Our Student Ricardo Silva Lost 60 Lbs.

One of the pieces of feedback I hear the most at Guillobel Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Academy in Orange County is how my students have lost “tons” of weight just by practicing martial arts.

For a person who has trained in martial arts for a long time, the fact that you lose weight is not surprising. But what seems so natural for a long time BJJ student is often a big surprise for a beginner.

If you don’t have prior knowledge in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, it is hard to see that while you practice, you work every single muscle of your body — from your toes to your neck!

After the desire to learn self-defense, getting in shape by doing something out of the ordinary is the second most popular reason people sign up for my martial arts program. Without knowing too much about it, they might say “I’m not doing anything to get in shape right now, so let’s give Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu a try – it looks fun.” Little do they know just how great of an exercise BJJ is. With Jiu-Jitsu, they get into a full body workout that mixes cardio and strength training, as well as increasing flexibility.

How can BJJ do all that?

Every class of a professional Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu academy starts with a good warm-up in which you work your cardio, your core and your other major muscles – as well as stretching your whole body — by doing specific BJJ moves and routines. Notice that I said “professional” Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu academy – beware of some schools that skip the warm-up, a crucial element of practice and training. Just by completing the warm-up, you are doing more exercise than 80% of the world’s population does on a daily basis.

After the warm-up, you will do drills that help you learn specific techniques the instructor is focused on during that class, which will also work a combination of cardio, strength, flexibility and, in this case, your mind too. The techniques are interesting to learn and the drills are fun. Most people lose track of time because they are so focused and are having so much fun.

The sparring is where you reach the peak of your workout. Now, you are not only trying to execute the techniques you’ve learned, but you are doing it with a partner that is trying to do the same on you. That is when the adrenaline kicks in (which helps to consume a big part of your energy and burns a lot of your unwanted calories), and the mind game also starts. Because you are using your body as a fighting machine, the more parts of your body you can use, the better your performance will be. Without you even noticing, you are exercising every single muscle in your body while you are having fun and trying to win the match!

So let me ask – are you doing anything this fun to get in shape? I invite you to give us a try! Call Guillobel Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu now at 949 366 2107 and I will give you a FREE 30 Days trial. Thank you.