Isometric Training

Isometric motion or contractions are when muscles resist force and do not change in length. For instance, when you take a shot, your opponent sprawls, and you still hold on to the leg for 10 seconds. Or if you are in the down position and hit a switch, your opponent defends it, and you remain in that position for 5 seconds. Another example is maybe; unfortunately, you are caught with your shoulders on the mat and need to defend against getting pinned. That is isometric strength.

So, there are many times that you will need the strength to resist your opponent’s countermovement and stabilize your body to resist force and stay in a good position. Your body needs to learn how to absorb force, or you will lose the battle. Training Isometric exercises will help increase your static strength. Isometric training is a critical part of strength training for wrestling and its sport-specific movements.

Here are some exercises for you to try.

Hold each isometric position for 10 seconds. If the position you hold is more than 10 seconds, add enough resistance to make it difficult for that time. For example, holding a plank for 3 minutes does nothing for you. However, when you add resistance, it is exactly what your opponent is going to do. So, you need your body to absorb, resist, and withstand the force.

Use weights and loads that are your five-rep max unless you can quickly change the bar to a different position. Resistance bands work great to change positions quickly.

Now that you understand isometrics, you will hold three positions, the bottom, mid-top, and the top, for 10 seconds.

Work through the sequence of exercises. And then repeat two or three times. Take a 1–2-minute break between each exercise and 3 minutes before the next set.

1. Pull-up

Start by pulling yourself up to the top of the bar. Hold for ten seconds. Lower to the mid position and hold for 10 seconds. Then hang from the bar for 10 seconds. You will be holding three isometric positions. Do 2-3 reps.

2. Inverted Handstand

Get your feet up on the wall and choose the leverage point that works best for you. Start in the down position with your face near the floor. Hold for ten seconds and then move to the midpoint position for 10 seconds and then to the arms-extended lock-out position. Repeat 2-3 times.

3. Single Leg Deadlift

You can use resistance bands to adjust each position, so you don’t have to worry about the heavyweight. Start from the down position, hold for 10 seconds, then move to the midpoint and the top position holding for ten seconds. Slowly lower the weight down to the start position for your next rep. Do 2-3 reps.

4. Single Leg Squat

Squat down into your bottom position. At the base position of your squat, don’t sit to the point where there is no resistance. That will not develop isometric strength. Squat to the point where you feel the muscles resisting. You can go below parallel; just ensure the muscles are absorbing force. After holding for 10 seconds, move to the mid/quarter position holding for 10 seconds. Then at the top, squeeze your glutes and quads for 10 seconds and repeat 2-3 times.

5. Inverter Row

Start by getting under the bar and pulling your chest to the bar. Hold that position for ten seconds. Add resistance if needed. Then down to the mid position and the fully extended arm position for 10 seconds. Do 2-3 reps.

6. Pushup

Start at the bottom position and hold for 10 seconds. Use resistance as needed. A resistance band works great. Move to the midpoint and then to the arms extended position, holding each phase for ten seconds. Do 2-3 reps.

Rest for 3 minutes. Repeat the sequence.

Maximum absolute strength is a major factor and an essential component of wrestling because it is strength against strength. So, you need the ability to exert maximum force rather than the ability to exert force explosively. What is essential about isometric strength is that it will enhance and boost your explosive training and power. So, it is a win-win to train both. They will make you a more effective wrestler on the mat. And you will be tapping into unfounded power.

Check out my channel, The Balanced Body, on YouTube to see how to apply these training methods.

If you want to know more about how to get your muscles to absorb force to be instantly stronger and more explosive, then check out the book INSTANT STRENGTH.

Here are some core exercises to help increase athletic performance in ten major sports.

Basketball

Medicine Ball Slam

The Medicine Ball Slam builds explosive strength in your core essential for basketball, where most movements such as sprinting, rebounding and driving to the basket are explosive.

How to Perform:

• Get into a partial Squat holding a moderate to heavy medicine ball in front of you.
• Using your whole body, raise the ball overhead, then explosively slam it to the floor.
• Catch the ball on the rebound and quickly transition into your next repetition.

Sets/Reps: 3×15
https://youtu.be/Rx_UHMnQljU

Baseball/Softball

Medicine Ball Rotational Throws

This exercise builds explosive rotational strength in the core, hips, and shoulders. It mimics the hitting motion of baseball and softball players, allowing them to have a stronger, quicker swing.

How to Perform:

• Assume an athletic stance with your feet shoulder-width apart.
• Stand with partner or wall 5 yards to the left.
• Explosively rotate through your core and throw the med ball at your partner or the wall.
• Maintain tight abs and a stable lower body during rotation.
• Receive medicine ball back and continuously repeat for specified reps.
• Perform set with partner or wall to right.

Sets/Reps: 2×10-15 each side

Football

Supine Straight Leg Raise & Hold

This is a classic football drill that most players did back in their Pop Warner days. It builds strength and endurance in the hip flexors, lower abdominals and quadriceps, which tend to fatigue and feel heavy toward the end of a game.

How to Perform:

• Lie on your back with your legs straight and your hands either out to the side or underneath your lower back.
• Keeping your legs straight and feet together, lift your legs off the ground to about 45 degrees.
• Hold that position for 60 seconds; that’s one rep.
• Bonus: perform a basic Crunch during this movement to target your upper abdominal muscles.

Sets/Reps: 3×60 seconds

Cross Country/Track

Sprinter Sit-Ups

As its name indicates, this exercise benefits sprinters and athletes in sports requiring explosive speed. It mimics the sprinting motion, helping to train the core muscles to activate in the correct pattern to enhance running mechanics.

How to Perform:

• Lie on your back with your legs straight and your arms at your sides.
• Simultaneously sit up and bring one knee up toward your chest.
• Extend the arm behind you on the same side as your raised knee.
• At the same time, bring your opposite arm forward, bent at a 90-degree angle.
• After you reach the top of your Sit-Up, lie back down, extend your leg and place both arms back by your sides.
• Repeat with the opposite leg. That’s one repetition.

Sets/Reps: 3×15

Soccer

Scissor Crunches

Scissor crunches are similar to V-Ups, but they also target the transverse abdominals and oblique muscles. They mimic a soccer player’s kicking motion, helping to build explosive kicking strength by working the core muscles.

How to Perform:

• Lie on your back with your arms straight above your head and your feet on the ground.
• Simultaneously lift your right hand and left foot toward each other, keeping both straight.
• Once you touch your hand to your foot, reverse the motion until you reach the starting position; that’s one rep.
• Perform all reps on one side, then switch to the other side.

Sets/Reps: 3×15, each side

Swimming

Flutter Kicks

Flutter Kicks require core strength to resist movement, similar to many sports. They effectively mimic the kicking motion of the backstroke in swimming, but they are beneficial for athletes in any sport.

How to Perform:

• Lie flat on your back with your legs straight.
• Lift both legs about 45 degrees.
• Keeping your core braced, glutes flexed and legs straight, perform a kicking motion, alternating your legs up and down.
• To alleviate lower-back discomfort, place your hands under your lower back and/or simultaneously perform and hold a crunch, which will naturally cause your back to flatten.

