Injured in MMA 5 Times in 6 Months

Training
1

Okay, I know this probably should be in the Injuries and Rehab forum, but I’m trying to figure out why I keep getting injured rather than how to fix it. (Got that part as much under control as can be expected). I figure seeing as all the injuries I’ve gotten happened training for MMA, the replies I get here would be more helpful than that forum.

I’ve been training with an MMA club since last October after previously competing in powerlifting for 5 years. I’m 26 years old, and in pretty reasonable shape fitness and conditioning-wise. Since Feburary I have (in order) partially torn a rotator cuff drilling arm bars from mount; pulled tendons in my forearm when a guy tryed to kimura me, told him it wasn’t on properly so he yanked my elbow up resulting in some nasty popping sounds; pulled my rectus femoris running hill sprints; badly jarred shoulder hitting the mat several time during a BJJ session (the mat isn’t that thick, but still); and finally, this saturday just gone, I tore the cartilage in my ribcage rolling with my instructor.

I do realise that it is a sport where injuries happen, but it seems like as soon as I get one injury to the point where I can train again I fuck myself in some other way. Has anyone else had injuries this frequently, how do you get around it, and more importantly how do you avoid doing it in the first place?

It was mentioned to me that my instructors may not know what they’re doing, but they have been doing this for a while, and have been successful themselves, as well as the people they train.

Any suggestions (besides telling me to quit) would definately be appreciated.

Wheels of Steel

2

Sorry to hear about the injuries you’ve experienced, shit sucks.

In my experience (training judo), not many guys have much of a run without injuries, so you said it right when you said “it’s a sport where injuries happen”.

Just to share my experiences, in the last 12 months I’ve dislocated my right shoulder fully three times, and had to partially dislocated at least a dozen times. I’ve got a partial anterior tear of the labrum. I had to take about 6 weeks off at one point, and when I came back it was slow going, then once I was feeling pretty good for about 2 weeks I got thrown on my head and stretched the shit out of a nerve that controls my anterior delt (in the other shoulder this time), which paralysed my shoulder totally for two weeks, as well as spraining my AC which is nice and springy now. Had to take several weeks off because of bulging disc’s in my lower back.
These are the major things, of course theres all the usual stuff, torn nails, mat burn, bruises, pulled and strained muscles.

And then you look around the club and see the guys who have been doing it for a long time (30+ years) and see what they’ve got “wrong” with them, hip and knee replacements, shoulder surgeries. Others who have gotten unlucky and have a torn hamstring. Broken fingers. Cracked ribs.

But we all love what we do, and wouldn’t trade it for the world. Sometimes doctors/surgeons/concerned family members will suggest you stop, and yeah, maybe you should. Maybe you’ll live to 120 years old but your life will have been boring as shit. I do judo because I love judo. When I’m not there I’m thinking about it. When I’m injured I’m on the side of the mat watching, or I’m at home reading about it, or watching videos of it. When I can’t train it drives me crazy.

So here’s my quick and disorganised list of things to do to minimise time off the mats;

  1. Know your body and what it can take. Sometimes it’s smart to take a little longer off than you want to. Sometimes it’s better to go easy when rolling/sparring/in randoori or whatever it is that you. Sometimes it better to sit some things out. But you have to know when, and that’s hard.

  2. Having a good pre-hab re-hab program is vital. I guess this also includes a balanced strength/conditioning/flexibility program also. Be obsessive about pre/re-hab.

  3. Use ice and heat, anti-inflamtories, a good diet.

  4. Warm up properly, if the classes warm up isn’t sufficient get there early and do your own.

  5. Cool down properly, at our club it’s common practice to go straight from randoori to bow, shower and beer. I take the time to jog around the mats, stretch etc.

  6. Let the other people you train with know about your injuries. If you’ve got bad shoulders, don’t just let people rip arm-bars on in practice. Ask them to be careful in free-practice.

  7. Don’t practice with the “cowboys” in your class, only practice with those people that know about your current injuries and will give you respect. Practice with the people that make you feel safe and have the knowledge and experience to keep you safe, and have their ego’s in check enough that they don’t need to come at you to smash you. Higher ranked or more experienced students should be good at letting you set the pace to where you are comfortable.

  8. Do what you’re doing now and ask others how they’ve dealt with specific injuries. For example I now go on the mat with both shoulders taped, it looks freaking ridiculous but it has helped ALOT. Other guys wear knee braces, ankle braces, taped fingers etc.

I know this is pretty general and is probably stuff you’ve already worked out, but just know you’re not alone. If you’re smart (and lucky) you might actually have a period of months without any sort of major injury.

