Doctor Jiu Jitsu Show

From Injuries to International Gold: A Deep Dive with Professor Faye Lynn Cherrier

• Doctor Jiu Jitsu • Season 1 • Episode 4

Share episode

In this episode, I sit down with my good friend and powerhouse black belt, Professor Faye Lynn Cherrier. Faye’s journey through Jiu Jitsu is nothing short of inspiring—from getting her start in MMA gyms to traveling the world for competitions, all while overcoming serious injuries with grit and grace. We get into her transition from striking to grappling, the importance of cross training, and what it really takes to stay safe and thrive as a smaller athlete in a physically demanding sport. We also dig deep into Faye’s recovery from a serious neck injury, her experience competing at the United World Wrestling Championship in Poland, and how she balances training, nutrition, and mental health. 

 

Episode Highlights:

[0:00] Getting to know Professor Faye—her background in MMA and how she found her way to Jiu Jitsu.
[2:02] Why she made the switch from striking to grappling and how injuries influenced that choice.
[4:24] The role of cross training in her performance—and why strength training changed everything.
[5:57] Advice for smaller athletes on picking training partners and preventing injuries.
[8:24] Faye’s go-to recovery meals, nutrition habits, and why meal prep keeps her on track.
[11:19] Competing internationally at the United World Wrestling Championship in Poland.
[16:01] Her collegiate wrestling experience and the neck injury that almost ended it all.
[23:50] Navigating discouraging medical advice and finding hope through alternative therapies.
[32:57] The power of myofascial release, emotional healing, and consistent recovery habits.
[35:26] Why massage therapy, sleep, and daily self-care routines are essential for athlete longevity.
[38:34] What’s next for Faye—upcoming competitions, wedding plans, and new content channels.


Links & Resources:

If you enjoyed this episode, don’t forget to rate, follow, share, and leave a review. Your support helps us keep bringing you real conversations with amazing athletes and experts. See you on the mats! 🥋💥

To learn more about Dr. Megan Jimenez, check out her website: doctorjiujitsu.com

Dr. Megan Jimenez:

Hey guys, I'm Dr Jimenez. I'm an orthopedic surgeon in jiu jitsu brown belt. I'm here with my good friend falen cherier. She goes by, well, Professor Fay. She earned her black belt last year under Professor Bruno frazato Here at autos, Atlanta. She did last year go to the 2023 United World Wrestling Championship, and did take home gold there, which was pretty cool. We'll talk about that. She earned several medals in pans worlds all last year, and before black belt as well. She placed fourth at ADCC East Coast trials last year. 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, Fay, thank you for having me. Yes. So the first thing I want to talk about was you've been training jiu jitsu for 10 years, which pretty that's about how long I've been in and out, traveling a bunch, earning my belt. But what got you into jiu jitsu you started with kind of a striking background, and what pulled you into the mats over more MMA style?

Faye Lynn Cherrier:

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 didn't know, I think any of even how to pronounce the titles, except kickboxing. I was like, Kickboxing sounds cool. So I called, I made an appointment, I came in, took a class, and just loved it. I loved hitting the bag. It was just like a cardio kickboxing, but it felt legit. You know, is your first time, so that was really fun. And then I started taking boxing classes and MMA classes, and that's kind of where I started, and where I kind of dedicated most of my time,

Dr. Megan Jimenez:

awesome. And you never went back to striking. You kind of stuck with the Jiu Jitsu, with grappling? I

Faye Lynn Cherrier:

did. Yeah, I did. It was for multiple reasons. I think the two main big ones were the concussions, or concussion, and then just really wanting to focus on one. I split up my time with, with all of them, with a little bit of wrestling, not too like structured, but they had some wrestlers at the gym, and then I did MMA, and then Muay Thai, and then boxing and and then once I did start Jiu Jitsu, it was just like my my training was all over the place, and I wasn't really I was okay at them, but It wasn't like I was seeing 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 my cardio 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, but so we would actually spar together. I was like, You're short, you're small, I'm small. Let's go. And she hits hard, by the way. Like she's like, we're gonna go light and like her light is like it'll knock you out. So,

Dr. Megan Jimenez:

so echo is 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, so

Faye Lynn Cherrier:

you did a while, well, not necessarily before Jiu Jitsu. I was already doing Jiu Jitsu, but before I started, like lifting with her consistently, and I still met her at the gym, but

Dr. Megan Jimenez:

And so she's more like a lifting coach, right? She's a personal trainer. I believe when you when did you start lifting with her?