Sets/Reps: 3×60 seconds

Volleyball

Medicine Ball Wood Chop

Wood Chops are an ab exercise that require full core engagement, targeting every muscle between the hips and  shoulders. Holding a weighted medicine ball makes them more difficult, helping to increase rotational strength needed for spiking the ball.

How to Perform:

• Stand with your feet hip-width apart and your knees slightly bent, holding a medicine ball with your arms straight, hanging down in front of your body.
• Tip your hips back slightly and bend your knees, moving into a quarter squat as you rotate your shoulders a bit to the right, so that when your arms are straight, the medicine ball is just to the right of your right knee.
• Engage your core and keep your arms completely straight as you swing your arms up and across your body in a diagonal motion, straightening your knees and hips until the medicine ball is held over and slightly to the left of your left shoulder.
• Throughout this motion, keep your hips pointing straight ahead. Twist through your waist and shoulders rather than your hips and legs.
• Reverse the movement until you reach the starting position; that’s one rep.

Sets/Reps: 3×15 each side

Golf

Cable Paloff Press

The Paloff Press is one of the most basic and important core exercises, especially for golfers. It targets the entire core, helping you rotate faster, and prevents injuries to your lower back. Just ask Tiger Woods.

How to Perform:

• Stand next to a cable tower perpendicular to the machine and grab the handle at about chest height.
• Squeeze your glutes and core and relax your shoulders.
• Push both arms straight out, hold the finish for a few seconds and return to the starting position; that’s one rep.
• Perform all your reps facing one direction and repeat facing in the other direction.

Sets/Reps: 3×15

Tennis

Dumbbell Single-Arm Wood Chop

This exercise mimics the backhand motion tennis players like Roger Federer have made famous. It builds strength in the hips, shoulders, forearms and lower back essential for a strong back swing.

How to Perform:

• Start in golf posture, holding a dumbbell in your right hand and place your left hand behind your back.
• Internally rotate your shoulder so the thumb of your right hand points to your left hip.
• Simultaneously extend the weight away from your body and externally rotate your shoulder so your thumb now points behind you.

Sets/Reps: 3×15 with each hand

Wrestling

Dumbbell Renegade Row

This variation adds weight via dumbbells, incorporating extra resistance to increase strength. It not only builds core strength, it also  strengthens your biceps and rhomboids as well.

How to Perform:

• Grab a pair of dumbbells that are challenging but not too heavy.
• Get into a standard push-up position with your hands grasping the dumbbells in a neutral grip on the floor and your feet a little wider than shoulder-width apart.
• Resisting the tendency to rotate your body, lift one dumbbell off the floor, perform a Single-Arm Row and place it back on the floor.
• Repeat with the other arm. That’s one repetition.

Sets/Reps: 3×15 each arm

READ MORE:

• This Ridiculously Simple Exercise Builds a Rock Solid Core
• New Research Discovers the Best Type of Core Exercise

It’s no secret. I love wrestling. Ask anybody who has ever wrestled, “What is the toughest sport you have ever done?” I can almost guarantee you that they will say wrestling. Not everybody can do it, but everybody can learn from it.

Before we go further, let me tell you a little bit about my background.

I began wrestling at age 4. I was a pretty dominant high school wrestler and went on to wrestle in college for five years in the Big Ten at Michigan State University. I went from being a walk-on to being named team captain during my senior season. Was I a national champion? Nope. All American? Nope. I never even won a state title, but I beat All-Americans and 3-time and even 4-time state champions. I won a lot of matches that I had no business winning. I did it not with talent, but with heart and mental toughness. That mental focus still burns inside me, and I apply it to every single thing I do every single day.

1. You are only as good as your practice partner makes you

Most of the time in wrestling practice, you get to choose who you want for your partner. Sounds like a simple task right? It’s not. You have the choice of the guy who will give you a fight for your life or the kid you beat with one arm. Choose the latter and you will not succeed. Trust me, you can be good to a certain point, but not at the higher levels.

I first heard this from my oldest brother R.J., on the way home from a youth practice. He saw me beating up on a weaker kid while I could have gone up against a state champ who was way better than me. He was so mad at me, and it broke my heart. I never let it happen again.

2. There are no shortcuts. If you fake it, everybody will find out

We have all been there. That moment during practice when you start to get tired and you find yourself looking for an easy way out. You know that if you take it, nobody will know except you. It’s so tempting, and after more and more fatigue—you do it. You skip a rep or jog through a sprint. You make it look like you’re tired, but really you could go harder. That’s what we call coasting.

Coasting is when you know you can work harder, but you settle for doing just enough to get by. Toward the end of my freshman season I was guilty of it a few times. Guess what happened? I got my butt handed to me!

I knew I was doing something wrong, so I went to my coach. We were watching the NCAA Championships from the stands, and I told him I wanted to be out there wrestling. He called me out and told me I had been coasting. It was right in front of my dad, too. Man, was I upset with myself! I made the change right then and there.

If you take it easy during your workout at the gym, you will not see the results you want to see. You know if you are pushing your body past the point of comfort. You can grunt and yell and act like you’re tired, but deep down only you know if you’re able to push out a few more reps. There are no shortcuts. Work your butt off every day, because if you don’t, everybody will soon find out.

3. Get comfortable being uncomfortable

Take your arm and put it behind your back. I don’t care how you do it. Now have somebody take that arm and crank on it until it feels like it’s about to rip off. Sucks, right? Try doing that after losing 10 pounds in a week with every muscle in your body sore and you can barely breathe because you’re inside an 85-degree room.

That, my friends, is just a glimpse of what wrestlers have to go through on a daily basis. It is extremely uncomfortable. As a young athlete, I had no choice but to learn how to deal with it and even love it! I found that the wrestlers who could look at that situation and embrace it were the ones on top of the podium at the end of tournaments.

Every time you train, you have to push your body past its threshold to reach progression. It could involve adding 5 pounds to your bench or shaving time off your mile run. Forget about how hard you are working and focus on getting as tired as possible. Learn to crave being exhausted. Don’t run from it. Embrace it!

4. You have to train every part of your body

Wrestling requires you to be in the best shape of your life from head to toe. You don’t realize how many muscles you use while wrestling until you truly attempt the sport. One second you’re using all legs, the next you’re using just your neck. It’s crazy. I was lucky enough to have some great strength coaches in college. We trained every muscle from head to toe in a balanced fashion, which allowed our bodies to adapt and become strong for our sport.

Don’t be that guy who never trains legs or only does bench for the upper body. Nobody remembers that guy. Find a coach who knows what he is talking about and have him write you up a balanced program. If you’re struggling with certain exercises, it most likely means you’re weak in that part of your body. Check out the video player above to learn more about improving your weaknesses to have full-body strength.

5. Play the game, not the name

I’ll never forget it. I was wrestling a nationally ranked opponent from where else—the Iowa Hawkeyes, which is probably the all-time greatest team in college wrestling. Just before the match, my teammate and roommate on the road whispered to me, “Wrestle the match, not his name.” I heard that loud and clear. I wrestled the match with clear confidence because I knew that I trained harder than he did.

