kdsmith27 14 Report post Posted July 21, 2012 The 3 Essentials of Wrestling Conditioning by Steve Preston ---------- "What it takes to succeed in wrestling conditioning is an easy to follow plan". There is so much information out there that it can be confusing when you're trying to get conditioned for wrestling. There are also a lot of myths and fallacies about how you get in shape for wrestling. It doesn't help when you have some old-fashioned types who insist that you do the same 'ole stuff they used to do when they were a kid. Here are the 3 things to get right if you want to get into the ultimate condition for wrestling. ---------- 1. Never Overtrain ---------- Practicing twice a day, starving yourself, and running around in sweats is a sure-fire way to overtrain your body. If you remember to eat often, keep your meals balanced with lean proteins, complex carbs, and fibrous carbs, you will keep a positive nitrogen balance and will feel good. Remember, a tired body is incapable of learning well. In order to perfect your wrestling moves you can't have a broken-down body to work with. Eat at least 5 times daily during the season... even if you're cutting weight. Make sure you have a recover drink after practice, as we discussed earlier in this course. Another way that you can help yourself with recovery, and avoid overtraining is to use the hot/cold treatment method. You need a bathtub and a shower for this. You make the water in the bathtub as warm as comfortably possible. (Be careful not to make it so hot that you burn your skin). Sit in the tub for 2 minutes. Immediately get out and get into a cold shower for 2 minutes. Alternate these for up to 16 minutes. This is an excellent way to help your body with recovery from practices, matches, and training. ---------- 2. Don't Jog ---------- As a general rule, don't jog. While we use it during the summer program to get into aerobic condition, it shouldn't be used at other times. Jogging isn't effective at getting a wrestler into shape for the mat. Jogging is ineffective for fat loss as well. If you try to use jogging as a means to get down to your weight class you will burn-out quickly! ---------- 3. Strength Train ---------- Strength training is the answer to keeping muscle on your body when trying to cut weight. Strength training will help you become faster, stronger, more powerful, and have more endurance. Strength training will keep you from becoming Injured. There are many types of strength training, and every coach has his own beliefs. You should have an off-season program, a preseason program, an inseason program and maybe a functional training program. It doesn't matter if you are a youth wrestler or an Olympic level wrestler. you should still have different phases for your strength training. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites