How a Jiu-Jitsu Black Belt Overcame Injuries and Made a Comeback

Introductions and Competition Background 0:00

Hey guys, I'm Dr. Jimenez, an orthopedic surgeon and jiu-jitsu brown belt. I am here with my good friend, Faelin Cherrier. She goes by, well, Professor Faye, she earned her black belt last year under Professor Bruno Frazado here at Atos, Atlanta. Last year she did go to the 2023 United World Wrestling Championship and did take home gold there, which was pretty cool, we'll talk about that. earned several medals in pans, worlds, all last year and before Black Belt as well. She placed fourth at ADCC East Coast Trials last years.

And in addition to all of her jujitsu stuff, she did a bachelor in psychology, bachelor of science, and she's a certified massage therapist. So thanks for being here, Faye. Thank you for having me. So the first thing I want to talk about was you've been training jiu-jitsu for 10 years, which that's about how long I've in and out, traveling a bunch, earning my belt. But what got you into jitsu? You started with kind of a striking background, and what pulled you in to the mats over more MMA style?

Well, I started when I was 17 for self-defense and I tried karate and did that for a few months, didn't care for it, but wanted something, you know, more alive and more physical. And then I drove by this gym and it was like Muay Thai, MMA, jujitsu, boxing, and like, I think any of, even how to pronounce the titles, except kickboxing. I was like, kick boxing sounds cool. So I called, I made an appointment, came in, took a class, and just loved it. Loved hitting the bag. It was just like a cardio kick-boxing, but it felt legit.

You know, it was your first time. That was really fun. Then I started taking boxing classes and MMA classes. And that's kind of where I kind started and where it kind dedicated most of my time Awesome. And you never went back to striking. You kind of stuck with the jiu-jitsu, with grappling. I did. Yeah, I Did. It was for multiple reasons. The two main big ones were the concussions, or concussion, and then just really wanting to focus on one. So I split up my time with all of them, a little bit of wrestling, not too structured, but they had some wrestlers at the gym.

MMA and then Muay Thai and boxing. And then once I did start Jiu Jitsu, it was just like my training was all over the place and I wasn't really, I was okay at them,

Getting Into Jiu-Jitsu and Cross-Training 2:37

but it wasn' like I see big improvements and so I would just get frustrated and between all the injuries and I was like maybe I should just focus on one and that's when I kind of started and even when i joined Knuckle Up, I still kind-of dabbled with Muay Thai and kickboxing and everything and did a lot with Mo Travis, and she was the reason why I went to Knuckle Up in the first place. So we would actually spar together. I was like, you're short, your small, I'm small. Let's go. And she hits hard.

By the way, she's like we're gonna go light. Her light is like it'll knock you out. What was another black belt here at AtoS? And you've been cross-training with her for quite some time, right? So you knew her before Jiu Jitsu? I did. Well, not necessarily before Jiu-Jitsu. I was already doing Jui-jitsu, but before I started like lifting with her consistently. And I still met her at the gym. But and so she's more of like a lifting coach, right? She's a personal trainer, I believe. When you when did you start lifting?

So she used to teach or she was in charge of the Knuckle Up CrossFit program. Mainly I tried to stick with. Her I liked her class. cardio kickboxing as well, so I was always just like going wherever she was. I liked her classes, very structured, easy to follow, hard and intense. Easy workout. Right, fun. So I did a lot of that. And then some other instructors, even her husband would help instruct some of the classes. for the CrossFit program. Yeah, so you talked about cross training, which has been a big focus of mine lately, and the different aspects of cross-training for jiu-jitsu.

Cross training is also training at other jitsu gyms, right? So, kind of the same word, but two different meanings. You know, I love to cross train at gymms, that's how I met you guys, coming up here to train. But cross training, when it comes to strength, conditioning, flexibility, all these other things, what impact do you think that has on your jui-jiu game? I think it's been the most important, to be honest, just because of the size. But most of, you know, the people here are male or significantly bigger.

So I'm like, I either am going to just feel like crap every day or I am gonna get stronger. And so that really ignited that, like I need to consistent, get stronger. And it also just, you know, prevents injury. It structured my body in a way that I can, train safely. I could train with big people and feel fine. Even like roll with people that are bigger than me. This sounds bad, but like I feel so much stronger than them and it's a really good feeling. Yeah. Picking partners wisely is huge. We're two of the smallest people at the gym.

