You Will GAS OUT If You Don't Follow THIS Wrestling Conditioning Guide
Summary
TLDRThis comprehensive guide dives into the conditioning secrets that differentiate elite wrestlers from their sub-elite counterparts, based on a 2011 study involving 92 wrestlers from five countries. It explores the importance of physical qualities, such as agility and power, for wrestling success. The video outlines conditioning strategies, including the balance between low and high intensity, aerobic and anaerobic training, and how these approaches evolve closer to competition. It also offers practical programming advice and considerations for wrestlers at all levels, aiming to enhance understanding and execution of effective conditioning plans tailored to wrestling's unique demands.
Takeaways
- πͺ Comparing elite to sub-elite wrestlers helps identify key physical qualities important for success in wrestling.
- ποΈ A 2011 study showed elite wrestlers exhibit greater upper and lower body average and peak power in Wingate tests across all weight classes.
- π¦ Elite wrestlers tend to have 3-5% greater fat-free mass, indicating a potential advantage in muscle mass.
- π¨ A meta-analysis encompassing 71 studies found aerobic capacity similar across combat sports, with wrestling requiring higher anaerobic power.
- πͺ Conditioning for wrestlers should include both low-intensity (aerobic) and high-intensity (anaerobic) training, tailored to their competition schedule.
- π΄ββοΈ Early conditioning focuses on low-intensity steady-state cardio and high-intensity sprints with full recovery, moving to more sport-specific high-intensity repeat efforts closer to competition.
- π Muscle fiber type and volume of wrestling practice are crucial considerations in conditioning, influencing recovery and training focus.
- πͺ Peripheral fatigue resistance is likely more critical for wrestling success than central (aerobic) adaptations.
- π Conditioning plans should start with minimal volume and gradually increase to avoid overtraining and ensure progress.
- ποΈ Understanding and targeting central vs. peripheral adaptations can guide the intensity and focus of conditioning work for wrestling.
Q & A
What was the main purpose of comparing elite wrestlers to sub-elite wrestlers in the 2011 study?
-The main purpose was to identify physical qualities that are more prominent in elite wrestlers, suggesting these qualities are important for success in wrestling.
What is a Wingate test and why is it used in wrestling conditioning research?
-A Wingate test is a 30-second all-out sprint on a bike or an arm crank, used to measure upper and lower average power and peak power, indicating an athlete's anaerobic capacity.
How did elite wrestlers differ from amateur wrestlers in the 2011 study?
-Elite wrestlers had greater upper and lower average power and peak power across all weight classes, potentially due to 3-5% greater fat-free mass.
What does VO2 Max indicate in the context of wrestling?
-VO2 Max, or aerobic capacity, is similar across combat sports like wrestling, karate, and boxing, indicating it's an important factor for wrestling success.
Why is anaerobic power important in wrestling, according to the meta-analysis?
-Anaerobic power is greater in wrestling than in judo, boxing, and karate, suggesting that the ability to perform high-intensity efforts is crucial for wrestling success.
What is the 'funnel system' in wrestling conditioning?
-The 'funnel system' is a conditioning strategy that starts with low intensity and high intensity work, and as competition approaches, focuses more on repeat high-intensity effort training.
How does peripheral fatigue potentially limit performance in combat sports?
-Research suggests that combat sports may be more limited by peripheral fatigue, or the muscle's ability to resist fatigue, than by central (cardiovascular) limitations.
What role does muscle fiber type play in a wrestler's conditioning program?
-Muscle fiber type influences recovery times after hard efforts, with fast-twitch athletes requiring longer recovery, affecting the structure of high-intensity training sessions.
How can aerobic capacity be assessed in wrestlers?
-Aerobic capacity can be assessed through maximal aerobic speed tests, which involve a time trial and calculating speed in meters per second, helping determine if an athlete has a sufficient aerobic base.
Why is it important to start with minimal volume in conditioning and gradually increase?
-Starting with minimal volume allows for progress without overtraining, ensuring the athlete has room to improve conditioning without risking injury or compromising technical training.