Faye Lynn Cherrier:

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. I did her cardio kickboxing as well. So I was always just like going wherever she was. I liked her classes, very structured, very easy to follow, hard and intense but easy workout, right? Yeah, 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.

Dr. Megan Jimenez:

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. But cross training is also training at other JIT, other jiu jitsu gyms, right? So kind of the same word, but two different meanings. You know, I love to cross train at other gyms, right? 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 jiu jitsu

Faye Lynn Cherrier:

game? I think it 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'm going to get stronger. And so that really ignited that, like, I need to be consistent, I need to get stronger. And it also just, you know, prevents injury. It structured my body in a way that I can, you know, train safely. I can train with big people and feel fine. I even, like, roll with people that are bigger than me. And this sounds bad, but like, I feel so much stronger than them. And it's, it's a really good feeling. Yeah,

Dr. Megan Jimenez:

and picking partners wisely is huge. So we're two of the smallest people at the gym. Yeah, right. We said, between the two of us, there's probably, like, 230 probably, like, 230 pounds, maybe 235 or so or so, depending, I guess we ate today. So yeah, what advice do you have for small people, like small guys, small girls, specific? I guess females more so tend to be the smaller ones, with how to stay safe rolling.

Faye Lynn Cherrier:

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 are, myself included, scared to kind of say, no, they don't, and a lot of the times they don't know that etiquette. You know, they don't know that. That's okay some places, depending on where you train. It may not, you know, allow it or enforce it, or, you know, be okay with it, but your body, you should be safe, you you should be comfortable, you should feel, you know, okay with 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 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't like, I enjoy the social aspect too. But I always feel like safer having mo there, or Alex there, you know, people that can help coach me through the reps and like, there's certain things I can know my own, like deadlifts I'm comfortable enough now doing on my own, but anything, anything overhead or a complex lift, I prefer to have, like a coach, just to make sure everything is good. Form is, you know, 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 a individual plan and make sure you're eating, and then just make sure you're 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 anything. I just want to go to sleep. And I have those days, don't get me wrong, but the moments, especially during training camps, it's hard. I just want to sleep, but active recovery has been one thing that I'm trying to get better at. And incense like I feel great. I'm able to train every day and work and, you know, always using my body so those main things, lifting, getting stronger, getting the form down, nutrition, supplements and then recovery, active recovery, just take care of your body.

Dr. Megan Jimenez:

What are your favorite meals after Jiu Jitsu? Because, like you said, sometimes you get out at eight, 830 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 gonna go to Taco Bell. That's like, the worst, I know, just taco but those are the worst things that you could do, because it's not even you're not fueling yourself. I would even argue that you're like, hurting yourself by eating that food, right? So what do you recommend to people like, you know, I meal prep on Saturdays so that it's not even a thing, like, I just have my Tupperware in the car easy, yeah, and I know exactly what I'm eating.

Faye Lynn Cherrier:

So for me, everyone's body's different. But for me, 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 lot of it was just diet. I really like carbs, and I love pasta, pasta and steak probably my favorites. 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 really like sweet potatoes, potatoes,

Dr. Megan Jimenez:

but yeah, so just lots of protein, lot of protein, carbs,

Faye Lynn Cherrier:

carbs. Stay hydrated. I love fruit. I don't know why and how I miss that, but fruit I eat like I eat fruit.

Dr. Megan Jimenez:

Fruits a great carbohydrate, a great type of sugar, like a lot of you know, sugar and carbs aren't the devil, yeah, exactly thing, but neither is red meat, yeah? I mean,

Faye Lynn Cherrier:

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 is different. Everyone. Dan's gonna respond differently

Dr. Megan Jimenez:

that food pyramid, such old, old news, yeah, just like the red meat debate,

Faye Lynn Cherrier:

yes, yeah, exactly. I'm like, maybe your body, maybe not enough, or maybe too much, but like,

Dr. Megan Jimenez:

I feel you on the iron thing, because 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, yeah? And I'm like, you're eating good. So heart, like beef heart, I like some turkey livers. Never had Turkey livers that taste a little different.

Faye Lynn Cherrier:

I will eat it, but I don't like the liver

Dr. Megan Jimenez:

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, yeah? Or, like, I'll make it with bacon. I got a

Faye Lynn Cherrier:

pair. I can't eat it by itself. Yeah? A bacon, bacon and liver. You eat good. Oh, yeah. I get motivated and hungry every time I watch yourself. All right. Time to go cook a steak.