We said between the two of us, there's probably like 230 pounds, maybe 235 or so depending, I guess we ate today, so yeah. What advice you have for small people, like small guys, small girls, specific, females more so tend to be the smaller ones with how to stay safe rolling. I think you hit the big one is just being careful with and selecting your partners wisely. I Think a lot of people coming into the sport or myself included Scared to kind of say no if they don't and a of the times they Don't know that etiquette, you know, they dont know That that's okay.

Some places Depending on where you train, it may not, you know, allow it or enforce it, or, be okay with it. But your body, You should be safe. You, should you be comfortable. you should feel, okay, with who you're training with. So I think being selective is a big thing that I would suggest. but another thing is just lifting, lifting weights, getting a coach that knows, especially when you're new to it, until you can, you know, till you got the form down and can do it on your own. I still don't even like lifting on my own and maybe that's just because I don' like, I enjoy the social aspect too, but I always feel like safer having Mo there or Alex there, people that can help coach me through the reps and like there's certain things I can know on like deadlifts I'm comfortable enough now.

doing on my own, but anything overhead or a complex lift, I prefer to have like a coach just to make sure everything is good, form is down to a T. So I would definitely pick up lifting. I would get a nutritionist or a dietitian or someone that knows about nutrition that can come up with an individual plan and make sure you're eating and then just make you are doing the right things off the mat like recovering well and just taking care of yourself, supplementing with what you need But nutrition is I think a big thing that people tend to leave out.

And people feel like crap after they train. They're like, I don't want to do anything. I just want go to sleep and I have those days. Don't get me wrong. But the moments, you know, especially during training camps, it's hard. Just want sleep. Active recovery has been one thing I'm trying to get better at. And since I feel great, I'm able to train every day and work and always using my body. So those main things, lifting, getting stronger, Getting the form down, nutrition, supplements, and then recovery, active recovery.

take care of your body. What are your favorite meals after jujitsu? Because like you said, sometimes you get out at eight, eight thirty, right? And then you're getting up at five o'clock in the morning to train or whatever. Go to work, whatever you got to do. So what's kind of like some good meals because people will leave the gym and be like, I'm just going to go to Taco Bell. That's like the worst. Those are the worst things that you could do because it's not even, you're not fueling yourself.

I would even argue that your hurting yourself by eating that food. So what do you recommend to people? I meal prep on Saturdays so that it is not a thing. Like I just have my Tupperware in the car and I know exactly what I'm eating. So for me, everyone's body is different, but for I started eating a lot more steak lately just because I used to be anemic and I had thyroid issues and i really think a a of it was just diet. I really like carbs and I love pasta. Pasta and steak, probably my favorite foods.

Training Safely, Nutrition, and Recovery 9:20

So I eat a lot of steak. I am starting to, you know, add some more variety to my diet and some veggies, but I, I. Really like sweet potatoes, potatoes. But yeah, so just lots of protein, lot protein carbs, carbs. They hydrated. A little fruit. Why and how I miss that, I eat fruit all the time. Fruits are great carbohydrate, a great type of sugar. Like a lot of, you know, sugar and carbs aren't the devil. Yeah, exactly. Thank you. But it neither is red meat. Right? Yeah. I mean, everyone tries to fit it in this, the food pyramid or they try to put everyone in a box and it's like everyone's body's different.

Everyone's going to respond differently. That food pyramids such old, old news. Just like the red meet debate. Yes. Exactly. Yep. Maybe not enough or maybe too much, but like I feel you on the iron thing because I I tested my labs last year and I was low Iron, my thyroid was a little bit off And I kind of went more animal based more meat and organs. I know we always talk about organs I see what you eat. Yeah, and oh my you're eating good so hard like beef heart I like some turkey livers never had turkey liver.

