Today, a common fitness fad involves a full-body approach to every workout. You work each major muscle group in different ways to create “muscle confusion” and avoid overtraining in one area and complacency in your exercise routine. People pay a lot of money for CrossFit, P90X, Insanity, and more.

But what if I told you that these concepts are already embedded in a martial arts training that would also teach you how to defend yourself in all kinds of situations? Since you have already read the title of this article, you know that I am talking about Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. After my standard one hour class plus 30 minutes of wrestling, I am always sore in every major muscle group and minor ones I didn’t know existed.

The beauty of a BJJ workout is that each technique covers so many different parts of the body and coordinates them into one fluid movement. As an example, let’s look at a common technique: the lower side mount exhaust. In this position, you are on your back and your opponent is lying on top of you, chest to chest. For the person raising, it is probably the best position to control his opponent.

In our example, your opponent is across from your left. The escape technique involves several steps, each using multiple parts of his body.

Step 1: Control your opponent’s hips

Your left arm, closest to your opponent, should be cupped around your right hip. Your left hand will be at the side of his hip, your left forearm bent down around his thigh. With your right arm, move it between the two of you until your right hand is against your left hipbone. This will require some work; it’s easiest if you anticipate the cross check coming, turn to your side, and cross your right arm across your body before your opponent approaches you. As much as you can, stretch out your arms and control the space between you and your opponent. If you can achieve a stiff arm position with one or both arms, the rest of the escape will be MUCH easier.

Muscle groups used: chest, shoulders, arms

Step 2: Shrimp next to you

The shrimp move is perhaps the most common in all of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. When you shrimp, you bridge using one leg, putting your weight on the opposite shoulder. The bridge creates space under you to slide your hips free, so you can lie on your side instead of on your back. It will be difficult to bridge with most of your opponent’s weight on your chest… luckily you don’t have to go very high for the shrimp to work. However, the higher you can bridge the better, to affect your opponent’s balance and create more room for you to move.

In this particular position, you will bring your right heel towards your butt. Use that foot to bridge, taking some of your weight over your left shoulder. At this point, only two parts of your body should be in contact with the mat. Slide your left hip under your body and finish on your side, facing your opponent. It is VERY important that you maintain hip control from Step 1 while doing this.

Muscle groups used: legs, abs, lower and upper back

Step 3 – Pass the Bottom Knee

From the side, the left leg is down and there should be room for it to move. Slide your left knee between you and your opponent, placing your left knee (or even better, your shin) into your opponent’s stomach. You’ll have to move your right arm away from hip control as you do this, but that’s completely fine…your leg is stronger and will do a better job of keeping the space between the two of you. If you don’t have enough space, make another small shrimp.

Muscle groups used: legs, abs

Step 4: Stand up on full guard

Using your left leg as leverage, slide your body to the right, bringing yourself back parallel to them. You will move from one side to your back. Your right leg will cross and be behind your opponent, your knee against his left hip. Circle your left foot, turning your left leg in front of your opponent. If there isn’t enough room to fully remove your left leg, either because your opponent is pushing forward to keep it in place or simply because you aren’t flexible enough…don’t worry about it. Just move a little more to the right, using your right leg to push against his hip, to make the extra room needed to free up your left leg.

Muscle groups used: legs, abs, back

With a sparring partner, do three escapes on each side, then switch places… you’ll be on top and your partner will escape. After 15 minutes of changing places and doing the escape, you will feel the workout EVERYWHERE!

To put more pressure on your upper body, escape on your knees, instead of full guard. Instead of a camouflage move, just enough to get past your lower leg… do a couple of big camouflage cams, turning your body almost 270 degrees. At this point, you will be in line with your opponent, your arms still straight and maintaining strong hip control. He brings your knees under you. As your opponent advances, he keeps his arms locked and his momentum will lift his torso off the mat for you. This escape is mainly used when your opponent blocks the space for your lower leg to pass through… but it’s also a nice change in training.

I lost 40 pounds in my first year of training in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu mainly because I’m not very good. I have spent most of my training time stuck on the lower side mount. Fighting this exhaust over and over again, multiple times a week, has not only helped my BJJ game, but has greatly improved my overall fitness. I don’t need a meticulous 90 day workout plan…a DVD system…a set of weights…an expensive machine…all I need is a mat and someone to roll with!