Why Prehab is You Best BJJ Training Partner
Heather Raftery
When it comes to BJJ training, there is always the potential for injury. Prehab will help you stay healthy so that you can roll longer.
Why Prehab Is Your Best BJJ Training Partner
Every time you engage in BJJ training, injury is a possibility. We often find ourselves in uncomfortable and physically compromising positions.
However, you can reduce that risk of injury. You can make your body stronger, more connected, and more flexible — in just the right ways and places — so that you can roll longer and more safely. Not only will this help prevent common jiu-jitsu injuries, it will also reduce their severity if they do happen.
Enter BJJ Prehab
BJJ Prehab is a prehabilitation program designed specifically for BJJ training. It’s a series of exercises and workout routines that target the most vulnerable parts of the BJJ practitioner’s body. The workouts take 10-20 minutes each, and their main goal is to help you build a body that is healthier and less likely to get injured. Simply put, it’s one of the best ways to enhance your BJJ training.
We have to point out: “prehab” is not the same as “rehab”. We’re trying to avoid rehabilitation. Rehab is defined as the a program of care aimed at recovering the capabilities after a body part is injured. This might be a muscle, tendon, bone or all of the above.
Prehabilitation is done before (i.e. “pre”) an injury occurs. Using the same knowledge that makes a rehab program so successful, prehab focuses on strengthening the muscles and joints, increasing flexibility, and improving range of motion and motor control. In this way, the body is better equipped to handle any potential stresses. With prehab, you prepare yourself to prevent an injury from happening in the first place.
Why is BJJ Prehab so special?
BJJ Prehab is at the forefront of bringing the concept of prehab to the Brazilian Jiu Jitsu community.
In the last decade, coaches and athletes in many other elite sports have recognizing the importance of prehab. Despite the number of injuries – both mild and severe – that we sustain on the mat throughout our careers, prehab is still a foreign concept to many in the BJJ community. BJJ Prehab is trying to change that, providing a high-quality prehab resource for practitioners of the gentle art.
It provides easy-to-follow programing that can be done in the comfort of your own home.
One of the biggest barriers to entry for many self-care programming – whether it’s physical therapy, strength training, massage, yoga, etc. – is having to go somewhere to do it. Between work, jiu jitsu, and the rest of life, most of us have already jam-packed our days. This leaves little time for anything else. The guys and gals at BJJ Prehab understand, and have designed their programming to be quick, easy-to-follow, and mobile. This allows you to fit it in any time and anywhere you might be. Bored on back-to-back zoom calls? Pump out a couple shoulder exercises with your camera off (or on!). At your kid’s little league game? Find a spot on the grass and work on your core strength.
It’s far cheaper than visiting your local physical therapist.
With anything, prevention is always cheaper than addressing a problem after the fact. Prehab is more economical than rehab, especially when compared to rehabbing a serious injury. Even with prehab, your local physical therapist is going to charge you anywhere from $120 to $150 per hour to evaluate you, prescribe you a program, reassess you, etc. That quickly adds up. BJJ Prehab is entirely remote. You start by taking a quick survey to identify your areas of concern. Then for just $15 to $20 per month, you get a tailored prehab routine every week. What’s more, is you also receive email reminders, and newsletters containing additional resources to help keep you healthy and on the mat.
It’s personalized to your specific needs and schedule.
Did I mention that the program is tailored? Once you sign up, you can customize how often you’d like to do the workouts and how you’d like to be contacted. Then you’ll rate yourself on key areas, such as strength and mobility, and identify regions of your body that need work. BJJ Prehab takes all of this information and builds a individualized program just for you, targeting those areas that you’ve identified. At the end of each week, they send you a quick questionnaire to assess your progression, then adjust the following week’s programming. In this way, they make it as easy and convenient as possible to keep you consistent and on track.
The activities and programs are designed by an expert in both physical therapy and jiu jitsu.
The best part about BJJ Prehab is that all the programming is designed by Mike Pelligrino, a doctorate in physical therapy and a black belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. Your average physical therapist will have sufficient knowledge to design a prehab routine that will keep you balanced and healthy. But unless he or she is on the mat, that person won’t truly understand the stresses that we put on our bodies during BJJ training sessions. Mike does. As a practitioner himself, he has in-depth knowledge of the positions we put ourselves in, the pressures we put on our joints, and the injuries that happen on the mat.
Whether you’re a competitor, a daily mat warrior, or just a hobbiest, you engage in BJJ training because you love it. Don’t let an injury take you away from what you love… especially if you could have prevented it in the first place. Invest in your longevity on the mat with BJJ Prehab.
Heather Raftery is an Atos black belt, freelance writer and social scientist (BA in Journalism and Anthropology, MA in International Studies). She has written for FloGrappling, Jiu Jitsu Magazine, Fighters Market and BJJ Prehab.