Increasing Recovery Time

It is no mystery that our bodies go through some major changes as we progress from our twenties to our thirties, and our thirties to our forties. In Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, this presents some unique challenges:

- Our flexibility decreases a little.
- Our recovery time slows down between classes.
- Our speed slows down.
- Our game must change to reflect these.

One good thing is that in most cases, we retain or even increase our general strength. But I have found that after a good class, my joints hurt a little more than they did a few years ago. And getting out of bed the next day was simply not as easy as it once was. This was before a friend in class, who is around my age, gave me the most valuable tip: Glutamine.

Glutamine is a supplement that has done wonders for not only my recovery times, but also helped reduce the pains I have felt in my muscles and joints after class. This has in turn allowed me to maintain my activity level and continue to be flexible. I still feel general fatigue, but not the soreness and pain I used to feel.

Wikipedia is a great resource on the technical aspects of Glutamine. So all I can do is attest to benefits of this supplement for myself.

As well, I have also found that having Soy Milk, Yogurt, and a protein shake within 30 minutes of class also has a profound impact on how I feel when going to bed, but also when I wake up.

Sometimes getting older makes you more creative when trying to keep that which is most important.

Ous!

Do what you can.

"We lined up for rolling and Professor made a comment about how a particular blue belt's feet were taped up and how that is the mark of a l33t BJJ student. He asked why they were taped so much to which the student replied, the tape is to cover up mosquito bites from his trip Brazil."

So I am back in action and feeling really good. My head swims again with the game scenarios. As for my specific mindset for training; keep up, work hard, and don't hurt myself. I am aware that I am in the re-building phase; polishing the rust off my tools and putting gas in the tank. My body is responding well thanks to tape, yogurt after class, and as much muscle rest as I can get between classes so they can re-build.

One thing that has been of real value to me is the understanding of compensation. We were working spider guard escapes last class which involved a lot of grip breaking. As I was not using a joystick grip, my fingers got pretty raw, pretty quick. And you never know just how raw your blisters are until you get home and have a shower.

Well, my fingers did not fully heal since last class so I had them bandaged and taped very well. That offered up some good protection. And as for the compensation during rolls, I avoided using certain grips and fell back on joystick and macro grabs. This allowed me to get some good work done and gave my injuries more time to heal for the future.

Do what you can.

Ous.

P.S. I rolled with that blue belt with the foot wrappings and saw some of the mosquito bites. I am surprised he made it out of Brazil alive!

Gassing

I was away from the mat with a thing for the last two weeks. Last night was my first class back where I felt something I had not felt for a long time and certainly never to the extent it hit me yesterday.

Class was pretty normal, although we are in tournament preparation mode for Joslin's in November. And there was nothing out of the ordinary going on. The rolling portion of class Professor put me with the usual heavy hitters for my first two rolls. I felt fine, although I find it difficult to not rely somewhat on strength when out muscled. After these rolls I was paired up with an sneaky opponent that weighed less than me, causing me to move and think at a faster rate.

Near the middle of the third roll, I lost my breath but continued to roll. After my breath left me, my muscles started to work less and less. I felt clumsy and my attacks were more holey than church on Sunday. I kept trying to keep up the attack and gain position and play my game, but I could not hold anything. Credit goes to my opponent, but it was frustrating for me to feel like I could not lock anything in, which is unusual.

After the three rolls, class came to an end. While standing in line, I could not breath. I do not know what asthma feels like, but I imagine it felt like this. I knew I would not die, so it may sound strange, but I enjoyed the agony. I did my best to stay upright, although I did put my hands on my knees once or twice, and see through the fading darkness to pay attention to Professor's words during the final bow. The hardest part about being gassed is to not show that you are gassed, and to not pass out of course.

So I know why I gassed; I drove to damn fast far too early in the race. Two weeks off requires some re-building to get back to proper fighting shape, especially when you were ill. Missing classes is the fastest way to become unhealthy. The flip side is that the fastest way to getting healthy is to make it to every class. But all this lead me to an interesting paradox on gassing: the more you gas, the less you gas. I will be better next class.

