“Unless you’re focusing strictly on technique and tactics, it’s not even worth working out unless you push hard outside your comfort zone.”

Young wrestlers often sacrifice strength training out of fear that lifting weights will increase their muscle mass and bump them into a higher weight class. Kevin Jackson, National Freestyle Coach for USA Wrestling, responds to that mindset, saying, “A wrestler should always be on a weight training program—if not to get stronger, then to maintain strength and health throughout the year.”

Jackson, a 1992 Olympic gold medalist and 1991 and 1995 world champion, explains how the same weightlifting program can yield vastly different results by tweaking certain elements: “To gain weight, you have to increase your calories and lift heavy weights. But you can also use weightlifting to maintain and even lose weight. When you are not trying to get bigger, lift lighter weights and increase your repetitions.”

Jackson’s recommendations to maintain your current weight class are to keep the weight 20-50 pounds below your max, increase reps by 2-4 per set and add an additional set for each exercise. Another strategy he uses to keep his wrestlers strong without unwanted weight gains is 45 minutes of lifting performed 10 to 20 minutes after a tough wrestling workout or other rigorous training session. “When you work fatigued muscles, you continue to burn calories and lose weight while simultaneously getting stronger,” he says. “Lifting after training hard also increases mental strength, because you learn to refocus on a weight workout after you’re already spent.”

Mental training is a huge element in Jackson’s overall program. “To win at the highest level against the best guys, mental toughness helps you more than any other tool,” he says. “Young athletes need to learn how to use their minds as a physical force through which they can tell their bodies what to do. No matter what pain the body feels, the mind can push through it and accomplish more.”

Jackson helps his wrestlers build strong minds by consistently taking them out of their comfort zones during workouts. Then, when adversity hits on the mat, they can roll right through it. He goes as far as to say, “Unless you’re focusing strictly on technique and tactics, it’s not even worth working out unless you push hard outside your comfort zone.”

Two of Jackson’s protégés—2000 Olympic-gold medalist, Brandon Slay, and 2005 national champion and world team trials champion, Muhammed Lawal—benefited tremendously from his blend of wrestling mental and physical strength training. “These are two guys who let their training take over,” Jackson says. “Because of the work they put in, they became confident and mentally tough, and this confidence removed any question or doubt when they were competing, making them much harder to defeat.”

Wrestling Strength Training

Designed to increase strength, power and explosiveness, the U.S. team’s workout program ensures daily departures from the comfort zone. The full-body system centers on explosive lifts like Hang Cleans and jumping exercises. Jackson says, “These are really efficient exercises for wrestlers of all ages to build the explosiveness and full body movements they will need on the mat.”

Overhead Squat

• Hold bar overhead with wide grip
• Squat down with control, keeping knees behind toes until tops of thighs are below parallel with ground
• Drive upward to starting position

Hang Shrug

• Grip bar just outside athletic stance
• Begin with bar just above knees, back locked, shoulders up and abs and chest flexed
• Explode by forcefully shrugging and fully extending hips, knees and ankles

Squat

• Begin with bar on back in athletic stance with toes pointing slightly out
• Focus on a point high on wall in front of you
• Squat down with control and good posture until thighs are just below parallel
• Keep weight back on heels
• Drive upward out of squat into starting position, keeping eyes up and chest out

Pull-Ups

• Grasp bar with an overhand grip
• Pull body up until chin is over bar
• Lower down with control until arms are straight

Leg Curl

• Lie down on a leg curl machine with heels locked underpads
• Bring heels to butt by contracting hamstrings
• Lower with control until legs are straight

Dumbbell Incline Bench

• Hold dumbbells at chest level slightly wider than shoulder-width
• Drive dumbbells up towards the ceiling until arms are straight
• Lower with control

Calf Raises

• Stand with bar across back in hip-wide stance
• Press into floor with toes until heels rise off ground

4-Way Neck

• Position body on 4-way neck machine
• Press head against pad in specified direction using only neck muscles
• Move back to starting position with control
• Repeat for all directions

Dumbbell Front Raise

• Stand with light dumbbells in each hand at waist level
• Raise arms forward to shoulder level, keeping arms straight
• Lower down with control

Dumbbell Lateral Raise

• Stand with light dumbbells in each hand at waist level
• Raise arms to the side to shoulder level, keeping arms straight
• Lower down with control

Dumbbell Rear Delt Raise

• Hold dumbbells and lean forward keeping back flat until torso is almost parallel to ground
• Drive elbows out and up with arms bent
• Raise elbows until even with shoulders
• Lower down with control

Dumbbell Squat Jumps

• Stand with dumbbells at the waist in an athletic stance
• Squat down until thighs are parallel to the ground
• Drive-up by extending hips, knees, and ankles
• Push through the ground to achieve maximum height
• Land with knees bent; do not let them extend over toes
• Repeat immediately, spending as little time on ground as possible

Bench Press

• Lie down with back on the bench
• Grasp bar slightly wider than shoulder-width
• Lower bar with control until it touches base of sternum, with hands directly above elbows
• Drive bar upward until arms are fully extended

Romanian Deadlift

• Hold bar in an upright position with slight flex in knees
• Bend forward at hips and slide bar down front of legs keeping back flat
• Drive hips backward and lower bar as far as possible without changing flex in knees or spine position
• Move upward in same fashion to standing position