That's a whole different. Oh I will eat it, but I don't like the liver is one of those foods that you eat. That's like, yeah, this is good for me. Yeah, and you just do it and then you wash it down with like a steak. Or like I'll make it with bacon. I got a pair. You eat good. Oh yeah, I get motivated and hungry every time I watch your stuff. I'm like, all right, time to go cook a steak. That's right. Some filet mignon. All right so, kind of transitioning back to some jujitsu stuff, there was a really cool one that I wanted to talk about, the UWW, which is the United World Wrestling Championship.

It was in Poland last year and I had never heard of it until I saw you guys all posting about it and you're like oh we're going to Poland. So talk about what that is, because that's a pretty cool avenue that people can get involved in and travel and compete. It was definitely different. Um, it was my first time competing internationally. So that was fun, nerve wracking, but it just one of those like more for the experience than the tournament for title. But one my fellow Jiu Jitsu, his name is Paul Ardea, he did it the year before and so he was posting about it and I was like I messaged him I'm like what is this looks cool where are you and he kind of filled me in and about and and um so I looked up the qualifiers and everything like that and there's two you qualify for the team and then you have to go and compete again and win that to get a spot.

But it's cool because you have to just place first or second. So I won the qualifiers but then I ended up getting second at the actual team. I still got a spot but it was tough because it I think 117 was the max weight. So it's still a little bit bigger. But I mean, yeah, because what do you weigh right now? Well, now I'm like 105. Yeah. So you're one of the small girls of The Small Girls. Wonderful. But yeah, so after doing that, then the only thing is they'll pay a little bit for first place. And then everything else is self-funded for a second.

I'm like, I don't care. Alex won first. So I was like we're going. Like I'll find the money. We fundraised and it was amazing. we went to Poland and we kind of were deciding just from finances and everything were like, what should we do? Should we spend like another month, you know, out of the country? Because we just did a month in the Philippines, like in February. So we're like we should probably just, limit it to three weeks, not a whole month. But so anyway, we ended up going to Poland and then London, and then we went to Italy.

Nice. So, it was really cool. We got to go to a few different places and everyone that we knew, um, It was from jiu-jitsu. Yeah. It's kind of cool that was definitely nerve wracking, but it also like every time I'm competing up, like in the trials and in this tournament, even the qualifiers, this isn't my weight class. who cares and I guess I just put more pressure on myself when it actually is rooster or it is you know like a more specific weight class to me but yeah so I didn't feel as nervous.

The overtime I remember it being kind of weird and like You get one round and you want to be on defense. So all you have to do is escape. If you're on offense, you'll have submit them in like a minute or something like that. And so I get out and I'm like, I am done. Then the ref is like no, keep fighting. We had to keep going. She just had submit. I just have defend. That's an interesting rule. And so, yeah, and I was like, this sucks. But like my corner was, like yes, defend. You can get out, it's fine.

So that was the most stressful match. That should have been the finals, to be honest. It was tough. it was intense. She was I think Ukrainian and, I swear, she was one of the strongest chicks. face. I was like, I don't know what's in your water, but you're strong. It wasn't like steroid strength or anything like that. Like, there's something lifting, she's just naturally strong, um, But yeah, so that was, that really, Um, That was really fun. There was a really cool experience. And then in the finals, it was extra cool cause, they had three mats out.

So they did all the women first. They did my weight class and then they Alex's weight and the next one up. And so we were actually competing at the same time during the finals. And I think in her finals match was the only match that went the full time. So we ended up ending at same times. As we're getting our hands raised, we are both looking to see if we won. I'm having an intense match. It was close. Was anybody coaching you guys when you were doing it? Paul actually coached me. Oh, awesome. The guy that was head of the USA grappling team.

He was coaching Alex. Awesome. So Paul was there again? He competed. His brother Sergio was competing too. And so I was like, can you coach me? It was a lot of fun. Very cool. It's another opportunity for people to get to go out and compete internationally. If they follow USA Grappling, then they'll post like their qualifiers and everything like that. I think there's like three or four before the team. So talking about wrestling, I know you were an All-American in college. You were wrestling in College and kind of continued that on now with your Nogi and with the wrestling more wrestling specific rules of the UWW.

Injuries in wrestling just because you know, I'm a surgeon So these always intrigued me especially in jiu-jitsu because I treat a lot of jitsu athletes We talked about previously blast doubles and how dangerous it can be, you Know and doing it quick, You know I've had my injuries with them too. You had a bad neck injury a couple years back So can you talk about your neck? injury what happened and then how you treated it how people can possibly prevent them and Blast double can be dangerous, but I don't think they should be completely out of the question.