Ous.

Staphylococcus

Our club is clear of Staph infections and has been for months now. But watching TUF (The Ultimate Fighter) over the past few weeks was a sad reminder of what happened at our club funnily enough, as it was happening during filming of the show. First of all, Staph infections suck. I had it really bad and so did some, but not all, of my classmates. If you have been reading Got Jits for a while now, you may remember my time doing the Master Cleanse. Well, 2 days into my cleanse, the first red "pimple" like mark showed up on my left forearm. Here is my story...

At first, Staph or Impetigo, shows up as a little dot or pimple. And then becomes 2 or 3 pimple like lesions as the first starts to grow. Then all 3 grow and the area gets red and itchy. As the entire reddened area continues to grow, the center of the break out starts to open up, showing a deep and wet honey colored moisture as the top layer of skin recedes.

By the time you are aware that something is not right, maybe 3 or 4 days later, you get an itch on your jaw. A little bump has appeared where you shave. You attribute it to acne because you have never heard of Staph. Your arm starts to throb and you put Polysporin or maybe even Tea Tree Oil on it. It is time to see a doctor.

By the time you see the doctor, the bumps are all over your neck, where your beard would grow if you let it. The doctor informs you that you have a Staphylococcal infection and that your shaving has caused it to spread from your chin to your neck, in some places bleeding out. Not only that, it may get worse before it gets better. Your arm throbs. Your neck feels dry, but is constantly wet with discharge. And you are no longer allowed to shave. Not even a 1980s turtle neck will save you from the looks of disgust from the people around you.

That was my experience with Staph infection. It really sucked. My pain and suffering was amplified because I thought it was a product of my 3oo calorie a day intake during the Master Cleanse. At this point, I will share my treatment and the expert care in which my Professor sought to quell the outbreak at our club.

Firstly, my doctor put me on a systemic anti-biotic called Flucloxacillin, ingested every day for 6 days. I was also given an Anti-Inflammatory called Hydrocortisone to apply twice daily; this was supposed to weaken the skin, break it down so the wounds would heal faster. After doing a lot of research on Staph, I also added a Triple Antibiotic Ointment to my array of tools to kill the infection. It took around 10 days for the treatment to take effect. 30 days for the wounds to heal. And it has been months since my ordeal and I still have slight discoloration on my arm but my neck shows no trace of the Staph Infection. That is how I dealt with my personal situation.

My Professor, once identifying the beginning of the outbreak immediately took action to protect the un-infected students. He called everyone and asked them if they felt like they had something. If yes, it was time to take a break from training and watch some TV, as well as to go and see a doctor of course. His quick action saved a lot of guys from getting hit and in a few weeks things were back to normal. Our club is also kept very clean which helped keep this incident under a firm control.

The reason I was so descriptive in the beginning of this post was to make sure that if you think you have something to get checked out. Because if you think you have something like Staph, you could easily spread it around. And really, who likes bleeding from the neck? I would have written about this earlier, but the pain was still to close to my heart. Just Kidding. I am posting now because of a quick note in the forum from "FarmBoy", which brought back my entire ordeal. If you got it, good luck. If not, I hope you never get it.

Ous.

Recovery

Funny how sometimes life jumps up and grabs you when you are hitting a stride. I have missed two classes, one due to family obligation and one due to my son bringing home a bug I did not want to spread around. The side effect, I feel that my body has relaxed and healed up from 2 months of constant training.

I admit that I was starting to feel sluggish when rolling; not crisp. But now I feel relaxed and ready for Wednesday's class.

Sometimes it essential to take step back, whether you want to or not, to get back in the mind set of training more effectively. Because BJJ is becoming more entrenched in my life, it is alright to stand back for a moment and take a look at what it is doing for me.

