Obviously wrestling workouts for youth wrestlers must take into account a number of factors when it comes to their safety and continued development.

Here are some of the principles I like to follow when working with and designing wrestling workouts for youth wrestlers.

Following these principles there are 3 sample wrestling workout programs to use as a guideline to get started in addition to the typical 3-Week progressive program I use with all of the youth wrestlers I train.

Wrestling Workouts For Youth Principles:

Principle 1: Bodyweight First

This principle really applies to anyone starting a strength training program, but is extra important when it comes to wrestling workouts for youth wrestlers.  If you can’t lift your own bodyweight first, you shouldn’t be worried about lifting weights.

Bodyweight strength is an important precursor to wrestling workouts for youth and is also very important to develop for wrestling or other weight class sports as relative strength (how strong you are for your bodyweight) is one predictor of success on the mat.

Obviously if you’re really weak and/or out of shape, performing exercises like pulldowns instead of assisted chinups may be a safer option; but for the most part you should focus your wrestling workouts for youth around developing bodyweight strength before you start getting under weights and using them to provide resistance.

Wrestling Workouts For Youth Principle 2: Strict Technique

For some exercises I’m not a big stickler on technique, especially those which do not pose a direct threat of injury to the lifter.  I will often write about and post videos of Iowa wrestlers lifting.  If you’ve seen any of these videos, you know that their technique isn’t the greatest.

But their strength coach brings up a great point- wrestling isn’t always about precise technique, a lot of times it’s just about horsing through your opponent.  True Iowa wrestling right there!

However, when it concerns wrestling workouts for youth wrestlers it’s important to be super strict in regards to their technique.  Building a proper foundation in the weight room, just like you would on the mat, is crucial during the early years.

Additionally, using strict technique will help keep the weights in check and prevent you from going too heavy and risking injury by handling poundages your body is not properly prepared for.

Wrestling Workouts For Youth Principle 3: Full Body

When weight training wrestling workouts for youth wrestlers I typically suggest starting with only two days a week and also making those days full body lifting days.

This will prevent overtraining from occurring with the introduction of this new stimulus and will also keep the wrestler from getting too sore which will oftentimes lead to a decrease in motivation.

Sticking to basic movements, hammering home proper technique, and keeping the lifts within 45-60 minutes will help to develop a stronger wrestler who will stay motivated for the long haul.

 

Sample Workouts For Youth Wrestlers:

Now it’s time to go into the actual wrestling workouts for youth wrestlers.  I’ll present a beginner, intermediate and advanced workout for younger wrestlers.

I’ve used these types of workouts to progress a number of young wrestlers over the course of the last few years to such feats of strength as a 225lb bench for 2 reps done by a 7th grader, a 380lb deadlift done by a 6th grader (who is now in 7th grade and just won a Section 4 title this past weekend), and a 100lb weighted chinup for 2 reps done by an 8th grader!

All three of these young wrestlers have been working with me for a little over a year and they all started with basic workouts like the one below and worked their way up to some pretty intense and heavy workouts that have produced some of the results I’ve mentioned above.

Additionally, here’s a free download of the 3-week wrestling workout I recently used to progress my latest youth wrestler.

 

Wrestling Workouts For Youth Beginner Program:

Day 1:

Superset- Bodyweight Box Squat 4×15 and Chinup 4×10

Superset- 45-Degree Back Extension 4×15 and Bar Pushup 4×15

Superset- Decline Situp 3×15 and Side Plank 3x30sec each

Superset- DB Curls 3×10 (even kids love working their biceps!) and Plate Pinch 3x20sec

Day 2:

Superset- Split Squat 4×12 each and Bodyweight Row 4×12

Superset- Bodyweight Reverse Hyper 4×12 and Feet Elevated Pushup 4×10

Superset- Hanging Leg Raise 3×12 and Russian Twist 3×15

Superset- Dips 3×10 and Towel Hang 3x20sec

 

Wrestling Workouts For Youth Intermediate Program

Day 1:

Superset- Barbell Box Squat 4×8 and Weighted Chinup 4×6

Superset- Weighted Back Extension 4×10 and Dumbbell Bench Press 4×10

Superset- Weighted Straight Leg Situp 3×12 and Suitcase Deadlift 3×8 each

Superset- Rope Cable Curl 3×10 and Grippers 3×8

Day 2:

Superset- Deadlift From Pins 4×8 and Bench Press 4×8

Superset- Dumbbell Step-Up 4×8 each and Chest Supported Row 4×10

Superset- Ab Wheel 3×12 and Dumbbell Side Bend 3×12

Superset- Pushup on Med Ball 3×12 and Hex Dumbbell Hold 3x20sec

 

Wrestling Workouts For Youth Advanced Program:

Day 1:

Superset- Reverse Band Box Squat 5×5 and Kettlebell Windmill 4×10 each

Superset- Trap Bar Deadlift 4×6 and Weighted Glute Ham Raise Situp 4×8

Superset- Walking Lunge 4×6 each and Glute Ham Raise 4×8

Superset- Decline Situp 3×15 and Reverse Hyper 3×15

Day 2:

Superset- Bench Press with Chains 5×3 and Band Resisted Chinup 5×5

Superset- Alternate Dumbbell Bench 4×6 each and Rope Cable Row 4×8

Superset- Seated Dumbbell Overhead Press 3×8 and Band Face Pull 3×12

Superset- Fat Gripz Dumbbell Curls 3×8 and Rope Pressdown 3×10

Day 3:

Superset- Med Ball Slams 5×5 and Band Twist 5×5 each

Superset- Log Clean 5×3 and Decline or Standing Ab Wheel 4×8

Superset- Single Arm Dumbbell Snatch 4×4 each and Single Leg Back Extension 4×8 each

Triset- Stone Trainer Lift 4×5 and Rope Pulldown 4×8 and Weighted Dip 4×8

 

While the above wrestling workouts for youth wrestlers are just examples, I recently started working with a 6th grader who I think had a pretty ideal progression in terms of making improvements nearly every workout for the first 6-8 weeks.

