long term effects of bjj injuries

[FStep]

offcourse most people that do bjj eat right, take vitamins, and exercise on a regular basis which in the long run will make you a healthier person and make up for many of the injuries you incur

now in my case for example i've been doing bjj for about a year at 4-5x/week and i love it, i've gotten my share of injuries as most people do (hyperextended elbow, couple pulled muscles, broken toe, dislocated shoulder, stiff neck, etc) which just makes me wonder if i got all this in 1 year how bad will it be in 10 and how much effect will these have on me when i'm 40 or 50 years old

so any input from people who know what they're talking about or have gone through this and are now in their 40s-50s (please no "if you wanna be good why do you care if you get injured bs")

 

[CrazyCossack]

Can't be all bad, Helio Gracie is still walking around at 93. How many 93 year old's have you seen walk unassisted lol.

Those injuries are gonna happen, but its part of life, youd get those injuries from any sport, like football for example. Are you never going to play sports again so you can live for 3 more years, or live with a little less shoulder pain.

As you get older your body is probably gonna give out on you no matter what, lift a couch wrong one day and your 50 and now you have back problems for the rest of your life. I wouldnt worry too much about it.

 

[FStep]

Can't be all bad, Helio Gracie is still walking around at 93. How many 93 year old's have you seen walk unassisted lol.

Those injuries are gonna happen, but its part of life, youd get those injuries from any sport, like football for example. Are you never going to play sports again so you can live for 3 more years, or live with a little less shoulder pain.

As you get older your body is probably gonna give out on you no matter what, lift a couch wrong one day and your 50 and now you have back problems for the rest of your life. I wouldnt worry too much about it.

i've played football before along with many other sports and i've never gotten this many injuries in such a short period of time as i did from bjj (i like bjj the most of the sports i've played which is why i'm sticking with it) but it does make me wonder how bad its gonna get and you really can't use helio as an example thats like comparing m. jordan to yourself in basketball

 

[b0b]

i've played football before along with many other sports and i've never gotten this many injuries in such a short period of time as i did from bjj (i like bjj the most of the sports i've played which is why i'm sticking with it) but it does make me wonder how bad its gonna get and you really can't use helio as an example thats like comparing m. jordan to yourself in basketball

He is the oldest person who has done BJJ. There aren't many others that old. I don't think it would be any worse than Judo players. Gene Labell seems to be doing fine.

 

[k. mifune]

i've played football before along with many other sports and i've never gotten this many injuries in such a short period of time as i did from bjj (i like bjj the most of the sports i've played which is why i'm sticking with it) but it does make me wonder how bad its gonna get and you really can't use helio as an example thats like comparing m. jordan to yourself in basketball

I can't imagine sustaining more injuries or suffering long-term effects than the ones that stem from American football. There's got to be a reason why almost every pro football player has to retire before the age of forty. If your're sustaining more injuries than an extremely high-impact sport like football, perhaps you should re-examine how you are training, or perhaps you were just an iron-man on the football field:icon_chee

Grandmaster Helio is a great example of the longevity of your ability to practice jiu-jitsu. He has probably never weighed more than 150-160 pounds in his entire life, and had more health problems when he was younger and not training jiu-jitsu. The only thing he claims to make a difference in his overall longevity is the Gracie diet, which he follows religiously. Other than that, he makes no claims as to being special or gifted in any way, he in fact states quite the opposite. I remember during the private lesson I took with him, he made a point of saying (post translation from Portuguese of course) after each thing he demostrated that if he could do it as a frail old man, just think how I would be able to perform as a young man.

 

[Alzi_]

Can't be all bad, Helio Gracie is still walking around at 93. How many 93 year old's have you seen walk unassisted lol.

That's because Helio only has sex to procreate. Seriously though, his diet has a lot to do with it. It is said when Carlos Gracie died all of his body organs were found to be in perfect shape except his heart and that was because of a heart disorder he was afflicted with since birth.

 

[Resident A-hole]

The human body was meant to be active, BJJ is much better for it than sitting on the couch, playing golf, or any other recreational activity. It's exercise. You won't see any longterm breakdown from it unless you overdo it. We just need to scale back the frequency and intensity of our training as we get into our late 30s & beyond.

The breakdown you see in NFL players for example is because they maintained massive bodies for so long to be able to play. Bulking your body up to 300+lbs when it wasn't meant to be that big will definitely deteriorate your joints. You really don't see that too much in oter sports, maybe just bad knees.

 

[SwiftMcvay]

The human body was meant to be active, BJJ is much better for it than sitting on the couch, playing golf, or any other recreational activity. It's exercise. You won't see any longterm breakdown from it unless you overdo it. We just need to scale back the frequency and intensity of our training as we get into our late 30s & beyond.

The breakdown you see in NFL players for example is because they maintained massive bodies for so long to be able to play. Bulking your body up to 300+lbs when it wasn't meant to be that big will definitely deteriorate your joints. You really don't see that too much in oter sports, maybe just bad knees.