And with my baby girl due in less than 2 months, I will rely on BJJ more and more to a) keep me sane, and b) prepare to intimidate the hell out of future boyfriends 16 years from now with my mad BJJ skills. ;) I think Professor Schilling does private lessons on stare down and intimidation tactics, I will ask him tomorrow.

Ous.

Cauliflower Ear (DIY)

I am not a doctor. But I know my body and am getting old enough to understand that I do not need to see one for every little thing. On Monday, after class, I found that my left ear was pretty sore around the top curve part. It had a bump, like a little pocket of juice under the surface between the cartilage and the skin. As the discomfort continued and I asked for advice in the forums on Tuesday. The consensus was to drain out the fluid.

Being the cautious guy that I am, I decided to wait to see if the discomfort would diminish. I was not afforded that luxury because after class last night, and a few rolls, that little pocket of juice grew. It grew enough so that my sleep was disturbed a few times. In the middle of the night, I grabbed an ice pack that became my new pillow.

So this morning I decided to take action. I did some preparation reading online; I like to study things of this kind of importance. I was then ready to pick up the materials for my little bubble bursting mission. I picked up the following:

• A 10 pack of BD Ultra-Fine II Insulin Syringes (1cc, 8mm, and 30 gauge)
• Gauss
• A triple anti-biotic ointment

Now for the attack. I had given a lot of thought to how I was going to penetrate the skin and suck out the juice for maximum effect. I did not want to stick the needle in and out all over my ear, so one entry point was essential.

At the bottom edge of the bubble, I stuck the needle in upwards so the point was almost parallel beneath the skin, I did not want to hit cartilage. *It is important to bring the needle to the ear and not bend the ear to the needle as it slipped out one time as my ear bent back. Once the needle's point was at, where I though, the center of the bubble was I started to extract. I slowly pulled out .4 cc of dark red and clear fluid.

As the needle exited the hole, a big drop of blood followed. I took the gauss and cleaned it up and applied the anti-biotic to kill any baddies that may want to wander in to the needle's exit point. I felt instant relief from the pressure, although it is still sore to the touch but less so than before. It has not bled since the initial bleeding and I can barely see the entry point. Kudos to the inventors of small needles!

The next part is to keep an eye on it to ensure that it remains drained. Next class is in a while and, with some things, I heal pretty quickly. So I should be good to go before my next roll comes around; I will be defending my ear in any case.

Thank you for the advice from everyone on the subject. I only wished that I had asked for advice on dealing with the discomfort from the pharmacist's attitude when asking for a bunch of needles. That, in this whole process, was the most challenging thing.

Ous.

10 Day Master Cleanse Completed

I have now been training in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu every week for just over 11 months and I can only see myself getting better. I have learned what my limits are at this point and know that I can improve dramatically mentally and physically as I continue training. I have just finished a major mental and physical challenge I laid out for myself about two weeks ago; The Master Cleanse.

Basically the Master Cleanse is a 10 day fast that "new age hippies" engage in to empty out and clean their colon as well as detoxify their system. I am in no way new age or hippie, so I will share my 29 year old, beer drinking, Nintendo playing, UFC watching, normal guy opinion of the hell I just put myself through.

Firstly I must say that this cleanse is not for everyone. It is hard to eat no food for 10 days straight; no chewing, no biting, and no flavour other than lemon juice, cayenne, and pure maple syrup. The only exercise my jaw got was from talking.

The main challenge for someone who trains is the lack of nutrition that our healthy conditioned bodies need. I missed the last two classes because of lack of fuel; which sucks for someone who loves training. If you enjoy training consistently, do not do this cleanse because you will have to miss a couple of classes to complete it.

During the cleanse, I had strong days and weak days. Because I cook dinner for my wife and son, this time was the most challenging because I make tasty stuff. Other than that, my discipline was strong. I found that my mind wanted to stay active but my body would not go. In the end, even my mind got tired and my memory was not working at normal levels.

