Disc Replacement Surgery, Rolling Twice A Day & Returning To Competition

Episode 347: Have you ever bulged a disc in your neck?! A friend of the podcast asks about rolling with a cervical disk replacement- is it possible? Is it advisable. JT references a very famous grappler who had to have one of their discs replaced and still compete only weeks after the surgery, who was it?
Have you tried training 2 sessions per day? If you have limited days to train is it more beneficial than spacing out your training over the week or should you cram 2 x per day for 3 days? There are some pros and cons for both but which should you choose?
Is jumping into comp after a long hiatus a good idea? 8 weeks of intense training with the end goal of getting after it and making the podium. Also it helps you get in shape for your wedding- right? Is this a good idea? Go hard on a competition training camp just before your wedding day, could be a recipe for disaster...

Get Stronger & More Flexible for BJJ  with the Bulletproof For BJJ App- Start your 7 Day FREE Trial:  https://bulletproofforbjj.com/register

Stay Hydrated with Sodii the tastiest electrolytes in the Game! Get 15% OFF: BULLETPROOF15 https://sodii.com.au/bulletproof

Parry Athletic - Best training gear in the game... Get 20% OFF Discount Code: BULLETPROOF20 https://parryathletics.com/collections/new-arrivals

Transcript

BJJ Training and Recovery Strategies

Speaker 2 0:07

A good martial artist does not become tense but ready .

Speaker 1 0:12

Essentially , at this point the fight is over , so you pretty much flow with the goal .

Speaker 2 0:22

Who is worthy to be trusted with the secret to limitless power .

Speaker 1 0:27

I'm ready .

Speaker 2 0:30

This episode is brought to you by Parry Athletics , the exclusive apparel sponsor of the Bulletproof for BJJ podcast . We've been working with these guys for quite some time now . We absolutely love the company . We love their gear , both for training and also just looking slick off the mats . They've got excellent no-gi wears shorts , t-shirts , all that cool stuff . If you want to get yourself into some Parry clothes or you want to rock the Bulletproof for BJJ exclusive merch , you've got to go through Parry , go to parryathleticscom and use the code BULLETPROOF20 to get 20% off your order . They ship internationally . Q a for bjj . You got the questions . We have some answers . If you want to leave a message for us , a question for us , go to bulletproof bjjcom . Click on the podcast tab , scroll down big red button , leave us a voice message where you're , from what , what you want to know . Yeah , we're going to feature you , just like these fine individuals . First one coming in .

Speaker 3 1:29

Hey , what up there , gentlemen ? Firstly , thank you very much for putting together such a sick podcast . Out of all the Brazilian jiu-jitsu and MMA boxing martial arts podcasts in general , you guys put out , hands down down the most informative and definitely entertaining content . So thanks for that . It's been a great help for my bjj journey over here in the garden route , western cape , south africa . My question is do you know of anybody personally , or do you know of any cases , or what is your opinion on rolling hard and perhaps even competing with a cervical disc replacement ?

Speaker 3 2:09

Unfortunately , I herniated my disc , which is my C6 and my C7 vertebrae , pretty badly . A couple of months ago I got a cervical disc replacement put in . I'm feeling great . I'm not rolling yet Information on the internet is lacking on this subject . My surgeon seems to think I can do absolutely anything with it . However , I would like to double check what the professional opinion is like before going in too hard . Do you know of anybody or any people who are still competing and training hard ? I'm 35 now , one stripe white belt . I'm new to this journey , but I fucking love it and I do not want this to be the end . You can share your thoughts . I greatly appreciate it . Once again , thank you very much and I'll shot for the epic podcast .

Speaker 2 2:54

Callum , what a legend , great , what lovely manners on the man . Oh , so so complimentary , so kind a South African accent . Oh , it's just , it's strong , it's distinct , you know it straight away . Well , to your question , callum Braulio Estima has a full cervical disc replaced . He had it replaced just before he had to fight Jacare in a super fight . Really , he won before the ADCC . I think he's four-time super fight champion . People sleep on Braulio . Braulio , to this day , is a menace fight champion . People sleep on bralio . Bralio , to this day , is a menace . He's like whatever six foot three big guy ah , super long .

