How To Get Stronger For Wrestling In ONLY 6 Weeks!!
(Michael Martin - 4X State Champion and advocate of High-Intensity Training for Wrestling!)
I’ve been around the block a time or two when it comes to Strength and Conditioning…
Been there, seen it, done it…
30 years in the trenches, experimenting with new programs and training systems…
… and the one thing that I’ve learned and will back-up ’till the day I die is that High-Intensity Training is the most-effective training that a wrestler can do!
High Intensity Training is not necessarily a specific training program. It’s more of a ‘style’ of training.
It’s all about doing the most amount of work in the least amount of time.
It’s about hammering a muscle to the point of reaching momentary muscular failure and then hammering it even further with intensity techniques that extend the set even further… but then resting the muscle until it is fully recovered!
When you wrestle, I certainly hope it’s with High-Intensity…
So when we strength train, it’s ‘sport-specific’ to train with High-Intensity.
But… you don’t ever want to strength train like a train-wreck… with screaming and yelling, using crappy form to hoist the weight and over-doing it.
It’s much better to maintain absolutely perfect form by concentrating on the primary muscles that move the weight, while allowing the rest of your body to act as one, big stabilizing muscle.
Here are 3 High-Intensity Training Rules for Wrestlers:
- You will train the muscles through each of the 3 phases of muscular contraction: Concentric (the positive, lifting portion of an exercise), Eccentric (the negative, or lowering portion of an exercise), and Static (holding the resistance for time, while contracting the muscle with no movement).
- You will choose exercises that are ‘sport-specific’ for complete wrestling strength. (In my book Ultimate Wrestling Strength, I cover some of the best wrestling-specific exercises for the Youth, and High School/College levels.)
- You will train with 100% intensity, followed by rest. Show me a guy who strength trains every day and I’ll show you a guy who doesn’t train hard enough. When you properly train with High Intensity you need plenty of recovery time in order to get stronger without burning out. (In my “Big Book of Wrestling Workouts” – part of the Wrestling Performance Kit, there are a number of High Intensity Training workouts for all levels of wrestling)
I wanted to give you an early Christmas present for being one of my Ultimate Wrestling Strength Blog readers..
For a short time, you can download the Triple Contraction 6 Week Strength Training Program for Wrestlers… (It’s one of the 30 workouts from the Big Book of Workouts for Wrestlers ebook)
It’s a great program to get insanely strong for wrestling in only 6 weeks…
But I have to warn you… It’s brutally tough!!
Download the Triple Contraction 6 Week Strength Program for Wrestlers Here!
Then let me know if you have any questions here on the blog…
PS. If your wrestling season has started, then you’ll want to save this one, and use an Inseason Strength and Conditioning program instead. Your goal during the season is to maintain strength and muscle, and prevent injuries.
November 30th, 2010 at 8:08 am
While I certainly appreciate your effort in offering information for wrestlers, After looking at the program I would have to say it is way off. While I agree with some of the things you have written, others I must disagree with. For example; The #1 injury for college wrestlers is Shoulder injuries. Your program would hit the shoulders way too much. The body does know the difference between machines and free weights. Free weights should be used most of the time. Please read at lighthousewrestling.com my articles on proper strength training. This is the basics of all strengths training programs and has produced the strongest athletes in the world for a 100 years.
November 30th, 2010 at 10:13 am
Are you sure the muscles actually know the difference between machines and free weights? Resistance is resistance. The only thing your muscles “know” is to contract and lengthen. That’s it… Traditional barbell training is excellent, but not an end in itself. It is merely a tool, as is any other form of resistance.
While you say that free weights have been responsible for the strongest athletes in the last 100 years, perhaps you’ve never used Hammer Strength machines?? Hammer Strength machines have built plenty of strength in the NFL as many of the high-intensity Strength Coach advocates brought them on board. (The Bengals and Steelers come to mind)
This program will cause shoulder injuries?? College wrestlers incur many shoulder injuries not from machines, free weights, rocks, bands or whatever… they happen because the Rotator Cuff muscles (Supraspinatis, Infraspinatis, Subscapularis and Teres Minor) are weak compared to the 3 heads of the deltoids (Anterior, Middle, Posterior). Also, more shoulder injuries occur with College wrestlers who Bench Press more than any machines. (Trust me, I love the Bench Press… and have Benched 500lbs at a 189lb body weight).
Will… I have to respectfully disagree with you:)
November 30th, 2010 at 3:57 pm
I would have to agree with will. While it is true that resistance is resistance, free weights remain the better tool. Free weights help to build functional strength. I cannot recall the last time in a wrestling match when i was sitting down at a 45 degree angle pushing with my legs. I would also have to say that the common shoulder injuries associated with the bench press are due to improper form. I do think you have alot of good information about training for wrestling, but i am not a big advocate of using machines.
November 30th, 2010 at 4:52 pm
Marcus,
For that matter… when was the last time you were in a wrestling match and purposely lay on your back, as with Bench Pressing? My point is that strength training SHOULD NOT assume the same range of motion as the sport-specific skills. That is a huge mistake! You mentioned that Free weights build functional strength, but functional to what? Do the stabilizing muscles in a Free Weight Squat necessarily correlate to the needs of a wrestling match MORE than a One Leg Pistol Squat? Do the stabilizing muscles in a Free Weight Squat correlate more to the needs of a wrestling match than a combination of a Glute/Ham Raise (technically a machine) and a Leg Press?
Listen, I love free weights, as you find in my Ultimate Wrestling Strength program as well as many of my programs at Wrestling Performance. But the whole Functional Strength element is a much-debated topic. It’s a great buzz word that guys like to throw around… but function as it refers to wrestling, is accomplished more through “how you train” rather than “what you train with.”
You can train with Free Weights all year long but if they’re not used in a proper program, with the correct selection, technique and recovery, they will be useless for improving sports performance.
In regard to the Bench Press, my form was meticulous when Bench Pressing. The Shoulder tweaks that I incurred were due more to overuse. Bench Pressing week in and week out with progressive resistance with eventually lead to injuries… guaranteed. For that matter, doing any strength exercise every week with progressive resistance with eventually lead to an injury. This is precisely why I like ‘Phases of Training’ for athletes that vary the intensity as well as the exercise selection.
I, along with my good friend Al Walke, have been training athletes for years and years at Flex Gym, here in Virginia Beach, VA. Many wrestlers, NFL athletes, MLB athletes, Soccer Players, Mixed Martial Artists… and the list goes on. Most of the training programs have always been a combination of various types of exercises, but with a common theme of High Intensity. The result has always, always been improved athletic performance.
Steve
November 30th, 2010 at 9:56 pm
It’s pretty callow at this point but if you’d like to see my workouts routines and logs check out my page.
You have to use your desktop bc I’ve been writing the HTML tags by hand.
http://proteanwrestling101.zxq.net/
December 22nd, 2010 at 10:54 pm
in your program what would you recomend to replace the reverse hyperextension exercise?