Outlines
π€ΌββοΈ Wrestling Conditioning: Elite vs. Sub-Elite Training Insights
This paragraph outlines the importance of conditioning in wrestling, focusing on a study comparing elite to sub-elite wrestlers. Elite wrestlers display greater power in tests, indicating conditioning's role in success. The discussion includes types of training (low vs. high intensity, aerobic vs. anaerobic) and how they relate to wrestling performance. The narrative emphasizes the significance of physical conditioning, using specific studies to highlight differences in agility, power, and experience between elite and sub-elite wrestlers. It suggests that a mix of aerobic capacity and anaerobic power is essential for wrestling success.
ποΈββοΈ Conditioning Techniques for Wrestlers: Building a Strong Foundation
This paragraph delves into specific conditioning strategies for wrestlers, explaining how to build aerobic capacity and anaerobic power effectively. It discusses the benefits of low-intensity steady-state cardio and high-intensity interval training (HIIT) in developing a wrestler's endurance and power. The narrative also covers the physiological aspects of conditioning, such as eccentric hypertrophy and the importance of capillary density in muscles. Additionally, it offers practical advice on structuring conditioning programs around the wrestling season, emphasizing the balance between high and low-intensity training to optimize performance.
π΄ββοΈ Advanced Conditioning Strategies: Tailoring High-Intensity Workouts
This section expands on more advanced conditioning methods, focusing on high-intensity repeat effort training. It explains how to gauge aerobic fitness levels and when to shift focus towards more intense, repeat effort training. Practical examples of workout sessions are provided, along with considerations for different athlete types (fast vs. slow twitch muscle fibers) and their recovery needs. The narrative stresses the importance of peripheral fatigue resistance and offers insights into structuring workouts to enhance muscle's fatigue resistance, critical for wrestling success.
π Understanding Energy Systems in Wrestling Conditioning
The final paragraph synthesizes the information on wrestling conditioning, emphasizing the interconnectedness of energy systems. It clarifies that training can't isolate one energy system from another, highlighting the importance of considering both central and peripheral adaptations. The section provides a pragmatic approach to conditioning, suggesting starting with minimal volume and gradually increasing. It concludes with a call to action for viewers to engage with the content, promising more insightful videos on wrestling conditioning.
Mindmap
Keywords
π‘Elite vs Sub-Elite Wrestlers
π‘Wingate Test
π‘Fat-Free Mass
π‘Aerobic vs Anaerobic Training
π‘VO2 Max
π‘High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT)
π‘Peripheral Fatigue
π‘Energy Systems
π‘Muscle Fiber Type
π‘Conditioning Plan
Highlights
Introduction to enhancing wrestling conditioning, comparing elite vs. sub-elite wrestlers.
The importance of physical qualities in elite athletes for success in sports.
2011 study comparing elite and amateur wrestlers' performance in Wingate tests.
Elite wrestlers exhibit greater upper and lower average power and peak power across all weight classes.
Elite wrestlers have 3 to 5% greater fat-free mass, indicating potentially higher muscle mass.
Meta-analysis of 71 studies shows V2 Max or aerobic capacity is crucial for wrestling success.
Anabolic power, measured by Wingate test, is higher in wrestling than in judo, boxing, and karate.
The necessity of a base level of aerobic fitness and high levels of explosive efforts in wrestling.
Conditioning plans for wrestlers, including considerations for life schedule and type of wrestling.
Introduction of the high-low system for conditioning, balancing low and high intensity work.
Details on low intensity conditioning targeting central adaptations for the heart.
Explanation of high intensity, alactic power training for explosive efforts.
Combining different intensities of conditioning as competition approaches.
Importance of muscle fiber type and recovery rates in conditioning plans.
Sample conditioning sessions and their guidelines for wrestling.
Encouragement to start with minimal volume in training and progressively increase.
