Jiu Jitsu Workout, Backed By Science, For Lifetime Training

Fighting Against The Curve 

McGill has worked with all levels of athletes in his career, from amateurs to professional world champions. McGill has worked with top-level Jiu Jitsu athletes and mixed martial arts champions. He has studied the movement of former UFC champion Georges St. Pierre and helped UFC fighter Matt Brown recover from a back injury. He is well versed in the demands of Jiu Jitsu. 

Much of his advice runs counter to standard training advice. 

Jiu Jitsu demands flexibility, but flexing the spine before, during and after practice creates more stress than the back can handle. The back only has so many cycles of flexion it can tolerate before it becomes injured. McGill compares the spine to a branch. “You can bend a thin willow branch much more than a thick branch,” he says. “If you bend the spine too far and too often the spines discs will eventually crack and eventually they will break.” 

Many Jiu Jitsu athletes that McGill has worked with have been hurt in this way. 

“I have restored a few careers when others have failed by taking the flexion training out of the program and keeping it for the octagon (mat). It is the only way to create a training capacity.” 

Removing The Culprits 

The most common cause of back injuries, McGill writes, is poor use over an extended period of time. Prolonged faulty movement patterns weaken the spine and eventually lead to damage. Many of the things we do daily, without awareness, compromise our backs and make us susceptible to injury. 

Flexion of the spine is usually the culprit. Stretching is one such activity that athletes do that can lead to back problems. 

“Stretching of the low back is perceived by many to ‘feel good,’ yet very few with painful backs actually qualify to train with this approach,” McGill writes. “Flexion and rotational stretching overloads the annulus fibers often exacerbating the spinal tissues which can occur unbeknownst to the individual. Yet they continue the practice, reporting that it ‘feels good.’ They are perceiving stretch, probably via the muscle based receptors, which provides the illusion of something helpful. Generally they are ensuring that they remain chronic and will not make advances until stretching is stopped!” 

Conventional ab exercises are also a problem. Much of the training advice to create a strong “core” actually duplicates movements that cause injury. While situps and leg raises might strengthen the muscles of the abdomen, they also produce some of the highest compressive forces on the spine — up to 700 pounds of pressure. This kind of pressure can damage the discs of the back. 

“In fact, I believe that many commonly practiced flexion exercises result in so much spine compression that they will ensure the athlete becomes a patient (of back problems),” McGill writes.