Dr. Megan Jimenez:

That's right, some flavored young All right. So kind of transitioning back to some jujitsu stuff. There was a really cool one that I wanted to talk about, the UW, W, 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.

Faye Lynn Cherrier:

It was, it was definitely different. It was my first time competing internationally, so that was fun, nerve wracking, but, but it was just one of those, like more for the experience than the tournament for the title. But one of my fellow jujitsu His name is Paul or dia. He did it the year before, and so he was posting about it, and I was like, I messaged him. I was like, What is this? Looks cool. Where are you? And he kind of filled me in and about it. And so I looked up the qualifiers and everything like that. There's two you qualify for the team, and then you have to go and compete again and win that to spot, but it's cool, because you can good for me, because you have to just place first or second, right? So I won the qualifiers, but then I ended up getting second at the actual team, so I still got a spot. But it was, it was tough, because it was like, I think 117 was the max. Wait, so it's still a little bit bigger, um, but, I mean, yeah, because what do you weigh right now? Well, I'm now. I'm like, 105, yeah.

Dr. Megan Jimenez:

So you're one of the smaller of the small one of the small girls, of the small girls.

Faye Lynn Cherrier:

But, yeah, so, so after doing that, then the only thing is they pay for they'll pay a little bit for first place, and then everything else is self funded for second. And I'm like, I don't care, Alex won first. So I was like, we're going, like, all find the money. We fundraised, and it was amazing. We went to Poland, and we kind of were deciding, just from finances and everything, we're 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, you know, 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, I'm sorry, Mike malfunction, we got to go to a few different places, and everyone that we knew it was from Jiu Jitsu. So yeah, it was kind of cool. That was definitely nerve wracking. But it was also like, every time I'm competing up, like, in the trials, in this tournament and even the qualifiers, it was like, this isn't my weight class, so who cares? Then I guess I just put more pressure on myself when it actually is rooster or or it is, you know, like a more specific weight class to me, but, but, yeah, so I didn't feel as nervous the overtime. I just 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 have to submit them in a minute, or something like that. So I get out, and I'm like, I'm done. And then the refs like, No, keep fighting. And so we had to keep going. And she just had to submit. So I just had to Defend. Defend. Oh, that's an interesting rule. And so yeah, and I was like, this sucks. But like, you know, my corner was like, yes, defend. Like, if 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, like, 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. Like, I. Oh, but yeah, she's just naturally strong. But yeah. So that was that was really that was really fun. It was really cool experience. And then in the finals, it was extra cool because they had three mats out. And so they did all the women first, so they did my weight class, and then they did Alex's weight class, and then the next one up. And so we were actually competing at the same time finals. And I think in her finals match was only match that went the full time. So we ended up ending at the same time. So as we're getting our hands raised, we're like, both looking to see if we want I'm like, you know, I'm having an intense match. It was close. Was anybody coaching you guys when you were doing Paul actually coached me. And, oh, the guy that was the head of the USA grappling team. He was coaching out awesome. So Paul was there again, he was there. Yeah, he competed. His brother, Sergio was competing too. And so I was like, Can you coach me? And it's awesome. It was a lot of fun. Very

Dr. Megan Jimenez:

cool. So, yeah, it's another opportunity for people to get to go out and compete, internationally.

Faye Lynn Cherrier:

If they follow USA grappling, then they'll post, like, their qualifiers and everything like that. I think there's like through your four before the team.

Dr. Megan Jimenez:

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 the inogi and with the wrestling, more wrestling specific rules of the UW W injuries in wrestling, just because, you know, I'm a surgeon, so these always intrigue me, especially in Jiu Jitsu, because I treat a lot of jiu jitsu athletes we talked about previously, last 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?

