23 Strength and Conditioning Tips for Wrestlers

1. Divide your Year-Round Training Into 3 Seasons Its best to have an Off-Season, Pre-
season and In-season training approach for the best results. Each season has a distinct
purpose. The Offseason helps you build more strength and muscle density. The Preseason helps
you turn that increased strength into more speed and power. The In-season is meant to help you
avoid injuries and hold on to your muscle especially when you cut weight.
2. Strength Train 3 Days Per Week in the Offseason 3 training days is optimal for gaining
strength and muscle especially when youre a natural athlete. Weve found that athletes who
insist on strength training 4-6 days per week make less progress than when they reduce their
frequency to 3 times per week.
3. Strength train 3 Days Per Week in the Pre-season The Pre-season is generally the 2
months prior to the first day of practice. This is in reference to the scholastic season. This is
when you turn strength into speed. We accomplish this with a change in exercises and exercise
technique but the training frequency remains the same. Remember, a stronger muscle is a
faster muscle, so you dont want to overdo it just before the season starts.
4. Strength Train 1 or 2 Days Per Week in the In-season During the season your goal is to
maintain lean muscle mass thats it. You arent concentrating on gaining strength but keeping
your muscle on your frame. Because of the workload from practices and wrestling, reduce the
frequency to only 1 or 2 times per week. I like to have wrestlers train 2 times one week and then
only 1 time the following week totaling 3 full body training sessions every 2 weeks.
5. Use Closed-Chain Exercises Any time you perform an exercise where your hands or feet
are stationary, you are performing a Closed-Chain exercise. If your hands or feet are in motion
during the exercise, it is an Open Chain exercise. For ultimate strength and athletic
development, Ive found it best to make sure 2/3 of your exercises are Closed Chain. Examples
are Squats, Deadlifts, Dips, Pushups, Chinups.
6. Accentuate the Negative Forget this garbage some guys dish out about Negative Training
(slow lowering of the weight) being counter-productive for Athletes. Slow negative training can
do amazing things for your strength gains because it recruits up to 40% more muscle fibers
during a set. Thats why you can lower more weight than you can lift. Because of the constant
pushing against your opponent when you wrestle, negative training becomes very wrestling-
specific.
7. Use the Rest Pause Technique Rest Pause is one of my favorite training techniques for
wrestlers. You perform a set to failure, rest 15 seconds, then repeat 2 more times. This is great
for muscular endurance as well as your overall strength development.
8. Use the Static Hold Technique - When you hold a weight still with your muscles flexed
until you can no longer hold it, you are working the muscles in a way that they get forced to
work during a wrestling match. When you are tied up with your opponent and are exerting a lot
of energy yet there is no movement, you are in a Static Contraction. Adding the technique to
your strength training can add additional strength fast and prepare you for the season.
9. Use 4 Week Training Cycles If you work a training program hard, you should get optimal
progress in 4 weeks and then change it up. This allows you to get stronger without getting
little nagging injuries.
10. Use Complexes A cool way to increase your conditioning for wrestling is to occasionally
add Barbell or DB Complexes to your training. This is when you perform an exercise for a
certain number of repetitions, followed by another exercise for the same repetitions, and another
etc. I like the Power Clean, Overhead Shoulder Press, Front Squat, Bent Row and Romanian
Deadlift all grouped together.
11. Sprinting 2/3 of the Time, Jogging 1/3 of the Time However you set up a Conditioning
program, you will get into better wrestling condition and keep your muscle if you limit jogging
to only 1/3 of your running program. Remember, wrestling is an anaerobic sport while jogging
is aerobic. The energy systems are different.
12. Hill Sprints or Stairs Nothing beats a big hill to rump up and then walk down repeating
for 8-10 times. Theres a big hill near my house that is perfect for this. It gets your stamina up
very quickly.
13. Do the Above With a Mouthful of Water Before you run up the hill, fill your mouth with
water. You will have to dig deep to run up the hill where you can spit it out. Take a swig of
water at that point, walk down and repeat
14. 7 Exercises is the Magic Number - In order to be thorough with your training, get the most
strength, and not overtrain, perform no more than 7 exercises for your Off-season and Pre-season
workouts.
15. 6 Exercises During the Season During your wrestling season you want to reduce the
frequency as well as the volume of training. If your normal training volume is 7 exercises during
the Off-season and Pre-season, you would reduce the volume to 6 exercises during the In-
season. This slight reduction will reduce the chance of overtraining.
16. Split Routines In the Off-Season and Pre-Season Due to exercise volume as well as
intensity, I like to split Off-Season and Pre-Season workouts into an A and B workout. This way
you train half the body at one time allowing for more overall strength.
17. Full Body Routines During the In-season While your season is under way, you should
not only reduce your training volume but now train the entire body in one workout. This allows
for more recuperation and recovery in between training sessions since there is no muscular
overlap with successive workouts.
18. Static Stretching Every Day for High School and Up By the time you are in High
School and your long bones have rapidly grown, you may have increased muscular
inflexibility. A daily stretching regimen may be warranted.
19. NO Static Stretching for Youth Wrestlers - I hate watching youth wrestlers trying to get
deep stretches where they hold them. There just isnt enough stability in their joints for this. Far
better at this age to have them do dynamic stretching ie. Animal stretches that require movement
patterns to loosen up.
20. Train the Rotator Cuff - Because shoulder injuries are so frequent in wrestling, Id
recommend that you get tubing or elastic bands, or a cable to perform internal and external
rotations for the Rotator Cuff. This group of 4 muscles gets neglected with traditional
training. With consistent training you will find more overall strength and less trauma in the
Shoulder region.
21. Keep the Knee Safe By adding one leg exercises such as Step Ups, One Leg Pistol
Squats, and Lunges, you can help with the development of the Quadriceps along with support
muscles. The result will be less problems with the knees. You still want to perform the Closed
Chain exercises such as Squat and Deadlifts, but in combination with One Leg exercises you
have the perfect leg training workout for wrestling.
22. Keep the Ankle Safe - Be sure to get your calves strong with a combination of Seated Calf
Raises and any form of Calf Raise where your leg remains straight. This will address both big
calf muscles the gastroc and soleus. Also be sure to pay attention to the Tibialis
Anterior which is the muscle in front where your shins are. Use tubing around the top of your
foot and pull your foot up against the resistance to work this muscle.
23. Keep the Ankle Safe Part 2 - I recommend that any wrestler at any age perform the
Scramble to Balance exercise. (Look for it on this blog I have a video). Basically, you lie
face down on the mat in a Superman position. Have someone blow the whistle at which point
you will get up to standing on one foot as soon as possible. Do this with your eyes closed for
about 5-8 times on each leg. This works wonders for the ankles stability, Knee stability, balance,
auditory awareness and concentration. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!