You can either wait for success to come to you, or you can chase it.

RELATED: 

• 3 Small But Costly Workout Mistakes You Must Avoid
• Pros and Cons of Working Out with a Partner

Hockey injuries are preventable! But prevention cannot be guessed.

What follows is a summary of pointers that coaches & captains of teams can share with their membership.

5 Ways To Prevent Hockey Injuries

1: Stretching

Develop your own preferred set of repetitions (“reps”), but there are a set of six movements that this author does every day. Each has helped to keep minor and major injuries out of the picture.

The knees, ankles, lower back, hips, neck, shoulders, elbows, wrists & fingers are areas of need.

From a standing position, these stretches can be done either on the floor (on one’s back). Or preferably (time allowing) in both positions. A stretching band can be used for added muscle tension or without any equipment if none is available.

It may surprise some to read “fingers” on this list, but hand injuries are indeed common. The hand has the largest number of muscles in the human body, so it does deserve some controlled movement. Wrist flexes with weights can address this preventive need to keep a firm finger & thumb grip. Squeeze balls are often used to keep the hand more nimble.

Exercise the ankles, knees, hips, and back/spine with a stretching band or loop:

A gym pad/mat or other smooth padded surface is desirable.

First Stretch

• Lay flat on your back.
• Place the stretching band under both feet.
• Grip the other side of this circular band with both hands.
• The tension (pounds of pressure) of hand & arm-to-foot & leg resistance is what is needed to generate stronger muscle fiber with its supportive tissues.
• Draw or pull your feet in (knee becomes flexed) toward the center of your body until your feet reach your crotch area. Push feet back outward, using hands to supply resistance during motion.
• The back should remain flat without any arching.
• Start with a count of 10 repetitions (“reps”), then increase a few reps each day, until you build up to a count of about 200–or whatever you can do without feeling stressed.

Second Stretch

• With both heels/feet on the floor from a prone position (face up) draw both feet upward, use the stretch band to pull up both feet & legs.
• Move both hands on the stretch band upward as close to feet as possible, to increase hand and arm tension.
• Pull feet over abdomen and head for a backstretch, where legs are hanging over one’s head.
• If the feet can be pulled over the head to the floor, that is an excellent stretch for the spine.
• Lightly pull the feet down toward the floor, with the hands tugging in a slight bouncing motion.

Third stretch

• In the standing position, pull the stretch band outward as far as possible.
• Spread the feet about three feet apart, with knees bent.
• Holding that tension with arms apart, twist the abdomen/torso from left to right in a repeated smooth motion, keeping the head pivoted forward.

2: Warm-ups & Warm-downs

Stretch with cardio-burst before and after-game stretches

Cardio burst beforehand: After the initial stretching routine (above), do some jump rope or jumping jacks, on a realistically set number or a set time interval. The purpose is to get the heart pumping (especially in the morning) to create a more alert game participant.

Start with a small objective, such as 30 jumping jacks or 30 loops of jump rope at a time. Increase the repetitions (“reps”) in reasonable increments. Increase the count by ten, until you can feel a “training effect” of feeling some muscle fatigue or out-of-breath sensations. It is best not to “push it”, but instead keep the increments/rep increases going.

3: Weight Training

Train with strap-on wrist weights and strap-on ankle weights to build muscle, bone, tendon, and ligament capacity strength.

First, decide on the appropriate weight for your body size. weights can be from two pounds to five pounds.

With the added weight, your body works harder to “compensate” whenever there is any movement. It is common for some skaters to add five-pound (or less) ankle weights and also wrist weights in practice times–for that added edge in game situations. Anyone who does this form of adaptation has reported feeling more agile, faster, and stronger because of that weight-added training.

These devices can and should be considered for any age & stage of development above the age of puberty.

4: Wraps and Sleeves

Braces & wraps are commercially available and are not too expensive. These devices are sometimes called “orthotics” and can be considered for any age & stage of development.

Use athletic wraps/sleeves/braces for [in no particular order] knees, ankles, hips, elbows, shoulders, wrists–but not neck braces! Why? If someone needs a neck brace, they should not be playing in either game or practice situations!

The popular “metallic” sounding brand of athletic brace has good product quality (this is not a paid endorsement!). Start to use such supports at the first sign of achiness, not when there is excruciating pain. That ache is your body’s way of telling you to address the pain, perhaps also with over-the-counter topical cremes. These external devices help to compensate for the momentary instances or extended times of excessive pressure on that specific bone joint & associated muscles, tendons, and ligaments.

In the heat of play, that wrap/sleeve/brace can be the difference between a sprain or strain, or being able to “play on” without interruption.

All possible impact points during contact “sessions” need rigid forms of equipment parts. Examples in hockey include hockey pants, shoulder guards, elbow guards, groin protection, and knee guards. In recent years, “shot-blockers” for skates have prevented many bruises and even bone fractures. Hockey helmets and face guards have progressed considerably for risk reduction of brain concussion, broken noses, loss of teeth, jaw fractures, etc. On the controversial issue of full-face guards versus visors, all it takes is one slap shot to quickly convince anyone on the ice! Lost teeth and broken jaws/cheekbones are a consequence of not wearing the available protective equipment.

5: Hydrate

Under the concept of adequate hydration and increased alertness, it’s arguably not cheating to include, even with its mild diuretic effect: coffee!

Milk (or almond milk/coconut milk)–and no sugar added–for all of the well-known nutritional reasons.

For those early morning workouts, whether it is a darker or light drink, this popular beverage is known to have positive health benefits, at least for those over eighteen years of age.

Like common teas, this drink is safer (even if not “decaf”) than some of the questionable sports energy drinks currently on the market.

If coffee, tea, or milk are not one’s preference, consider 100% fruit juices. If a juicer is owned at home, that’s even better to bring homemade mixes to the game or practice time, to replenish.

Of course, pure water has merits, although it is possible to over-hydrate. Calculate from your body weight (male or female) to figure out how many ounces /milliliters of water/fluid you need to replenish what is being lost in sweat and exhalation. There are hydration apps available for iphones and other cellphone brands. Such calculations account for gender and body weight.

In conclusion

Regardless of the athlete’s chronological age, the present-day trend (based on validated scientific research) is to pay some attention to each of these aspects of injury prevention.

New coaches could even print out this STACK.com article and distribute it to team members and their parents.

“Once you’ve wrestled, everything else in life is easy.” -Dan Gable

I have always admired the wrestlers’ work ethic. My dad coached high school wrestling for 20 years, but I preferred team sports and never wore a singlet. In early March of 1997, I took a campus visit to the University of Iowa. As a zero-star football/baseball recruit, I was with a group of high school athletes touring the athletic facilities, which led us to Carver-Hawkeye Arena. A sunken arena, the basketball court is below ground and out of sight from the main entrances.

