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 #9

Cone Drills

This workout is a plyometric workout, designed to develop speed (how long it takes to finish an exercise/pace), agility (how long it takes to change from one exercise or direction to another), and quickness (how long it takes to go from stationary position to motion).  This is a good drill to add as a part of your regular routine a few times a week before a wrestling practice or lift, or before runs or cardio workouts.

Cone Drills-set up a single file row of 8 cones, each 10 feet apart-go through each exercise twice

-weave left and right in between each cone as you run forward, trying to move left and   right as little as possible so that you’re almost running straight

-turn sideways to the cones, and shuffle weave forward and backward through the cones, trying to move forward and backward as little as possible so that you’re almost  shuffling in a straight line-go one direction, then the other for the second time

-run in a straight line as fast as possible, but lower your level to touch every other cone as  you go by it-one time run with the cones to your left and touch the cones with your left hand, the next time with the cones to your right and touch with your right

-face forward the whole time, and run around every other cone using short and choppy steps around the cones, then burst forward-run with the cones to the left one time, then to the right the next time

-start at the first cone, burst forward to the next cone, jump over it and back, then burst up to the next cone-jump as high as you can over and back each cone, run with the cones on your left one time and then to the right the next time

-run up 2 cones, back peddle back one cone, burst up 2 cones, back one-go through the cones 2 times