Speaker 2 3:30

A phenomenal jujitsu boy can party too good looking man good , handsome man and , um , he's always down for a good time and he it was kind of quite well documented you should search it on youtube because they were . They were doing the kind of like the embedded build-up series of him versus jacare and he got spiked in a takedown drill and they're like , oh , you almost broke your neck and almost died and could be paralyzed . We're gonna have to do the surgery . And so they fully replaced one of his discs and he went out there six weeks later and fucking won . Six weeks later , yeah , it was phenomenal . J weeks later , yeah , phenomenal Jesus , yeah , phenomenal stuff . And yeah , to this day is a total beast .

Speaker 2 4:10

So that's the only point of reference I have relevant to that . And look , if your surgeon said you'd be good to go , that's pretty cool , that's surprising . Yeah , that's a positive sign . I think we know that surgeons don't always understand jiu-jitsu to the extent that we wish they did , true , um , but I would be , yeah , I would think that you , you definitely could continue on with the journey . I would be seeking the advice of someone who works in that realm . I'm thinking of like dr andrew lock , sure you know . I'm thinking of like dr andrew lark , sure you know . I'm thinking of , like strength oriented practitioners , yes , who understand jujitsu very well and understand strength training and the effects that that has on the body , and are also back specialists yeah you know who are like yeah , look , here's what your limitations are going to be , here's what you need to be doing in the gym .

Speaker 2 5:05

I would imagine if you just took a general approach to strength training and you kind of weren't doing anything specifically about that region , that probably wouldn't like that's probably not going to work out too well in the long run . No , I mean , look , you could just go the other way . You could just go full Yoramaro , just get your whole cervical spine fused , never invert again , but just have the strongest neck but never be able to turn your head with your torso .

Speaker 4 5:30

Yeah , and just top game all the time .

Speaker 2 5:32

Top game and just pile drive people with your head . But yeah , the main thing is probably , more than likely , I imagine that actual disc is going to be fine . It's more like oh , is that placing extra pressure on other structures around it ? Do other parts of your spine now bear more weight ? I don't know , but that's what a specialist is going to be able to help you with . Yeah , get more information . Yeah , for sure Very good . Thank you , Callum . Next one coming in from Davis .

Speaker 4 5:58

Hey , fellas Davis , here from Missouri , just want to say I'm loving the podcast . I was lucky enough to stumble upon it on YouTube and I've been binge watching Nice . It's actually a really great resource for us lower level belts and you guys are really funny and entertaining in it . So , in a nutshell , I only have Monday , tuesday and Wednesday free for jiu jitsu . So lately I've been doing two days to try and get more mat time and experience in . My question for you would be am I reaping the same benefits doing two days , monday through Wednesday , as I would doing roughly the same amount of sessions but spread throughout the week ? So thanks , guys , for all your insights and , yeah , keep up the amazing effort , davis coming in with the good manners as well .

Speaker 2 6:44

What a lovely guy , so polite Missouri shout out , shout out to the people of Missouri . Look , all I know is Ozark . That's in Missouri . I don't know .

Speaker 2 6:52

I don't know , I don't know I mean look , apologies for my naivety on this one , davis , no , but I think it's plenty of good manners out that way . There is benefits to doing two-a-days . The only thing that's the thing you're missing there is you don't give yourself necessarily time to pause and reflect , like have a day , have a think . Have a day , have a think , like five days in a row . I mean you don't have that option , so you're doing what you can Two-a-days .

