One of the more intimidating parts of wrestling is that beginners think that they’ll need someone to spar with to improve their skills. While practicing your technique with a partner is the ideal way to enhance your skills and prevent mistakes, it is entirely possible to create a solo wrestling training routine.
We’ll be looking at various ways to improve your wrestling training, ranging from workouts to diets. If you’re expecting nothing but a list of exercises, then you’re in the wrong place. This will be a complete guide to the aspiring wrestler’s training program.
Before getting started with the specifics, you should probably have an idea of the most important physical aspects to focus your training on. Let’s take a look at the fundamentals of wrestling training. This includes which parts of your body need the most care if you’re going to succeed.
By far the most important aspect to focus on as a wrestler is your strength training. Bouts tend to be short and intense. Muscular strength is the most critical consideration for a wrestler. You’ll be able to get your opponent to tap out faster with more power, precluding the need for endurance.
Of course, this does not mean that endurance is worthless. However, it has to take a backseat to strength when assembling your workout regimen. On that note, it is essential that you create a personalized workout plan to improve your weaknesses. It should also feature work to maintain your advantages, as with any sport.
Strength training is responsible for building up explosive muscular power. This is defined as the amount of force that your muscles can output in a single twitch. This means that strength training will typically consist of high-intensity workouts with fewer reps than endurance training.
While you may be surprised to learn that cardio is integral for a wrestler, it makes sense after closer consideration. Cardio is fundamental in any intense physical activity. The same is the case for wrestling, especially if you want to be able to last several bouts in succession without ending up winded.
Your cardio doesn’t have to be too intense as a wrestler. You won’t be doing much running in your sport, but a healthy running program throughout the week should be followed. Don’t underestimate the importance of cardio, as you will need the oxygen to perform.
While strength is by far the most critical consideration, muscular endurance is what will allow you to win multiple bouts instead of fizzling out after a single one. Muscular endurance is the amount of force your muscles can exert over an extended period.
As you can imagine, you wouldn’t want your muscles failing on your halfway through a bout. That’s a quick way to lose precious points. Your muscles are the most important part of your body to train if you want to improve your wrestling performance. Furthermore, both power and endurance are critical.
Of course, you won’t want to mistakenly train your strength when trying to improve your endurance, so you will need to stick to lower-intensity workouts with higher reps. A longer workout will ensure that your muscles can output a steady amount of force over a longer time.
Finally, the last thing you will need to focus on to improve your wrestling performance is your flexibility. Flexibility allows you to make it out of trickier holds that would otherwise have resulted in a tap-out. You’ll find that there is a far more crucial reason to train this discipline.
Being flexible in wrestling is one of the best ways to reduce the likelihood of an injury. As in any other sport, avoiding injury is one of the most crucial things that you can do to keep improving your skills as you won’t be missing out on any part of the wrestling season.
Improving your flexibility is possible in a variety of ways, including performing static stretches (as a standalone exercise), yoga, gymnastics, and much more. If you choose stretches as your method, make sure that you perform them separately from the rest of your training, as you may end up pulling something otherwise.