I think you should careful who you are blast doubling. It was my second season, preseason of wrestling and before and like during that pre-season I was doing jiu-jitsu still full-time. I also lifting and it was first time doing cleans and so it's like this shrugging motion. It's just I think overtraining on top of everything that we had to do in wrestling. And I'm doing a lot of massage. And I apparently figured this out along the way of my healing process. But I was breathing a lot with my shoulders instead of belly.

Everything was just overworked and really, really tight. And so my upper traps were just like over and all the surrounding muscles were really overloaded. So when I went for the blast double, I think it was wrong. time, wrong place. Maybe the technique was wrong too, but I think those were the main things. So I went for the blast double and it was a girl my size. It wasn't even against anyone big and I just felt it immediately. it just went down my hand into my thumb and my index finger and you know it first felt like a stinger and was kind of going away a little bit and i was

UWW Championship and International Competition 18:18

like okay maybe it is you don't maybe It's just something, I didn't know at the time. I was like, whatever, it's fine. And I went to my athletic trainer because I got scared. Like I've never felt that before. Down my whole arm and it is still kind of tingly. It is going away, which is why I said it was fine, but then she was probably just a pinched nerve, just shake it out and get back in there. Luckily, the athletic trainer that we had, so every year we switch athletic trainers. Sometimes I guess they may stay, but we have another athletic coach who is older and a lot more experienced than some of the other athletic coaches.

And so I was lucky that she was working this year with me, because the one last year, She was kind of on the coaches side. And in wrestling, especially high school, it's different now, but it can be like you're disposable. Like if you are not dead, you wrestling basically. So it is pretty brutal. I didn't know where I was going to go with wrestling. I liked it, I wanted to do as much of it as I could. So I really was trying to push myself anyway and just being stubborn at that time. But yeah, so that was the start of that and then I continued to wrestle and it was like, take a couple days off, a day off.

Take a week off and do what I can. the athletic trainer thankfully was like, you know, You need to chill. But then the coaches were like we need you because there was only not a lot of the chicks on the team could make the weight. And, um, we had small girls, but I don't know what they were doing. Yeah. I'm like come on guys, like someone just cut weight for me, please. Like I can't wrestle. Um, But I still wanted to. So it was just, I was juggling between like putting it off. It's not that big of a deal to like okay, it is serious.

Anyway, I ended up, you know, seeing the season out, but it was still just like, it took a lot of time off in between. But it's was one of those like I came back too soon. So were you still having this numbness tingling while you were arrested the whole time? It happened. Yeah, the numbing and tingeling and just, like achy, hot, almost like my hands would just start working. all year, pretty much. So at the end of the season, the timing worked out because after nationals, I actually did terrible.

And I was sad because I wanted to do well. I placed the first year. This is my year I came in ranked and I felt like I doing better. But I think mentally it messed with me because now I'm ranked, there's pressure, should do better, so COVID happened. And then I was like, this is a blessing in disguise. All the gyms were closed. I actually couldn't train. And so I'm like maybe this telling me to chill out. So I ended up seeing a doctor who works at Emory. His name is Dr. Olufade. He, I went to see him and get some scans done because at the end of the season I was just like, it's not getting better.

Like we need to do something. And so they ended up referring me out and it was helpful because like it, was all covered by the school. So it like perfect time, time and place to get injured. and so, they refer me to him, and got some scams and he was like you do have bulging discs in your C7 and C6, C six and c seven. Lower, lower in the spine, the cervical spine on the neck. Yeah. And so we ended up doing two epidural steroid injections, which he was like, you know, I don't want to, have you do too many of these.

It wasn't like a substitution for anything, but it was just kind of like help with the pain and it did. But like I said, it just was kind band-aid in a way we're like what do we need to do so and then after I saw him it just after the steroid injection I guess didn't really like help I was like okay what I'm gonna what am I gonna do and so I ended up going to so many doctors because Well, first, I just went to one other doctor. I was referred to by this guy who had a similar injury. Because when I looking it up, there wasn't a lot on it as far as recovery time and what to do and how to heal it and other things like that.