Speaker 2 7:21

The difficulty with backing up two-a-days is the toll on the body . If you're going to do two-a-days three days in a row , you've got to have a lighter session and a heavier session , and that's my take on it . If you're not someone who's a full-blown professional jujitsu person it sounds like you're not I would be pacing that if you can . So if you're going to do two a day , try and make sure there's one which is less physically taxing , which allows your brain to work , and then one which is maybe more challenging . Um , I believe that having more time over the week doing jujitsu getting like more exposure when you're less tired will help you learn better . I think don't get me wrong you're going to get good doing two a days , no question . So you're going well there . But if you get an opportunity to space it out , that will have its own benefits . Yeah , I think comparing the two the one session a day over , like six days or whatever is always going to trump two a days for three days of the week . But if that's the only option you have , then go with it . You know , I would say like our general recommendation right is to train three times a week and I think most people like 90 minutes of jiu-jitsu quick warm-up , plenty of time on technique and then plenty of time to roll and positional . Like 90 minutes is enough .

Speaker 2 8:44

To that point I've seen a lot of people as well who come to heaps of classes two-a-days and stuff and they don't get better because they're just not really paying attention . On the flip side of that , I have seen people come to a couple of classes a week but really focus and pay attention and they do get better . So I'm not saying that that's what's going to happen with you , because we also know that person that's there all the time that just gets better faster than anyone smashes everyone , yeah . So I'm just saying that as a word of warning . Like don't throw any of those sessions away .

Speaker 2 9:10

You know , if you're just like , I'm just saying that as a word of warning like , don't throw any of those sessions away . You know , if you're just like , oh , I'm just getting in again because it's so much fun , that's great , but you want to be paying attention and you want to be like taking something away from each session that you can then apply in the next session . Yeah , you don't want to . I guess you don't want to come in too fatigued and have that blunt your ability to learn .

Speaker 4 9:31

Yeah .

Speaker 2 9:35

Cool that blunt your ability to learn . Yeah , cool , keep on it davis , you legend .

Speaker 1 9:37

Shout out missouri . Hey guys , how you doing this is steve from connecticut , usa . Shout out connecticut purple belt . Hobbyist purple belt , new purple belt . So I , you know , I've been training three times a week pretty consistently sometimes I have two very firmly a hobbyist , I mean . I , I care about being good , I , I take care of , I , I take my training very seriously . But I , you know , I'm not in the gym every day . I have a life , I have , um , no , I'm not saying that people who are in the gym every day don't have a life , but yes , you are I I don't compete , I'm a hobbyist and I'm happy with it being that way .

Speaker 1 10:10

I don't really have that much of a desire to get on the podium and whatnot . That being said , I'm getting married in July and my wife brought it up to me that maybe a good motivation for me to get in the even better shape would be to prepare for a competition . And I haven't competed since white belt and I never really particularly liked it that much . It was fun , but it was . You know , the whole scene is just not really for me .

Speaker 1 10:34

I did okay as a white belt , um , and on one hand I'm thinking , yeah , why not do it ? It's something I don't do typically . Excuse to get in a better shape . It's tap cancer out too . So it's for a good cause . Um , I can learn more jiu-jitsu , train harder , learn from the experience . On the other hand , I'm literally like nervous just thinking about it now and I'm a very all or nothing person and I know it's going to consume my thoughts for like two months and my wife is going to hate me because it's all I'm going to talk about . So I don't know , guys , what do you think ? Should I push myself and do it or not ?

Speaker 2 11:08

cool scenario . Well , she did suggest it . You can always put that back hey if you wanted to get into better shape . I never said anything about it no , no I'm suggesting babe , you did say no , she did . She said well , hey , you want to know , I know , but it's just like it when , when someone brings it . Hey , jt man , if you're looking to lose a bit of weight , here's a strategy for you no , look , it's fair .

Speaker 2 11:32

You know , no one , no one likes like , no one likes competing , you know like it is stressful we're not like , yeah , jumping into this competition is generally not something we naturally all feel inclined to do and I think , steve , you know that that's where the the growth of it is , from the discomfort of that process . I am not an all or nothing person . I can be partly in many things . So in that way I'm like , yeah , fuck , I'll do a comp and it doesn't have to consume my everyday thing . Jt , maybe you can speak to that .

