I broke my hand!

[cholodeamor]

I broke my middle finger on my left hand when it got tangled in my dogs leash at a very inopportune time. He sees a squirrel -- and I fracture two joints in rhe finger. Getting surgery done on monday. What can I do in the mean time? I train in BJJ 4-6 times a week and MMA stand up 3-4 times a week, but now I ned to take 2.5-3 months off. It isint really cost effective for me to keep going to class if I cant do reps. How can I train?

Sorry for the briefness of the post, typing with one hand is hard.

[NebS]

There's a old guy on here, I think he calls himself Otto...ask him, he just fractured a finger and has been around the block a few times, he should be able to help you. ;)

My suggestion, cast it/splint it & keep training?

[AsianInvasion]

i guess that if you are doing things with your gi, then you are pretty much screwed, but you can your way around most things by using certain types of grips(except S-grip).

[younwha]

I have a broken big toe, broken thumb, broken middle finger, and (possibly) broken wrist... for the fingers I didn't bother with the doctor I just put it back in place as best as possible and taped it. I still trained... A few weeks back I got a round kick caught and I was swept (my break falling doesn't really come naturally) and I fell on straight hands, pretty sure I broke my right wrist because I can't do much with it, however it is getting better. I still trained...

It's mind over matter...

[gooch]

walk it off

[Otto]

I broke my middle finger on my left hand when it got tangled in my dogs leash at a very inopportune time. He sees a squirrel -- and I fracture two joints in rhe finger. Getting surgery done on monday. What can I do in the mean time? I train in BJJ 4-6 times a week and MMA stand up 3-4 times a week, but now I ned to take 2.5-3 months off. It isint really cost effective for me to keep going to class if I cant do reps. How can I train?

Sorry for the briefness of the post, typing with one hand is hard.

Sorry about your finger, brother, these things do happen from time to time and they're always a pain in the training. And, being a dog owner myself – I know just how you feel.

First and foremost is to be smart in any training over the next few months. Have to let it heal as much as good care, a smart athlete and modern medicine will allow. And the things you'll be able to do will obviously increase as the days pass after surgery. But you have to let them pass gracefully that first week. (or two.)

I have a fractured finger right now, but BJJ is far, far more difficult to train than stand up in the case of busted up fingers, so you make me feel fortunate.

You have the opportunity to work parts of your physical game that time wouldn't usually allow in your normal training schedule. There's a ton of leg work that you can do, and no matter how good a shape your legs are in now, you can make them much better. Flexibility would be part of that, too. What's usually key is to allot a certain amount of time each day in which you will dedicate to your legs (or back, core, etc). If it's a boring exercise, like calf raises, do them in front of your computer and watch youtube vids on jits moves you wish to add to your game.
A note on calf raises – you do them slow. You go up as high as you can, hold them suckers there, then go down as slowly as you possibly can. Keep your balance in the middle of the ball of your foot – it's going to want to shift to your big toe or baby toe side every single time so you have to give that your close attention.
Also, do them in positions where you've move your heel to the inside and to the outside, a degree at a time, to gain a full range of strength. (I'd include Achilles and calf stretches before and after, too) Do em slooooooow. Add weights later if you want.

Work your thighs. Leg press, good lunges, plyometrics, hamstring exercises etc. If you were to incorporate these things into your daily routine for the next three months your ground game could only be better once you are back into the full swing.

Work your core (once the throbbing from surgery passes) do planks. Shitloads of planks. Plank out, have ten pennies piled about two feet outside your hand on the floor. Reach over and pick one up, pass it to the other hand, then reach over with that hand and pile the penny there. Go back and get another. Move them all to the opposite side then move them back (one at a time, of course) Add five cents a week. And curse a lot.
Do side planks as well, all variations of the suckers. Three months dedicated to your core could make you a monster.

You could always practice your hip movement on your back, and any kind of shrimping. I would imagine that if anyone concentrated on their hip movement for three months, it could only improve their game.

Stretch. Sit sideways against an open wall in your house, the side of your ass right against the wall. Then swing your legs up as you lie back and turn to face the wall. You want to be laying on your back, your ass cheeks right against the wall, your legs up in a V. Stay there and let gravity do it's work, occasionally reaching up and pulling each leg towards the floor, a quarter inch at a time. Stay there ten minutes. It's going to be a loooong ass ten minutes, bro, you might want a pillow for your head. (If the inside area of your knees hurt, either wear two good knee braces or discontinue the exercise altogether.)
And when you come down, expect your legs to be asleep. The added “split” flexibilty can only improve your guard, your sweeps and the general ability to use your legs in a wider range of motion.

Getting hurt sucks. But a finger isn't all that bad compared to backs, necks and knees. It allows for some pretty good extra work that can only supplement your game in the long run.

There's obviously more you can do, tons more, but that's a start.

Best of luck, my busted finger brother.

[cholodeamor]

I haven't been here long but we have an amazing community here on these forums. Thank you very much Otto for your well thought out post, and for taking the time to help a stranger out!

I feel like a baby for getting surgery, but the hand specialist assures me that there will be major loss of range of movement if we dont fix the joint.

I think leg flexibility will be the name of the game for the next couple months or so. I broke my tibia & fibia in both legs 4 years ago and I still haven't regained the flexability I used to have. Now I have nothing better to do than to work on the boring stuff!

About classes ... think I should drop them and take yoga for 2 months? Our classes are a lot of instruction and move repetition and Im not sure that I will be able to rep alot of it, as well as repping moves in a contrived way to protect my hand could have me learning them incorrectly, right?

Thanks again everyone for your responses.

[CEB]

In the LONG run your training may suffer a lot more if you do not do your best to properly fix the things that get busted up now.

[AJ]

Now you can drill retaining guard without using your hands :)

What's the usual recovery time for a broken finger anyways?

[naturalbornfighter1]

You gotta love Otto! :)

[gooch]

i broke my hand a couple weeks ago, and a buddy that i roll with suggested training lighter, tape up the hands boxing style to prevent further damage, and roll only using your hands in "fists"

is a cool way to work on other parts of your game and not rely on your hands

give it a try

[nogloves]

I broke my middle finger on my left hand when it got tangled in my dogs leash at a very inopportune time. He sees a squirrel -- and I fracture two joints in rhe finger. Getting surgery done on monday. What can I do in the mean time? I train in BJJ 4-6 times a week and MMA stand up 3-4 times a week, but now I ned to take 2.5-3 months off. It isint really cost effective for me to keep going to class if I cant do reps. How can I train?

Sorry for the briefness of the post, typing with one hand is hard. I have taught and rolled for two months while having a broken right thumb until I decided to go to the doctors....then I rolled with the cast for one week before I took the damn thing off.....I even started rolling two weeks after having knee surgery.......just because you have an injury does not mean you have to stop training....... I can't afford to

What I would do if I were you is work on techniques involving just the legs...such as triangle chokes, body movement drills, etc.......when you roll just use your legs only...this will build coordination with you feet and hips......I would never take that much time off from training.....

[cholodeamor]

in our very brief conversation, doctor said I can expect at least 6 weeks until joint is healed, and 10 weeks until it is safe to train. I assumed that meant hitting a heavy bag, and after six weeks it might be ok to start training w/o sparring.

[cholodeamor]

i broke my hand a couple weeks ago, and a buddy that i roll with suggested training lighter, tape up the hands boxing style to prevent further damage, and roll only using your hands in "fists"

is a cool way to work on other parts of your game and not rely on your hands

give it a try

I might give this a try as I regain mobility, but I am about 85% away from making a fist, even when I tried to close my left hand (the broken one) with my right hand.