While there are hundreds of different exercises you can do when you train, I feel that the following are wrestling-specific.  If you’re a high school wrestler or coach high school wrestlers be sure to include some of these exercises this Offseason to gain the advantage for next season!

1. Inverted Rows – These are performed by setting up a bar across a power-rack or with a Smith Machine.  Your heels rest either on the floor or on a bench.  Pull your chest up to the bar, keeping your body in a straight line.  I like these a lot because you get a ‘peak contraction’ that mimicks the muscular contraction you get when you are ‘pulling in a leg’ on a takedown.

2. Sumo Style Deadlifts - This is a deadlift with a straddle-stance.  Your feet are placed wider than your shoulders.  Your hands grip the bar inside your legs.  This stance forces you to use more hips and glutes and less lower back.  They teach you how to get more power from your posterior chain muscles for ultimate power on the mat!

3. Blast Strap Pushups – These are performed with Blast Straps which are basically 2 nylon straps with hooks at one end and handles at the other end.  The straps are suspended by the hooks from a power rack.  You elevate your feet on to a box or bench and then perform pushups while suspended in the air.  You can also use the new TRX bands for this.  This is a great exercise to incorporate into your program this offseason because it forces are harder contraction while using more core.  The result is better explosion off the bottom.

4. Deadlifts Off a Box – To do these you use a traditional shoulder width stance deadlift while standing on a 6 inch box or stacked plates.  This uses more of the lower back, hamstring, and mid back areas which are crucial to strength develop in wrestling.  You will improve takedown speed after implementing these!

5. Turkish Get Up – This one is hard to explain and you might be better off checking it out on Youtube to get an idea of how to perform these.  Basically you lie on your back with a Kettlebell or DB in your right arm pressed to a locked out position, and knee bent.  You keep the arm straight and get yourself to a stand up position.  Then you lower yourself to the starting position and repeat.  You get a tremendous overall body workout with an emphasis on the core.  The unique twisting effect that you create by holding one DB or Kettlebell will really work your Internal Obliques… which are so important to developing overall mat speed.

6. Ab Wheel – I’m sure you’ve seen those little wheels that you hold with both hands and then roll yourself while on your knees to a stretched out position.  These work your abs with a continuous tension… much like you experience during a wrestling match.  You need to consciously pull your navel in towards your spine throughout the exercise.

7. Renegade Rows – Hold a DB in each hand while in a starting pushup position… arms locked out.  You then row each dumbbell up towards your sides in alternate fashion.  You will need to space your feet a little wider than the usual pushup in order to keep your balance.  This is a multi-muscle exercise that again, gives you tremendous core work while bringing in the back, shoulders, chest and arms.

8. Reverse Lunge – Stand on a 12 inch box holding two dumbbells.  Step one of your feet directly behind you until you reach a lunge position  where your back knee barely touches the floor.  Raise yourself back to the starting position and repeat.  This will give you a unique hamstring, posterior chain workout that has tremendous carryover to the needs of a wrestling match.

9. Reverse Woodchops – Grab a band or cable handle that is set up at your ankle level.  Grasp with both hands clasped over one end.  Keep your arms straight with a crouching position at the beginning.  In one motion, raise up to a standing position while driving your hands from the outside of your ankle to over your opposite shoulder.  Keep perfect form on these.

10. Suitcase Deadlifts – This is another great deadlift variation that has a tremendous benefit that wrestlers will notice on the mat.  Byu taking a traditional exercise and keeping the weight on one side of your body you will bring in many stabilizing muscles of the core as well as in the hips and quadriceps.  You grasp a barbell in the middle as it sits on one side of your body.  You stand straight up with the weight, as if you were standing up with a suitcase after bending down to get it.

These are 10 great exercises you can use as a High School wrestler to add variety into your Offseason strength training.  They can be done along with your regular workout.  There are a ton of other great wrestling-specific strength builders that I’ll be sharing with you.  If you want to see exactly how I setup Offseason, Preseason and Inseason strength and conditioning programs for Youth, High School and College wrestlers check out Ultimate Wrestling Strength.