One of my favorites sports is wrestling. I wrestled most of my life and really loved the sport. Wrestling actually led me to Olympic weightlifting, which is the sport I participate in today. I'm still very active in the sport of wrestling. As an employee at Garage Strength we train wrestlers, and last summer I worked with a high school wrestling team as a strength trainer. It wasn't till this point that I learned that the majority of wrestlers do not Olympic weightlifting. At first, I couldn't understand why. To me, it is the best way to get strong in every aspect of the word, But, I guess I need to explain how it directly relates.
How Olympic Weightlifting Directly Correlates to Wrestling
First off olympic lifting is hands down the best way to develop strength and explosiveness. The snatch is great for balance, strength, and explosiveness. It can directly correlate to a gut wrench or even a shot while wrestling on your feet. It teaches you how to develop power output in non traditional strength situations. No exercise will help with finishing shots or big throws like a snatch will. This is why weightlifters can typically jump very high and long. The force they developed over the course of olympic lifting allows them to be super explosive, which will also transfer over to a wrestler. A snatch is also good for mobility. A lot of wrestling is scrambles and on the fly situations. Being mobile and strong at the same time is important for winning those scrambles. To perform a snatch at a high level, a great amount of technique is involved. This technique will then transfer over to the mat and overall make you a better wrestler. Just like weightlifting, Wrestling is a very technical sport.
The clean is another movement that is essential to wrestling and developing good mat strength. The clean is a heavy front load which creates gut and back strength that can be used for wrestling. It also allows you to get deep in the whole and create force to drive out. This is similar to hitting a quick stand up on bottom or finishing a single or double leg takedown. The clean can also help with mobility just like a snatch.
Again, Wrestling is a lot of special strength and scrambles that is very hard to train for. Once you develop good force development and mobility from olympic lifting your body will be ready for anything wrestling throws at it. Just Ask 2 time world bronze medalist Nick Gwiazdowski how he trains!
Stop doing the “normal” wrestling workout and get on a Garage Strength wrestling program to really develop your skills! Click right here: https://shopgaragestrength.com/products/wrestling