Don't Make These Simple Mistakes If You Wan't To Avoid BJJ Injuries

2025-10-01 2 min reading

Last Saturday I was running late to open mat and made the mistake of jumping straight into hard rounds with almost no warmup.

Normally, I’m religious about preparing my body before training. I’ll spend 20 minutes at home and another 10 before class to make sure I’m ready. After years of dealing with injuries, I know better than to skip it.

But I was feeling good and thought I could sneak one by this time.

I couldn’t.

By the fourth round, I felt that all-too-familiar twinge in my lower back.

Instead of sulking, I took it as another chance to learn. Here are three lessons this setback reminded me of:

1. If You Want TO TRAIN INTO YOUR 40's AND BEYOND, You Must Do the Work

Gone are the days of skipping warmups, blowing off cooldowns, and doubling up on training sessions.

Discipline is the only way to sustain longevity on the mat, especially past 35. I knew better than to roll cold, but I ignored my own rules. The result was pain.

Just like Pete DePrez, the BJJ brown belt and former SWAT operator I recently had on the podcast, said: no pill, no doctor, no therapist can save you.

You alone must do the work. It’s that simple.

2. Find Your Blind Spots

This injury exposed something I’d been neglecting: lateral trunk flexion.

It’s easy to double down on our favorite drills and forget the “boring” ones. But resilience requires taking your joints through every pattern — flexion, extension, rotation, and lateral flexion for the spine; flexion, extension, rotation, abduction, and adduction for the hips; and so on up the chain to the shoulders and neck.

If you don’t train it, you’ll eventually pay for it.

Find your blind spots. Attack them consistently.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DF78kGtxwzg/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MWl4YXJjemxvZjFqbQ==

3. Learn How to Rehab Yourself

If you train BJJ long enough, you will get hurt. The difference is whether you depend on pills and doc visits, or whether you understand your body well enough to manage it yourself.

This time, I traced the issue back to my SI joint and a lack of proper hip extension. Because I skipped my warmup, I never created the relative motion in my hips I needed. When I tried to sweep, I arched my low back instead of driving through the glutes — compressing the spine and irritating the SI joint.

The good news? I have the tools to address it now. I’ve already made progress and will likely be back on the mats by the time this newsletter goes out.

Socrates said, “Know thyself.” I’d add: Know thy body. That’s the path to BJJ longevity.