Being 300+ pounds isn't what causes players to be injured. Its having other 300 pound fuckers falling on your knees/ankles in the trenches and causing your limbs to twist in ways that were not meant to happen. Same thing goes for any position in football. Its a collision sport, and you have massive people running into each other full speed, and you can land in a lot of weird positions that your limbs aren't meant to be in.

As far as the original poster, you will be fine. Bumps and bruises are gonna happen. BJJ isn't that rough of a sport. You can definately be pretty sore from it the next day, but as long as you are careful and avoid big time injuries (dislocated limbs, muscle/tendon tears, compound fractures, etc.) you should be fine. Just make sure to tap out when you are put in a submission, and IMHO you should have zero problems from it down the road.

I just looked over your list of injuries again though, and it seems like you've just had a bad run of luck over the past year. keep with it and those things will probably stop happening, but either way, i really don't see it being a problem in the future. I'm only 20 though, so take my advice for what its worth.

 

[chokingvictim]

So far, I'm almost exactly 2 months into BJJ and my fingers are killing me. I think I'm getting tendonitis. I'm not sure what to do about it though. I know a doctor will tell me to take a break, but I would like to think that I'll get conditioned to things if I just keep going.

Other than that, the only risks you have to worry about would possibly be people yanking submissions too hard/quickly and breaking something.

 

[Zankou]

So far, I'm almost exactly 2 months into BJJ and my fingers are killing me. I think I'm getting tendonitis. I'm not sure what to do about it though. I know a doctor will tell me to take a break, but I would like to think that I'll get conditioned to things if I just keep going.

Other than that, the only risks you have to worry about would possibly be people yanking submissions too hard/quickly and breaking something.

Just stop gripping the gi man. JJ Machado did just fine without fingers on one hand. You can go a long way just by playing with hooks and body weight. You're probably holding on way too hard.

 

[chokingvictim]

^^ I actually think it may be caused from doing judo once a week, then irritated by doing BJJ 3x a week.

 

[Tazz]

Look at Helio man, hes fucking 91 and he moves and fights better than most 30 year olds. I mean, people chuck him about in the club, to takedowns on him(especially Royler), the old guy doesnt even give a shit. It will sure make you stronger, i mean look at BJJ and Judo guys, their HUGE guys literally built. If you keep training, and eat well, you'll end up the same in 6-7 years.

 

[CrazyCossack]

Look at Helio man, hes fucking 91 and he moves and fights better than most 30 year olds. I mean, people chuck him about in the club, to takedowns on him(especially Royler), the old guy doesnt even give a shit. It will sure make you stronger, i mean look at BJJ and Judo guys, their HUGE guys literally built. If you keep training, and eat well, you'll end up the same in 6-7 years.

Haha I have the funniest image in my mind of Royler planting Helio into the mat.

 

[ClubberLange]

One thing I've found that has helped tremendously with injuries is slowing down the intensity of your rolling.
People always say roll light to be more technical. This may or may not be true.
To me the reason I roll light is to avoid (more) injuries.
Oh, and if your a relatively small guy like me, don't roll with the monsters all the time.

 

[Oktavius**]

You need to slow down a little, the elbow and dislocated shoulder are bad. Dislocated joints are VERY bad. If your still young 25< things like that wont worry your but after that....

 

[Tom Hishon]

I trained crazy full speed, full contact for a few years and all you get is hurt. I took some time off and just lifted weights. I started rolling again and am better. I train alot smarter, as I am 36, and won't heal like I used too. Safe the 100% shit for tournaments or mma fights. That saves on injuries. The top guys rarely if ever go balls out. If you do, you are going to get hurt and you won't be able to train. Train smart and train with people you know. That will cut back on alot of those injuries.

 

[TheHighlander]

If you're getting dislocations the problem isn't how hard you train but how smart you train. That being said, takedowns lead to significantly more injuries that groundwork, unless you're stupid about tapping.

If your still young 25< things like that wont worry your but after that....

Actually, many recurring injuries are often from when we are younger. A 20 year old that pops his shoulder will heal faster and be less likely to change his patterns much to avoid a reoccurance. A 35 year old with the exact same injury is more likely to change his patterns.

 

[Gsoares2***]

Injuries are a direct relation to how you roll. The guys that get injured alot are normaly the guys with the big egos. They are constantly pushing things to their limits so they can win.
I think alot of guys would get much less injuries if they just calmed down and wearnt so torn up about tapping here and there.

Injuries are going to happen no matter what. Its part of bjj. We are modern day gladiators and we fight everyday. If there is a kind of fighting you do that you never get hurt in, I for one do not want to do it. If your trianing to inflict pain on someone else. Its only normal for you to feel pain throughout it.........

I try to roll as often as possible. To be rolling 10 times aweek some weeks, my biggest concern is injuries. If you get injured you cant train, and thats the biggest enemy people have in jiujitsu. Finding a way to roll light and avoid injuries is more importan than a vicotry of this person or that person. Consistant training is what will get you the best end results in my opinion.


Ok i went off on a ran...