Best Abs Exercises for Wrestlers (& 1 exercise NEVER to do)
OK – I’ll start with the 1 exercise wrestlers should NEVER do…
Check out 99% of wrestling practices and you will eventually see guys training their abs with Situps and Crunches. They have always been a big “wrestling exercise.”
But I hate ‘em!
Let me tell you why…
Exercises like Situps and Crunches place an enormous load on the disks in your spine.
The disks in your Spine (Intervertebral Disks) are like cushions between your vertebrae. When these disks get disturbed, you get a low back injury. Moves such as Situps and Crunches DESTROY the disks between the bones in your spine. This can even lead to nerve damage!
Even worse is when they’re done really fast with someone holding your ankles… this starts to tug on the disks even more.
DON’T DO Crunches and Situps!
There are much better exercises for wrestlers who need strong, functional abdominal strength for the wrestling mat:
- Instead of Crunches do: Planks, Mountain Climbers, Stability Ball JackKnives
- Instead of Twisting Crunches do: Side Planks, Lunge with Elbow to Opposite Knee, Spiderman Pushups
- Instead of Situps to: Rollouts, Hanging Knee Raises, Stability Ball Pikes
Mountain Climbers
Stability Ball Jackknives
Side Planks (with Leg Raise to make it harder)
Lunge with Elbow to Opposite Knee
Medicine Ball Rollout
Stability Ball Pikes
Spider Man Pushups
There are so many choices that are better than doing Situps and Crunches… especially for wrestlers. These are the training concepts that I use in my Ultimate Wrestling Strength and Ultimate Wrestling Power programs, as well as all of the wrestling-specific workouts in the Wrestling Performance Kit.
Be sure to post any questions you may have about training your abs properly for wrestling success. Remember, if you train your abs correctly, your speed and strength on the wrestling mat will increase tremendously!
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July 12th, 2011 at 5:36 pm
even better than those are ab rollouts more intense and develop alot of core strength in my opinion,
July 12th, 2011 at 5:47 pm
speaking of getting ready for the season. where should your calories be during this offseason period, especially if you have 10-15 pounds to lose before november?maintenance or 500 lower or?
July 13th, 2011 at 3:09 am
Med ball roll outs and other similar combos (not wheel roll outs) are the anterior equivalent to deadlifts in my opinion!
-Mike Martin