My group was listening to the proud history of Hawkeye basketball and wrestling when we heard scary, loud, noises coming from the pit of the arena, which interrupted our ability to focus. The noises kept getting louder and louder; it sounded like a pack of blood-thirsty, heavy-footed demons were getting closer and closer to our location! As I backed away from the group and peeked down the stairs to see what was happening below. I witnessed the Hawkeye wrestling team’s conditioning session, which consisted of running up the Carver-Hawkeye stadium steps while carrying a teammate, piggy-back style. This was right before the 1996-1997 Hawkeyes became both Big Ten Champions and National Champions, under legendary Iowan/coach Dan Gable. As a skinny 17-year-old, it looked like the hardest, most intimidating workout I had ever seen. These wrestlers were crazy!

In his later years, Gable, whose own superhuman career ended at the age of 26 due to numerous injuries, would lament that he wished he trained his wrestlers smarter instead of harder. The sport is demanding and brutal, as Gable used to workout 2-3 times per day, seven days per week.

As a judo and Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioner, I have experienced how a high amount of intensity and volume—without adequate rest and recovery—can destroy the body of even the most hardened competitor. While understanding this wrestling mentality, I wondered if there was a way to reap conditioning and skill-based improvement without the punishment of overtraining and physical pain? If the best ability is availability, then how can we train our wrestlers to understand when to charge and recharge?

Professionally, my next foray into wrestling was training with youth phenom Max Schneider. From Chicago’s Lane Tech High School, Max had two undefeated Illinois High School Association state championship seasons (2010 and 2012), was a Cliff Keen All-American, and would later wrestle collegiately at Cal Poly and San Francisco State. Also a judo black belt, Max was a gold medalist at the 2010 Summer Youth Olympics and a training partner for Team USA at the 2016 Olympics. Max was a high-level, two-sport combat athlete and had the scars/miles on his body to prove it. While Max dominated on both the judo and the wrestling mats, his body never had an off-season to heal. We tried to keep him available by implementing corrective exercise strategies, cross-train with concepts/skills from other sports, and not beat the crap out of him each day in the gym.

As a more experienced performance coach, I have teamed up with Beat the Streets Chicago (btschicago.org) to incorporate more athletic-based movements into their high school wrestling program.

The inspirational story of BTS Executive Director Mike Powell has been well documented, and his success at Oak Park-River Forest High School was the national gold standard. Watch here: https://www.espn.com/video/clip/_/id/8574528

Coach Powell had state champions, team champions, and future Olympians on his roster throughout his career. In the IHSA state tournaments, it seemed like Max was constantly fiercely battling these uber-talented and gritty Oak Park grapplers. No one accused Coach Powell’s wrestlers of being unprepared.

We know that wrestling is a physically demanding sport and that wrestlers are some of the toughest athletes around. As all eras of wrestlers can attest, they will train as hard as they can for as long as they can. But, sometimes the grind of wrestling practice can inhibit the development of overall athletic ability. Many of these young men and women wrestle year-round, and like many single-sport athletes, do not have an off-season to:

1. Heal their beat-up bodies.
2. Correct muscular imbalances.
3. Introduce a safe and progressive strength and conditioning program.

Our goal was to step away from the mat and work on clean athletic movement, improved body control/coordination, dynamic stabilization, and overall performance efficiency. By creating more functional high school athletes, we have created more functional high school wrestlers.

Each BTS Performance Camp station had a different focus:

1. Dynamic Movement/Corrective Exercises
2. SAQ
3. Power
4. Grappling/Tumbling/Crawling
5. Strength

As you may expect, the wrestlers were amped up to train, so calming them down to prepare their minds was our first task.

To practice diaphragmatic breathing, we had them lay on their backs (position wrestlers passionately hate to be in), close their eyes, and bring awareness to their breath for two minutes—the exact duration of an IHSA wrestling period.

We used the 4-2-6 technique with a four-second nasal inhalation, a two-second hold, and a six-second mouth exhalation. With a longer mouth exhalation, the body can trigger its parasympathetic nervous system, reminding itself to relax. The parasympathetic nervous system’s counterpart, the sympathetic nervous system, cannot differentiate between the stress of a wrestle-off, a first varsity match, the city championship, trying to find a Homecoming date, an ACT, or the freezing temperatures of a Chicago polar vortex. All the body knows is stress. So, the better we can apply breathing to self-regulate our behavior, we can perform and use our energy efficiently.

1. Dynamic Movement

The dynamic stretching starts slower before building to faster, incorporating a gamut of tri-planar, multi-directional, full-body-coordination-enhancing warmup movements. Every exercise had purpose and placement within the warmup, and our goal was to improve efficiency with each rep. Some of the exercises included: lunge with a frontside lean, straight-legged kicks, lateral lunge with a reach, rotational single-leg hinges, and inchworms. We wanted to introduce new movements but keep them consistent so familiarity could improve execution. If the athletes considered dynamic stretching to be their own personal pregame warmup, there was a higher level of ownership and accountability.

We incorporated corrective mini-band exercises for glute-activation (to avoid quadricep dominance) and rotator cuff strengthening/postural awareness for improved shoulder stability and injury prevention.

(https://www.instagram.com/p/CQy_SE1nUJ3/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link)

2. SAQ (Speed, Agility and Quickness)

Once we got their bodies bending better, it was time to “rev the engine” with speed, agility, and quickness. The sport of wrestling requires athletes to move swiftly in a small space, against a resisting opponent who is also trying to do the same. The ability to get from A to B inside this small area of chaos can be trained more efficiently through action/reaction and quick acceleration/deceleration/change of directions drills.

Multi-directional speed ladder, 10-yard agility bursts, and technical form-running helped reinforce full-body coordination and precision foot placement and movement efficiency.

3. Power

Everyone loves the big jumping exercises, but our athletes needed to earn these reps by demonstrating a controlled ability to stabilize and decelerate dynamically. We can minimize the impact and protect their oft-battered joints by focusing on the landing and teaching joint-stacking cueing. While jumping is usually not part of the sport, exploding through a takedown is necessary. Vertical jumps, broad jumps, and multi-directional skate jumps were our base power movements.

4. Grappling/Tumbling/Crawling

Wrestling is one of the only sports where athletes routinely have all four of their limbs on the ground at the same time, so being able to move from a quadruped position effectively will improve total-body coordination. Bear-crawling, crab-walking, and various animal-themed movement patterns are programmed here. Plus, adding judo and Brazilian jiu-jitsu crossover patterns like rolling front/back/side somersaults, cartwheels, handstands, kick-throughs, and butt/hip scoots help promote body awareness and maintaining focus while dizzy.

5. Strength

BTS has pull-up bars and climbing ropes all over their large wrestling room, so the wrestlers were quite familiar with vertical pulling patterns and push-ups; they do a ton of push-ups. In the weight room, we introduced bench pressing (which does not help athletically but gives them an alternative to push-ups). This allows the kids spot each other safely; TRX face pulls and horizontal rowing; Bulgarian bag box step-ups; and partner Nordic hamstring curls.

