Top Gym Exercises for Wrestling Strength Training and Performance
Handstand Pushups for Shoulder Stability
- Shoulder stability measures how the deltoids and rotor cuffs react to external pressures and maintain their form under pressure. Shoulder stability allows wrestlers to maintain a strong base for performing wrestling moves when lying on the ground. A handstand pushup is an excellent move for strengthening and training shoulders.
Handstand pushups use body weight to train your shoulders and arms. With gradual progress, you can make the move more challenging by walking on your hands while doing a handstand.
- Alongside handstand pushups, you can perform a few other exercises to improve your shoulder stability. Examples include pike pushups, one-arm dumbbell overhead press, kettlebell snatch, and Turkish get-ups.
Ab Wheel for Building Core Strength
- Core strength is pivotal for wrestling. While many exercises strengthen the core, none is as effective for wrestlers as the ab wheel. Ab wheel is a resistance exercise that challenges multiple muscle groups and helps with stability.
Ab wheel rollout is performed using fitness equipment called Ab Wheel Rollout. It is an intermediate-level workout. There are many variations to the ab wheel workout, such as kneeling ab wheel rollout, crouching ab wheel rollout with alternating knee tucks, oblique wheel rollouts, and kneeling plank reaches. Start with the basic kneeling ab wheel rollout and build your strength gradually.
- Hanging leg raises and weighted situps are other excellent exercises for increasing core strength and stability. Incorporate these exercises alongside ab wheel rollouts. A strong and stable core is a wrestler’s biggest asset, as it builds the foundation for more effectively transferring force from the lower body to the upper body. This helps wrestlers lift, push, and resist the opponent.
Hill Sprints for Hard Conditioning
- Body Conditioning is usually referred to as a full-body workout that improves cardiovascular health and strengthens muscles. All the exercises we have listed above train specific muscle groups. However, despite having superior strength and power, wrestlers won’t last long in the ring without endurance and stamina.
Hard conditioning is the go-to exercise for improving cardiovascular fitness. Hill sprints are an excellent cardio exercise. They are tough to perform, and hill sprinting for continuous periods challenges the mind and body alike. However, they are easier on the joints and hamstrings, which makes them ideal for wrestlers.
- At the gym, you can perform hill sprints on the treadmill machine. Other alternatives include bike sprints and stair sprints.
Pull-ups
- Pull-ups are an upper-body strength exercise. They build muscle, increase grip strength, and work the upper back. Pull-ups improve relative strength, which is a measure of strength-to-body weight ratio. Relative strength gives wrestlers an edge over their competitors.
To perform a pull-up, you need a good-quality pull-up bar. While most gyms have pull-up bars, we want you to up your pull-up game a notch. Instead of limiting pull-up exercise to the gym, aim to perform a few reps every now and then throughout the day. To do so, buy a doorway pull-up bar and hang it in your room.
- Consistently performing a few reps throughout the day will enhance your stamina, increase grip strength, and result in visible growth.
Lateral pulldowns, chest-supported rows, and barbell rows are some other exercises that build pulling strength, which is necessary for wrestlers.
Morris County Wrestling & Martial Arts is a premier family-owned wrestling and martial arts facility. We attract top-level talent and train them to become the best wrestlers. At our facility, you will be guided and trained by nationally recognized wrestlers such as Mike and Vic Amada and many more.
We are located in Randolph, New Jersey. For more information, call us at (973) 713-3556 or visit our website.