Faye Lynn Cherrier:

Blast double can be dangerous, but I don't think they should, you know, be completely out of the question. I think you should be careful who you are. Blast doubling, you know. But, yeah, I think it was my second season preseason of wrestling. And before, and like during that preseason, I was doing Jiu Jitsu, still full time. I was also lifting, and it was my first time doing cleans. And so it's like this shrugging motion. I was just, I think, over training, on top of everything that we had to do in wrestling. And I was 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 my belly. Everything was just overworked and really, really tight and and so my over my upper traps were just like over, and all the surrounding muscles were just really overloaded. So when I went for the blast double. I think it was just 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 two my thumb and my index finger, and in, you know, at first, felt like a stinger, and was kind of going away a little bit. And I was like, Okay, maybe it is, you know, maybe it's just something I didn't know. I was like, whatever. It's fine. In my I went to my athletic trainer because I got scared. I was like, I've never felt that before, like, down my whole arm, and it's still kind of tingly, like it's going away, which is why I was like, it's fine. But then she was like, oh, it's probably just, you know, pinched nerve. Just shake it out and get back in there. And luckily, the athletic trainer that we had, so every year, we switch athletic training sometimes, I guess they may stay, but we had another athletic trainer who was older and a lot more experienced than some of the other athletic trainers, 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're not dead, you're wrestling basically you like, so it's pretty brutal and so And honestly, 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 was really trying to push myself anyway, and just being stubborn at that time. But yeah, so that was the start of it, and then I continued to wrestle. And it was like, take a couple days off, take a day off, take a week off, you know, do what I can. And like, the athletic trainer, thankfully, was like, you know, you need to chill. But then the coaches were like, you know, we need you. Because there was only nine. Not a lot of the chicks on the team could make the weight. And, you know, we had small girls, but I don't know what they were doing, yeah. And I'm like, Come on, guys, like, someone just cut weight for me, please. Like, I can't wrestle, 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. And so anyway, I ended up, you know, seeing the season out, but it was still, just like, I took a lot of time off in between. But it was one of those, like, I came back

Dr. Megan Jimenez:

too soon. So were you still having this numbness, tingling while you were arrested the whole time it

Faye Lynn Cherrier:

happened? Yeah, the numbing and tingling and just like, achy, hot, like, almost like my hands would just stop sleeping. Yeah, 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, you know, I wanted to do well I placed the first year. And so I was like, you know, this is my year. I came in ranked, and I just, you know, I felt like I was doing better, but I think mentally, it messed with me, because I was like, oh, now I'm ranked. Like, there's pressure. I 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 was like, maybe this is all, you know, it's telling me to chill out. And so I ended up seeing a doctor who works at Emory. His name is Dr olu. I don't know if you know,

Dr. Megan Jimenez:

Yep, yeah. I know of him. I never met him.

Faye Lynn Cherrier:

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 I was like, perfect time, yeah, time and place to get injured. And so they referred me to him and got some scans. And he was like, you do have bulging discs in your c7 and c6 c6 and c7

Dr. Megan Jimenez:

Lower, lower in the spine, the cervical spine on the neck, yeah.

Faye Lynn Cherrier:

And so we ended up doing two epidural steroid injections, which he was like, you know, I don't want to, you know, have you do too many of these? It wasn't a, like, a substitution for anything, but it was just kind of like help with the pain and and it did. But like I said, it just was, like, kind of a 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 am I 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 was looking it up, there wasn't a lot on it, like 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 heal.

Dr. Megan Jimenez:

So you had, like, a cervical radiculopathy, essentially, right? That's like the medical term of the pinch nerves causing the numbness and tingling in your arms. Did they tell you they might have? Well, maybe that's what it is in like orthopedic talk, but it's super common in not even athletes, like we see it 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 it. And same it took. I was out for a couple months, and I was freaking out because I was still in residency at the time, so I was still training, and I was like, This is bad, but what did you do finally? Because the steroid injections, when we give steroid injections, that's not, that's not the fixer right there. You got to do something else, like physical therapy and things to retrain the muscles and help alleviate the stress on the nerves. So what did you

Faye Lynn Cherrier:

do? Yeah, I think there was a crack in one of my vertebrates as well, which is why I think there was so much pain, and it was just aching. It felt like my head was 100 pounds. Like even driving, I had to, like, rest it. So I was like, it's just annoying. Like, I was always stretching, I was always uncomfortable. And I was like, dang, like, this what it feels like to live with just chronic pain, I don't know. And I almost started to give up hope. So basically, what I did, I went to this doctor, and I guess he 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. You will you like, you should stop. You should just start swimming. Yeah. And I'm like, first

Dr. Megan Jimenez:

of all, who are all these people, residents and medical students?