Bentover Row

• Bend over at hips holding bar with shoulder-wide grip
• Pull bar toward chest
• Keep back flat and do not raise torso
• Lower down with control and repeat

Barbell Curl

• Grip bar slightly wider than shoulder-width
• Curl bar up to chin level, keeping elbows locked in place
• Lower bar with control

Tricep Extension

• Lie down with back on bench and arms straight up in front of chest
• Grip bar with only 6-8 inches between hands
• Lower bar toward forehead bending only at elbows
• Keep upper arms locked
• Raise weight through same motion to starting point while keeping elbows narrow

Hang Clean

• Grip bar just outside athletic stance
• Begin with bar just above knees with back locked, shoulders up and abs and chest flexed
• Explode by forcefully shrugging and fully extending hips, knees and ankles
• Pull bar up, keeping it close to the chest
• Drop under bar and catch it along front of shoulders in athletic stance with knees bent

Front Squat

• Hold bar across front of shoulders with elbows high
• Begin in athletic stance with toes pointing slightly out
• Focus on a high point on the wall in front of you
• Squat down with control and good posture until thighs are just below parallel
• Keep weight back on heels
• Drive upward out of the squat into starting position, keeping eyes up and chest out

Lat Pulldown

• Sit at pulldown machine with slight backward lean
• Grasp bar with overhand grip slightly wider than shoulder-width
• Pull bar down to below chin level without leaning back any more than from starting position
• Control weight back to starting position

Good Mornings

• Stand with the bar resting on back and knees slightly bent
• Bend forward at hips keeping back flat and tight
• Drive hips back

Clap Push-Ups

• Begin in a push-up position
• Lower down until sternum touches floor
• Explode up by pushing down into floor
• Clap as many times as you can while in air
• Immediately repeat upon landing

Chin-Ups

• Grasp bar with an underhand grip
• Pull body up until chin is above bar
• Lower down with control until arms are straight

Alternate Dumbbell Military Press

• Stand holding dumbbells at shoulder level with tight core
• Drive one dumbbell toward ceiling until arm is straight, without leaning backward or to side
• Lower back down and repeat with another dumbbell

Seasonal Changes

Jackson says, “During the off-season, preseason and early in the season, depending on your weight class goals for the year, you should be lifting heavy and trying to gain mass. As a young athlete, you should try to get as big and strong as you can through a healthy diet and heavy lifting, with numerous sets.

“Once you get to mid-year, look more toward maintaining your lean muscle mass, strength and conditioning levels. You are also lifting to prevent injury. You will be less susceptible to injury if your body remains strong. Do not expect your maxes to go up during this time; they will stay the same, or maybe dip, depending on how much training you’re doing in the wrestling room.

“When you get into the late season, you’re still lifting for maintenance and conditioning, because we want the muscles to fire hard and explosively. About three weeks before a competition, your weightlifting should get a lot lighter, with a few more reps, to work the cardio and maintain the conditioning, as opposed to getting bigger and stronger.”

CLASS ACTION

Cutting weight to fit into a lower weight class perturbs Kevin Jackson. “Great technique determines success at any size,” he says. “Young wrestlers should grow into a weight class and get bigger and stronger along the way. When they go on crash diets to cut weight, it is unnatural and ill advised. It also prevents a wrestler from expanding his technical knowledge of the sport, because he spends time trying to lose weight instead of getting stronger and improving his technical skills.”

Dieting and cutting not only diminish energy levels, adversely affecting performance on the mat, they also reduce a young athlete’s growth and motivation. The sport loses its fun factor.

On the other hand, Jackson realizes that losing weight may be inherent to the sport. He says, “You really have to consider what weight is too heavy for you. If you are wrestling an opponent, and you are in a position to win—where executing the proper technique should close out the match—but you end up getting muscled out, then it’s possible you are in too heavy a weight class, where the athletes are too strong for you.” If this is the case, Jackson hopes that coaches are knowledgeable enough to assist athletes in a healthy weight loss regimen that has no long-term, negative effects.

WHAT DO YOU SEE WHEN YOU CLOSE YOUR EYES? Kevin Jackson offers his thoughts.

I truly believe in visualization exercises. Visualize yourself in difficult situations and having success. Visualize yourself in training as well as in actual combat matches. Visualize your execution of perfect techniques. Visualize your hand being raised at the end of a match, or your celebration after winning the championship.

Many young athletes fail to mentally train this way. There are a couple ways to use visualization. First, you can do it at the end of practice when your body is totally exhausted. Try building yourself up to concentrate, relax and stay focused for four to six minutes, which is the duration of a typical match. Visualize your wrestling techniques, anything else dealing with wrestling and your success. Just relax, think about it and see it in your mind for that length of time. It’s difficult to focus that long on anything without letting your mind drift to other thoughts. The longer you can do it, the better.

The second method is to visualize and lock in on wrestling for six to 20 minutes while you’re lying in bed at night. This will aid you in your pursuit of success. Falling asleep while visualizing winning is a good thing. What you see in your mind will stick with you subconsciously and allow you to capture what you are trying to accomplish. When you’re visualizing your technique over and over again, it makes it much easier when you have to execute it physically. If you can see yourself winning a world championship in your mind, it is stored in your subconscious. Your mind can draw upon this as if it were a real past experience.

Article originally published in 2005, it’s been updated as it’s so popular.