This is an excellent martial arts, MMA or wrestling exercise…especially useful for those who have exert explosive rotational power when lying on the ground. You’ll be using the gluteus medius and minimus muscles (the abductors of the hips), to roll from side to side while holding a dumbell at your chest.
And while this would seem to primarily hit the core hard, you will get a good hip workout out of it as well.
Start with a moderate weight dumbell. In this first demo, I’m using an 85 lb dumbell. You’ll want to start lighter than this until you get the feel for the exercise.
Roll to the side and grip the dumbell with both hands. Your arms should be bent 90 degrees and you’ll be holding the dumbell in as close to your body as possible, throughout the movement.
Your same-side leg should be bent 90 degrees as well…it’s the hip of that side that’s going to be exert force to begin the roll.
Push hard with the left hip while keeping the core tight and pulling that dumbell in tight to your chest.
Come up to the top then start the roll in the other direction.
Roll all the way over and set the dumbell on the floor (don’t let go, though). The right leg should be bent 90 degrees now.
Push with the right hip and roll back to the other side.
Repeat for 6 to 10 total reps.
Here’s a view from the other side using a 125 lb dumbell (you can progress to pretty heavy dumbells with this movement).
This exercise will really develop the muscles that are important for ground work in MMA, martial arts and wrestling…it’ll give you great rotational power on the ground and also teach how to really use those hip muscles to exert that power.
Nick Nilsson is known in the fitness industry as the “Mad Scientist of Muscle,” and for good reason! For more than 28 years, Nick has been creating unique, new exercises and training techniques and putting together some of the most innovative muscle-building and fat-loss programs available anywhere.
