Today, a common fitness craze involves a full-body approach to every workout. Hit all the major muscle groups in different ways to create “muscle confusion” and prevent overtraining in one area and complacency in your exercise routine. People pay big bucks for CrossFit, P90X, Insanity, and more.

But what if I told you that these concepts are already integrated into a martial arts training that would also teach you to defend yourself in all kinds of situations? Since you already read the title of this article, you know that I am talking about Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. After my standard hour-long class, plus 30 minutes of wrestling, all major muscle groups and minor muscle groups that I didn’t know existed constantly ache.

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

In our example, your opponent is crossed from your left. The escape technique involves several steps, each of which uses various parts of your body.

Step 1: control your opponent’s hips

Your left arm, the one 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 will curve around his thigh. With your right arm, work between the two of you until your right hand is against your left hip bone. This will require some work; It’s easier if you anticipate lateral cross control to come, turn to your side, and cross your body with your right arm before your opponent approaches you. As much as possible, stretch 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 exhaust will be MUCH easier.

Muscle groups used: chest, shoulders, arms

Step 2: shrimp by your side

The shrimp move is perhaps the most common in all of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. When doing shrimp, you bridge using one leg, putting your weight on the opposite shoulder. The bridge creates space below you to slide your free hip through, so that you can be on your side instead of on your back. It will be difficult to save 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 it will 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, shifting some of your weight onto 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 lower knee

On your side, your left leg is on the bottom and there should be room for it to move. Slide your left knee between you and your opponent, placing your left knee (or better yet, your shin) on your opponent’s stomach. You will have to move your right arm away from hip control while doing this, but it is completely fine … your leg is stronger and it 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: straighten on full guard

Using your left leg as a lever, slide your body to your right, coming back to parallel with them. You will move from one side to your back. Your right leg will cross and behind your opponent, your knee against his left hip. Circle your left foot, rotating your left leg in front of your opponent. If there is not enough room to fully extend your left leg, either because your opponent is moving forward to keep it in place, or simply because you are not flexible enough … don’t worry. Just move a little further to your right, using your right leg to push against your hip, to make the extra room needed to free your left leg.

Muscle groups used: legs, abs, back

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

For more upper body tension, escape to your knees, rather than full guard. Instead of a shrimp move, just enough to get the bottom leg through … make a couple of large shrimp, bringing your body around almost 270 degrees. At this point, you will be in line with your opponent, your arms still stretched out and maintaining strong hip control. Put your knees under you. As your opponent moves forward, keep your arms closed and his momentum will lift your torso off the mat for you. This escapement is mostly used when your opponent blocks the space for your lower leg to pass … but it’s also a nice change for training.

I lost 40 pounds in my first year of training in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu mainly because I’m not very good at it. I’ve spent most of my training time stuck on the lower lateral support. Struggling with this escape over and over, multiple times a week, has not only helped my BJJ game, but vastly 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!