Faye Lynn Cherrier:

Maybe, yeah. And I was like, Are these your witnesses? Like, did you let someone go and now, like, they may have, like, you know, gotten fucked up on your you know, I don't know. So I just it put a bad taste in my mouth. And at first. First, like, the first week, I was just, like, feeling sorry for myself. I was like, at the gym, on the side, crying, like, watching class, and I was like, I'm never gonna 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'm never gonna train again. Like, that's like, at first it was, it was heartbreaking. And then after, it was like, No, fuck that. Like I read this, football player had something similar. He ended up getting surgery, though, but he was able to play, and it wasn't as bad as what I had, obviously. But his was sorry. It was as mine wasn't as bad as what, yeah, sorry. So it wasn't as bad, but, you know, once he had the surgery, I was like, okay, he's been playing like he's totally fine. I was 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's, you know, herniated, it's not like, anything like that. So well,

Dr. Megan Jimenez:

they weren't, like, completely herniated. It was small herniations. 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'm like, that's, that's common, yeah? I mean, the doctor telling you, like, that's one of my big, big pet peeves, is doctors telling people they can't participate in sport anymore. Because people say, like, I think the medical field, we do that a lot, especially people that aren't involved in the sports. I have only had to do that, 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, like, 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's another one. That's, 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 the 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 can't train and be like you. This is my advice. Yeah, right, 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. So my musculoskeletal radiologist, the guy is a friend of mine who read my imaging, he like, called me into his room right after, and he's like, you're done. Like, this spine looks like a 50 year old spine. And I was in my early 20s, and I was like, okay, so I can't train. And even I was still early in residency, so I didn't know, like, I was like, Yeah, that's a cervical spine. But I didn't really know much yet. And he told me that, and 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 balance. So same thing where I was, like, crying on the side of the mask for a week. Yeah, it's horrible.

Faye Lynn Cherrier:

I'm like, why would you say that? Like, we never did any scans. This wasn't Dr Alfaro, by the way. This was another guy, yeah, but yeah, we didn't do any scans. He didn't even, like, check me out. He just heard that I had this. And I was like, I don't know. I didn't once I started researching. Then I was like, oh man. Like, maybe he's just, yeah, trying to protect himself or his business. What's advice to you? It's like, this is what I Yeah, I'm sure he, you know, he may not even train the sport, I don't know. But anyway, so after I was, you know, done sulking, I started doing some research, and I went to I also went to this chiropractor, and he ended up, like strapping my ankles to a table, to the table, putting a belt around my neck, and like pulling like my head, like, attraction, like, Yeah, but like, it wasn't like a slow ease, you know, it was like a, all right, one, two, and I'm like, sitting there thinking I'm paralyzed. Like, this was during my neck, like, being fresh, you know. So I'm like, I think I'm paralyzed. So I'm just crying. He's like, all right, you know, take a minute. I'll be right back, like, sitting there. So anyway, then I was like, okay, chiropractors, I gotta be careful. It's doctors. I gotta be careful. Like, who can I trust? And so I went to this. 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 was seeing a couple different massage therapists at the time too. Most of them did deep tissue, but she her name's Ray long. She doesn't work there anymore, unfortunately. But I saw her. I. Her consistently, like all the time. Because first, first time I saw she did a little bit of deep tissue, but she did what she specializes in, is MFR, myofascial release. And so she, the second time I saw her, she's like, I don't do deep tissue anymore. I just do MFR. And I was like, 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 like the therapy kind of stuck, like I felt better the next day too. And and I was like, Okay, I'm seeing the effects. And so basically, what it is is just like a more like slow, gentle, really shooting of, like a stretching of the Fauci. So every time they're like, Oh, your muscles are all connected. It's the Fauci that connects them. I mean, you know this, but for some people, and so, you know, she was explaining all that, and I knew, you know, just from schooling and everything like that, but I would see her all the time, from like, once a week, twice a week, to twice a day, like, I was just like, we're gonna, we're gonna get this. Because every session, I felt closer and 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 think what would have taken this injury a few months, took it a year, just because I was like, I'm gonna take a week off, and I'm gonna, you know, wait till I feel okay, and then we go back, jump back in.

Dr. Megan Jimenez:

We all do it. We all go back too early. So,

Faye Lynn Cherrier:

yeah, yeah. So that was, we

Dr. Megan Jimenez:

feel main thing 1% better, right? And we're like, let's go back to trade.

Faye Lynn Cherrier:

Yeah, right. Blast doubles, yep.

