Wrestling Drills
Top Conditioning Wrestling Drills
The main purpose of participating in conditioning wrestling drills is to supplement the sport, not actually replace it. Therefore, every drill that you perform should be specifically tailored to the sport itself. Since wrestlers really require many diverse levels of fitness including speed, strength, endurance, agility, balance and flexibility, this is not really a difficult task to complete.
Benefits Of Wrestling Drills
Participating in conditioning drills that have been designed toward wrestling, accomplishes quite a few objectives, including:
- Increased Agility – Developing sport-related skills help you to control your body in a higher number of positions. Improved agility also empowers you to be much quicker on your feet.
- Improved Strength – In the off-season, conditioning wrestling drills will help you to maintain your strength.
- Variety – The more variety that you have in your drills, the more likely you are to stick with your workouts.
- Enhanced Endurance – The more developed your cardiovascular endurance is, the easier you will be able to handle the challenging season and finish strong in matches that you compete in.
- Mental Health – Proper conditioning improves your confidence and promotes overall mental health.
Top Wrestling Drills
These conditioning wrestling drills require you to have someone to workout with. They should be completed at least once or twice per week, especially during the off-season to maintain your stamina and strength. Keep in mind that your drill buddy should be about the same size as you and you should rotate after each exercise. As your strength and endurance improves, you can increase your distance and repetitions.
- Fingertip Push-ups – These are an excellent drill to really develop your chest and arm muscles. Perform between 40 and 80 push-ups on your fingertips.
- Abdominal Drill – One person will lay flat on the mat and the partner standing up will throw the legs of the drilling partner toward the mat. This drill helps to develop the lower abdominal muscles by pulling the legs back up from the floor. Each person should complete around 25 repetitions.
- Four-way Neck Exercise – One partner will be behind the other one that is doing the drill who is on all fours on the mat. The partner will gently but firmly force the neck of the person doing the exercise in different directions. The drill partner will resist the movement. Eight repetitions should be completed.
- Head Between Legs – The drill partner begins on his hands and knees with his head positioned between his partner's legs. The drill partner lifts the other off the mat eight times. This is one of the best wrestling drills to strengthen the back of your legs.
- Pull-ups – One partner lies flat on his back while the other straddles him. Each person grasps the wrists of the other and the drill partner pulls himself up. This is an excellent drill for strengthening your grip. Each person should do 20 repetitions.
- Handstand Push-ups – One partner performing the drill gets into a handstand position while the other partner holds his feet. From this position, the drill partner does 10 pushups.
- Body Lifts – One partner stands behind the other with his arms wrapped around and hands clasped together. The drill partner lifts the other partner from side to side to practice proper lifting and develop strength. 10 lifts should be performed.
- Buddy Squats – One partner is in piggyback position on the drill partner who performs 15 deep squats to strengthen the legs.
- Piggyback Carry – The drill partner carries the other around for a designated amount of time or distance.