Strength training twice/week IN-SEASON is critical

One of the easier and better ways to get the edge over the competition is to train throughout the entire wrestling season. Many wrestlers stop in-season strength training, sometimes by choice and other times not by choice.

If you’re cutting weight and starving yourself to make weight, you will have no energy for strength training and the lack of nutrition will deplete you of strength, stamina and muscle. I’ve seen wrestlers run several miles on match day while also skipping meals to make weight.

Here are some tips for wrestlers, parents and coaches to ensure a healthy, strong, successful and fun wrestling season:

• Strength train twice a week for approximately 30 minutes per session;
• Get 8-9 hours of sleep every night;
• NO skipping meals (should be able to eat breakfast, lunch and dinner);
• Take one complete day off from all training, usually on a Sunday;
• Get a sports massage and/or chiropractic adjustment every other week;
• Use a foam roller every night;
• Research “body tempering” and learn how to do this for improved recovery and durability;
• Train the mind; research Wrestling Mindset by The Zannetti Brothers to strengthen your most important “muscle”, your mindset!

Strength training in season does not need to be long or intense. This is what we call optimal training, where you train just enough to elicit a response without taking away from your recovery abilities.

Training too often will detrain you and make you slower, weaker and more likely to get injured. I have found the wrestlers who train too much actually don’t train hard enough because they are coasting, just trying to survive and make it to the next training session.

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(The article was published in the late November issue of WIN Magazine. To read the training sample and end of the article, subscribe to WIN and ask that your subscription starts with the late Nov. issue. Zach Even-Esh is a strength and performance coach located in New Jersey. He is the owner of The Underground Strength Gym, an author and a consultant. To work with Zach, go to https://UndergroundStrengthClub.com, http://ZachStrength.com and https://UndergroundStrengthCoach.com.)

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