Two upper-body stations; two lower-body stations. We wanted easy-to-follow exercises with two simple weight room rules:

1. No one gets hurt
2. No stupid s***

This way, no matter their weight room experience, we introduced a strong core of lifts appropriate for high school-aged wrestlers. They could confidently repeat the program once our BTS Performance Camp came to a close.

Best of luck to all the BTS athletes as they begin training for their upcoming high school seasons! *Special thanks to former Iowa State University wrestler Ben Perna for consulting on this project and to Jake Fine for the video credits.

However, a cloud of confusion exists over static stretching, dynamic stretching and their relationship with flexibility, power and performance.

Traditionally, coaches start with static stretching or light aerobic work followed by static stretching. People like to hold onto traditions, and they tend to fall in love with “the way we’ve always done it!”

A second wave of confusion likely comes from studies reporting decrements in performance after performing static stretching. However, in 2011 a review of over 100 studies concluded that static stretching improves flexibility, with the caveat that static stretches should not be held for more than 60 seconds if part of a warm-up.

But often, this is where uninformed wrestling warm-ups end. Range of motion may be improved, but little is done to actually prepare the body for high performance on the mat.

This is where dynamic stretching comes into play.

Dynamic stretching includes sprint mechanics drills (e.g., Power Skips), active stretches (e.g., Reverse Lunges With Overhead Reach), calisthenics (e.g., Jumping Jacks), hurdle drills or any other exercise that takes the body through the ranges of motion used on the mat. This type of work has been shown to improve speed (2009), strength (2009), flexibility (2007) and increase muscle activity (2008).

Yes, you read that right. Wrestlers should work on sprint mechanics even though they don’t actually sprint on the mat.

The position and shin angles of sprinters are similar to the position and shin angles of a leg attack. Great open leg attackers are able to extend their hips fast. This involves coordinating the glutes and hamstrings. A sprinter must coordinate his glutes and hamstrings for hip extension, otherwise, he will be slow.

See where I’m going with this? There is much crossover from sprinting to wrestling, especially from the acceleration portion of a sprint.

In addition, before taking the mat, wrestlers should use a method called post-activation potentiation (PAP) to maximize their explosive power.

PAP is typically used during strength training workouts to maximize explosive power. A strength exercise such as a near-maximal Squat is followed by a plyometric movement that uses a similar movement, such as a Squat Jump, to trick the nervous system into creating more power.

However, it can also be used to prepare for a wrestling match.

A study out of the University of Oregon found that horizontal jump performance improved after a dynamic warm-up combined with 5 sets of Power Snatch (68-77% of 1RM). The study didn’t look at wrestling specifically, but few moves are more similar to the skills needed for wrestling than the Horizontal Jump.

How do you use PAP? It’s simple.

After your dynamic warm-up, perform a lift that induces PAP, such as squatting as fast as possible for 3-5 sets of 1 rep at 95% 1RM. Rest for 5 minutes after the lift before you get on the mat.

Now that you understand the concepts, here is my recommended wrestling warm-up for both novice and advanced wrestlers.

Warm-Up for Wrestlers

• Jog or Airdyne Bike – 3-4 minutes
• Light stretch (Hip flexors, hamstrings, calves, lats) – 2-3 minutes
• A-Skips – 2×15 seconds with 30 seconds rest
• Power Skips – 3×10 seconds with 45 seconds rest
• Wall-Acceleration Drill – 1×8 each leg, each exercise
• Block Starts – 5-6 with 1 minute rest
• Olympic lift (Power Clean, Snatch, etc) – 3×2 @ 60-90% max

Final word: if you’ve found a way to warm up for wrestling that improve your performance, use it and spread the word! Certainly some aspects of performance can elude scientists. You need to do what works best for you.

READ MORE:

• Upper-Body Workout for Wrestlers
• Lower-Body Workout For Wrestlers
• 4 Lifts to Build Wrestling Strength

Young wrestlers often sacrifice strength training out of fear that lifting weights will increase their muscle mass and bump them into a higher weight class. Kevin Jackson, National Freestyle Coach for USA Wrestling, responds to that mindset, saying, “A wrestler should always be on a weight training program—if not to get stronger, then to maintain strength and health throughout the year.”

Jackson, a 1992 Olympic gold medalist and 1991 and 1995 world champion, explains how the same weightlifting program can yield vastly different results by tweaking certain elements: “To gain weight, you have to increase your calories and lift heavy weights. But you can also use weightlifting to maintain and even lose weight. When you are not trying to get bigger, lift lighter weights and increase your repetitions.”

Jackson’s recommendations to maintain your current weight class are to keep the weight 20-50 pounds below your max, increase reps by 2-4 per set and add an additional set for each exercise. Another strategy he uses to keep his wrestlers strong without unwanted weight gains is 45 minutes of lifting performed 10 to 20 minutes after a tough wrestling workout or other rigorous training session. “When you work fatigued muscles, you continue to burn calories and lose weight while simultaneously getting stronger,” he says. “Lifting after training hard also increases mental strength, because you learn to refocus on a weight workout after you’re already spent.”

Mental training is a huge element in Jackson’s overall program. “To win at the highest level against the best guys, mental toughness helps you more than any other tool,” he says. “Young athletes need to learn how to use their minds as a physical force through which they can tell their bodies what to do. No matter what pain the body feels, the mind can push through it and accomplish more.”

Jackson helps his wrestlers build strong minds by consistently taking them out of their comfort zones during workouts. Then, when adversity hits on the mat, they can roll right through it. He goes as far as to say, “Unless you’re focusing strictly on technique and tactics, it’s not even worth working out unless you push hard outside your comfort zone.”

Two of Jackson’s protégés—2000 Olympic-gold medalist, Brandon Slay, and 2005 national champion and world team trials champion, Muhammed Lawal—benefited tremendously from his blend of wrestling mental and physical strength training. “These are two guys who let their training take over,” Jackson says. “Because of the work they put in, they became confident and mentally tough, and this confidence removed any question or doubt when they were competing, making them much harder to defeat.”

Wrestling Strength Training

Designed to increase strength, power and explosiveness, the U.S. team’s workout program ensures daily departures from the comfort zone. The full-body system centers on explosive lifts like Hang Cleans and jumping exercises. Jackson says, “These are really efficient exercises for wrestlers of all ages to build the explosiveness and full body movements they will need on the mat.”

