Does not wearing headgear impede recovery time?

[Chris Beeby]

It seems as though the simple answer would be yes, but I mean recovery specifically related to work capacity and your CNS.

At my gym when we MMA spar (with 16's) we go pretty light making sure to mix things up, but most people don't wear headgear because it gets in the way of clinching, wrestling, and ground fighting.

I am looking to do more training sessions (currently at 3 hours a day, 4-5 days a week) and the only thing in my way is my work capacity. I have recently bought and started using L-carnitine, beta alanine, creatine, melatonin, ZMA as well as doing light GPP in the morning, and trying to get more massages and do more stretching.

Would wearing head gear help my work capacity?

 

[justkidin]

Its will decrease your possibility to get hurt, which will in turn, allow you to train more. The real concern that I have is with the amount of money you are wasting on supplements. As far as I know, there really isn't any supplement that you cannot get by eating healthy. And I know for a fact that the creatine really isn't going to do much for you outside of a 15-25 second burst at the beginning of a workout where your muscles won't rely as heavily on oxygen to move. That's my opinion on what's necessary.

 

[Cannon_6]

A agree with justkidin. As long as the sparring is light, headgear won't make any difference at all. Put it on when you spar hard, though, to prevent injuries.

Regarding "work capacity", I doubt wearing headgear will have any effect on it. I'm not so sure about all of those supplements, either.

Also... unless you're a professional fighter, training 3hrs/day, 4-5 days/week is excessive. You should probably find a girlfriend.

 

[Chris Beeby]

Its will decrease your possibility to get hurt, which will in turn, allow you to train more. The real concern that I have is with the amount of money you are wasting on supplements. As far as I know, there really isn't any supplement that you cannot get by eating healthy. And I know for a fact that the creatine really isn't going to do much for you outside of a 15-25 second burst at the beginning of a workout where your muscles won't rely as heavily on oxygen to move. That's my opinion on what's necessary.

I would say beta alanine is the exception. I currently don't have the refrigerator space or budget to have meat with every meal. The creatine was leftovers from my soy-protein eating, machine-curling, smith machine squatting brother.

 

[Chris Beeby]

A agree with justkidin. As long as the sparring is light, headgear won't make any difference at all. Put it on when you spar hard, though, to prevent injuries.

Regarding "work capacity", I doubt wearing headgear will have any effect on it. I'm not so sure about all of those supplements, either.

Also... unless you're a professional fighter, training 3hrs/day, 4-5 days/week is excessive. You should probably find a girlfriend.

The supplements are a bit of an experiment.

I'm hoping that by training like a pro I can go pro, I'm currently 1-0 as an amateur and I want to train just as hard as my professional teammates.

As for the girlfriend thing? Handled.

 

[CelebritySexist]

It seems as though the simple answer would be yes, but I mean recovery specifically related to work capacity and your CNS.

...

Would wearing head gear help my work capacity?

Depends how hot your head gets under the gear; turning your head into an incubated egg inside a strap-on oven can totally fuck your motor control, at least until normal temperatures are resumed. Can't see any long term CNS problems/adaptations emerging out of this, but there probably are some. Work capacity shouldn't be affected.

 

[justkidin]

Depends how hot your head gets under the gear; turning your head into an incubated egg inside a strap-on oven can totally fuck your motor control, at least until normal temperatures are resumed. Can't see any long term CNS problems/adaptations emerging out of this, but there probably are some. Work capacity shouldn't be affected.

There is no way I can imagine that the heat at the surface of your head is going to permiate throught your skull and raise the temperature of your brain..... Or am I misunderstanding what you meant. Even if you mean by decreasing your bodies ability to release heat and in turn raising core temp, almost all headgears I have seen are vented and while I imagine still retain heat, its not near enough to raise your core temp enough to disrupt motor skills.

 

[CelebritySexist]

mean by decreasing your bodies ability to release heat and in turn raising core temp, almost all headgears I have seen are vented and while I imagine still retain heat, its not near enough to raise your core temp enough to disrupt motor skills.

Yes it is; it's happened to me many times, but I train in the tropics, so it might not be so bad for you temperate-dwellers.

 

[Chris Beeby]

Depends how hot your head gets under the gear; turning your head into an incubated egg inside a strap-on oven can totally fuck your motor control, at least until normal temperatures are resumed. Can't see any long term CNS problems/adaptations emerging out of this, but there probably are some. Work capacity shouldn't be affected.

I have noticed that in later rounds I do start to feel extremely hot, but usually take my headgear off before anything like that happens. Good to know, still.

 

[Connoisseur]

Aside from reducing cuts and cauliflower ear, i'm not even entirely convinced of headgear's effectiveness in reducing concussions/ brain trauma.

Yes, I have worn headgear before and don't feel like it really does all that much. But if you like it, by all means. If you get cut easily or are worried about Cauli ear, then headgear could help, but there's not really any significant research to support headgear's effectiveness.