Transcripts
this is going to be everything you need
to know to enhance your wrestling
conditioning I'm going to run through
Elite versus Sub Elite wrestlers what
really makes a high level wrestler in
terms of conditioning we're going to
cover some of the programming some of
the confusion around loow versus high
intensity or Zone 2 or aerobic training
and anerobic training we're going to
dive into all of that in this video so
you have a clear understanding of what
to do going for let's start with this
2011 study now why do we compare Elite
level competitors to their sub Elite or
amateur counterparts is because if a
physical quality is greater in the elite
sub or Elite cohort then that means that
physical quality is likely important to
success in that sport a really good
example of this is within the agility
research you see subite athletes are
typically as good or better they
changeing Direction speed but when you
add the sport specific stimulus to react
to the elite athletes or elite players
are far better than the sub counterparts
so we use the same analysis when we're
looking at at conditioning and in this
study 2011 study they had 92 wrestlers
from five different countries they
categorized them as Elite or amateur
Elite wrestlers had greater than six
years of experience and they had
competed in at least or three or more
Europeans or World Championships whereas
the amateur wrestlers were finalist at
National Championships so they had not
competed internationally and they put
them all through a winggate test so if
you're not familiar a winggate test is a
30second allout Sprint on a bike or if
it's doing upper body it's with an arm
crank they're brutal a lot of people
throw up after doing them just because
of how much it spikes lactate if you've
never done them before don't do it on an
empty stomach but essentially the elite
wrestlers in this study had greater
upper and lower average power and Peak
power during these tests and that was
over every single weight class so in
this instance it was light metal and
heavy and they put that down to
potentially the elite cohort had 3 to 5%
uh greater fat-free Mass so so fat free
mass is not muscle mass however it does
include muscle mass so you know it could
be genetic freaks that are wider broader
quite a quite bigger boned but often
that is down to a muscle mass thing when
you're having 3 to 5% greater fat-free
Mass so even though we're talking about
fat free mass or muscle mass and that's
G geared more towards the strength
training you can obviously watch my
strength training for wrestling video it
still brings us to conditioning
especially when we're talking about
average and Peak power on the B and the
arm crank so then we get into an even
larger study and this one was a meta
analysis they compiled 71 studies
2,124 wrestlers and they wanted to
answer the question what are the
physiological determinants that governs
wrestling success and what they found
was V2 Max orobic Capacity was similar
to karate ta window and boxing and they
conclude that you know a high aob
capacity is important for wrestling
success so having some kind of Base
there is important then we see see
anerobic Power so again from the
previous study anerobic power is
typically measured with The Windgate
test it's greater in wrestling than in
Judo boxing and karate and then we see
as conclusions from the other study
upper and lower anerobic power from that
wind G test as higher in Elite wresters
versus subite wrestlers so we can
conclude from what we see here you need
some kind of base level of aerobic
fitness or lower level conditioning and
then you need to be able to display high
levels of explosive efforts and
typically be able to repeat that within
wrestling matches to a greater extent
than you would Judo boxing or karate in
these instances but what does that mean
how does this all come together how does
a conditioning plan come together for a
wrestler again it's going to be a lot
depending on your life schedule often
wrestling especially here in the states
is done through colleges and high school
so they're in those programs already
there are seasons and everything there
but I'm going to take you through maybe
you are in submission wrestling
submission grappling where a lot of the
stuff still applies so we're going to
start with the general overview of how I
see it working then we'll dive into some
a few of the individual things that you
may need to consider when you're looking
at conditioning now if you're further
away from a season or maybe you're just
doing tournaments this is where you'll
essentially start on this end of a the
funnel course a funnel system or a high
low system so starts here and comes
together and I'll explain that now so
you have your low intensity work down
the bottom here and you have your higher
intensity work up the top the further
away you are from competition or fight
you typically want to sit your
conditioning at the very low end down
here and at the very high end and what
do I mean by high and low in these
instances so low intensity conditioning
will be your typical steady state cardio
or your long high-intensity intervals or
even in some cases some kind of tempo
training so it's work that targets
Central adaptations or adaptations at
the heart and the goal here is to build
enough volume of essentially the heart
chamber being filled with blood to
provide that stretch the adaptations
you're looking at at the heart are
