One of the first things you figure out about Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is that the hips play a huge roll in your success. Being able to move your hips around gives you a lot more control of the situation and is one of the primary goals when rolling.

However, beyond just moving the hips is the specific action of moving the hips laterally, or from side to side. Shrimping your hips out is something you learned on your first day of BJJ but it can be tough for some people to pick up.

The problem is that Shrimping your hips out requires your hips to hinge and rotate laterally, which is not something most of us are used to doing. So, instead of moving the hips laterally we end up using the lower back which isn’t nearly as effective.

This makes exercises that help restore that movement pattern and provides ways to strengthen it very important for the BJJ student.

One of the my favorite exercises to do this is the Rotational Deadlift. If you haven’t seen this unique twist on the deadlift applied to BJJ then be sure to check out the video below to see how to do it and how it specifically applies to your hip movement on the mats.

Like I mentioned in the video, the bonus to this exercise is that it helps with the leg drive you need to finish a strong double leg takedown. One of the most important parts of BJJ is being able to move and drive laterally and the Rotational Deadlift is one of the best ways to add that specific element into your program.

If you have any questions about using this exercise in your workouts or if you have some exercise you’ve found help with lateral hip movement please be sure to post a comment below.

And if you liked this post please take a second to click one of the Share or Like buttons below to help spread the word.

Until next time…

Roll Strong,

James Wilson

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