Overhead Squat

• Hold bar overhead with wide grip
• Squat down with control, keeping knees behind toes until tops of thighs are below parallel with ground
• Drive upward to starting position

Hang Shrug

• Grip bar just outside athletic stance
• Begin with bar just above knees, back locked, shoulders up and abs and chest flexed
• Explode by forcefully shrugging and fully extending hips, knees and ankles

Squat

• Begin with bar on back in athletic stance with toes pointing slightly out
• Focus on a point high on wall in front of you
• Squat down with control and good posture until thighs are just below parallel
• Keep weight back on heels
• Drive upward out of squat into starting position, keeping eyes up and chest out

Pull-Ups

• Grasp bar with an overhand grip
• Pull body up until chin is over bar
• Lower down with control until arms are straight

Leg Curl

• Lie down on a leg curl machine with heels locked underpads
• Bring heels to butt by contracting hamstrings
• Lower with control until legs are straight

Dumbbell Incline Bench

• Hold dumbbells at chest level slightly wider than shoulder-width
• Drive dumbbells up towards the ceiling until arms are straight
• Lower with control

Calf Raises

• Stand with bar across back in hip-wide stance
• Press into floor with toes until heels rise off ground

4-Way Neck

• Position body on 4-way neck machine
• Press head against pad in specified direction using only neck muscles
• Move back to starting position with control
• Repeat for all directions

Dumbbell Front Raise

• Stand with light dumbbells in each hand at waist level
• Raise arms forward to shoulder level, keeping arms straight
• Lower down with control

Dumbbell Lateral Raise

• Stand with light dumbbells in each hand at waist level
• Raise arms to the side to shoulder level, keeping arms straight
• Lower down with control

Dumbbell Rear Delt Raise

• Hold dumbbells and lean forward keeping back flat until torso is almost parallel to ground
• Drive elbows out and up with arms bent
• Raise elbows until even with shoulders
• Lower down with control

Dumbbell Squat Jumps

• Stand with dumbbells at the waist in an athletic stance
• Squat down until thighs are parallel to the ground
• Drive-up by extending hips, knees, and ankles
• Push through the ground to achieve maximum height
• Land with knees bent; do not let them extend over toes
• Repeat immediately, spending as little time on ground as possible

Bench Press

• Lie down with back on the bench
• Grasp bar slightly wider than shoulder-width
• Lower bar with control until it touches base of sternum, with hands directly above elbows
• Drive bar upward until arms are fully extended

Romanian Deadlift

• Hold bar in an upright position with slight flex in knees
• Bend forward at hips and slide bar down front of legs keeping back flat
• Drive hips backward and lower bar as far as possible without changing flex in knees or spine position
• Move upward in same fashion to standing position

Bentover Row

• Bend over at hips holding bar with shoulder-wide grip
• Pull bar toward chest
• Keep back flat and do not raise torso
• Lower down with control and repeat

Barbell Curl

• Grip bar slightly wider than shoulder-width
• Curl bar up to chin level, keeping elbows locked in place
• Lower bar with control

Tricep Extension

• Lie down with back on bench and arms straight up in front of chest
• Grip bar with only 6-8 inches between hands
• Lower bar toward forehead bending only at elbows
• Keep upper arms locked
• Raise weight through same motion to starting point while keeping elbows narrow

Hang Clean

• Grip bar just outside athletic stance
• Begin with bar just above knees with back locked, shoulders up and abs and chest flexed
• Explode by forcefully shrugging and fully extending hips, knees and ankles
• Pull bar up, keeping it close to the chest
• Drop under bar and catch it along front of shoulders in athletic stance with knees bent

Front Squat

• Hold bar across front of shoulders with elbows high
• Begin in athletic stance with toes pointing slightly out
• Focus on a high point on the wall in front of you
• Squat down with control and good posture until thighs are just below parallel
• Keep weight back on heels
• Drive upward out of the squat into starting position, keeping eyes up and chest out

Lat Pulldown

• Sit at pulldown machine with slight backward lean
• Grasp bar with overhand grip slightly wider than shoulder-width
• Pull bar down to below chin level without leaning back any more than from starting position
• Control weight back to starting position

Good Mornings

• Stand with the bar resting on back and knees slightly bent
• Bend forward at hips keeping back flat and tight
• Drive hips back

Clap Push-Ups

• Begin in a push-up position
• Lower down until sternum touches floor
• Explode up by pushing down into floor
• Clap as many times as you can while in air
• Immediately repeat upon landing

Chin-Ups

• Grasp bar with an underhand grip
• Pull body up until chin is above bar
• Lower down with control until arms are straight

Alternate Dumbbell Military Press

• Stand holding dumbbells at shoulder level with tight core
• Drive one dumbbell toward ceiling until arm is straight, without leaning backward or to side
• Lower back down and repeat with another dumbbell

Seasonal Changes

Jackson says, “During the off-season, preseason and early in the season, depending on your weight class goals for the year, you should be lifting heavy and trying to gain mass. As a young athlete, you should try to get as big and strong as you can through a healthy diet and heavy lifting, with numerous sets.

“Once you get to mid-year, look more toward maintaining your lean muscle mass, strength and conditioning levels. You are also lifting to prevent injury. You will be less susceptible to injury if your body remains strong. Do not expect your maxes to go up during this time; they will stay the same, or maybe dip, depending on how much training you’re doing in the wrestling room.

“When you get into the late season, you’re still lifting for maintenance and conditioning, because we want the muscles to fire hard and explosively. About three weeks before a competition, your weightlifting should get a lot lighter, with a few more reps, to work the cardio and maintain the conditioning, as opposed to getting bigger and stronger.”

CLASS ACTION

Cutting weight to fit into a lower weight class perturbs Kevin Jackson. “Great technique determines success at any size,” he says. “Young wrestlers should grow into a weight class and get bigger and stronger along the way. When they go on crash diets to cut weight, it is unnatural and ill advised. It also prevents a wrestler from expanding his technical knowledge of the sport, because he spends time trying to lose weight instead of getting stronger and improving his technical skills.”

Dieting and cutting not only diminish energy levels, adversely affecting performance on the mat, they also reduce a young athlete’s growth and motivation. The sport loses its fun factor.

On the other hand, Jackson realizes that losing weight may be inherent to the sport. He says, “You really have to consider what weight is too heavy for you. If you are wrestling an opponent, and you are in a position to win—where executing the proper technique should close out the match—but you end up getting muscled out, then it’s possible you are in too heavy a weight class, where the athletes are too strong for you.” If this is the case, Jackson hopes that coaches are knowledgeable enough to assist athletes in a healthy weight loss regimen that has no long-term, negative effects.

WHAT DO YOU SEE WHEN YOU CLOSE YOUR EYES? Kevin Jackson offers his thoughts.

I truly believe in visualization exercises. Visualize yourself in difficult situations and having success. Visualize yourself in training as well as in actual combat matches. Visualize your execution of perfect techniques. Visualize your hand being raised at the end of a match, or your celebration after winning the championship.

Many young athletes fail to mentally train this way. There are a couple ways to use visualization. First, you can do it at the end of practice when your body is totally exhausted. Try building yourself up to concentrate, relax and stay focused for four to six minutes, which is the duration of a typical match. Visualize your wrestling techniques, anything else dealing with wrestling and your success. Just relax, think about it and see it in your mind for that length of time. It’s difficult to focus that long on anything without letting your mind drift to other thoughts. The longer you can do it, the better.

The second method is to visualize and lock in on wrestling for six to 20 minutes while you’re lying in bed at night. This will aid you in your pursuit of success. Falling asleep while visualizing winning is a good thing. What you see in your mind will stick with you subconsciously and allow you to capture what you are trying to accomplish. When you’re visualizing your technique over and over again, it makes it much easier when you have to execute it physically. If you can see yourself winning a world championship in your mind, it is stored in your subconscious. Your mind can draw upon this as if it were a real past experience.