And what I didn't know was that nerves just take so much longer than muscles to hear. So you had like a cervical radiculopathy, essentially, right? That's like the medical term of the pinched nerves causing the numbness and tingling in your arms. did they tell you that they might have fully maybe that's what it is in like orthopedic talk but it's super common in not even athletes like we see it as as the population ages and maybe not moving as much the neck kind of compresses on the nerves and I've had it before I had and say it took I was out for a couple months and I wasn't freaking out because I still was in residency at the time.

So I'm still training and this is bad. But what did you do finally? Because the steroid injections, when we give steroidal injections that's not the fixer. You've got to do something else like physical therapy and things to retrain the muscles and help alleviate the stress on the nerves. What did Yeah, I think there was a crack in one of my vertebrae as well, which is why I thing there is so much pain and it was just aching.

Neck Injury, Rehab, and Returning to Training 23:58

It felt like my head was 100 pounds. Like even driving I had to like rest stick so I was like, it's just annoying. I always stretching, always uncomfortable and I'm like dang, this is what it feels like to live with just chronic pain. And I almost started to give up hope. So basically what I did, um, went to this doctor, And I guess it just was a long time since my friend who referred me to him saw him. But he came in with like four other nurses and doctors and he was like, I cannot help you. You are never gonna train again.

Like you should stop, you just should start swimming. And first of all, who are all these people? Maybe. And I was like, are these your witnesses? Like, did you let someone go and now, like they may have, you know, gotten fucked up on your, I don't know. So I just, it put a bad taste in my mouth. week. I was just like feeling sorry for myself. i was like at the gym on the side crying like watching class and I I'm never going to train again. Like this was honestly one of the hardest moments for me in jiu-jitsu because it was, like, you're telling me I am never gonna train.

Again like that's like it at first it. It was heartbreaking and then after it, it No, fuck that. Like, I read this football player had something similar. He ended up getting surgery though, but he was able to, and it wasn't as bad as what I had, obviously. But his was, sorry, it was as, mine wasn' as that as he had. Sorry. Did you get surgery? No. Um, so it wasn't as bad, but, um, you know, once he had the surgery, I was like, okay, he's been playing like he was totally fine. Um I like I know there's a doctor out there that could help me like this isn't a big deal.

Like it's not like it. You know herniated. It's like anything like that. So Well, they weren't like completely herniated. It was small hernations. And did you have arthritis too? Like some arthritis in the neck? Yeah. Which who doesn't? Right. When people say I have Arthritis in their neck, I'm like, cool, me too. Right, right. I mean, that's common. Yeah, the doctor telling you, like that one of my big pet peeves is doctors telling people they can't participate in sport anymore because People say, like, I think in the medical field, we do that a lot, especially people that aren't involved in sports.

I have only had to do like one time and it was somebody with a congenital deformity who like could potentially like get paralyzed. And I wasn't the one to do it, because that's not my area of expertise, but I caught it and sent it to the neurologist that had to tell this kid, like, you can't train. But aside from that, I don't like saying that because I think there's always a way around it. Like, even if it's like maybe the competition scene or maybe this, we can still adjust and keep you with your friends for the most part.

I know somebody had an injury here that was like a retinal detachment, and that another one that... Oh, jeez. Yeah. That one too I've had people contact me like I have this where my the retina like comes off of the back of it and again not my area but as a ringside doc like i know that's a bad one right once you have one and it keeps happening you can go blind so it's kind of like you weigh the you tell the people the risks but I still wouldn't be like, you This is my advice. Yeah. If you do, maybe.

So I don't really love that answer because my theory is like, there's still a way to do things most of the time. Right. And with this injury, I had the same experience. My musculoskeletal radiologist, the guy is a friend of mine who read my imaging. He like hauled me into his room right after and he's like you're done. Like this spine looks like a 50 year old spine. I was in my early 20s and I Okay, so I can't train. I was still early in residency so, I didn't know. Like, yeah, that's a cervical spine, but I really didn' know much yet.

