• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
Breaking Muscle

Breaking Muscle

Breaking Muscle

  • Fitness
  • Workouts
    • Best Shoulder Workouts
    • Best Chest Workouts
    • Best Leg Workouts
    • Best Leg Exercises
    • Best Biceps Exercises
    • Best Kettlebell Exercises
    • Best Back Workouts
    • Best HIIT Workouts
    • Best Triceps Exercises
    • Best Arm Workouts
  • Reviews
    • Supplements
      • Best Pre-Workout
      • Best BCAAs
      • Best Testosterone Boosters
      • Best Bodybuilding Supplements
      • Best Creatine
      • Best Supplements for Weight Loss
      • Best Multivitamins
      • Best Collagen Supplement
      • Best Probiotic
      • Best Non-Stim Pre-Workout
      • Best Greens Powder
      • Best Magnesium Supplements
    • Protein
      • Best Protein Powder
      • Best Whey Protein
      • Best Protein Powders for Muscle Gain
      • Best Tasting Protein Powder
      • Best Vegan Protein
      • Best Mass Gainer
      • Best Protein Shakes
      • Best Organic Protein Powder
      • Best Pea Protein Powder
      • Best Protein Bars
    • Strength Equipment
      • Best Home Gym Equipment
      • Best Squat Racks
      • Best Barbells
      • Best Weightlifting Belts
      • Best Weight Benches
      • Best Functional Trainers
      • Best Dumbbells
      • Best Adjustable Dumbbells
      • Best Kettlebells
      • Best Resistance Bands
      • Best Trap Bars
    • Cardio Equipment
      • Best Cardio Machines
      • Best Rowing Machines
      • Best Treadmills
      • Best Weighted Vests
      • Concept2 RowErg Review
      • Hydrow Wave Review
      • Best Jump Ropes
  • News
  • Exercise Guides
    • Legs
      • Back Squat
      • Bulgarian Split Squat
      • Goblet Squat
      • Zercher Squat
      • Standing Calf Raise
      • Hack Squat
    • Chest
      • Bench Press
      • Dumbbell Bench Press
      • Close-Grip Bench Press
      • Incline Bench Press
    • Shoulders
      • Overhead Dumbbell Press
      • Lateral Raise
    • Arms
      • Chin-Up
      • Weighted Pull-Up
      • Triceps Pushdown
    • Back
      • Deadlift
      • Trap Bar Deadlift
      • Lat Pulldown
      • Inverted Row
      • Bent-Over Barbell Row
      • Single-Arm Dumbbell Row
      • Pendlay Row
Fitness

Is That Excellence I Smell? We Need the Funk, Gotta Have That Funk

I’ve decided excellence has a smell - and at times, the smell of excellence could stop a mastodon in its tracks. I've recently redefined my relationship to the smell of my teammates, and myself.

val worthington, valerie worthington, bjj, mma, brazilian jiu jitsu, grappling

Written by Valerie Worthington Last updated on Nov 22, 2021

To get to my grappling academy, I enter a door and walk up a narrow flight of stairs. Since I usually arrive in time for the second of two classes in a row, upon opening the door at the top of the stairs to enter the hallway where the academy is located I am immediately hit with a wall of olfactory input that feels like an actual, physical assault on my person. Especially if it is particularly hot or a particularly large class, walking through the door is like walking into a giant sauna, only instead of using water, someone has strained beef broth through a dirty sweat sock and then poured THAT on the glowing hot rocks.

A friend and training partner of mine commented once that a grappling academy after a training session smells like “feet and old ham.” Well, she said it once, and then she said it numerous times thereafter because it made me laugh so hard. And because it’s true. Any grappling academy absolutely reeks after a class. Even the delicate, dainty ladies who attended the most recent Women’s Grappling Camp brought the funk and brought it heavy.

In addition, in my experience, most everyone I’ve ever trained with, presumably myself included has a distinctive smell. This may not be what you’d call a “marketable skill,” but after several rounds of training, once the sweat has started to drip, I would definitely be able to identify at least some of my current training partners if I were blindfolded, just by sniffing. I don’t know what my, um, signature fragrance is. Given my heritage, I suspect it is a mixture of borscht and haggis, punctuated with just a soupcon of fish and chips wrapped in newspaper.

Lest you think I’m picking on grapplers, believe me when I say such strong smells are not limited to my academy, nor to Brazilian jiu jitsu. I’ve smelled some serious funk at weightlifting meets, soccer games, you name it. Wherever there is sweat, there’s the potential for bacteria to perform their malodorous alchemy. Indeed, given the few times I’ve stood on a medal podium and what I’ve smelled there, I’ve often wondered what things like the arena in which the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team won the gold medal smelled like, especially once team captain Mike Eruzione beckoned the entire team to join him. After all, those guys hadn’t just spent the afternoon seeing to their toilette.

