Fighters Only

Issue 088

May 2012

Being less than 100% isn’t an excuse to sit around crunching Doritos all day – get back to work!

Paul McVeigh

TUF 14 cast member Paul McVeigh is a sports scientist and a pro fighter, ranked as the number-one bantamweight in Europe.

You’ve probably noticed mixed martial arts is a contact sport and, as such, the risk of injury is pretty high. You may well be the most finely tuned, injury-proof guy around, with alignment and soft tissue quality that makes physiotherapists weep with joy, but that will not help your leg when someone is determined to do their best impression of the ankle lock-happy Rousimar Palhares on you.

I spoke to BJJ super coach Rodrigo Medeiros about this and he believed that once you become a purple belt you’re pretty much hooked for life and it’s only the accumulation of injuries that end up forcing you out of the sport.

The most important aspect in training around an injury is to ensure you are being pushed and continue to feel like an athlete despite what has befallen you. For both your physical and your mental wellbeing. Dealing with these roadblocks can determine your longevity and success in combat sports.

Head Injuries and Cuts

I have to admit, the strength coach in me loves a facial laceration. It’s almost impossible to get MMA athletes to stop sparring long enough to really work on developing their athleticism otherwise (you’d be pretty dumb to continue sparring with one). A head injury or cut gives you time to focus on picking up heavy stuff and getting stronger. For most athletes, getting freakishly strong is the fastest way to improve their sporting performance.

The development of strength occurs quickly when the body does not have to deal with the competing demands of sparring, pads and other energy system-intense training. I would recommend four training sessions a week (two upper body and two lower body) based upon big compound movements, like trap bar dead lifts, squats, bench presses and pull-ups. Ensure you have adequate recovery between sessions and the strength gains will happen.

On the subject of head injuries it is important that your gym has a protocol to follow whenever someone gets hurt. You should be completely symptom free for at least a week before engaging in physical activity, which includes the stuff here. Getting a concussion sucks but getting one on top of a pre-existing concussion is stupid and dangerous. If you do not have a head injury protocol email me at [email protected].

Joint Injuries

If you have an injury to the lower body, train your upper body to death and vice versa. But what about the opposite joint? I have heard of guys neglecting to train a healthy limb as they do not want to develop a mega leg and a contrasting weedy leg. It’s hard to see how having two weedy legs is an improvement. There’s no reason; your lovely neural system ensures that by training the healthy limb the injured one gets a training effect. How much? Well between 10–77% of the strength gains of the healthy limb.

Here are some ideas. The research suggests three to six sets of three to six reps with a three- to six-second eccentric (lowering) phase for maximum carryover to the injured limb.

Performing these exercises while you’re hurt should allow you to improve, or at least maintain, the strength you have in your good leg, and minimize the losses on your injured side.

Lower-back injuries

These are the worst types of injury to pick up from a training perspective. What you can do is really determined by the nature of your injury. In general, loading movements can be problematic so the options for strength development are limited and skill training is not going to be fun.

What you can work on is your soft tissue quality and mobility. It seems pretty lame, but if you make it measurable it can be addictive and may even help out with that back pain.

Here is an example. Do a squat (provided that does not make your spine hate you), go and assault your legs and hips with a foam roller and lacrosse ball. Next get your copy of Fighters Only from March and do the mobility stuff from my article on squatting and, finally, retest your squat. This movement should feel much cleaner now. Do this sequence with any movement pattern you have problems with. When you get back to full training you’ll be moving like a ninja.

Movement