The best preseason conditioning that any wrestler can do is wrestling.  To be great at anything you must train for that activity.  If you want to be good at bench press then you need to bench press.  If you want to be good at swimming then you must swim as much as [...]]]> by lowsingle:

The best preseason conditioning that any wrestler can do is wrestling.  To be great at anything you must train for that activity.  If you want to be good at bench press then you need to bench press.  If you want to be good at swimming then you must swim as much as possible.  To be a good wrestler you have to wrestle as much as possible.  Find a good partner to come wrestle with with during the preseaon.  Drill at 85-100% at least three days a week.  Running is good conditioning for any sport but you need to keep in mind that running long distance will prepare you to for moderate workouts at a steady pace.  Wrestling is an intense work out and the pace of the match changes frequently.  Sprints are the best cardio exercise for wrestlers.  Run 40′s 100′s or suicide sprints also try to do some jump rope, dots, or run stairs to help your footwork.  As far as weight training is concerned it all depends on what your goals are for the season.  If you want to stay at the weight you are at or if you plan on cutting hard this season you need to do sets of 10-12 reps for about 4 sets.  This will condition and strengthen your muscles without gaining a lot of weight from muscle mass.  If you plan on wrestling up a weight this year and you want to get stronger it would be better to lift heavier and do 3-4 sets of 7 or 8 hard reps.  By hard reps I mean your last rep of each set should be a killer.  Depending on how many days a week you are able to work out you should try to lift the most important muscles for wrestling.  Legs are a must, also back, traps, and biceps because they are all pull muscles that you use during wrestling.  Chest, tricpes and shoulders are all push muscles that should be worked out but are not as important in wrestling as they are in other sports such as football.

Lifting-
Chest: Bench Press, Incline Bench Press, Decline Bench Press, Flat Bench Flys

Arms:
Biceps:  Standing Dumbell Curls, Preacher Curls, Straight bar Curls, Isolation Curls, and 21′s
Triceps:  Dips, Tricep press downs, Kick backs, Skull crushers, and close grip bench press (or reverse grip)

Back:  PULL UPS, Bent over rows, Lat pull downs, seated rows, and deadlift
Legs:  Squats, Lunges, Leg press, Leg Curls, Calf Raises, Leg Press
Shoulders:  Upright Rows, Military Press, Front Raises
Traps:  Front Shrugs, Back Shrugs, Bent Flys

Nutrition-
Cutting or Maintaining Weight:
When lifting make sure you always eat enough protein in your daily diet.  Also make sure you eating plenty of carbs early in day but watch out in the afternoon.  Cut carbs as the day goes on so they don’t store as unwanted fat overnight.  Eat a lot of fresh fruits and vegetables.  Also eat white meat more than red meat, fish, chicken and turkey are all good sources of white meat.  Try to stay away from processed sugars in candy and soda.

Gaining Weight and Muscle:
High Protein and High Carb
Eat a lot of fresh fruits and vegetables.  Whey protein can be purchased online or at gnc and it isn’t very expensive.  Make sure you eat protein after your workout while your muscles are in a rebuilding state.

Remember the best way to get into wrestling shape is to wrestle.  Mat time is the best workout for any wrestler and finding a partner that will push you to be better is very important.  Any questions just pm me.