And he told me that. Then I went to a bunch of my spine surgeon friends and they were like, no, you can train, we just need to make sure we do the right things, get your muscles right and balanced. So, same thing where I like crying on the side of the mat for a week. It's hard. Why would you say that? We never did any scans. This wasn't Dr. Alfato, by the way, this was another guy. But yeah, we didn't do any scans, he didn' even like check me out. He just heard that I had this and I was like... I don't know.

Once I started researching, then I was like, oh man, maybe he's just trying to protect himself or his business or whatever. Yeah, well it's advice too. It's like this is what I think. I'm sure he may not even train the sport. Anyway, so after I done sulking, I start doing some research, and I also went to this chiropractor, ended up like strapping my ankles to a table, to the table. Putting a belt around my neck and like pulling. It's like my head off. My body. Like a traction. Yeah, but like it wasn't like a slow, easy, you know, it was like, all right, one, two, three.

Oh my gosh. And I'm like sitting there thinking I am paralyzed. This was during my next, like being fresh, so I was, I think I'm paralyzed." So I was just crying. He's like, all right, you know, take a minute. I'll be right back. So anyway, then I said, okay, chiropractors, I gotta be careful. Doctors, who can I trust? And so I went to my job now. But at the time, I was just a client. I went to Georgia Sports Massage, and I saw this lady. And I were seeing a couple different massage therapists at that time too.

Most of them did deep tissue, but she, her name's Ray Long. She doesn't work there anymore, unfortunately, consistently like all the time because first first time I saw her she did a little bit of deep tissue but she um what she specializes in is um MFR my facial facial release and so she the second time i saw she was like I don't do deep Tissue anymore I just do MF and I was well I loved our session you know the first one so do whatever you need to do and she just did it and it was just It was so powerful of like, after, you know, deep tissue, You can feel like an immediate release sometimes, but with this, it was more of, like it stuck, the therapy kind of stuck.

Like I felt better the next day too. And I was like okay, I'm seeing the effects. So basically what it is, is just like a more, like slow, gentle, soft tissue, like a stretching of the fascia. So every time they're like, oh, your muscles are all connected, it's the foscia that connects them. I mean, you know this, but, well, for some people, not everybody knows it yet. And so, she was explaining all that. and I knew just from schooling and everything like that, But I would see her all the time from like once a week, twice a weak, to twice day.

I was just like, we're gonna get this. Because every session I felt closer and closer, and that was I think my problem too, just in the past with other injuries, but just not being consistent. Like I thing what would have taken this injury a few months took it a year just because I'm gonna take a wee off and I'll wait till I feel okay. We go back too early. We all do it, we all go too back early, so that was the main thing. So we feel like 1% better, and we're like, let's go, time to trade. Blast doubles.

Well good. And so now you're doing pretty good, you haven't had more episodes with the... No, no, but I think a lot of it was just the staying consistent with everything. I wish I would have known about dry needling back then too, But I didn't and you know the MFR sessions like I just remember one of the sessions I was she was pulling my arm and like stretching my neck and I kind of just started unwinding like on my own and my next are like doing these figure eights and she's like your scalings are really tight and Like, oh, you don't like the front neck muscles.

Yeah And then I just remember all the feeling came back into my hand and I started crying and having like all these emotional releases. And I think just from past traumas and everything, I have held a lot of my pain and most of like my neck and head. Traps, neck, big time. So it was, I think, a combination of not just massage, but it. Was psychological to like letting go. And and I. Think a lot of people kind of when they get injured, they're like, and this you might appreciate this or understand this.

But I get a. Lot of. People that don't and they just don.t know, you know. I try to be compassionate, But they'll come in. They have not had a massage in like. 10 years. And they come in, they're like, you're going to fix me, right? I'm like you booked a 30 minute session. I will do what I can. But you know, I never see him again. Yeah. A lot of people are like if I don't feel this immediately, then it doesn't work. You know I think that was my issue too before was just like not being consistent.

It goes for everything like nutrition, sleep. That happens with the bouncing around too. I see people bounce around to doctors because they're like, oh, that didn't help me on the one time. And maybe it does just take time and you have a lot built up. So I mean, I say that a lots with my athletes or any patients. They've had these pains and these issues for years. And then they want me to just give them a shot or give him a medication. Quick fix. Yeah. So I mean, it does take time and it takes finding people that you trust.