Article originally published in 2005, it’s been updated as it’s so popular. 

Wrestling is not predominantly an explosive sport. It is a sport that uses explosive techniques. If one system is lacking, then the others will not function well nor at their maximal potential. They are all interconnected to function and perform optimally. Understanding how the three energy systems work and are interconnected will boost your wrestling performance.

Know Thy Weakness

Your weakness is similar to the weak link in the chain and will be the limiting factor that inhibits your performance potential. Therefore, understand where you need to improve to boost your performance.

Understand How You Wrestle

For example, being a lightweight is different than being a heavyweight. Lighter weights scramble and tussle more than mid and heavyweights. Therefore, your training will and should be different.

Aerobic System and Slow-Twitch Fibers

The aerobic system and slow-twitch fibers kick on typically after anything longer than 2-3 minutes. Your matches are 9-minutes in duration broken into 3-three-minute periods. This means you will be tapping into your slow-twitch fibers and aerobic system in each period, as well as throughout the match.

One misbelief about the aerobic system and slow-twitch fibers is that they are weak. They are not weak. They produce less force and power than the other muscle fibers. Truthfully, they are more about endurance and strength sustainability. You can and need to strengthen your aerobic system and slow-twitch fibers. The aerobic and slow-twitch fibers are necessary to optimize your strength, speed, and power on the mat.

When the fast-twitch fibers fatigue, they rely on the strength and ability of the slow-twitch fibers so they can replenish their energy. Energy in fast-twitch fibers restores about 50% in 30 seconds and fully recovers and restores 90-100% in 2-3 minutes.

How to Improve Aerobic Power

• Long Aerobic Training
• Run 3-5 miles between 75-80%.
• Short Aerobic Training

Run 5-minute intervals at the higher end of 80-85%. For example, if you are running 5 miles in 45 minutes-run 5-minute intervals 8 times with 2-minutes rest after each run. Your short training will improve the speed and endurance of your long run.

Slow-Twitch Muscle Training

When doing resistance training exercises, use about 50-60% of 1RM, with languid movements going up and down for about 1 minute. This will recruit and strengthen your slow-twitch fibers and increase and improve the effectiveness of mitochondria.

Stay in the aerobic threshold.

The purpose of the threshold ranges is to improve your base to be faster and stronger. For instance, if you can run 5 minutes at 7MPH. And, from training over time, you can run 5 minutes at 8MPH or run 5 miles in 40 minutes instead of 45; you will have increased your aerobic strength, speed, and endurance. It is the same as if you can do 15 reps with 50 lbs. And, over time from training, you can do 15 reps with 65 lbs. you increase slow-twitch muscle strength.

If you don’t’ want to run, you can use the rower, fan bike, or program wrestling drills accordingly. You can use three exercises in a cross-training way as well that simulates wrestling. You can row, bike, and run for 5 minutes each and repeat.

Anaerobic Glycolytic and Fast-twitch Fibers

Fast Twitch Fibers IIA

These fibers are fast-twitch and produce high and quick force. Their duration is from 10 seconds to 3 minutes. Type IIA fibers are a mixture of slow and fast-twitch fibers. They are highly aerobic and anaerobic. They are like hybrids and can switch from low to high intensity depending on your activity.

Techniques for Training Fast Twitch IIA Fibers

Depending on your scramble and tussles, train accordingly. Perform at 85-90% intensity. Perform about 5 sets. Train long and short on different days. Again, you will see the short improve the speed and endurance of the long.

Lightweights scramble and tussle more and fastest

Long- 30-40 seconds work. Rest 2 minutes with active recovery, using aerobic movements.

Short- 10-20 seconds work. Rest using 30 seconds.

Middleweights scramble and tussle less than lightweights

Long- 20-30 seconds work. Rest 2 minutes with active recovery, using aerobic movements.

Short- 10-20 seconds work. Rest using 30 seconds.

Heavyweights scramble and tussle the least.

Long- 10-15 seconds work. Rest 2 minutes with active recovery, using aerobic movements.

Short- 10 seconds work. Rest using 30 seconds.

You want to use aerobic active recovery on long days because aerobic active recovery clears lactic acid. Jogging would be considered active recovery.

You have to know how to recover so energy can replenish. And that will depend on another system’s strength ability.

You can use the fan bike, rower, sprinting, kettlebell swings, jump rope, as well as wrestling drills for interval training. You can create circuits using different exercises as well.

Anaerobic/Alactic System

The anaerobic/lactic system and muscles primarily produce energy for up to 10 seconds. When you do a highly explosive, powerful movement, this system is used. It does not use oxygen or glucose. The anaerobic/lactic system is fueled by stored energy called ATP. So, explosive movements, sprints, and plyometric exercises 10 seconds or less will use this energy and engage fast-twitch fibers.

Techniques for Training Fast Twitch IIB Fibers

On the Minute Training

Do 10 seconds of work at 90-100% intensity. Rest for the remaining time of the minute-50 seconds. Keep going for as many minutes as you can. Do not shorten the rest, and when you are resting during the minute, walk around or do something called fast and loose to shake out the tension in your muscles. Terminate the workout when your power, reps, speed, or explosiveness begins to go down. Don’t train fatigue.

You can use sprints, Olympic lifts, kettlebell snatches, etc. This is essential. The purpose is to make it anaerobic and at the same time not letting lactic acid accumulate. This is great to keep your power high during and later in your match.

Power Training

You can do long intervals using, Olympic lifts, sprints, etc., for 2-3 reps or 10 seconds work, then rest completely for 3-5 minutes to replenishment ATP 100% and repeat 5 times. Use active recovery for 2 minutes. In this workout, you are training power at full capacity.

Remember, you are training the different energy systems to develop and improve their maximal potential to integrate, support, and transfer power through your performance effectively. Like shifting gears on a Formula 1 race car, there is no delay when shifting to go faster and maintain speed. The transfer of speed and power is smooth. Also, remember, don’t train fatigue and overtrain your workouts. This will be counterproductive.

For more information about strength training, check out my book Instant Strength.

For more information about breathing and alignment, check out my book, The Balanced Body.

Here is a video for specific wresting exercises using resistance bands:

Read More:

• Conditioning for Wrestling Season
• Wrestling: Study Examines Effect of Rapid Weight Loss

As a wrestler, it feels like they can see your attacks from a mile away. The truth is they can, and it’s one of the greatest advantages you can have as a wrestler.

That Advantage Is Anticipation!

When you can anticipate what wrestlers are going to do, it makes competing feel almost effortless. Now anticipating can be via your sight but more importantly, if it can come from a feeling.

I heard about this from my first high school coach, Scott Rohrer, a former wrestler at The University of Minnesota. Frustration continuously poured into me when wrestling with him because it felt like I had zero chance to even get to my attacks. Much less ever dreaming of scoring on him.

