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Physical Fitness for Wrestling
Developing Flexibility
Flexibility is defined as the range of motion you are able to obtain in any joint of the body. This is dependent on the degree of stretch that can be obtained in the muscles and tendons.
Flexibility is an important component of your fitness and is often a factor in winning wrestling matches. I have often seen a wrestler dominate a situation but end up frustrated because his opponent managed to slip out of a hold and take control just on flexibility alone. Flexibility is also important because it helps prevents injuries.
We develop flexibility through a series of stretching exercises. These exercises can be thought of as the opposite of strength training exercises. With strength training the primary motion is a contraction of the muscles under a heavy load, where as stretching is the expansion of the muscles without a load. The object of each exercise is to create a motion where the principal muscle group and tendon of the area of the body is stretched until you feel a definite pull but no pain.
There are two types of stretching exercises used by athletes. One method that athletes and coaches used for many years is static stretching. With this method you would slowly move into a stretch position, just short of pain, and hold the stretch for 20 to 30 seconds. However, in recent years, research indicates that static stretching actually weakens the muscles and joints for a short time and therefore should not be included in a warm-up before a major activity such as wrestling.
This does not mean that athletes should ignore static stretching completely. Static stretching can be used during the cool-down phase of a workout. Also, some static stretching exercises can be done outside of primary workout periods. You can even do some static stretching exercises for a few minutes between homework assignments. Since static stretching does develop flexibility, this method should not be ignored.
However, a better method of stretching for your warm-up routine is dynamic stretching. In this method, there is constant motion that will obtain and relax a stretch repeatedly. We will be using this type of stretching during the warm-ups of the wrestling practices. It would be difficult to list all the types of stretching exercises here, so I would suggest that you consult the Phys. Ed. Office for suggestions.
The following website will show some examples of some stretching exercises.