Upper Body Strength Training for Wrestlers

Convincing a wrestler to do some lifting for their upper bodies a few times a week isn’t too difficult, especially if they are getting muscled around during matches. However, more often than not they fall into the same trap most people do- they don’t switch the exercises they’re performing every few weeks to prevent plateaus. Rotating your exercises every three to five weeks will help to ensure that your training doesn’t reach stagnation. With that, here are some upper body movements you may not have heard about before that you should consider working into your training.

Floor Press

The floor press is great because it takes the leg drive out of the bench and forces the lifter to be explosive from a dead stop. Lie on the floor and set up like you would for a normal bench press. Your legs can either be straight or bent at the knee with your feet flat on the floor; just make sure you don’t drive them into the ground hard enough to where your hips raise off the ground during the press. Bring the weight down like you would for a bench press until your triceps are completely resting on the ground. Hold that position for at least two seconds. Drive the weight back to the starting position without utilizing any leg drive. Static to dynamic (no motion to motion) exercises are great for wrestlers because they resemble stalemate situations in matches that are usually stopped by the official. Building static to dynamic strength by using exercises like the floor press improves your chance of scoring in those situations.

Towel Chinup

The chinup is one of the most common exercises performed in a wrestling room so I don’t think I need to go over too much here. Hang a towel over the chinup bar and get a strong grip around it. The thicker the towel, the more this exercise will challenge the grip. Using a thick rope in place of a towel here works just as well. I’ve also found using a Jiu-Jitsu Gi works very well as they can withstand a lot more punishment than a towel. Pull yourself up by squeezing your shoulder blades together as forcefully as possible in an effort to touch your elbows together behind your back. Keep pulling until your chin is above your hands. That’s the top of the chinup. Lower yourself back down to a straight arms position. I cannot stress this enough. Not only is it important to develop strength across the entire range of motion, but it also allows you to accurately record your workout progress. Going to a straight arms position at the bottom of the chin-up is done for the same reason as squatting to a box; it takes the guesswork out of each rep. If you can’t complete the set without cheating, simply make a note and try to get it next time. That’s the beauty of strength training, there’s always another opportunity to improve from the last lift and it’s something you should always be looking to do. Performing exercises incorrectly will not only keep you from getting the results you want, but also will put you at a greater risk for injury.

Board Press

Board pressing is simply a shortened range of motion bench press. It’s a great way to strengthen specific spots of a bench press where you may be weak and it’s also a great way to gain confidence with heavier weight. Building a board press is easy. Go to your local hardware store and pick out a nice long 2x6 or 2x8. Cut one piece to 24-30 inches and cut the rest to 12-inches. You can either wood screw the pieces together or use Velcro. Having an adjustable board press by using Velcro to attach the pieces will save you time and money because you won’t need to build multiple board press boards. The movement itself is exactly like a bench press. The only difference is that instead of touching the bar to your chest, you’ll touch the bar to the board. Board pressing also requires another workout partner to hold the boards while you bench. Having your spotter hold the boards is a recipe for disaster.

Fat Handled Chinup

This is exactly like a chinup, only with a different implement. You’ll need to go to your local hardware store to get some materials before you start. Get some thick PVC pipe, the thicker the PVC the more challenging it will be for your grip. Cut it into lengths that you can comfortably get your hands on. Get lengths of chain cut with enough room to hang the PVC pipe to a chinup bar or power rack. Put the chain through the PVC and around a chinup bar or power rack and attach both ends with a carabineer. Hang up two of these and you’re ready to start doing fat handled chinups. Execute the movement the same way as detailed above in the towel chinup section.

Dickie White is the founder of Got Dickie? one of the nation's top systems for training champion wrestlers. Dickie is a 2006 graduate of the Ithaca College Clinical Exercise Science program and holds a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS) through the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA). For more information on how you can improve your performance on the mat through his strength training system please visit http://www.gotdickie.com/.