Below are some of the principles I follow when designing a wrestling strength training program.

 

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Wrestling Strength Training Program Principle #1- Use Multi-Joint Exercises

There are a number of reasons why utilizing multi-joint exercises in your wrestling strength training program will help to maximize your results.

1. Efficient- Multi-joint exercises are more efficient than single-joint, isolation exercises.  Pretty much every wrestling strength training program I’ve seen includes squats, so I’ll use that as an example. When you perform a squat think about all the muscles you’re using actively- quads, hamstrings, and glutes. 

Now think of all the muscles that are firing to help stabilize your body- calves, core, upper back, spinal erectors.  It has been suggested by research that when you become efficient and well trained in the squat you can use upwards to 70% of the muscle in your body! 

Before we move on to another benefit of multi-joint exercises, let’s first think about all the single-joint/isolation exercises you’d have to perform to work all the muscles I just listed… 

Without going into detail, I listed 7 groups of muscles involved, so even if you weren’t to further break down the groups, you’d still have to perform 7 different exercises instead of simply just squatting in your wrestling strength training program.

2. Functional- Your body doesn’t work in isolation.  Think about all of the activities you do on the mat. 

Do things like leg attacks, lifting an opponent, riding an opponent, and standing up to get off the bottom resemble multi-joint movements like squats, lunges, deadlifts, chest presses, various types of pulls, etc. or do you perform those moves in isolation? 

Following a properly designed wrestling strength training program will train your body the way it moves on the mat is going to carry over to increased ability to perform the things listed above (ever had problems finishing a takedown on a guy because you just didn’t have the horsepower to pull his leg in and stand up with it?) and a decreased risk of injury while performing them (stronger muscles are more durable muscles).

3. Even Development- Imbalances that exist within muscles result in instabilities around the joints and will ultimately lead to injury if not properly addressed.  Performing tons of single-joint movements in your wrestling strength training program is going to put you at a higher risk for developing these types of imbalances because you’ll need to monitor a lot more. 

With multi-joint exercises in your wrestling strength training program, all you need to remember is for every push you do (whether its lower or upper) be sure to do a pull.  Basically you want to make sure you’re working the opposite muscles with the same number of sets and reps (either on the same day or another day) to maintain balance within your body. 

By sticking to multi-joint exercises you’ll make things exponentially easier on yourself in regards to making sure you have a well balanced wrestling strength training program.

To summarize, multi-joint exercises will not only save you time, but they will also carry over to an improved to a better performance on the mat than isolation exercises by making you more functionally strong and more evenly developed, and therefore more resistant to injury. Multi-joint exercises are a must in a wrestling strength training program!

Wrestling Strength Training Program Principle #2- Varied Methods

This is a super important principle because all too often people fall victim to following one type of wrestling strength training program. I’m seeing more and more “kettlebell guys” and “functional training guys” which is fine, but there’s more to strength training for wrestling than kettlebells and standing on a balance pad.

Instead of being a certain type of exerciser, why not just be a results driven wrestler simply looking to achieve maximal performance on the mat with your wrestling strength training program?

Want to lose some fat to help you make weight easier? Yeah, kettlebells are a great way to get your metabolism cranking, but it’s certainly not the only way to do so.

Fast paced supersets with traditional, full body strength training movements like squats, overhead presses, chin-ups, and deadlifts are a great way to get you burning fat.

Interval training on a treadmill or Airdyne bike will have you at an elevated metabolism for hours after you workout.

On the opposite side of the coin- are you looking to get stronger? I’m by no means the strongest person in the world, but I have some pretty decent lifts to my name.

Look at some of the things I do to increase my squat, bench and deadlift- tire flipping, stone lifting and other strongman exercises, swings, cleans, presses, and other kettlebell movements, chin-ups, pushups, rows and other bodyweight exercises, I even use some Olympic lifting derivatives including DB snatches and push presses.

The point I’m trying to make is that committing yourself to only one style of a wrestling strength training program is going to do nothing but lead to boredom with your program and limit the results you can achieve in your training.

Everything has its place and learning the benefits and principles around each style of training is going to make you a more well rounded and better functioning wrestler.

