1 Exercise for Inseason Wrestling Strength
During the wrestling season, you’ll find a bazillion wrestlers all over doing countless numbers of situps (with a partner holding their ankles), pushups and pullups (and variations).
Yes, these exercises are awesome for wrestling… well, except for partner-assisted situps. They suck! (when someone holds on to your ankles for fast situps, you are putting a huge amount of torque on the psoas muscles, which lead to disc issues in your back).
But so many times training is done for the “show” muscles on the front of the body with these exercises… chest, arms, abs.
So… it’s time to consider the most important muscles to train for wrestling and fighting… the Posterior Chain. The Posterior Chain (the group of muscles comprised of the hamstrings, glutes, low back, mid back and even calves) is responsible for your mat speed and power (along with your Internal Obliques).
One of the best exercises to train the Posterior Chain group is the Glute/Hamstring/Gastroc Raise. Generally, it’s done on an apparatus designed specifically for this exercise. It’s my personal favorite and a MUST in all of the programs I design for wrestlers and fighters.
However, if you don’t have the apparatus and you need a substitute for them, do a Partner-Assisted Glute/Ham/Gastroc Raise:
Have your partner hold your ankles as you kneel on a towel for knee comfort. Clasp your hands behind your head. Use your glutes, and hamstrings to pull yourself upright. Lower as slowly as you can and repeat.
I like this exercise during the Inseason because it can be done in the mat room along with other Inseason exercises.
** Remember** During the Inseason you should cut your strength training back to 2 days per week to allow rest and recovery… BUT, it should be intense training to compensate. In other words, keep the intensity high but the volume and frequency of training slightly less during the season.
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This Partner-Assisted Glute/Ham/Gastroc Raise is just one of dozens of wrestling/MMA specific exercises in my new Advanced Ultimate Wrestling Strength manual.
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December 4th, 2011 at 4:08 pm
thank you so much for the book
December 4th, 2011 at 11:15 pm
HI Steve, how about a video of you doing this slowly all the way up and down LOL
Not saying you can’t do it, but I use the reverse hyper machine at the gym, I’ve been powerlifting and wrestling since the mid 80′s, and I can’t do this excersize
My boy can dead lift 2.5 time his body weight, straight leg dead lift 2 times his body weight, squat twice his body weight, and clean 110% of his body weight reps of 5. He also does regular hypers holding 30% of his body weight across his chest. He also can do Michael Martins medicine ball challenge with no problem and can do a set of 30 ab wheel extensions (fully extended like superman never touching his knees or belly). He can do the fully extended “bruce lee ” pushups no prob. He’s a wrestler and gymnast and he’s no chump. He also can rep the current AAU world record on bench press for his age and weight 5 times , butt down, touching his chest (I can send you video proof of this and will most likely take him to a national event to break the bench record in 2012)……BTW, he just turned 9
Anyway, he can’t do this exercise either. I highly doubt 99.9 % of any high school wrestlers could properly do this as described
I’m a big fan of yours, love your stuff, and have utilized many of your strength and nutrition tips with my boys…… great stuff!!!!! But this one I gotta question if it’s even a realistic exercise.
Respectfully,
Andy
December 5th, 2011 at 12:38 am
Just writing to Andy.
Hey buddy, this really is an extremely hard but equally effective training method, if that made send lol. Actually, most older lat pull down machines have knee braes where you put your knees to lock them in securely. I was taught to do this by another personal trainer…back when I was a personal trainer, and he embarrassed me because I felt so weak attempting a few minimal reps, while he was just banging them out.
How he taught me was, turn around facing away from the lat pull down machine. Put your knees where your butt would normally be sitting and lock your ankles where your knees would normally go. Put your hands behind your head and slowly lower yourself down, just tearing up your hams and glutes and lower back and some other muscles I’m ignorant to. (don’t need a real license to train at Ballys!)