Dr. Megan Jimenez:

Well, good. And so now you're doing pretty good. You haven't had more episodes with the No no,

Faye Lynn Cherrier:

but it's, I think a lot of it was just the staying consistent with everything. And 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 neck started, like, doing these figure eights, and she's, like, your scalenes are really tight, and, like, you know, like the front neck muscles, yeah. And, and then I just remember all the feeling came back into my hand, and I just 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 everything in most of, like, my

Dr. Megan Jimenez:

upper body, head, traps neck, yep, traps big time. So it

Faye Lynn Cherrier:

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 gonna fix me, right? I'm like, You booked a 30 minute session. I will do what I can, but you know that I never see them again? Yeah, and a lot of people are like, if I don't feel this immediately, then it doesn't work. And I think, you know, I think that was my my issue too, before was just like, not being consistent. And they goes for everything, like nutrition,

Dr. Megan Jimenez:

sleep, like that happens. Like the bouncing around too. Like, I see people bounce around to doctors because they're like, oh, that didn't help me on the one time, you know, and me, and maybe it does just take time, and you have a lot built up. So, I mean, I mean, I see that a lot with my athletes, you know, 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 them a medication quick fix so that, yeah, so I mean, it does take time, and it takes finding people that you trust. And, you know, with neck injuries too, 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 neck strengthening, like putting a plate on forehead or like a towel. It's so important, like wrestling, you guys are always like doing bridges on your heads, which I think is insane. I'm like, that looks really dangerous, and that does not look pleasant, but I'm glad that you're better. Mine's better too, because I've stuck to my traction. I do a lot of inversion table too, so like going upside down. But the last thing I want to talk about was massage, which you kind of brought up already. You're a massage therapist. I've come for massages with you before too, but I live a little far, far away, but it's nice to get massages. I love my weekly or. Weekly massages. You know, 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 out shown with pretty good evidence in the literature. What do you think about massage as like being a regular for athletes?

Faye Lynn Cherrier:

I think it's really important, just because I think, again, I think it it should be consistent, and I think 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 ABCD, like you should stretch, you should do this, you should rest, you should, you know, fix your diet, I think everything goes into play, and it should just be consistent, and it should be paired with other things as well. So 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, yeah, so I do at least once a month, and then all I foam roll and stretch every night, if not every other night. I'm pretty, pretty consistent with that. And then I sleep

Dr. Megan Jimenez:

a lot. Sleep is like the number one recovery tool that people just don't even utilize.

Faye Lynn Cherrier:

Yeah, they don't they, I don't think they really maybe they just don't know. But some people, I don't know if they just don't know the benefit, but that that was once I started prioritizing my sleep, then I started really feeling the benefits. So I think massage is really well, is really good for athletes, as long as they parrot and they're doing other things. But every massage therapist is different. So just like with some doctors, you know maybe one is not right for you. So if a certain therapist isn't your cup T doesn't mean massage doesn't 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's MFR, sometimes it's, you know, more relaxation, Swedish. So there's just so many different types, I think, like diet, find what works for you and just be really open. I think one thing that 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's not always about that, but that's my train of thought. But I think also just I lost my train of thought, well, but yeah,

Dr. Megan Jimenez:

things outside of massage is the essential. Is the point, because being consistent and taking responsibility like for your own, your own recovery, because not relying on other people to to just give you that fix that we've been talking about. Yeah, all right, cool. Well, what's next for you? Were you? Were you up to? What are you up to next in your personal life and your Jiu Jitsu, and you got a lot of stuff

Faye Lynn Cherrier:

coming up, so I am focusing on gaining weight. I mean, I always am, but this year, I am 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 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, so 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. I'm going to try and save some money this year and then finalize some wedding plans, but hopefully 2025, or we may do a destination wedding, but yeah, that's the next big tournament. 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 and then just competing, getting better training. Get posting more content, yeah, trying to be better about that. More consistent. Hopefully get my YouTube. I. I'm a little bit more active. And so where can people find you? What is your YouTube? My YouTube is pebble weight style.

Dr. Megan Jimenez:

Pebble weight style, okay, and

Faye Lynn Cherrier:

then they can also find me on Instagram too. I did start a Tiktok. I'm working on that, but it's mostly I haven't even delved it, yeah, dived into too much, but it's mostly just the same stuff on Instagram, but that's fatality. 123,

Dr. Megan Jimenez:

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

Faye Lynn Cherrier:

next year. Thank you. You too.

Buzz Burbank:

And I run ironic media production. Visit us at I R O N, I C, K, media.com i.