Tim Trevail - Jiu-Jitsu Rehab Specialist

27/04/2026

This is something I think about a lot.

I have two daughters (two and five), and as any parent is, I am acutely aware of the minefield they will face throughout their young lives.

As a father, and maybe because of my line of work, I feel obligated to give them the tools they might need to face those difficult things.

Athleticism, muscle, and physical capability are increasingly being framed as positives for women and girls rather than something to apologise for, and that shift matters.

I feel a duty to do what I can to help them grow up confident, kind, and capable. Strong in body, and strong in the things that strength quietly underwrites, like self-trust, resilience, and the willingness to take up the space their lives need.

There are signs this is already landing with my oldest, and her little sister is starting to imitate it. That makes me want to double down on these lessons.

A capable body is not confidence by metaphor, it is the actual biology that supports mood, sleep, and stress resilience.

Strength gives them options, and options are freedom.

23/04/2026

16/04/2026

Two weeks into my non-surgical ACL journey.

For those who missed the earlier posts: I tore my ACL in jiu-jitsu, along with a complex medial meniscus tear and a low-grade MCL sprain. After working through the evidence and getting input from people I trust, I've decided to pursue non-surgical management - at least as a first line.

I've also got a referral for an orthopaedic consultation and a few more conversations lined up with people whose input I value. I'll continue to refine the plan as the evidence, professional input, and my own experience of the process guide me.

I'm going to share snippets from this journey as I go. Partly to keep myself accountable, partly because there's not enough openly documented non-surgical ACL rehab out there, and I know a lot of grapplers and combat athletes end up making this decision with limited information.

I'll be as open and honest as I can through the process — including the setbacks, the rethinks, and the moments where the plan changes.

This week's slide covers what I'm focused on in Week 2 — load tolerance, what I'm training above and below the knee, how I'm loading the joint itself, and brace settings. Gym session examples follow.

If you've got questions about the process, the decision-making, or anything you see along the way - drop them in the comments.

14/04/2026

Even monkeys fall from trees.

I have helped countless athletes through ACL rehabilitation. Now it is time to help myself through the process.

Last Friday I tore my ACL in jiu-jitsu training (via attempted Tani Otoshi). Full thickness tear, medial meniscus involvement, and a Grade 2 MCL sprain. More on the imaging in the slides.

My first reaction was frustration more than pain. I was unfortunately very confident in what had happened. The audible pop, combined with external tibial rotation and valgus pressure across the knee, is something I have heard countless athletes describe.

I am sharing this journey to keep myself accountable to the same evidence-informed standards I hold my athletes to, and because others going through this deserve to see what that actually looks like in practice.

Here is where I am at right now. I am wearing an Ossur Rebound brace limited to 40 degrees short of full extension, working within a 0 to 90 degree range while the knee settles. I am already loading: squats, kickstand squats, hip thrusts, hamstring curls, and RDLs, all within that controlled range.

I am consulting with experts in my network and will update as I get more information and second opinions. Initially, I am following a modified Cross Bracing Protocol, an experimental but evidence-informed non-surgical pathway aimed at creating the conditions for spontaneous ACL healing.

More to come.

31/03/2026

Next time someone tells you you're just strong - remind them that strength is a skill.

It's built through repetition, progressive effort, and consistent practice. The same principles that develop your guard, your passing, and your finishing. It doesn't happen by accident, and it doesn't happen overnight.

The American College of Sports Medicine just published the most comprehensive review of resistance training ever conducted - 137 systematic reviews, 30,000+ participants. Their conclusions validate what serious grapplers already know:

Consistency is the primary driver of adaptation. Strength is a function of practice. And strength is a skill - you get what you train for.

For combat sports athletes this matters beyond the gym. Strength training done consistently reduces injury risk, extends your mat career, and supports the physical demands of a sport that asks a lot of your body year-round.

The prescription isn't complicated:
— Train at least 2 days per week
— Load and intent should match your goal
— Adherence overrides everything else

Swipe through for the full breakdown, including goal-specific prescriptions for strength, muscle size, and power.

📖 Currier BS et al. American College of Sports Medicine Position Stand. Resistance Training Prescription for Muscle Function, Hypertrophy, and Physical Performance in Healthy Adults: An Overview of Reviews. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2026;58(4):851–872.

28/03/2026

First stripe on the black belt from the boss today.

Congrats to Lachie and the team on the incredible new space in St Kilda.

Feels like a bit of an end of an era as they move to a new space, and we move to open up academy, where I'll be getting most of my training in now.

