You can find a lot of silly “functional” jiu-jitsu moves online these days that are simply a waste of time.
When you’re at an age where you need the most from the limited training time you have, doing things like curls from an extended arm bar position to strengthen your armbar defense is just wasteful.
Hyper sport-specific movements that train small movements you may beed 1% of the time you’re actually rolling is frivolous.
With that said, there are useful exercises that crossover into BJJ sport-specific, and the one’s I use are valuable to any human, grappler or not.
One of these moves is the Hip Heist, sometimes called the Hip Snap.
The hip heist is the action of extending your hip from a grounded position to rise up to kneeling or standing.
It’s not only essential for effective jiu-jitsu, but it offers a host of benefits for anyone.
Benefits of The Hip Heist
I wouldn’t classify the hip heist as a primary movement pattern, but it’s part of the Get Up family of movements, which are essential for optimal human movement.
The ability to transition from the floor to an upright position has been a crucial task essential for our survival as a species.
In modern life, the ease in which you transition from the ground to standing, especially without the use of your hands, is directly correlated to your longevity.
An effortless and strong hip heist is indicative of mobile hips, a strong core and hips, and a resilient spine ready for dynamic movement.
More specifically, is indicates adequate hip internal and external rotation and activation of the hip rotators and extensors, which is why it’s often used in BJJ warmups.
Benefits of The Hip Heist For BJJ
Aside from these general hip, spine, and movement benefits, a strong hip heist is necessary to execute many techniques in modern jiu-jitsu.
If fact, no-gi superstar, Garry Tonon, just released an entire instructional on the hip heist.
The hip heist allows you to transition from guard to a takedown position in the most effective way possible. The modern jiu-jitsu game has evolved into a form of wrestle-jitsu, combining wrestling type takedowns with wrestle-up attacks from a guard position.
Garry shows not only guard to takedown, but takedown to guard, submissions to takedowns, and takedowns to submissions all linked through the hip heist.
Just look at all of the uses of the hip heist in the trailer below.
The Best Ways To Develop The Hip Heist
I add the hip heist to the list of high-value, minimalist moves for grapplers because it provides so many benefits for BJJ, and can be used as a warmup, mobility drill, or strength exercise with load.
Simply practicing the hip heist unloaded starting from the Shin Box position will naturally improve hip mobility and activate the rotators, glues, and core.
However, if you want to take your hip heisting abilities to the next level, loading the position will take you there.
There are various ways to load it with kettlebells or dumbbells, but the club provides specific benefits those other tools can’t, including presses, pullovers, and Shield Casts.
Shin Box Hip Snap Shield Cast
The Shin Box Hip Snap to Shield Cast is the ultimate combination of movements that will mobilize and strengthen your hips, while also mobilizing your spine, rib cage, and shoulders.
Having all of these parts mobile and strong is what’s needed, especially when your upper body is gripping, framing, and attacking while your lower body is heisting up.
Above is an excerpt from Shin Box Hip Power, which explains these moves in detail and how to program them for better BJJ performance.
Turkish Get Up Bridge Through Lateral Hinge
The Get Up is one of the most beneficial exercises a grappler can do, but steps 4 through 6, the Bridge to Sweep, Lateral Hinge, and Lunge Up, are the most important for a powerful hip heist.
This sequence builds all of the core strength, hip dexterity, and structural integrity you will need to perform successful heists and wrestle-ups on the mat.
Training down back to the mat is just as important, as you are resisting the load and working more eccentric actions. You’ll need this to resist getting stuck in the hole when your opponent is inevitably forcing you back to the mat.
You can learn the Grappler’s Get Up here.
Final Thoughts
If exercise “value for time” is important to you, the hip heist and its variations will be a useful tool in your arsenal.
You can forget the silly banded snap down drills and other hyper-specific BJJ exercises you see online.
Spend your time with exercises that actually deliver what you need on the mat, like mobility, strength, and endurance.
You will be improving your mat performance while reducing your risk of injury with high-value moves like the hip heist.
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