I lost a few pounds of fat and a some by emptying my colon. I used to hover between 168lbs and 171lbs depending on the day. I now weigh in at 162lbs after the cleanse. I plan on doing some strategic re-building of my weight by concentrating on muscle building using protein shakes, and more anaerobic exercise. I think just eating alone will put more air in the balloon anyway.

In hind sight, I probably should not have done this Master Cleanse, but it is now done and over with. I can now get back to the business of training and getting better. Will I do the cleanse again? I do not know. It depends on how much someone is willing to bet me I guess...

Ous.

P.S. for more info on the Master Cleanse, check out this site: http://www.therawfoodsite.com/

Tape - My New Best Friend

I am back in class now after taking off 3 classes to recover from a hand injury. I was a little nervous when stepping back on the mat because the guys on our team are so good, you miss only one class, you get your ass kicked when you come back.

My concern was not for my stamina because I stayed active while in recovery. My concern was for my hand. Because I had a pretty bad injury with my thumb 5 or 6 months ago, I know what it is like to not have full use of an essential tool for fighting. But how do I contend without the full use of three of my fingers and a messed up wrist. The answer: very carefully.

The key to avoiding re-injury in this case was imobilization. Over the past few weeks of trying to understand what motions caused pain, I figured out how to best effectively tape my fingers together to allow me a desired range of motion while still protecting the healing parts. In this case, two pieces of tape in between the first and second and second and third nuckle holding my index finger and middle finger together. My index finger acted as a splint for my other three injured finger nuckles. And I had full use of my hand.

So at this point, when I see the professionals tape up, I know that there is a reason. And understanding how to tape an injury just right is an essential art in our kind of combat sport. The best part; 6 rolls of hockey tape at Canadian Tire for just 12 bucks. For that price I can get injured every day of the week and twice on Sunday and never go bankrupt buying tape. Thank you Canadian Tire!!!

Ous.

My Recent Inactivity

Over the past two weeks I have been nursing a left hand injury that occurred at the Canadian Nationals that I wrote about a week and a half ago. In the No Gi division, I felt like I was being picked apart by this really kick ass fighter from Joslin's; I do not remember his name. He was up on points and with about a minute and a half to go it happened.

On a pass from Half Guard, my opponent pulled his leg out and attempted to roll up to either a high side mount or north south. The only problem was my elbow was braced to the floor and my hand tried to stop the freight train. The result was my fingers were bent back, I do not know how far, and the match was over. The Ambulance guys slowly made their way over to me with a nice bag of ice and said nothing was broken.

Today I have about 30% strength in my left hand and it sometimes throbs in between my index and middle finger and the blade of my hand. Typing is a bitch as well as some other extra curricular activities... You know, lifting things...

I have taken the last 3 classes off to nurse it and it is getting better. I will be in class next week, but the lure of rolling is sometimes too strong and I may just want to jump in and go. But if I learned anything from my thumb injury from last year is that these things take time. So it looks like I get to watch all the fun happen around me and wait.

Ous.

I have heard Professor say this, and I will take it to heart next time; "Do not get in a position that will turn your injury into a liability".

Injuries Just Happen

It is a full contact sport and sometimes, even with caution, injuries just happen. In Monday's class, I sprained my wrist; big deal. In fact, I did not even realize what had happened until after class when I got home and started to relax and my wrist started to throb and smart when rotated. Nothing a little ice, tensor bandage and some immobilization for a few days would not fix; my wrist feels a little better already.

Sometimes down time is as valuable as uptime, although I prefer uptime. But this week, I just chilled out for the first time in a while. No posts, light workouts and stretching, and focused on some other aspects of my life; there are many. :)

Injuries force a change of pace and helps stave off burn out and more injuries. Like when you get a cold or the flu, your body tells you to chill for a while. But when the sickness is gone, it is back to work time. And since my wrist starting to feel better...

Ous.

Treating Friction Blisters

When I first started training, my feet would constantly get friction blisters from the training mats (Judo tatami at my club). If I trained no-gi, my knees and sometimes elbows would also get scarred up. Painful? Sometimes, but more of a stinging sensation. Annoying? Certainly, because the wounds would not heal before the next class 2 days later.

At first I tried band-aids which would fall off once I started sweating. Then I tried covering the scares with hockey tape and tough it out. It helped a little, but pulling hockey tape off a fresh blister scar was not very pleasant. Then I found this great stuff called New-Skin.

New-Skin is a Liquid Antiseptic Bandage that you litterally paint on your blister, cut, or scar. After I came home from class and threw my kimono in the wash, I would jump in the shower. If you have a friction blister, you feel it in the shower. The pain continues as you get out and dry yourself off. That is the perfect time to paint on the New-Skin Antiseptic Liquid Bandage. If you feel a stinging, paint where you feel it. Sometimes applying the New-Skin can sting nicely, but after a few seconds, the pain is gone.

New-Skin comes in two types; a spray and a liquid type. I recommed picking up the paint brush or liquid kind because you can more accurately paint the stuff on instead of spraying it all over the place. You can also apply more as needed more easily with the liquid type.

New-Skin will generally keep the scar contained until it heals. It will not fall off in training, as it becomes stuck on just like real skin; although like plastic. Sometimes, after a class, you may need to re-apply the stuff. But the stuff is awesome and works great... Certainly worth picking up incase you get a little burnt in class.

Ous.

Getting Past a Thumb Injury

My third month into Brazilian Jiu Jitsu training, I had a pretty bad injury occur to my left thumb. It occurred when I tried to stop an opponent from passing my guard. As they shot their knee over my left leg, I tried to push their knee back. Rather than push with my palm, I missed and caught the knee with my thumb full on. It bent back and snapped.

I had torn the ligaments in my thumb, but it was not a full rupture and there were no bone chips pulled away; good news. My first response was frustration because I knew this could keep me off the mat. But then I spent some time thinking about how I could keep training and not miss any classes, even with one hand. I had also been watching some Brazilian Jiu Jitsu master Jean Jacque Machado videos, so there had to be a way to keep training without the full use of both hands.

After two visits to the doctor and some X-Rays, we decided the best course of action as to isolate and immobilize the joint in order for me to keep training. There was a cast option, but wearing a cast on my hand for 6 weeks was not the way I wanted to go. So we found another alternative; a removable thumb brace.

After a trip to Kinetic Konnection; I walked away with a 60.00 dollar Corflex Low Profile Thumbster thumb brace. This thing was awesome! It completely immobilized my thumb and was strong enough to allow me to continue training. I wore it for 7 weeks and did not miss a class. I was also able to continue rolling because of some very understanding teammates; so my training did not suffer.

Major joint injuries can easily stop you from training, but why let a small joint injury hold you back? If you get an injury, think of ways to keep training, even if it is not at 100%.

Ous.

Sore Rib Cage?

My Brazilian Jiu Jitsu team is diverse in size and weight. I noticed that my rib cage would often be sore after rolling with the larger fighters on my team; those who weighed 30+ lbs more than myself. It took me a while to figure out why I felt the rib cage discomfort and then gave some thought to exactly what was going on in my fighting.

In most cases, larger fighters will get on top of smaller fighters... well in my case anyway. If they were in my guard, they would base up with their hands pushing down on my ribs or lean down and smother. Side mount would lead to some pressure as well. And it really sucked if I ever found myself stuck at the bottom of a knee on belly; the struggle to push out put some pressure on my back as well. These positions, I figured, were the cause of my discomfort.

The solution? Well, now when I role I do everything in my power to avoid being on the bottom, even if it means losing a few seconds of rest when tired. It takes far more energy to get out from under there anyway. And you still have to avoid submission on your way out. I would rather push my way to the side and keep my arms outstretched than fall back and get pinned.

If I ever do find myself on the bottom, it does happen, I want to get up as quickly as possible or at least to the side. It has been working for the past month and a half anyway. Less pain. So if you have sore ribs after rolling with larger fighters, try to stay on top at all costs. It may help if you have a sore rib cage.

Ous.