called the Centric hypertrophy and it's
essentially making the heart chamber
bigger so it can pull more blood in
there whether this is a limiting factor
within Combat Sports debatable but again
aerobic capacity is important within
wrestling as per the research papers
there and having a base is important so
starting there you're targeting more
citations you are still getting
peripheral or muscular adaptations at
lower intensities ese especially within
capillary density so they still don't
know whether it's high or low intensity
that's really pushing that however
you're going to do both anyway so who
cares so you're going to do low city
state or long uh high intensity
intervals here up top here you can
consider that Sprint interval or alactic
power whatever you want to call it so
this is going to be your 6 to 10 second
maximal Sprints and you're going to have
full recovery and by full recovery we're
talking about 2 to 3 minutes plus and
it's typically like a 1 to six work to
rest ratio on a minimum typically you
want to go a little further than that
just because you want to be able to
recover fully between every effort so in
this instance you want to track uh
average power during those reps or have
some kind of metric that you're
measuring and you want to make sure you
don't see a huge drop off in your
Sprints so for example if you're on a
bike or a rower and you have 300 watts
average you don't want to drop typically
lower than 10% so if you get to rep five
and you hit 250 wats on average you know
that session is done you don't want
quality to suffer on these reps and it
should all be based around maximal
intent and maximal effort and that's how
you're going to start your conditioning
everything else in the middle here gets
taken care of during wrestling practice
however as you get closer to a
competition or a fight or tournament
whatever you're doing you're going to
kind of marry some of these things
together and it's going to be more
repeat h intensity effort base and
that's the ability to repeat high
intensity intervals so here we were
doing some lower intensity intervals or
steady state up here we were doing our
high intensity stuff with longer rest
now essentially we're going to do high
intensity work with less rest to put it
very simply and the goals here are we're
going to push more of these peripheral
adaptations within the muscle help them
resist fatigue as we're wrestling now
there's some great research from Andrew
Ash you should check out actually in
boxing but I believe it it gives some
insight into all Combat Sports as well
even the pcast with uh Ed Baker that is
on the sweet stif fighting podcast
YouTube channel he also talks about how
Combat Sports are likely more limited
from peripheral fatigue than it is from
centrally or from these aerobic
adaptations within the heart so
therefore doing things like this where
we can improve the muscle ability to
resist fatigue is likely important for
wring and how do these look these are
typically maximal or near maximal
Sprints typically on an off feed cardio
equipment and you're going to do these
from anywhere from 10 to 30 40 seconds
of work and you're going to rest a
similar time within that it's typically
almost a one to one work to rest once
you get down here however these will be
maximal their maximal efforts versus
something down here when you're doing
very low intensity efforts that's that's
essentially how the funnel system goes
now there important considerations to
make and that is you know how far out
you are from
competition muscle fiber type or whether
you're more predominantly fast twitch
explosives slower twitch Workhorse quote
unquote I think those are important
things to also remember in these certain
areas of your training especially when
we look at muscle fiber type you're
looking at slower twitch athletes
recovering faster after hard efforts
fast twitch athletes Take 5 plus hours
to recover if not longer so if you're
doing multiple high intensity sessions
you're going to dig yourself into a hole
and increase your risk of injury lower
the quality of your Technical Training
sessions Etc so that's something just to
be aware of whether you are a most
people are hybrid but whether you are
very slow to a very fast twitch resta
you likely have an idea just based on
your style um compared to some other
people as well some other factors to be
aware of is how much wrestling you're
actually doing because if you're doing a
lot of wrestling Technical Training a
lot of this low intensity work may
already be taken care of and adding more
volume on top of that may not be getting
you to where you want to go again I
touched on the idea that perhaps the
peripheral fatigue is what is the
limiting factor in most people I tend to
believe it is I think once you have that
little that base of aerobic conditioning
typically you're looking at I if we look
at if we extrapolate some of the
research if you know anything about
maximal aerobic speed which is
essentially doing a five or 6 Minute
time trial running cycling or rowing you
take that distance you divide it by the
time you did it in seconds and it will
give you a metus per second score and
typically anything above I think it's
4.5 to 4.8
m/s then you're typically good I see
I've tended to find that in most
athletes once you get into that 4.5 m/
second you're actually pretty okay
regarding aerobic or low intensity
development you're potentially better