 

[Bennosuke]

The only research I've read, seems to indicate that at best, headgear prevents cutting. I've heard people say that it helps prevent concussions, because it is padded, and I've heard people say it increases the likelyhood by adding mass and torque.

The fact is, the jury is really out until we get some good studies in about the effectiveness of headgear.

 

[ssullivan80]

Its will decrease your possibility to get hurt, which will in turn, allow you to train more.

I know this is not the "responsible" answer, but in all honesty, I fucking hate wearing headgear. Truthfully, I think it increases the possibility of getting hurt because the leather or synthetic leather actually creates a texure/or tacky surface that when the gloves makes contact it torques, twists and essentially gives the opponents glove a better "bite". Not to mention, headgear increase the circumference of your head and therefore gives the opponent a surface to hit that is outside the body's natural positioning, basically, if you get hit high or outside on the headgear the impact acts as increased leverage on the muscles in the neck/shoulders. That coupled with loss of peripheal vision from headgear twisting or turning is why i think it often is more dangerous in some circumstances. That said, it does assist with preventing cuts, black eyes, etc.... but in return it increases the risk of neck injury and id much rather a cut or black eye than a neck injury. But hey, it's just an opinion.... but anytime i can avoid wearing headgear, I do.

 

[Chris Beeby]

I know this is not the "responsible" answer, but in all honesty, I fucking hate wearing headgear. Truthfully, I think it increases the possibility of getting hurt because the leather or synthetic leather actually creates a texure/or tacky surface that when the gloves makes contact it torques, twists and essentially gives the opponents glove a better "bite". Not to mention, headgear increase the circumference of your head and therefore gives the opponent a surface to hit that is outside the body's natural positioning, basically, if you get hit high or outside on the headgear the impact acts as increased leverage on the muscles in the neck/shoulders. That coupled with loss of peripheal vision from headgear twisting or turning is why i think it often is more dangerous in some circumstances. That said, it does assist with preventing cuts, black eyes, etc.... but in return it increases the risk of neck injury and id much rather a cut or black eye than a neck injury. But hey, it's just an opinion.... but anytime i can avoid wearing headgear, I do.

This.

The vision is the worst part, imo, closely followed by how much you have to adjust it. In my experience, and maybe this is just because I'm a noob, but I much prefer being able to keep my hand glued to my chin than a piece of leather. It feels very different.

 

[CelebritySexist]

I know this is not the "responsible" answer, but in all honesty, I fucking hate wearing headgear. Truthfully, I think it increases the possibility of getting hurt because the leather or synthetic leather actually creates a texure/or tacky surface that when the gloves makes contact it torques, twists and essentially gives the opponents glove a better "bite". Not to mention, headgear increase the circumference of your head and therefore gives the opponent a surface to hit that is outside the body's natural positioning, basically, if you get hit high or outside on the headgear the impact acts as increased leverage on the muscles in the neck/shoulders. That coupled with loss of peripheal vision from headgear twisting or turning is why i think it often is more dangerous in some circumstances. That said, it does assist with preventing cuts, black eyes, etc.... but in return it increases the risk of neck injury and id much rather a cut or black eye than a neck injury. But hey, it's just an opinion.... but anytime i can avoid wearing headgear, I do.

Absolutely these, always, every day.

A very responsible answer.

 

[Connoisseur]

I know this is not the "responsible" answer, but in all honesty, I fucking hate wearing headgear. Truthfully, I think it increases the possibility of getting hurt because the leather or synthetic leather actually creates a texure/or tacky surface that when the gloves makes contact it torques, twists and essentially gives the opponents glove a better "bite". Not to mention, headgear increase the circumference of your head and therefore gives the opponent a surface to hit that is outside the body's natural positioning, basically, if you get hit high or outside on the headgear the impact acts as increased leverage on the muscles in the neck/shoulders. That coupled with loss of peripheal vision from headgear twisting or turning is why i think it often is more dangerous in some circumstances. That said, it does assist with preventing cuts, black eyes, etc.... but in return it increases the risk of neck injury and id much rather a cut or black eye than a neck injury. But hey, it's just an opinion.... but anytime i can avoid wearing headgear, I do.

I'd never even considered those two things... I mean, I think the amount that a glove grips the headgear and increases the torque is probably minimal, but maybe it's more than i'm thinking. Also, the increased surface area that headgear encompasses could present a problem, however I tend to think that if you get hit on the outer part of the headpiece that it would mainly just knock it out of position... but again, very good points.

I just don't like headgear because it's expensive and IMO wouldn't do anything to reduce brain trauma. I also never really get cut (at least not from 16 oz gloves), so i've never felt the need.

I am considering buying the wrestling headgear to protect my ears though, haven't gotten cauli ear yet, and don't plan on it if I can avoid it.