When the conversation began, if I wanted to become a high-level wrestler and compete at the national level or college level, I had to start learning to anticipate what was happening during the match.

Anticipation Seemed Impossible

I will be honest the thought about being a step ahead of every opponent seemed impossible. It’s one thing to watch film on kids that you compete against during the season. You can start to break down some of their habits and tendencies, but what about when you travel to national tournaments?

You might catch a glimpse of kids wrestling during the tournament but nothing substantial. The real anticipation needs to happen during the match!

It’s kinda like the game of chess. You are always looking to be one step ahead. If you can be just one step ahead, that generally translates in wins. That can be one point victories or larger ones like tech falls or pins.

Anticipation Through Sight

When I first started using this, I was trying to do everything through my vision. I was always trying to watch what their feet, hands, or hips were doing while we wrestled.

This made wrestling even harder!

I knew there was no way my coach was just watching what I was doing and then scoring. Instead, I realized he was like a computer constantly analyzing everything movement or reaction I was doing through more conversations and practice.

I was trying to sit back, watching and waiting for them to get out of position and then jump at my attacks. If you have been around wrestling, it makes it very difficult to score points. The points that you do score are incredibly hard-fought. The wrestlers I was watching at the highest level made their attacks look so organized.

My coach told me it was one of the most profound statements helping me understand scoring, offense, attacks, and being a step ahead. He began to tell me that every movement he was making was calculated. Seems obvious at first, but I realized there were levels to this.

Little things as small as him reaching a backhand to touch my shoulder was calculated? Huh? Made no sense at the time.

But when he reached, he was downloading what I was doing. Did I reach back with my lead hand or maybe try to attack his wrist. Was I circling left or right or maybe try to pressure forward. Did I try to get to my own attacks?

All this was very strategic, and there were about 7 of these little “step ups” he was doing within a matter of seconds just watching taking in all the information in order to get to his attacks.

Once he would reach, push, pull, level change, or a million other things, he knew my reactions. He could now anticipate at a very high percentage what I was going to do. Then allowing him to dive into his arsenal of attacks and pick me apart. And he continued to pick me apart for 3 straight years!

How To Start Learning Anticipation

As a coach, the most frustrating thing is wrestlers overlooking drilling, especially on basic positions and drills. Necessary drilling is to help you understand concepts and positions. To start learning anticipation using your vision, it happens during your drilling. Can you move your feet all while at the same time downloading information about your partners’ reactions?

If you have no feeling during your drilling or it’s all over the place. Chances are it’s going to look even worse trying to do all this during your live wrestling.

There are progressions, and it’s vital to not undervalue the purpose of your drilling!

Anticipation Through Feel

The most elite wrestlers can anticipate your movements through feel. It’s kinda like you can put a blindfold on them, and they still know everything that is about to happen.

You can both be in your ties, and you go to shoot your single or high-crotch, and that hand shoots down to down block your shot. All while you’re scratching your head about how the heck they knew your shot was coming.

Great wrestlers have the feeling when their opponent’s head drops to level change to get to their attacks!

They can feel where their opponent wants to take their pressure and use it against them.

The hardest part about all this is getting young wrestlers to understand the importance and power of anticipating opponents. Most young kids wanna learn the next big “Moves,” they wanna make the highlight reel.

Drilling positions and learning anticipation is not sexy, but it’s a high-level art. Again it all starts in your drilling. Are you able to slow things down to understand and feel what’s happening versus guessing or, even worse, waiting until opponents are already in on their attacks? Then you are stuck defending attacks your entire wrestling career.

It’s a huge reason why I believe we teach so much of our wrestling backward. For example, you ask wrestlers their lines of defense, and they will rattle off: 1.) Head 2.) Hands 3.) Hips

The first thing we teach on shot defense is a sprawl. Let’s start teaching wrestlers to prevent people from getting in on our legs. All defense lines are important, but what if we were able to cut in half the ability of people from even getting to their attacks? Wouldn’t that be powerful?

Even better, when our initial shot defense gets better now, we can get to our re-attacks. If you have high-level re-attacks, you tend to dominate kids around the country

Wrestlers start today putting more value on soft drilling and hard drilling. Do not overlook your positions. Learn to get a feel on anticipating your opponent and start dominating kids!

Your life experiences act as a guide to help you realize your true intentions.

Read More

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This kettlebell circuit addresses all of those demands, and it’s designed to make you as lean and powerful as possible.

This circuit is structured to match the intensity of a scholastic wrestling match: three two-minute periods with 30 seconds of rest between the periods. The circuit consists of four exercises. Perform all four, then restart the circuit until you reach the end of the 2-minute period.

The exercises selected for the circuit are beneficial to wrestlers. They are total body movements, similar to ones you would use in a match. Furthermore, the specific exercises in the circuit develop the athletic attributes required for success—power, speed and endurance.

Kettlebell Long Cycle

The Long Cycle is another name for the Clean and Jerk. It consists of 3 parts:

• Cleaning the kettlebells into rack position
• Holding the bells in rack position
• The Jerk

This is one of the best exercises for wrestlers, because it’s a total-body movement that engages your lower body, core and upper body. In addition to hitting a wide range of muscle groups, it’s excellent for developing explosive power during the clean and jerk portion of the movement; isometric strength when the bells are held in rack position; and power endurance. These are all critical facets of athleticism that wrestlers must possess.

Sprawls

In this circuit, you circle around the kettlebells practicing your sprawling technique. This is a technical movement that all grapplers are familiar with. It’s drilled endlessly because it’s a critical defensive maneuver, used especially when an opponent attacks your legs. In addition, performing Sprawls can serve as an effective way to train your speed, agility and conditioning. Much like Burpees, Sprawls are an excellent bodyweight conditioning exercise.

Double Racked Kettlebell Walking Lunges

Walking Lunges are great for developing lower-body strength and proprioceptive balance, which translate to more powerful legs for performing “shots,” or takedowns, and better body control, which helps overall agility. Because the kettlebells are held in the racked position, the movement also builds upper-body strength, specifically grip strength, which is of crucial importance for all wrestlers.

Kettlebell Russian Twists

Core strength is a necessity for success in all spots, but especially in grappling, where the ability to brace your core quickly can make the difference between being taken down and pinned or remaining standing. Russian Twists are a good exercise for developing rotational strength and stability, which are necessary for grapplers.

Workout

Period 1 – 2 minutes

• Kettlebell Long Cycle – 5 reps
• Sprawls – 5 reps
• Double Racked Kettlebell Walking Lunges – 6 reps
• Kettlebell Russian Twists – 20 reps
• Rest – 30 seconds

Period 2 – 2 minutes

• Kettlebell Long Cycle – 5 reps
• Sprawls – 5 reps
• Double Racked Kettlebell Walking Lunges – 6 reps
• Kettlebell Russian Twists – 20 reps
• Rest – 30 seconds

Period 3 – 2 minutes

• Kettlebell Long Cycle – 5 reps
• Sprawls – 5 reps
• Double Racked Kettlebell Walking Lunges – 6 reps
• Kettlebell Russian Twists – 20 reps

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