For a sample program that follows these principles check out this post- Wrestling Workout Program.

Or better yet, download your free copy of a 3-Week Cornell Wrestling Strength Training Program below:

 

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Wrestling Strength Training Principle #3- Frequent Changes

Making frequent changes to your wrestling strength training program will offer you a number of benefits.  First, by making frequent changes you are going to be less likely to experience a plateau. 

Plateaus occur when your body adapts to the demands that you’re putting on it when following a repetitive wrestling strength training program. 

By following the same wrestling strength training program with the same exercises, sets, reps, weights, rest times, etc. for a number of weeks, you’ll eventually plateau and your body will reach a stagnant state where you won’t be able to increase the number of sets, reps or weights no matter how hard you try.

Second, making frequent changes is going to better prevent boredom with the program. 

By constantly changing exercises, the order in which you perform things, adding or subtracting sets and reps, and making other changes like those will keep you excited to get in the gym as you’ll be encountering new challenges and new exercises. 

Too often I see the same cycle happen in gyms around my area- a person joins and starts doing their “routine.”  They do it for weeks and may experience some strength gains and fat loss but then start to slow down and plateau. 

They then either quit their program as they are unable to get any more results or they tell everyone that they are “maintaining.” 

Don’t let yourself fall victim to the “maintaining” curse and don’t fall into a “routine.” 

Make changes every 3-6 weeks and you’ll see better results and have a better chance of sticking with your wrestling strength training program.

Finally, making frequent changes will force you to become active in the field. 

Whether it’s reading blogs like this one, picking up a magazine every couple of months, meeting with a trainer on a monthly basis to get a new program, or purchasing programs online; whatever it is, by making yourself change your program regularly you’re going to commit yourself to becoming more knowledgeable about fitness, exercise, and nutrition and we all know the saying- knowledge is power!

Alright, there are my top three reasons as to why you should be making regular changes to your wrestling strength training program.  More advanced lifters should look to make changes every 3-4 weeks, intermediate exercisers every 4-5 weeks, and beginner exercisers every 5-6 weeks.

Wrestling Strength Training Principle #4- Track Results

There are a number of benefits from tracking the results of your weight training for wrestling program both from a motivational perspective as well as a performance perspective.

First, from a motivational perspective, tracking your results enables you to see where you were at different times during your strength training and where you’re currently at.

On days when you’re not feeling particularly strong, fast, or in shape, looking back on where you were months, and even weeks ago will help keep you motivated as you’re able to see your progressions.

I know as a wrestler staying motivated is usually not difficult, but looking back at how far you’ve come from time to time, especially in regards to your weight training, can be particularly motivating, especially during rough times.

Second, tracking your results will enable you to set better long term and short term strength training goals which will help to improve your performance from week to week.

Knowing the weights you were training with the previous week will give you something to look to improve on the next week. Similarly, knowing the progressions you’ve made over a training block (however long it was) will give you a better idea of what to expect during your next training block.

Setting realistic and attainable strength training goals are two big keys to keeping you motivated and knowing about what to expect out of a training block will give you the knowledge for which to better identify your weight training for wrestling goals.

Tracking results offers a third benefit as well. It forces you to be more active in your program. Instead of just haphazardly selecting exercises to work a muscle, you’re forced to think “how will implementing x exercise over the next 4 weeks help me attain my goal of y.”

For example, how will utilizing a dumbbell bench press for 4-5 sets of 5-6 reps help carryover to an increase in 10lbs in your bench press in the next 4 weeks?

Instead of just throwing them into your program and hoping for the best, you can look back and see where you may or may not have used dumbbell bench presses before and can see how your bench press was affected.

If you bench went up when you were using them in your weight training program, there’s a very good chance that they have a positive effect on your bench press.

Being able to look back at your results is going to benefit you in a number of ways and will lead to further progress towards your long term strength training goals. All it takes is a little notebook, a pen, and a few seconds during your workout to write your numbers down.

See how the principles I follow when designing a wrestling strength training program are put into place and sign up below to receive a Free Cornell Wrestling Strength Training Program and great updates that will help you on your quest to win more matches…

 

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Please leave me a comment if you have any questions regarding properly designing a wrestling strength training program.