Wrestlers are always trying to get faster.  It helps with take downs, as well as defending the take down.

But most wrestlers go about training for speed the wrong way…

The first thing you need to do in a wrestling-specific speed training program is use the correct exercises.

Here are 3 exercises to try this Summer (and why) so that you begin the next Season with twice as much mat speed:

1. “Training for Rotation” A view of the frontal anatomy chart (muscular system) revealsthat with the exception of the Rectus Abdominus (6-pack muscles), the muscles are angular, each one in some way designed to allow the Shoulder to move toward the opposite Knee (or to slow, decelerate, antagonize, or control such a movement).

This translates to Rotation!

For this reason you should train the Internal Obliques hard this Summer…

An easy way to target the Internal Obliques is to incorporate Medicine Ball training, Swiss Ball training and using Bands that allow resistance with rotation.

One of my favorite exercises to work the Internal Obliques is the Bus Driver. You can do it with an adjustable Barbell and plate on one end.  Notice in the pictures below that I’m keeping my torso straight but moving my hands as if I were driving a big Greyhound Bus.  This helps to involve the Internal Obliques and really translates well to the wrestling mat!

2.  Train for Muscle Endurance We tend to think of endurance as the variable in determining how far someone can run,  but I’ve seen enough High School and collegiate wrestling matches to know that there are, at times, great muscle strain with little resistance.

If you get into a Plank position, and perhaps walk your fingertips forward to increase the intra-abdominal tension, and hold for as long as you can, you are training muscle endurance.

This too can be a measure of endurance and validates that training “movement” doesn’t always translate to training “non-dynamic sustained tension.”

For this reason you should include Static exercises where movement isn’t required.  You hold for as long as possible to get the stimulus on the muscle.

Planks, as mentioned above are always great for wrestlers.  But one exercise I’d recommend to wrestlers that you don’t see a lot are Side Planks.  These are great in addition to regular Planks because they help train the Obliques while putting your body through a plane of motion that you need for the wrestling mat, but don’t usually get to train with traditional exercises:

3.  Train the Hamstrings “Correctly” When translating to athletic performance, the standard leg curl has little value (it’s rare that, even in wrestling, your entire body is fixed and you’re forced to bend the knee against resistance).

The hamstring is more utilized as a hip extensor, and stiff-leg deadlifts and one-legged anterior reaches can have clear performance benefit.  Ditto for lying leg curls using a stability ball:

One Legged Anterior Reach

One Legged Anterior Reach

Stability Ball Leg Curl

Stability Ball Leg Curl

These are a few exercises that you can incorporate into your offseason wrestling training plan for BIG improvements in your wrestling performance

Every one of these exercises is part of the Ultimate Wrestling Strength program!