Preseason Strength and Conditioning Tips

There’s an old saying in sports: many championships are won in the preseason. But without proper supervision and guidance, preseason workouts can quickly develop into bad habits that prevent—rather than foster—success.

Technique matters in the weight room as much as on the mat

Learning proper technique is essential for any wrestler. The same goes true for strength training and lifting weights. Right now, in preseason, is when youth wrestlers need to understand the right (and wrong) ways to prepare their bodies for the season of competition ahead.

"Proper technique will allow you to accomplish consistent progress and avoid injury," says Mike Favre, Director of Olympic Sports Strength and Conditioning at the University of Michigan. He says a successful preseason training program should involve a combination of strength, conditioning, and circuit training exercises to build power, speed and endurance.   

Danny Struck, a certified strength and conditioning coach who is also the head wrestling coach at Indiana's Jeffersonville High School, agrees. "Weightlifting doesn’t hurt kids, weightlifting wrong does," he says. Preseason workouts should be focused on about becoming a better athlete, so your exercises should compliment that, he explains. Wrestling requires balance, strength, flexibility and agility, he notes, so “preseason training should involve more than lifting weights.”

Match the training to the athlete

When designing a training program, coaches and parents need to remember that each young athlete’s physical make-up is different. Brandon Siakel, a Strength and Conditioning Coach at the United States Olympic Committee who works with USA Wrestling national team members, explains that a combination of body height, muscle length, torso length, fiber-type distribution and hip width can all effect an athlete’s ability to perform certain drills, exercises, lifts and movements. So a preseason training plan, supervised by a certified trainer, should take all these factors into account.

Still, Siakel says all age groups should include some body-weight exercises like push-ups, pull-ups, squats (using body weight only) and planks. Younger athletes who are inexperienced with strength training should concentrate on controlled, higher repetition and lower intensity exercises that do not directly load the spine or exert high impact forces on joints, he adds. That’s why machine-based, controlled medicine ball and body weight exercises would be safe and effective elements for younger athletes or athletes with minimal training experience..

"Each athlete at every age level will require an individualized approach," says Favre. "Not every person matures, physically and mentally, at the same rate.  All athletes should consult their wrestling coach, doctor and a qualified strength and conditioning professional before beginning a resistance training program."

You get out of it what you put into it

Without a match looming on the schedule, preseason can sometimes make for a difficult time to stay focused on strength or conditioning program. But coaches can overcome this and motivate wrestlers to participate in preseason training by creating competitions.

"Elite wrestlers will always be excited to work out, but for most teams include a lot of average Joe’s," Struck notes.“Understand when and where you can get the most out of each of them.” There are plenty of routines out there that are great for pre-season strength and conditioning. Focus on footwork, gymnastics, plyometrics, weightlifting, games, wrestling positioning drills, and stretching. "Keep things short, keep things fun, and keep things intense and you won't go wrong."

Preseason strength and conditioning training tips
(from Danny Struck, wrestling coach and certified strength and conditioning coach)

Always use a timer: "People mistakenly think they need two-hour lifting sessions," says Struck. "You will be amazed at how much you canget done in a short amount of time with a timer. Example: Pick an exercise and do five sets—one set for every two minutes, for 10 minutes.

Six-minute routines: High school matches are six minutes, so creating six-minute routines prepares wrestlers mentally and physically. Create competitions and see who can complete the most exercises in that six-minute period.

Incorporate gymnastics-style exercises: Try these individual exercises: Forward roll, backward roll, forward to backward roll, backward roll handstand, handstand walk, handstand hold, cartwheel, round off, front handspring, back hand springs. Then, combine them into a series to make a more challenging workout: Example: forward roll, cartwheel, round off, and back handspring all in a row.

Jump rope: Create routines—normal, run through, backwards, right foot only, left foot only, crisscross; or simple jump rope for 10 straight minutes.

Plyometrics: These are as important and maybe more important than lifting weights, says Struck. "This is where you take the energy from something and explode with it," he says. Example: Step off a box right down into a butt-to-floor squat and then explode up into a jump. This simulates the same sort of idea as an opponent rushing you and you throwing him or her. You can do most of these plyometrics as body weight exercises, but medicine balls are also a great tool to add more resistance here.

Wrestling drills: This type of preseason work should focus on positioning and technique only.

Running: Keep all runs under 10 minutes. "The kids didn’t come out for cross country, they came out for wrestling," Struck notes. "But running is something every athlete should be able to do." Focus on 10-minute routines, or timed miles (which can be completed under 10 minutes).

Games: Search for wrestling games, says Struck. Play one a week. Other non-wrestling ideas include playing water polo in a pool, dodgeball, and even basketball.

Stretch: Do not stretch to warmup, says Struck, stretch when finished to create flexibility.

Sample preseason workouts

A Day Workout

Footwork (10 minutes) – Dot drills/Ladder

Lifting (35 minutes)

10 minutes – sets of 3 Snatch – a set every two minutes

10 minutes – sets of 3 Squat – a set every two minutes

As fast as possible: 
6 minutes: 10 pushups, 10 sit ups, 10 air squats

6 minutes: 10 overhead squat, to back extensions on floor, 10 stiff leg deadlift (touch knuckles to toes)

10 minutes: Plyometrics

10 minutes: Running

Cool down and stretch

B Day Workout

10 minutes – Box Jumps/Wrestling footwork

10 minutes – sets of 3 Bench – a set every two minutes

10 minutes – sets of 3 Deadlift – a set every two minutes

As fast as possible: 
6 minutes: 10 inverted rows, 10 military press, 10 V-ups

6 minutes: 10 curl and press, 10 bench hop over, 10 dips

10 minutes: Gymnastics

10 minutes: Wrestling drills

Cool down and stretch

C Day Workout

10 minutes: Footwork

35 minutes: “Strongman”

- tire flips

- car push

- sled push/pull

- sledgehammer swings

- small tire toss

- farmers walks

- rock toss

- tug of war

- wheelbarrow race

20 minutes: Game

Cool down and stretch