Exercises for Wrestling
Posted: Wednesday, August 12, 2009
by Dickie White
http://www.wrestler-power.com
While there are a number of exercises for wrestling that you could identify as being important to performance, I like to stick to some of the tried and true exercises and build my strength training for wrestling plans around them. Here are the top 4 exercises for wrestling that I have found to be most effective for building strength. After I detail them, I will introduce a strength training program centered around them.
The squat is by far the mother of all exercises. Although it sometimes gets negative publicity, but when this exercise is performed correctly you are able to use about 70% of the total muscle in your body. The squat will build legs stronger than you could ever imagine and help you battle successfully through almost every wrestling situation known to man. I have all of my wrestlers squat and the majority of their squats are done on a box. It's a fantastic exercise for wrestling so if you aren't doing them, start now!
Exercise for Wrestling 2- Deadlift
The deadlift is arguably the best exercise to increase your hip and low back strength; muscles that will help in nearly every position in wrestling. There are two variations that I have my wrestlers perform: conventional and sumo. The conventional deadlift will build an iron back while the sumo is used more for strengthening a pair of championship winning hips.
Exercise for Wrestling 3- Weighted Chinup
If the squat is the mother of all lower body exercises, the chinup is definitely its upper body counterpart, especially when it concerns exercises for wrestling. It goes without objection that wrestling is a sport of pulling, yet, the common exercise that measures strength still seems to be the bench press. Tighter clinches, a higher percentage of shots finished, a more dominant hand fight, and unyielding pressure on top are just some of the functions of your pulling strength. Increasing your weighted chinup will undoubtedly increase your chances of dominating on the wrestling mat.
Before he won his D1 National Championship for Harvard, I wrote programs for and worked with J.P. O'Connor during his high school days. He could do three strict chinups with 125 pounds attached to his waist. Now, although there is no denying his abilities as a wrestler; how many people do you think could effectively sprawl against his pulling strength? There may be a few, but combine his pulling strength with his other wrestling skills and takedowns are inevitable.
Exercise for Wrestling 4- Bench Press
The bench press is undoubtedly the most popular of all exercises, be it for wrestling or just general strength training. If somebody finds out you exercise or lift weights their first question is almost always, "How much do you bench?" Bench pressing is a great way to build upper body strength. Although it is not the most functional exercise for wrestling, it is still an important component when looking to increase total body strength for the sport and maintain muscle balance.
Here's a basic 3-day a week program that is focused around increasing the 4 exercises above, which will ultimately improve your wrestling performance.
Day 1
Superset 1- Box Squat (5x3) and Kettlebell Windmill (4x10)
Superset 2- Deadlift (4x5) and Weighted Decline Situp (4x10)
Superset 3- Walking Lunge (4x6) and Glute Ham Raise (4x8)
Day 2
Superset 1- Bench Press (5x5) and Weighted Chinup (5x5)
Superset 2- Dumbbell Floor Press (4x8) and Rope Cable Row (4x8)
Superset 3- Seated Dumbbell Overhead Press (4x8) and Band Face Pull (4x15)
Day 3
Superset 1- Split Squat (4x8) and Weighted Back Extension (4x10)
Superset 2- Dips (4x10) and Bodyweight Rows with hold at top (4x10)
Triset 3- Hammer Curl (3x8) and Lying Dumbbell Extension (3x10) and Ab Wheel (3x12)
All 4 of these exercises are fully detailed with accompanying pictures as part of the Top 10 Exercises for Wrestling E-course which is available at my blog at http://www.wrestler-power.com
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