Speaker 2 12:00

Okay , so there's two things here , because I'm getting married next year , so I'm getting married next February , and so I understand that there are pressures that go along with organizing weddings , right , I , pressures that go along with organizing weddings , right . I don't know how much of that responsibility is falling on you . So here's the deal if you're all or nothing which I am also it's eight weeks . That's a good block of time . You will get in better shape , it will push you . I think there's all good things associated with that . But will your , will your marriage survive ? It's like , hey , boys just want to tune back in . I won the comp , but I didn't get married . Two division champ we split up .

Speaker 2 12:35

We split up but now I'm going to Worlds . Look , it's a lot of pressure .

Speaker 4 12:40

I think , if you just- .

Speaker 2 12:44

I was going to take that joke a step further , but I won , Got my first Brazilian girlfriend . It's cool she's teaching me Portuguese . No , I mean no brilliant girlfriend , it's cool , she's teaching me Portuguese . I think I just don't want to . I would say I don't want to put pressure on your wedding . So if you think that you can sustain the stress of doing a comp , which was your wife's , your fiance's suggestion soon to be wife and still do the wedding , and that's cool , Great . But you know , it sounds like it could be , it could be a lot , Well , yeah , I guess what I would say is like the pressure to get in shape for your wedding is there regardless , right ? Sure .

Speaker 2 13:21

So if you don't do it via the jiu-jitsu comp , you're going to probably do it via some other way , like , okay , I'm going to hire a personal trainer and , you know , go hard on this thing , and I'm guessing that's going to consume you as well . So it sounds to me like you're going to be consumed no matter what . So it's like pick your poison . Yeah , jujitsu sounds like a cool way to do it . Do it , do it , do

The Value of Jiu-Jitsu Competitions

Speaker 2 13:41

it . Man , there's like there is no regrets to be taken from doing it , even if you , you know , after the comp you can , you know , you , sit down with your , with your fiance , and say sorry if I was a bit distant in the weeks leading up to this , you know , and she'll be like it's cool , I'm totally happy you did it . Like you know , you will take so much from it . And man , purple belt like you know , it only gets harder to compete , like , as you get further down the track . So let's say you get to brown belt and then you're like , oh , I haven't competed since white belt , it's going to be real hard to jump in at that point . So I'd be like , fuck , yeah , get back in there . Yeah , definitely Get it while you can , because you never know . You never know what happens in the future . You've got the opportunity , take the opportunity .

Speaker 2 14:24

And , bro , look , if you're looking for a couple of fucking Aussie larrikins to come to the wedding , just fucking send the invite . We'll be there . Send location , we'll be there , connecticut , as long as there's a barbecue , y'all guys . There it is . Those are the questions . If you have some questions , please let us know . But what we love about this time is we get to hear from people all around the world , which is crazy . It's the coolest . It's really cool to think that there's people on the other side of the planet . I actually find like Australians aren't asking us questions anymore . They don't care . I don't fucking need to speak to you guys , as in . That's what they're saying about us , not me saying that about them . No , but then it's interesting . I guess the Australian accent it might still have a degree of novelty somewhere else where people are not hearing it .

Speaker 2 15:06

But the great thing about that is we do get to connect with more people , which is why we started this thing help more people connect with more people and we need your help to do that . And the best way that you can help us with that other than sharing this stuff on social media but I understand that that can be a pain . Something that's very easy for you to do is to like and subscribe , but then also , if you're just listening to this on audio , just click up and give us a five-star rating . The reason why you do that is it helps us not get buried because there's so many podcasts now . Everyone has a podcast . If you do really like this and you want other jujitsu people to find it , giving us a five-star rating means it will suggest to other really nice jiu-jitsu people like you , and that makes it so much better for us because it helps us help more people and we really appreciate you doing it . Yeah , we do . Thanks , man .