Physical Fitness for Wrestling

Strength Training for Wrestlers

Why Strength Training?

Before we talk about developing a strength-training programme, I would like to quote a simple but important point that was told to us by my very first wrestling coach. "Strength alone will not win you the championship". When my coach said this, over forty years ago, he was not trying to belittle the importance of strength. What my coach was trying to point out to the team was the importance of developing technique and applying technique while under the pressure of a wrestling match.

However, we might be able to define technique in wrestling as the ability to apply your strength to your advantage. Any time you execute a wrestling hold or takedown, you expect to obtain a mechanical advantage over your opponent so that you will require as little strength as possible to execute the hold. However, for every hold there is a counter-hold and all wrestlers will find themselves caught in the balance of a situation strength match.

This does not mean that you must be stronger than your opponent in order to prevail in a difficult wrestling situation but you would want to have your combined strength, mechanical advantage, and your quick technical manoeuvring to exceed that of your opponent. Therefore, every wrestler should include strength training as part of his or her workout schedule.

Wrestling is a power sport, which means both strength and speed is required simultaneously during the execution of a hold. Strength training will help a wrestler develop the ability to apply strength in an explosive manor, which is required in performing any hold that needs to be executed.

Your Strength Development Programme

Your Physical Education office at your school should be able to provide a good strength-training programme for you. I will also provide you with some suggestions here.

There are two basic types of strength training that you can pursue. One type is for maximum strength and the other is for muscular endurance or the ability of the muscles to handle a load for an extended time period. The main difference between a strength programme and a muscular endurance programme is the selection of resistance and the number of repetitions for an exercise. I will present examples of both strength and muscular endurance here.

I will present the general principles of your programme first. Then, I will list some suggested exercises to follow. The focus here will be on weight training. However, there other forms of resistance exercises that are available such as tension bands or using your own body weight. We will use weight training as a starting point and, if desired, you can research other methods.

Warm-up

Before any weight training session, you should perform a general warm-up. This would be an aerobic exercise for five to eight minutes, or until you just break sweat. This is not a substitute for an aerobic or cardiovascular workout. You are just getting ready for your weight training workout.

In addition to your general warm-up, you should perform a local warm-up for the muscle group that you are about to exercise before you perform a maximum strength exercise for that muscle group. For example, if you are going to do shoulder presses, you should perform a couple of warm-up sets using lighter weights than your workout set. You can do one easy set using half your workout weight and one more set using about two thirds of your workout weight. After this local warm-up, you should feel well prepared to perform the exercise without any feeling of exhaustion in your muscles. You can then perform shoulder presses using your desired workout weight.

Strength Programme

You should allow two to three workouts per week for strength training. You should allow at least 48 hours between strength workouts. Your strength is developed during the recover period between workouts, not during the workout itself. Therefore, it is important to provide for this recovery period. For the wrestlers who choose to follow a muscular endurance programme, I suggest following these same guidelines.

Beginners' Routine

For the first week or two, you will be getting accustomed to the weights or resistance for each exercise. Through trial and error, you will find the correct resistance for your current strength level and practice good form.

At this stage, select a resistance that will allow you to perform 10 repetitions of each exercise. On the last or tenth repetition, you should work but not strain to complete the movement. Your movements should be controlled and deliberate, without any jerking. You should have a notebook to record the amount of weight that you are using for each exercise. If you miss-judge the amount of weight you should have used, do not worry about it. Make a note of the weight and record the adjustment needed for the next workout. Do not repeat the exercise. Also, try to err on the lighter side at this stage.

Your breathing is important for weight training. Most coaches will tell you to exhale on the lifting or concentric phase of repetition and inhale on the lowering or eccentric phase. My suggestion is to exhale on the lifting or concentric phase and breath freely on the lowering or eccentric phase. It is not necessary to complete the lift with one breath. The most important thing to remember, however, is do not hold your breath while lifting weights.

Workout Routine for Strength

To develop strength, you must overload each muscle group in your body. When you think that you are ready to move beyond the beginners' routine, then you can select a resistance that will allow you to complete 8 to 10 repetitions of each exercise. You must practice good form as described in the Beginners' Routine but you will be working your muscles to a point of momentary muscular failure. If you maximize the intensity by being certain that you cannot perform another repetition, then one set of each exercise should be sufficient. You should perform at least one exercise for each muscle group but try not to perform more than two. In general, many athletes perform one exercise with a compound movement, where more that one joint is in motion, and one isolated movement, where the movement is at one joint. See the list of exercises on this page.

With strength training, more is not necessarily better. By performing multiple sets for each muscle group, you might actually slow down you progress by not permitting the muscles to recover.

You should remember to try to increase the resistance by small increments every couple of weeks. You will find that your strength will increase gradually throughout the season.

If you would like to increase the strength of specific muscle groups faster you can occasionally increase the resistance so that you can perform only four to six repetitions of a set. You should be well into a strength training programme before you take this approach and should do additional warm-up sets.

Muscular Endurance Programme

For the muscular endurance programme, you would perform the same exercises as the strength programme. The difference is that you will use lighter weights and more repetitions for each exercise. Select a resistance that will allow you to perform 20 to 25 repetitions for each exercise. On the last repetition, you should feel that a few more repetitions are possible but very difficult to do.

Your Strength Training Exercises

Here are the exercises that are required for a good strength-training programme. You do not have to do all of the exercises listed but you should include at least one for each muscle group. Contact a member of the phys-ed staff if you have any questions as to how to perform the exercise.

Training Safely

I cannot stress the importance of safety enough. As described above, make sure that you practice good form. Jerky movements with heavy weights can cause injuries. Lift weight using a controlled, deliberate movement. If you are using free weights for squats or bench press, make sure that you have a responsible training partner as a spotter. Wear shoes when lifting weights. Do follow the rules of the gym that you attend.