And, you know, with neck injuries to physical therapy, neck strengthening, that's a part of my routine. Like I do neck strengthening at the gym at least once a week or even at home. You know it looks silly when you do next strengthening like putting a plate on your forehead or like a towel. It's so important. Wrestling, You guys are always like doing bridges on Your heads. I think it's insane. I'm like, that looks really dangerous and that does not look pleasant. But I am glad that you are better.

Mine is better too because I have stuck to my traction. And I do a lot of inversion table too, so like going upside down. The last thing I want to talk to you about was massage, which you kind of brought up already. You are a massage therapist. But I live a little far away, but it's nice to get massages. I love my weekly or bi-weekly massagers. We talked about the literature, it doesn't really show any improvement in performance per se, directly. But, I do think it has a part through some of the other mechanisms.

Like, literature shows decreased DOMs, delayed onset muscle soreness. It also helps flexibility, and that's been shown with Pretty good evidence in the literature. What do you think about massage as like being a regular for athletes? I think it's really important just because I. Think. Again, I, think. It it should be consistent and I that there has to be a lot of other things that come into play in order for you to really see those benefits. I Think when you tell someone what they need to do. after you see them, like A, B, C, D, you should stretch, do this, rest, fix your diet.

Massage, Recovery, and Upcoming Goals 35:48

I think everything goes into play and it should just be consistent and paired with other things as well. For myself, I do trigger point dry needling with Lance pretty often. I would say at least once a month I need to do weekly, but it hurts. So I'd do at once month. And then I foam roll and stretch every night. If not every other night, and I'm pretty consistent with that. Then I sleep a lot. Sleep is like the number one recovery tool that people just don't even utilize. Yeah. They don�t. I don �t think they really, maybe they just dont know, but some people, I dont� know if they don´t know the benefit, that was once I started prioritizing my sleep and I really feeling the benefits.

So I think massage is really good for athletes as long as they parrot and they're doing other things. But every massage therapist is different. Just like with some doctors, maybe one is not right for you. If a certain Therapist isn't your cup tea doesn't mean massage doesn' work. It just maybe means that person wasn't for you. And there's so many different types of massage that a lot of people don't know. You know, the difference, you know not not just deep tissue is the only way to massage someone like sometimes it's stretching.

Sometimes it is MFR. sometimes It's, You Know, more relaxation Swedish. So there is just so Many different Types. I think like diet find what works for You and just be really open. Is another common misconception with massage is that it's Well one they want like a quick fix so they're like one session and I'm done like it is not always about that, but But I think also just train of thought. We'll come back. You have to do other things outside of massage is the point. Being consistent and taking responsibility for your own recovery because not relying on other people to just give you that fix that we've been talking about.

Yeah. Alright, cool. Well, what's next for you? What are you up to next in your personal life and your jiu-jitsu? You got a lot of stuff coming up. So I am focusing on gaining weight. I mean, I always am, but this year I I'm going to be a little bit more diligent and consistent with my diet to try and gain some weight for West Coast trials. I really want to make it to the semis again with Alex and just put on a good show and I've been doing you know, better than my last tournaments before. So fixing my mindset to just performing well.

West Coast Trials is what's next. I mean, I may do ADCC Open, maybe a couple, depending on location and finance and everything like that. Um, i'm going to try and save some money this year and then finalize some wedding plans. That's right. But hopefully 2025, or we may do a destination wedding. But yeah, that's the next big tournament. And then just whatever comes up. Hopefully a super fight. I would like to defend my title at finishers. Nice. Or at least not defend it, you know, get it back. Yeah, just competing, getting better training.

Get posting more content. Yeah, I'm trying to be better about that more consistent hopefully get my YouTube a little bit more active and So where can people find you? What is your YouTube? My YouTube is pebbleweight style peppleweight. Style. Okay, and then They can also find me on Instagram, too I did start a tick-tock I'm working on that, but it's mostly. I haven't even delved it. Yeah, it is too much, But it' mostly just the same stuff on Instagram. But that's fatality 123. Nice. All right. Well, thanks so much for being on the podcast and for having me looking forward to seeing what you have coming up this year and next year.

Thank you. You too. and ironic media productions. Visit us at ironickmedia.com.