3

Wow for real…if I got that many injuries I wouldn’t even be training in that shit. Injuries fucking suck…go to boxing man, you only get punched in the face and you don’t have to worry about breaking a million bones, tearing cartlidges and all that other bullshit. Ya you might break your nose, but who cares it doesn’t affect your daily life and you can still train very hard.

4

You want to compete in it? What are your goals? If you just want to learn how to defend yourself, and/or gain fitness, then I agree with Rasturai. Choose boxing. You’re less likely to attain similar injuries, or as much of them as you do now.

Maybe the mats are too thin at your gym. Are your partners too rough? How’s the instructor? How good is the gym and instructor? Have they brought up any good fighers?(just because a good fighter trains AT the gym doesn’t mean that the gym is good enough to create good fighters by itself)

5

I am going to agree with Anon. on this one, especially knowing yourself is important.
When you feel bad or feel like this day just isn’t your day, inform people about it and take care of injuries on at a time. Don’t be a badass that trains despite injuries, you are just going to aggravate them and get in deeper.

Let you body heal up fully, take your time off and get back at it the moment you can.
Good luck!

6

[quote]Anon. wrote:
Sorry to hear about the injuries you’ve experienced, shit sucks.

In my experience (training judo), not many guys have much of a run without injuries, so you said it right when you said “it’s a sport where injuries happen”.

Just to share my experiences, in the last 12 months I’ve dislocated my right shoulder fully three times, and had to partially dislocated at least a dozen times. I’ve got a partial anterior tear of the labrum. I had to take about 6 weeks off at one point, and when I came back it was slow going, then once I was feeling pretty good for about 2 weeks I got thrown on my head and stretched the shit out of a nerve that controls my anterior delt (in the other shoulder this time), which paralysed my shoulder totally for two weeks, as well as spraining my AC which is nice and springy now. Had to take several weeks off because of bulging disc’s in my lower back.
These are the major things, of course theres all the usual stuff, torn nails, mat burn, bruises, pulled and strained muscles.

And then you look around the club and see the guys who have been doing it for a long time (30+ years) and see what they’ve got “wrong” with them, hip and knee replacements, shoulder surgeries. Others who have gotten unlucky and have a torn hamstring. Broken fingers. Cracked ribs.

But we all love what we do, and wouldn’t trade it for the world. Sometimes doctors/surgeons/concerned family members will suggest you stop, and yeah, maybe you should. Maybe you’ll live to 120 years old but your life will have been boring as shit. I do judo because I love judo. When I’m not there I’m thinking about it. When I’m injured I’m on the side of the mat watching, or I’m at home reading about it, or watching videos of it. When I can’t train it drives me crazy.

So here’s my quick and disorganised list of things to do to minimise time off the mats;

  1. Know your body and what it can take. Sometimes it’s smart to take a little longer off than you want to. Sometimes it’s better to go easy when rolling/sparring/in randoori or whatever it is that you. Sometimes it better to sit some things out. But you have to know when, and that’s hard.

  2. Having a good pre-hab re-hab program is vital. I guess this also includes a balanced strength/conditioning/flexibility program also. Be obsessive about pre/re-hab.

  3. Use ice and heat, anti-inflamtories, a good diet.

  4. Warm up properly, if the classes warm up isn’t sufficient get there early and do your own.

  5. Cool down properly, at our club it’s common practice to go straight from randoori to bow, shower and beer. I take the time to jog around the mats, stretch etc.

  6. Let the other people you train with know about your injuries. If you’ve got bad shoulders, don’t just let people rip arm-bars on in practice. Ask them to be careful in free-practice.

  7. Don’t practice with the “cowboys” in your class, only practice with those people that know about your current injuries and will give you respect. Practice with the people that make you feel safe and have the knowledge and experience to keep you safe, and have their ego’s in check enough that they don’t need to come at you to smash you. Higher ranked or more experienced students should be good at letting you set the pace to where you are comfortable.

  8. Do what you’re doing now and ask others how they’ve dealt with specific injuries. For example I now go on the mat with both shoulders taped, it looks freaking ridiculous but it has helped ALOT. Other guys wear knee braces, ankle braces, taped fingers etc.

I know this is pretty general and is probably stuff you’ve already worked out, but just know you’re not alone. If you’re smart (and lucky) you might actually have a period of months without any sort of major injury.

[/quote]

Sadly, these types of injuries are what scared me out of Judo. I did it in highschool and when I returned from college, went back to my old club. One of the head instructors had to have some of spine fused together. The guy I was practicing with recently broke one of his fingers. When one of the guys did a leg sweep throw to me, I felt my leg start bending the wrong way which scared the shit out of me.

Maybe I’m older and experienced enough injuries. Judo is awesome though. But for me, it’s too risky. This is why I now train in kendo.

