Whether it's calf strain from running, or a twisted ankle from Basketball, you can expect some sort of injury when you're doing sports. In Jiu Jitsu, they're less common than you might think, especially if you're training properly, but they still happen. Here's some advice on how to avoid some common ones, and how to deal with them even if they do occur.

1. Warm Up Right

Oh you've heard this one before. Make sure you warm up before exercise. But how much attention do you pay in warm ups? If there's a movement that requires mobility and focus to open the hips, for example, do you go through the motions or do you put focus into it?

A lot of people have their own warm ups that they do before the session warm up. You'll see people loosening out hips or shoulders at the edge of the mat when they come in. Why not give yourself some extra attention in a tight area before you kick off your session?

2. Train at 70%

One man's 70% is different from another's of course, and it's not always easy to define what we mean by a percentage. The point is that putting in effort isn't always about doing the maximum in every session, despite what motivational videos will tell you. This goes in particular for sparring, which whould always be a technical battle rather than a kill or be killed war!

70% training means you'll be more technical, avoid injury, and it has the added bonus of being more fun. Not only all of that, you'll find you're less sore, and more able to do more sessions in your week, which is the best way to improve.

3. Don't ignore the niggles

There's roughly two types of injury. The first type is the OW! The one that hurts right away and stops you in your tracks. This is, thankfully, the most rare in Jiu Jitsu.

The most common is actually the one that kind of bugs you over time. The niggle in your elbow, the tightness in your back, the pinch in your hamstring. I equate these to the disaster movies. These are the rattling bolt on the brakes of the train that the lazy mechanic forgets to tighten at the start of the movie. Every now and then, the action cuts back to the bolt as it rattles looser and looser, until bang! the brakes break when the driver tries to pull them half an hour in.

Pay attention to the niggles! They might be a simple fix when you feel them first, but they could develop into a train wreck if you ignore them!

We could be here all day on this topic, but hopefully that's enough to go on for this week.

See you on the mat soon,

Barry