MMA: Avoiding Injuries In Martial Arts

MMA training is key.

by Lance LeVan

I need to start my blog off with a disclaimer each time.  I am not a doctor, nutritionist, mental therapist, psychologist, physical therapist (PT), etc, etc, etc.  Everything you read in my blog is either my opinions or things that I have researched on my own.  With that being said...enjoy.

If you train in any of the martial arts (MMA, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Tae Kwon Do, Jeet Kune Do, etc), for any length of time, you are going to get injured.  Injuries can be anything from a blister to a sprained or dislocated finger/toe...all the way to a fractured vertebrae.  Injuries happen...can't get around it.  But there are a lot of injuries that can be minimized or prevented by doing some preventative things.  I spoke with a physical therapist from TMI Sports Medicine who gave me the following advice about avoiding injuries:

Start with dynamic warm-ups.  These include short jogging, sit-ups, running stairs, jumping rope, etc.  These are some things that increase your core temperature and gently stretch core muscle groups.  

Next, begin class, drilling, sparring, rolling, whatever your martial art does for the learning part of your class.  In BJJ, we begin by learning the technique of the day/week, then we get with a partner and drill the technique over and over.  We finish up by sparring/rolling with 75-80% resistance.

Finally, you should have a cool down period.  Deep breathing (in through the nose, out through the mouth) and static stretching should be done. Static stretching is the "normal" kind of stretching we all think of....touching your toes, calf stretching, hurdle stretches, stretching your lower back and your abdomen.

Again, I'm not a nutritionist, but I'm willing to bet that each and every person that reads this could stand to improve his/her diet.  Nutrition plays a huge part in sports performance and injury recovery.  Also, and I cannot say this loud enough....HYDRATE.  Drink more water.  If you think you drink enough water, I'm willing to bet that you don't.  It is very difficult to suffer from water intoxication and the related issue of hyponatremia (google it).  You would need to drink more than 4 gallons of water a day.