7

Some guys just aren’t built to compete.

8

[quote]FightinIrish26 wrote:
Some guys just aren’t built to compete.[/quote]
You really believe in that?

9

[quote]silkyhorse wrote:

[quote]FightinIrish26 wrote:
Some guys just aren’t built to compete.[/quote]
You really believe in that?[/quote]

Hell yea I do.

No matter how good or bad a fighter a professional is, they’re truly cut from a different cloth as far as genetics go- just the ability to withstand the punishment of training and fighting, that’s something most people can’t do.

And you’ll have it on the opposite end, where some guys just can’t stay healthy long enough to really even get good, forget getting into competing.

Believe me dude, I have blown out my shoulder at least three times, I’ve got rotator cuff problems in both arms, shit is constantly inflamed on me, and I’ve got hand problems to boot. And that’s from training. If I was competing, fuckin forget it.

10

[quote]FightinIrish26 wrote:

[quote]silkyhorse wrote:

[quote]FightinIrish26 wrote:
Some guys just aren’t built to compete.[/quote]
You really believe in that?[/quote]

Hell yea I do.

No matter how good or bad a fighter a professional is, they’re truly cut from a different cloth as far as genetics go- just the ability to withstand the punishment of training and fighting, that’s something most people can’t do.

And you’ll have it on the opposite end, where some guys just can’t stay healthy long enough to really even get good, forget getting into competing.

Believe me dude, I have blown out my shoulder at least three times, I’ve got rotator cuff problems in both arms, shit is constantly inflamed on me, and I’ve got hand problems to boot. And that’s from training. If I was competing, fuckin forget it. [/quote]
I got your point. Glad I asked.

11

You’ve been given good advice in this post, most of which I was going to say. So I’ll second what I feel is the most important point: this sport may just not be for you. Don’t be offended or take it personally :slight_smile:

You’re old enough to understand that most successful athletes have a genetic advantage, right? Well it doesn’t apply to just strength, speed, power, agility, coordination, etc. It also applies to durability.

So basically what fightinirish said :slight_smile:

On a personal note, I have a good friend of the family who was a serious judoka. He actually traveled to Japan twice to learn, and owned a few dojos.

He had double hip replacement surgery in his 50s, he’s 67 now - and he’s a pathetic sight to see.

He misses judo and exercising so much. It drives him crazy. He’s filled with nervous energy and wants to exercise, go for long walks with his powerful dog, and hike up into the mountains where he owns some chestnut forests. However the most he can do is a half hour walk. And if he has his 120 lb dog, he’s lucky to make it 20 minutes.

Sorry to be a bummer but that could be the price down the road.

12

I’ve been doing BJJ for over eight years, I’m a brown belt, and my experience tells me that while some injuries are part of the game there are those who are predisposed to being injured. Also, keep in mind that if you are doing MMA you are going to be pretty beat up all the time, especially if you do not take care of your body seriously. Some people like to do everything intensly, strike, bjj, and strength and conditioning but the minute you mention some self myofacial techniques or sauna or anything to heal their body they just dismiss you like you’re a pussy. You need to take your healing as serious as your training and even then you will still be beat up most of the time.

Antonhter word of advice that has helped me is to not train with those who are too close to your level very often. Go with better as you will get schooled and learn a bunch and go with lesser as you will impose your will and train your technique. Competitive sparring sessions is where you sharpen the knife but if you sharpen a knife too much it breaks apart.

13

Agree with BJJER. Plus look at your injuries and the causes. If you getting hurt incidentally with the training, its one thing. If your getting injured as a result of your training parters being assholes, its totally different. I’ve torn my ACL and had minor things here and there over the years but they were all just bad luck and shitty situations. I’ve seen lots of guys get hurt because their instructors really didn’t know what they were doing or because their training partners did know the difference between a competitive Tuesday night roll and the NAGA finals.

14

For christ sake, this thread is depressive.

Know your limits and how to work around injuries(not over it)

When i would hurt my elbow from sparring on standup, i would focus more on ground technique and training while my elbow healed up and took it light with standup.

Going over your injuries is the worst thing you can do, i did that in the beginning and it made me stay out of the game for quite a long time due to not hearing my body, he is your best partner and the best one to hear in case of injuries.

Also, don’t be fucking stupid and keep rolling with people that you know they will hurt you, learn to tap even if its not properly locked if you see he is going to hurt you, that way you avoid some really bad injuries.

15

Managing your injuries is just as important as conditioning and skill work. You’re going to get hurt. If you cant accept that, maybe you should think about another sport. I could write a wall o’text with all my injuries. A fighters job is to hurt the other guy/girl more than he/she hurts you. Dont kid yourself.

If you get hurt, stop and heal all the way before getting back into it.

