I was observing a jiu-jitsu class last night and was considering the types of injuries that might be common to each student. The class was split into three parts: warm up, learning of new techniques and sparring.

The warm up class involved light cardio exercises followed by floor exercises mimicking movements they do during sparring.

During the learning of new techniques – students were taught new moves and ample time was given to practise through repetition.

Sparring section consisted of pairing up to practise all of what they have learnt and get a chance to incorporate the new techniques.

Here are some possible areas of injuries and advice on managing them.

FLEXIBILITY of your muscles and joints are very important.

MUSCLE STAMINA is more important than brute strength. Holding down your oponent gives you more an advantage.

JOINT FLEXIBILITY is absolutely essential in getting your self out of locks as well as out manouvering your oponent into submission.

From what I have seen, i believe that students need to do therapeutic stretching to major muscle groups such as the calf, hamstrings, latissimus dorsi, trapezius, biceps, triceps. These stretches are special because you would need to sustain a stretch for at least 30 secs and repeatedly until you have achieved greater muscle length. This cannot be done during the warm up session, you just don’t have the time. In any case, these therapeutic stretches weaken your muscles because they need time to heal, that is why they are done in the days you are not training with your teacher.

You won’t be able to stretch all your muscles, so you will need deep sports massage to help you reach deeper muscles and as long as you stay relaxed during the stretches done by the therapist, your nervous system can switch off and allow a deeper stretch to occur.

In addition at OPRC, the osteopaths can use trigger point therapy to relax stubborn muscles giving you a faster way to get flexible. FASCIAL stretches are also important to get global change in your tissues.

Men have typically more shortened muscles than women, though there are exceptions. Clinical experience tells us that a combination of sports massage, osteopathic treatment together with your own stretching routines will give you a more satisfying feeling of greater muscle flexbility during your training.

Learning new techniques are hard enough- don’t let your muscle inflexibility be your weakness- let oprc help you enjoy your sport. Call 6327 8545 for your assesment.