So why am I fixated on the smells of exertion? Well, the other day I was in the locker room after a sweaty training session, waiting to stop dripping enough so I could put on my street clothes and head out. While I was waiting, I thought about how much time I spend smelling this way – a lot – and how I usually feel about it – gross. I started realizing that while the smell is not the goal, it is part and parcel of the journey. Just like you can’t make an omelet without cracking eggs, you can’t reach your athletic potential without sometimes smelling like rotten ones.

feet and old ham, smelly athletes, smelly bjj, smell of bjj, brazilian jiu jitsuI’ve decided to embrace my funk. I’m still always going to clean up after training, of course, both because I don’t live in the Middle Ages and also because there’s nothing quite as lovely as that post-training shower, where you go from utterly filthy to squeaky clean. But I’m going to try to stop being so quick to disparage the smell of exertion.

I accept (and even secretly take pride in) the bumps and bruises, the black eyes, calluses, and stiff muscles I acquire from my physical activity. Not only are they an understood part of the package, they are also an external manifestation of my effort. They speak volumes about what I do and what I sometimes have to sacrifice in order to do it.

It occurred to me the same goes for the stink. I’ve decided excellence has a smell – and at times, the smell of excellence could stop a mastodon in its tracks, strip the paint off a house, bring down a vast computer network. Its debilitating power is part of what makes it excellent.

So the next time you are enjoying that quiet post-workout moment and experiencing the scent of your own and your teammates’ exertions, think about what that scent signifies, and celebrate it, just a little. Don’t celebrate it all over a freshly-showered friend, or a significant other who is all gussied up, but remember: It means you’re kind of a badass. A stinky, overripe badass.

Photos courtesy of Shutterstock.

val worthington, valerie worthington, bjj, mma, brazilian jiu jitsu, grappling

About Valerie Worthington

Valerie Worthington has been moving her body since before she was born, for many reasons and with many outcomes. She really started to pay attention to how, when, and why her body moves when she began training in Brazilian jiu jitsu in 1998. From then on, she became hugely invested in educating herself about how to optimize her body movement for BJJ and how to support it in doing so. She has observed that these endeavors require her to invest herself not only physically, but also mentally, emotionally, and psychologically, fueling a particular interest in the influence on her life of these dimensions of athletic activity.

Valerie has developed as a BJJ practitioner via her own training and competition preparation, teaching and coaching other practitioners, and writing about her life as a jiu jitsu devotee through the lens of her education, personal experiences, and professional background. She holds a bachelor’s degree in English literature from Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire, and a doctorate in educational psychology from Michigan State University. She is a first-degree black belt in BJJ, as well as co-founder and proprietor of Groundswell Grappling Concepts. She trains at Princeton Brazilian Jiu Jitsu in Princeton, New Jersey.

Most recently, Valerie is the author of How to Love a Grappler: A Guide for People Who Love People Who Love Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

View All Articles

Related Posts

Fergus Crawley 5K Run Tips Photo
Fergus Crawley Shares 5 Tips For Running a Better 5K
Actor Chris Hemsworth in gym performing dumbbell row
Chris Hemsworth Diagrams a Killer Upper Body Workout Fit For an Action Star
Hugh Jackman Deadpool 3 Workouts Spring:Winter 2023
Hugh Jackman Returns to Wolverine Condition in Workouts for “Deadpool 3”
Method Man Incline Dumbbell Presses December 2022
Check Out Rapper Method Man Cruising Through 120-Pound Incline Dumbbell Presses for 10 Reps

Primary Sidebar

Latest Articles

New Year’s Fitness Sales (2025)

XWERKS Motion BCAA Review (2025): A Registered Dietitian’s Honest Thoughts

Assault Fitness AssaultBike Pro X Review (2025): Assault’s Best Bike Yet?

13 Best Exercise Bikes for Home Gyms (2025)

Transparent Labs BCAA Glutamine Review (2025): The Key to Post-Workout Recovery?

Latest Reviews

Element 26 Hybrid Leather Weightlifting Belt

Element 26 Hybrid Leather Weightlifting Belt Review (2025)

Omre NMN + Resveratrol, Lifeforce Peak NMN, and partiQlar NMN on a red background

Best NMN Supplement: Fountain of Youth in a Bottle? (2025)

The Titan Series Adjustable Bench on a red background

Titan Series Adjustable Bench Review (2025)

A photo of the NordicTrack Select-a-Weight Dumbbells on a red background

NordicTrack Adjustable Dumbbell Review (2025): Are These Value Dumbbells Worth It?

woman lifting barbell

Be the smartest person in your gym

The Breaking Muscle newsletter is everything you need to know about strength in a 3 minute read.

I WANT IN!

Breaking Muscle is the fitness world’s preeminent destination for timely, high-quality information on exercise, fitness, health, and nutrition. Our audience encompasses the entire spectrum of the fitness community: consumers, aficionados, fitness professionals, and business owners. We seek to inform, educate and advocate for this community.

  • Reviews
  • Healthy Eating
  • Workouts
  • Fitness
  • News

Follow Us

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RSS Feed

© 2025 · Breaking Muscle · Terms of Use · Privacy Policy · Affiliate Disclaimer · Accessibility · About