be tired. This means you have to play accordingly or learn how to continue playing a hard game while you’re tired. We did this the other day for one of our rolling sessions for 20 minutes and it was pretty brutal.

 

Situational – If you have a position that you’re weak from then this is perfect for you. Put yourself in the position and do round after round. If you are starting off in a bad position like bottom of mount, try keeping the rounds short to help encourage activity and movement. You can grab a partner and go back and forth. For example, years ago a good friend and I would come in on Sundays during open mat to work on our weak positions. I would take his back and work to submit him since it was my best position and his worst. Then when his round was over we would flip and I would be on the bottom of mount because it was a bad spot for me. It may be frustrating at first but by putting yourself into your weak areas, you don’t have a choice but to improve. You can do this for any position really, but I think it’s always a good idea to improve in our weak areas.

 

Deficit Rolling – This one is pretty simple. Start the match while being down on points. I really enjoy 1-2 minute rounds while being down on points. This pushes a person to work hard to regain lost points meanwhile making the player roll smart to maintain their point advantage. Of course you can always mix up the time and point spread however you want.

 

Random Submission Rolling – Another interesting way to mix it up on the mats and get out of your comfort zone is to randomize the submissions and techniques you’re allowed to use. I’ve done this various ways with my students. One time it involved having them roll dice and matching up the number they rolled with a numbered submission on the wall. This can be frustrating if you get something like triangles and you have the shortest legs in class, but it can also push you outside your normal range of techniques and force you to try something else. I know I used this sort of drill and found a way to hit an anaconda choke which before I had written off because of my short arms. Like I always tell my students, if it’s your only option you’re going to find a way to make it work.

 

Randomized Timed Rolling – Like randomizing the techniques you can use, having varying times can change the dynamic of a roll. Just pick a group of times and randomly decide how long each round will be, keeping in mind the pace should change with the time. For example if the round is 1-2 minutes long then you should be moving at a much faster pace than if the round was 8-10 minutes long because you won’t have as much time to work.

 

Round Robin – This one is an old favorite from wrestling. Most commonly you’ll pair up in a group of 3 but you can do as many as you like. Assign a letter to each person A, B and C. Set a round timer for your desired time limits and go. The rolls would go AB, BA, BC then repeat. Each person will be in for two rounds and will get 1 round to recover.

 

These are just some of the drills I like using with my students. They’re fun and they change it up instead of just the same old thing. Try them out with some of your BJJ teammates during an open mat.