16

Hey, thanks to everybody for takin the time to respond to my questions, and thanks for giving me sound advice on what to do about injuries, and training in general.
I guess the main thing I wanted to know, was is it normal to be injured with this sort of frequecy, or am I having an especially shitty run of bad luck?
There’s few questions I’m gonna respond to specifically, but most of the stuff mentioned, I think I covered in my original post.
Beyond that, I think I’m good to go

17

[quote]rasturai wrote:
Wow for real…if I got that many injuries I wouldn’t even be training in that shit. Injuries fucking suck…go to boxing man, you only get punched in the face and you don’t have to worry about breaking a million bones, tearing cartlidges and all that other bullshit. Ya you might break your nose, but who cares it doesn’t affect your daily life and you can still train very hard.

[/quote]

I would, but 1) I’m a sook, and I’m not that keen on repeatedly being punched in the head, and 2) I like the variety of techniques that we learn in MMA.
Having said that, I find that I enjoy grappling more and am considering concentrating more on that (see 1))

18

[quote]silkyhorse wrote:
You want to compete in it? What are your goals?

How good is the gym and instructor? Have they brought up any good fighers?(just because a good fighter trains AT the gym doesn’t mean that the gym is good enough to create good fighters by itself)[/quote]

I’d like to have at least one MMA fight, just to know that I can. Over here theres 2 sets of rules for amateurs; full UFC-style rules (5min rounds, elbows on the ground), and B-class (3x3min rounds, no elbows at all, no knees to the head while standing, no strikes to the head on the ground, and you have to wear leg guards). It does sound kinda wimpy, but its less intimidating for novices, and the grappling in general seems to be a little bit more skilled.
Beyond that, I’d like to maybe do a few BJJ and no-gi competitions.

In response to your question about my instructors, my MMA instuctors ran a chain of 11 gyms back in South Africa before they moved here, and trained some national and international level kicboxers, and my BJJ instructor has a couple of national champs, and a blue belt who got third in his class at Abu Dhabi a few month ago. Not that I have much basis for comparison, but I’d say they’re OK.

19

[quote]BJJER wrote:
I’ve been doing BJJ for over eight years, I’m a brown belt, and my experience tells me that while some injuries are part of the game there are those who are predisposed to being injured. Also, keep in mind that if you are doing MMA you are going to be pretty beat up all the time, especially if you do not take care of your body seriously. Some people like to do everything intensly, strike, bjj, and strength and conditioning but the minute you mention some self myofacial techniques or sauna or anything to heal their body they just dismiss you like you’re a pussy. You need to take your healing as serious as your training and even then you will still be beat up most of the time.

Antonhter word of advice that has helped me is to not train with those who are too close to your level very often. Go with better as you will get schooled and learn a bunch and go with lesser as you will impose your will and train your technique. Competitive sparring sessions is where you sharpen the knife but if you sharpen a knife too much it breaks apart.[/quote]

This all seems like pretty solid, common sense stuff, but its always good to get another perspective on things than my own. I’ll definatly have to try the training with different skill levels thing, or at least more than I do now.

One (more) question, tho: Is self myofacial work the same or similar to foam rolling? Did a quick search, and couldn’t find anything too helpful

20

[quote]Anon. wrote:

Just to share my experiences, in the last 12 months I’ve dislocated my right shoulder fully three times, and had to partially dislocated at least a dozen times. I’ve got a partial anterior tear of the labrum. I had to take about 6 weeks off at one point, and when I came back it was slow going, then once I was feeling pretty good for about 2 weeks I got thrown on my head and stretched the shit out of a nerve that controls my anterior delt (in the other shoulder this time), which paralysed my shoulder totally for two weeks, as well as spraining my AC which is nice and springy now. Had to take several weeks off because of bulging disc’s in my lower back.
These are the major things, of course theres all the usual stuff, torn nails, mat burn, bruises, pulled and strained muscles.

And then you look around the club and see the guys who have been doing it for a long time (30+ years) and see what they’ve got “wrong” with them, hip and knee replacements, shoulder surgeries. Others who have gotten unlucky and have a torn hamstring. Broken fingers. Cracked ribs.[/quote]

Ouch, just ouch.

[quote]
But we all love what we do, and wouldn’t trade it for the world. Sometimes doctors/surgeons/concerned family members will suggest you stop, and yeah, maybe you should. Maybe you’ll live to 120 years old but your life will have been boring as shit. [/quote]

That was my take on it as well. I work in a job (welding and fabrication) thats much more likely to fuck my body in the long term (heavy lifting, toxic fumes, angle grinders, industrial machinery) so if I’m gonna be broken and fucked up anyway I’d like to have at least attempted to do something interesting.