The Ultimate Antidote to your Jiu-Jitsu Injuries
The Ultimate Antidote to your Jiu-Jitsu Injuries
Tired of being injured all the time on the mats? We aren’t talking the hyperextended armbar injuries or the ‘too late to tap’ kimura submissions.
We are talking about the injuries that sneak up on you over time. A sore knee here, a hurting lower back there - and everything in between. Maybe the sore knee is from tight hips (affecting it’s range of motion, and therefore putting stress on it), maybe the hurting lower back is from either tight hip flexors or tight hamstrings...Maybe it’s time for some prehab. Preventing injuries before they occur. The critical maintenance that so easily goes overlooked. 👀
Let’s take a look at the body in reference to the training we do on the mats.
Spine - What is happening with the spine. It is consistently in a rounded forward position (‘flexion’ as the fancy people would say). From guard to mount to side control - the spine is often rounded forward. Not to mention most people rarely strengthen through the back so the spine is commonly weak (hence those ‘lower back pains’). It is rare that we move the spine with precision and purpose through all of it’s ranges of motion, this is not just important for spinal health and mobility - it is necessary.
Shoulders - The shoulders are almost always rounded forward due to pulling on the gi or neck or attacking and even defending submissions. Because of this, the chest also becomes tight. Creating tightness through the front upper body, we are basically slowly closing into ourselves until we become a ball 🤣
Hips and hamstrings - these culprits play a bigger role than we would like to admit. Commonly bent (in ‘flexion’), they become shortened. Think of your last wrestle and where your legs were, and how often they were bent. Mount, side control, retaining guard, passing guard, back control, escaping the back. It is no wonder the lower half of the body lives in flexion. The problems start to come when they become weak or tight - pulling the pelvis out of place. Then the fun problems start to appear such as lower back pain and or limited range of motion.
Then, what's more - contrast the above points to everyday life.
Quite often the same concepts apply in the life we live every day. Sitting on the couch, computer, or car - the shoulders and spine are rounded forward and the hips and legs are bent in flexion.
Oh dear 😟
Life does not create balance for us, we are the ones who need to create it. If we stay in a state of imbalance for too long, the body will think this is normal, this is how it is supposed to be. 🧘♂️
The result of an unbalanced body will create points of tension and perhaps even pain - pushing us to make positive changes to create that much needed balance. Otherwise injuries will occur.
The shoulders and chest need to be stretched and the back body (through the spine) strengthened and moved with purpose and precision. The hamstrings need to be loosened up, stretched and strengthened. Mobility (range of motion through movement) needs to be in the hips.
Why do we feel so darn good after a yoga flow? Because the yoga flow brings us back to a state of balance, of where we should have been all along. To normality.
If it was in your control to bring your body (potentially even your mind) back to a state of balance - would you?
This leads us to the next question:
How much Yoga For BJJ do you need a day for results?
A different question is needed in order to answer this question.
I would ask “what are your goals” because what you put into it the more you get out.
For the busy person who has a family, 3 jobs, 27 dogs and 4 cats AND does BJJ - anything is better than nothing (that is why we have programs that are 10 minutes long).
Or for someone who is committed and makes Yoga For BJJ a priority because maybe their goal is to become a world champion - we have programs where each video is 60 minutes long.
Depends on what you want and what you need at this exact point in your life.
BJJ and yoga are very paralleled in that regard. To see results you have to put the time in, and sometimes the results don’t show right away - but when they do it is incredibly exciting.
Although I might feel better immediately after the session but don’t see the results yet - they will come over time. And eventually you realize you did something you couldn’t do a month ago.
Some free resources for you:
Are you injured? Check out our rehab programs
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