Again, here’s the wrestling workout for the latest youth wrestler I’ve had the privilege of training.

 

Youth Wrestler Strength Training Myths

One of the most common type of question I get asked regularly deals with wrestling workouts for youth wrestlers. In fact, I recently received some questions from an I sent out to my subscribers a few days ago asking what age is safe to start a youth wrestler on a lifting program and what would a program look like for a youth wrestler.

Myth 1: Stunting Growth

Myth one is the belief that strength training wrestling workouts for youth wrestlers will stunt their growth. While there isn’t any research, to my knowledge, that suggests it will, there also isn’t any research that suggests it won’t.

Fear that wrestling workouts for youth wrestlers will stunt or in any way affect proper growth is the number one question that arises when parents first bring in their kid to start training with me.

Here’s a Q&A post that goes into various issues regarding Youth Wrestlers Strength Training.

I always bring to their attention the number of young wrestlers that I’ve worked with and continue to work with that have grown at a normal rate (according to their doctor) while engaging in strength training two to three times a week under my supervision.

On top of that, I always like to bring up the case of my brother, Chris, and I. Both of us started lifting in 8th grade. I didn’t grow much at all since then. My brother did and is now over 6’3″ (a difference between us of 7+”!).

The height you grow to is more of a factor of your parents. In my case, I took on my mom’s genes in regards to height, while my brother grew a few inches taller than my dad.

In addition, did you know that when you jump the forces that travel through your body can be upwards to 3-4 times that of your body weight?

Sprinting alone can produce forces on your muscles and joints over twice your body weight. How often do you see kids from a very young age running and jumping in practice or just simply playing outside? And do they continue to grow? Of course they do. Just another thing to keep in mind when it comes to wrestling workouts for youth wrestlers…

Additionally, people recovering from broken bones, suffering from Osteoporosis, and other conditions that affect the bones are generally told to load the bones to promote growth/prevent further degeneration.

I think it’s important to keep in mind when it comes to wrestling workouts for youth wrestlers that the term “loading” doesn’t mean putting 500lbs on the kids’ back and telling him to squat it.

In all honesty, your kid has probably lifted heavier things around the house performing yard work than he/she will lift in the weight room while demonstrating proper technique and building a base for future lifting.

Here’s an old video of a few of the original clients I started putting through my wrestling workouts for yoth wrestlers back at my old gym:

Greg (the kid in the red shirt) is now in 9th grade and won his first Section 4 Division 1 championship this past season. Christian is now in 8th grade and although he had to sit this past year out due to meniscus repair surgery, he took 6th as a 7th grader in the Division 2 NYS Championships after winning the Section 4 title all while beating a senior in the process.

Both continue lifting 2-3 times a week, and Christian actually just benched 300lbs as an 8th grader!

Myth 2: Bad Joints

Myth 2 is centered around the idea that wrestling workouts for youth wrestlers can lead to joint pain. Guess what? It can cause joint pain in anyone, especially when performed improperly!

Think about all of the positions your wrestler has been in on the mat where they’ve had to lift an opponent to finish a take down or return their opponent to the mat.

Not only are they often in a less than optimal lifting position, but again, they’re oftentimes lifting a considerable amount more than what they would be able to squat or deadlift with proper technique.

Additionally, think of all of the bad positions their shoulders get put in from arm bars to deep half nelsons.

For whatever reason people tend to freak out when you put a couple of 20lb dumbbells in their kid’s hands when just the day before they had their kid carrying in 50lb bags of salt (I bet you can tell that the weather has been just lovely here in Central New York!).

Weight is weight whether it’s in the form of iron, salt, books in a backpack, groceries, a wrestling partner you have to carry around the room for conditioning, etc.

So while there are a lot of fears associated with the two wrestling workouts for youth wrestlers myths that I’ve just addressed, once you actually sit down and watch your young wrestler and think about all of the lifting they’re doing, I think you’ll start to realize that they’re already putting their bodies through a lot to begin with.

I always like to remind people who show resistance to wrestling workouts for youth wrestlers- just because it’s not in the form of a dumbbell or barbell doesn’t mean it doesn’t weigh anything.

What Age Should I Start My Son Or Daughter??

In terms of what age is appropriate to start, I’ve started working with wrestlers as young as 8. Can you start younger though? Sure; I don’t see why not based on what I wrote about above.

Starting a youth wrestler on wrestling workouts in the weight room is a lot like starting him/her in the practice room- the focus is on technique and consistency. As they progress the focus is on harder drilling, live wrestling, and more competing.

The same is true in the weight room- as they progress the weights will get heavier, the workouts will change, and things will increase in difficulty.

Proper progression is key in anything in life; especially when it concerns youth wrestlers lifting weights.

I hope I’ve dispelled some of the common myths associated with wrestling workouts for youth wrestlers.

Here are what some of the fathers are saying about the wrestling workouts for youth wrestlers I design and implement:

If you want more tips on wrestling workouts for youth wrestlers and how to gain functional strength and power to win more matches, sign up for my email updates below.

 

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Related Posts on Wrestling Workouts for Youth Wrestlers:

Weight Training For Young Wrestlers

Youth Wrestlers Strength Training Q and A

And be sure to leave me a comment below if you have any questions about wrestling workouts for youth wrestlers.