The “What it Takes” Series
By Katie Downing
What it takes to excel in wrestling is a love of work, the will to expect more of oneself, and the drive to seek out new ways to push oneself above and beyond the workload that only gets a wrestler through the day. This series is designed for wrestlers who desire a little extra training to reach that next level. Some of these workouts are meant to be supplements to practices or team lifts. They can be done by a group of wrestlers during the season. Some of these stand on their own as workouts, and are meant to be almost the equal of team practices. Wrestlers can use these as a way to keep up their training over the summer when practice schedules are relaxed, or when they are traveling. All of these workouts are designed to require little or no equipment.
Workout #1
Pyramids or Crazy Eights
This workout is a supplement to lifts or team practices. It can be done with just two people, or the whole team. The idea is that the first wrestler does the exercise once, then the second wrestler does it once. #1 does it twice, then #2 twice, and so on up to 8 times each, then back down to 1 time each: 1-1,2-2,3-3,4-4,5-5,6-6,7-7,8-8,7-7,6-6,5-5,4-4,3-3,2-2,1-1.
PUSHUPS-
Both wrestlers stay in push up position the whole time, resting in the up position. The wrestlers take turns doing pushups: 1-1, 2-2, . . . up to 8-8, then back down.
PULLUPS-
Wrestlers take turns doing pull-ups, picking a new position on the bar each time. One set can be hands shoulder width apart, facing out Shoulder width apart, hands facing in (chin-ups)
Hands together, both in and out Wide grip, in and out One hand facing forward, one out, then pull up side to side, pulling your head up to one side of the bar then the other With the feet high on the wall so that you pull your chest to the bar
SPRINTS-
One mat length is the first set, then down and back, then down-back-down, and so on until each wrestler does 8 mat lengths, then back down to one.
CURLS-
Two wrestlers face each other, using a straight bar to do curls (some may have to use lighter dumbbells). Wrestler #1 does one curl, hands the bar off to wrestler #2 to do one, then 2-2 and so on.
DIPS-
Wrestlers take turns doing dips. To do dips, you must have two parallel bars. Put one hand on each and raise up with straight arms. Then you dip down until your elbows are at a 90 degree angle and back up.
SQUAT JUMPS OR TUCK JUMPS-
With feet shoulder width apart, the wrestlers bend down into a squat then jump as high as they can for a squat jump. For a tuck jump, wrestlers stand straight, jump up and bring their knees to their chest, and straighten them back out again.
As you can see, the pyramid or crazy eights concept can be applied to almost any exercise you can think of. Also, you can always make it crazy tens or crazy twelves or whatever you can take. They usually don’t take too long to complete, but they can push wrestlers to their limits.