10 Ways to Train in the Summer

For many youth and high school wrestlers, there is no offseason and the summer is full of wrestling practice, training and events. Others, however, may not have an opportunity to get into the wrestling room and work on their skills.

So what are some things any wrestler can do to train and develop? We look at 10 training strategies that anyone can implement during the hot summer months:

1. Get creative: Can’t make it to the wrestling room? While hitting the weights and running are always important, there are numerous other ways to take advantage of the outdoors and get a workout in.

“You can get a workout in every day if you get creative,” says Dom Duncan, Kids Director for Washington USA Wrestling and the head boys and girls wrestling coach at Hanford High School in Richland, WA. “Make it fun. Get some friends together and play a game of ultimate Frisbee or soccer at a local park. Play dodgeball. Many places now have trampoline parks. Go down with some friends and bounce for an hour.”

Duncan continued: “These are all low impact and fun and can be done with friends in a non-wrestling environment so your summer isn’t all about wrestling. Yes, summer wrestling is important, but so is having fun between those practices.”

Other ideas: Head to the skateboard park and shred. Play some pickup basketball, tennis, or pickleball, ride a bike, hike, rock climb, play footgolf, go swimming. Take advantage of what your local area offers.

2. Play another sport: This spring, Duncan’s son played baseball for the first time. He loved every minute of it.

“It was a change of pace for him from the grind of wrestling season, and it gave him that team atmosphere,” Duncan says. His son also made some new friends and teammates to hang out with.

Coaches love multi-sport athletes, so try a different or new sport if possible.

3. Attend a wrestling camp: Wrestling camps are great for developing individual skills, but there are other benefits. Duncan recommends coaches pick a team camp that isn’t all about wrestling.

His high school team participates in a team camp that has three sessions of wrestling, two sessions of recreation time, and one session of team bonding every day.

“The team loves it and it is a perfect mix of what the kids want and what they need for team building and bonding,” Duncan says.

At the same time, wrestling camp is a great opportunity for individuals to develop. Attending a skill-specific camp that addresses a wrestler’s deficiencies is what Tanner Sewell, president and founder of the Northern Virginia Wrestling Club (NOVA) and Head Wrestling Coach at Fairfax High School (Fairfax, VA) calls purposeful development.

“Identify your Achilles heel and attend a skill-specific camp that develops that skill,” Sewell says. “Target your development so you don’t waste your time learning generic technique you’ll never use.”

For example, if you can’t defend legs, attend a leg riding camp. Even if you don’t ride legs, you’ll at least know how to defend them.

4. Set a personal development milestone: Summer is a great time to identify and cultivate a personal development milestone, Sewell says. He encourages his wrestlers to identify one area where they can improve as a person and utilize a resource to improve in that area. For example, one personal development milestone Sewell’s wrestlers are focusing on this summer is applying the “no complaining rule” to their daily lives, following the lead of the Jon Gordon book, “The No Complaining Rule: Positive Ways to Deal with Negativity.” Sewell’s wrestlers are using practical tools to turn complaints into solutions, shifting their perspective from “having to” to “getting to” and identifying things to do instead of complaining. For example, praising others, focusing on successes, meditation and controlling what you can control.

“This growth will 100 percent translate to success on the mat,” Sewell says.

5. Volunteer: Get some teammates together and offer to do yard work, cleanup, pull weeds, or mow the lawn of someone in your community, such as the elderly. Paint a house or fence. Help move heavy items. There are several individuals that could use help in every community. This is a great team building opportunity, it keeps wrestlers active, and it also helps the community. Wear wrestling shirts promoting your team to help let others know it’s the wrestling team or club out doing the work. Your team may also gain some new fans. To find volunteer opportunities, reach out to local nonprofit or service organizations for ideas. Or, organize a group and simply get out in the community and ask what work can be done. If your community has an annual summer celebration, find out how the team can volunteer or get involved. This will also continue to showcase wrestling in the community.

6. Participate in marital arts training: Want to improve hand-fighting? Want to work on agility, footwork, and balance? Find a local martial arts club and train in judo, Jujutsu, Karate, Taekwondo, or other forms of martial arts. Or, consider boxing or kickboxing if available. Many local martial arts clubs offer free introductory sessions. These are great supplemental training opportunities that not only develop athletic skills, but improve discipline and mental focus.

7. Train freestyle/Greco-Roman: While the majority of these summer training tips are on non-wrestling specific training ideas, it’s no secret the summer is a great time to focus on freestyle or Greco-Roman wrestling. This can continue to develop folkstyle skills and help develop a complete wrestler. Many find they enjoy freestyle or Greco-Roman more than folkstyle, so competing in some tournaments is a good way to put what’s learned in training into action. Practicing a new style can also be a fun way to enjoy the sport and develop.

8. Do yoga or gymnastics: Want to gain flexibility, develop coordination, footwork, strength and endurance? Then participate in some yoga classes or watch some yoga videos and follow along. Finding an outdoor space to do yoga can be both physically and mentally invigorating. Finding a place to train in gymnastics may be more difficult, so if you do get to the wrestling room, ask coaches to do some gymnastics-centric workouts. If there is a local community or club program, see what options are available.

9. Crosstrain: Many wrestlers use the summer months to prepare for the fall high school sports season. They may weight train for football, or focus on agility and endurance for soccer or cross country (fall sports vary for each state around the country). When incorporating this training, realize that this is also helping development as a wrestler. The main benefit is that working other muscle groups and/or using different body parts for different sports actually gives the body a break from wrestling. This can help prevent sport-specific injury and burnout.

If you are not in a fall sport or are a youth wrestler not yet in high school, get some buddies or teammates—ask other neighborhood kids to join you, not just wrestlers—and create challenge events. For example, go to the high school track and run a 100-meter dash or 400-meter run. Organize a team and run a relay. Keep score and see who improves over the summer. Go to the football field or local park and do some shuttle runs or 40-yard dashes. Run a series of hills and time each other. This will keep the competitive spirit alive and provide some great overall training. Plus, you may have so much fun you can convince that neighborhood kid to join wrestling next year.

10. Take time off: It’s summer. Be a kid. Go to the lake or cabin with the family. Head to the amusement park. Go to the beach. Read a book. Go to games and support siblings in their sports. Have a team sleepover and watch videos of top USA Wrestlers. Play video games (in moderation!). Enjoy the outdoors and time of year. Because before you know it, wrestling season will be back. Rest and avoiding burnout are important too, and taking a break can be the remedy many wrestlers need.

The summer is a perfect time to step out of your comfort zone and try new things. What do you like to do in the summer to keep wrestling fun or incorporate additional/unique summer training opportunities?

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