Anyways you can have a parter assist you so you don’t fall on your face, but absolutely doable and repable. Though difficult. I wouldn’t even use this lift unless you are a competitor. Give it a try though, get your gains. -AKC
December 5th, 2011 at 5:12 am
Andy,
Awesome insight. I appreciate your honesty… and that you powerlifted in the 80′s too:)
I’m 44 and can still do 3 pr 4 consecutive reps with this exercise. There are 2 reasons:
1. I have always trained the Posterior Chain as a priority in my own workouts as well as athletes that I’ve trained the past 20 years. Most couldn’t do them, but I knew a worked with a few that could.
2. I WILLED myself to do these.
With that said, here are a few suggestions if you or your son want to do them:
1. Start with a static contraction in the top position. Hold as long as possible for 3 sets, 3 x per week.
2. Progress to lowering from the top position as slowly as you can, 3 sets, 3 x per week.
3. Use a broomstick on end to assist in lowering and climbing back up then. This makes it a great core move as well. Just walk the hands up and down the broomstick.
Thanks again… and damn, your kid’s a monster! (I mean that in a good way;) I always enjoyed teaching PE to his age group. Great numbers for a little guy. Side note: Yours truly briefly held the APF Junior World Bench Press Record in the early 90′s:)
I think I’m going to post a challenge with this exercise and a reward to anyone who can do it and sends me video to post…
Steve
December 5th, 2011 at 11:09 am
Hey Steve,
That is an awesome exercise. I feel though that you would want to do these only on a glute / ham apparatus because their is no pressure on the knees while on the machine. Regardless of how much padding you put on your knees, your weight is still sitting on your knee caps while doing them.
I began practicing these about 7 years ago while in my late thirties. I use the towel method similar to your picture. After about a year I finally got my first one. Any one can do these. All it takes is practice.
I started by lowering myself in a controled motion and would catch myself with my hands when the glutes and hams would give up. After a while I was able to lower myself to the floor with good control. I then started to give myself a push off from the floor like doing an explosive push up and then let my glute/hams take over and raise myself to the upright position.
After about 2 years of doing these on a padded mat, my knees started to bother me so I stopped.
Highly recommend the machine.
December 5th, 2011 at 11:14 am
Although this exercise may seem realistically impossible to many of us, I truely believe that this exercise is so important because many of us have neglected the posterior chain without even realizing it. I feel that we should aspire to do this exercise because it will definitely add a new dimension to your wrestling now that we know how big a role the posterior chain plays in our sport. I whole heartedly believe that time devoted to doing this exercise is time well invested.
Not many guys want to devote time to an exercise that they feel is not emotionally as gratifying to do like the traditional power lifts. You can boast about your bench press, squat, or deadlift. However, a lot of guys would be at a loss when you would boast about your best Glute/Hamstring/Gastroc Raise. Its funny and tragic all at the same time because I feel that many times our egos get hung up on wanting to do things because we are slaves to tradition!
As far as big bench presses go: I feel that too much time is wasted trying to develop a huge bench press. I could have been a very rich kid if I got a dollar for each guy that I pinned that could out bench me by over a hundred pounds. I feel that the squat and the deadlift develops strength thats more applicable to wrestling. I would dare to say that military presses and power cleans are also great exercises for wrestling but not to the same degree as the two lifts from the previous sentence.
December 5th, 2011 at 11:36 am
Steve, thx for the response and advice……. You are a stud to still be doing these at 44. I bow down to you
. Very impressive!
. He’s a work in progress with a lot of potential. He does gymnastics once a week, wrestling twice a week, and lifts with me and my older boy 3 times a week. I knew he had some potential when he told me he could do 100 pushups when he was 5….. I told him “I doubt it” and he dropped and did 125 of them right there LOL.
I’m 40 and consider myself in great shape, and was severely humbled when trying these
I’m gonna tell my son you challenged him to do these and that they ARE possible, I’ll send you a video when he gets there.
Send me a personal email and I’ll send you some pics and vids of my son…. I’m a proud dad but don’t want to post him openly on the web, YouTube, etc., but would be happy to share with you
Anyway, thx again! I’ll keep in touch.
Andy