Today I am going to talk about what to do when you are injured and can’t train BJJ. I received this question from Mariah Shidell, who wants to know what she can do to prevent falling behind in BJJ when she is out because of an injury. Thank you for the great question Mariah.

This is a question that has driven me crazy as well throughout my jiu-jitsu career. There have been many times in the past where I was training very hard, then due to an injury I missed 1 or 2 months of training. I worried that my BJJ would get worse after I returned to training. Also, I worried if my technique would get worse. I thought about what I should do to keep my body moving in order to come back at the same level of BJJ.

I always recommend that if you don’t have an injury, then you should try to train as much as possible. Some people can’t train as much as others due to work and family responsibilities and I understand that. However, try to train as much as possible when you are healthy. I say this because many times you will be unable to train due to injuries.

Here is what I try to do when I’m out with an injury. First, I work out the rest of my body. For example, if I have a knee injury, then I go to the gym and lift weights to work on my upper body strength.

The second thing I do is go to the academy and watch the classes. You can learn a lot by watching the instructor show techniques during jiu-jitsu class. You can also learn a lot by watching people rolling and training. I feel it’s very important to keep engaged with jiu-jitsu when you have injuries.

The third thing you can do is watch BJJ on youtube or FloGrappling from your home. You can watch instructional videos as well.

The fourth thing is don’t worry too much about missing classes. I believe that many times these forced breaks from BJJ training are good for your learning process. I think that after being injured for 1 or 2 months and you come back to training, you will be more motivated and have more fire to compete.

The fifth thing is to try to recover from your injury as quickly as you can. Do as much physical therapy as possible to make your body stronger and recover faster.

These are the five main things I try to do when I am injured.

Hopefully, these tips can really help you because I am speaking from my own personal experiences. I have had so many injuries throughout my BJJ career. I had surgeries on both knees and I hurt my chest and wrist badly. Also I broke my foot once and dislocated my elbow.

Whatever sport you practice, I believe that if you train very hard, then you will get hurt at some point during training or competition. When you push the limits of any sport you practice, whether it is tennis, jogging or BJJ, injuries are bound to happen.

Here is the breakdown of my key tips on what to do when you are injured and can’t train BJJ:

1. Whatever part of your body is injured then try to work out the rest of your body. For example, if you have an elbow injury then go to the gym and do squats to make your legs stronger.
2. Go to your academy and watch the classes. See what techniques your instructor is teaching. You can learn a lot if you watch people rolling and training.
3. Watch BJJ matches on youtube or watch instructional videos. It’s very important to remain engaged in BJJ.
4. Don’t worry too much about missing classes. These forced layoffs due to injuries can actually help with the learning process. You will probably come back even more motivated.
5. Do as much physical therapy as you can in order to get back on the mats as soon as possible.

I hope these tips help you in dealing with annoying injuries. Oss.