Looking forward to this next chapter🤙

20/02/2026

Should kids lift weights?

This question still creates anxiety for a lot of parents.

Most parents think lifting weights will stunt their child's growth. The research tells a different story.

The evidence is clear: youth resistance training is safe and beneficial when it is properly supervised and progressed appropriately.

What increases injury risk is not strength training itself.
It’s poor supervision, poorly controlled environments, and adult expectations applied to children.

For young grapplers, the goal is not to build elite 10-year-olds.

The goal is to build resilient, confident 20-year-olds.

If a child can follow instruction, respect safety rules, and participate in organised sport, they are often ready for structured strength training.

Share it with a parent or coach who still has questions about youth lifting.

Let’s raise the standard for long-term athlete development in grappling.

Save this if you work with young athletes. Tag a parent or coach who needs to see it. 👇

📍 x

16/02/2026

That ache in your shoulder that's "fine, just a bit sore"?

That knee that needs a longer warm-up but feels okay once you get going?

That elbow that's cranky on Mondays but loosens up by Wednesday?

Most grapplers train with something. So do niggles matter?

A season-long study in semi-professional athletes found that non-time-loss complaints—things that don't stop you training—increased the risk of a serious injury by 3–7× within the following week. Around 1 in 4 athletes reported weekly complaints, and 68% of time-loss injuries were preceded by symptoms.

That does not mean every ache is a disaster.
It means niggles are information.

Niggles often represent a temporary load-capacity mismatch. When you train hard and push your limits technically, you operate close to your tolerance. In grappling, where joints are loaded unpredictably and repeatedly, symptoms rarely get good rest.

The goal is not to panic. And it is not to ignore it.
It is to respond actively.

Track it. Adjust volume or intensity. Avoid load spikes. Modify positions that aggravate it. Add targeted strength work off the mats. Build tolerance progressively. Communicate with training partners.

Capacity is built, not rested into existence.

Niggles matter—not because they demand fear, but because they offer a window to build resilience before missed time forces the decision for you.

📚 Reference: Whalan, M., Lovell, R., & Sampson, J. A. (2020). Do Niggles Matter? – Increased injury risk following physical complaints in football (soccer). Science and Medicine in Football, 4(3), 216–224. https://doi.org/10.1080/24733938.2019.1705996

13/02/2026

Most grapplers can point to the roll that started their pain.

The awkward scramble.
The late tap.
The hard round when you were already fatigued.

But the spark is only part of the story.

In high-contact sports like grappling, sparks are common. What determines whether something settles in a few days or lingers for months is often the health of the system it landed in.

Sleep.
Recovery.
Strength and tissue capacity.
Training load.
Background stress.

When your system is already under strain, small injuries feel bigger and last longer. Baseline inflammation and nervous system sensitivity increase. Tolerance drops.

That does not mean you are broken.
It means context matters.

Healthy ecosystems still get injured. They just tend to recover faster and flare less often.

So before obsessing over the exact movement that “caused” your injury, zoom out.

Where did the spark land?

In a dry, overloaded system?
Or in one resilient enough to contain it?

Rehab is not just about fixing pain.
It is about building a system that is harder to ignite — and faster to recover.

12/02/2026

📢 New publication

This paper reports on the end product of an industry-funded project exploring how co-design with students can strengthen the usability, effectiveness and value of digital learning tools in health education.

A big thank you to Dr Amber Moore for her leadership in driving this project through to publication. It’s been nice to collaborate on work that bridges educational innovation and real-world clinical training.

09/02/2026

Always great to sit down and chew the fat with Natalie Cook.

This conversation unpacked why pain is more than just “damage”, and how physical activity can play a powerful role in helping people move with confidence again.

Nice to see it now live as a blog: https://www.torrens.edu.au/stories/blog/health/why-do-we-feel-pain-and-how-physical-activity-can-help

21/01/2026

Most preventable injuries come from how we train, not bad luck or “fragile” bodies.

There are many complicated theories about how injuries occur, but in my experience, they’re usually the result of load mismanagement, poor recovery, and avoidable training behaviours over time.

If we’re serious about reducing injury risk, the priorities are fairly consistent:
• managing training loads over time
• building physical capacity with sensible S&C
• respecting recovery
• and, critically, gym culture and training habits

Strength and conditioning matters.
Recovery matters.
But culture often matters more than we like to admit.

How intensity is managed.
How submissions are applied.
Whether control is valued over ego.
Whether tapping early is normalised.

Those things reduce more injuries than any warm-up or injury-prevention training program ever will.

What does your gym take active steps to reduce preventable training injuries?