off focusing more on the high intensity
repeat effort training doesn't mean you
completely discard what's happening down
here but it means you may put less
emphasis on what's Happening down there
and more on the high intensity work here
are just some example like sessions or
guidelines you can follow for some of
these I'm not going to give absolutely
everything that could be within that
funnel it's just going to get way too
confusing when you have so many options
so here are just four of those options
the ones that I talked about on the
funnel in the previous uh whiteboard
image but essentially the stady St
cardio very simple 30 minutes for
example at a slow and steady Pace
typically you should be able to nose
breathe throughout and you're looking at
if you're looking at heart rate anywh
from 120 to 150 be per minute I would
gear more towards on the lower end of
that um you can do these doing any kind
of modality but typically the
adaptations happen peripherally on the
muscles being worked so if you're just
sitting on the bike for those 30 minutes
then those adaptations peripherally
mainly happen in the legs where the
upper body doesn't get much and
especially in a spotlight wrestling you
probably want some of those upper body
adaptations so you know using a rower uh
or SK might be a better option in that
regard um you can even do solo drills
wrestling drills in these 30 minutes
that works really well uh can be
difficult to keep your heart rate down
when you're doing those however you can
even do a circuit of them you can do 5
minutes of solo drills jump on a off cut
equipment for 10 minutes come back to
solo drills Etc so there's lots of
variation you can do within that
typically works well more towards you
could say say quote unquote recovery
style workouts uh just because it is low
intensity facilitates blood flow Etc
however you will use these initially
just to develop uh some of that base uh
then you have long high-intensity
interval training so you could say
quotequote more specific to wrestling so
2 to 8 * 2 to 8 minutes and if you know
your maximal aerobic speed which I
explained previously 90% of that or even
95 um or you can just go by heart rate
80 to 95% of your max heart rate uh you
could do these with wrestling specific
drills too especially if you have a
partner uh you could just kind of do a
technique back and forth or 22 um or you
can do it on off feet cardio equipment
as well you could also do that solo
drills too cuz solo drills uh at least
Shadow wrestling you can get a
relatively high intensity of work um
compared to you know someone who's
shrimping down the m and Jiu-Jitsu so
that's definitely an option there as
well now why would you choose along high
intensity over steady state or typically
you're not choosing one over the other
you might be using both within a
training week uh especially
initially uh typically the CATE stuff is
lower intensity so you're not going to
have more of that fatigue running over
but you're going to get more of a
chronic stretch in the heart with that
blood pooling so if you're looking to
primarily Target those Central
adaptations yeah up here is where you
want to be down here if you want a
little bit more
intensity uh I guess you could say I
don't want to say more peripheral
adaptation but to typically that's what
we're seeing within the research but
yeah both are good options to use
initially then you're going to do on
your higher end your alectric power
explained this before 6 to 10 seconds 2
to 3 minutes rest until your power drops
off on whatever you're doing uh this
doesn't have a certain number of sets
prescribed to it it can do but it's much
better to go by once you lose that 10%
decrement in that average power that you
might be tracking doing whatever you're
doing that's when you stop your set uh
you can do these doing you can even do
these doing sprints I wouldn't advise it
for a non-running athlete like a
wrestler but it is something you can do
and then your Sprint intervals when we
getting more towards that repeat high
intensity efforts different to to repeat
Sprint ability which is often used in
the research there is a much more ququ
anerobic demand here uh versus just
sprinting so typically you see in the
research repeated Sprint ability you can
improve by improving a lot of the
aerobic Energy System through steady
state cardio but once you start adding
other things other than running it
becomes a little more tricky so you're
looking at 10 to 40 seconds 10 to 60
seconds rest is a pretty easy one to do
or one to one uh is a simple one there
as well you can go anywhere from 5 to 20
sets in this depending on overall
training load Etc I can't give exact uh
prescription on that cuz it just depends
but a good place to start is 10 cents
and you can kind of progress from there
or change it from there there and just a
quick note on Energy Systems we can do
some labels like Energy Systems uh they
often just labels so you you can't just
isolate Energy System you can't just do
pure aerobic training or pure anerobic
training everything works together
however sometimes you can just be easier
to label things as you know aerobic
Energy System training or alactic Energy
System training so just bear that in
mind that everything works together it's
better I think to think about it as
maybe we're targeting more Central
versus more peripheral adaptations um
and that's based on an intensity
Spectrum so intensity is the main driver
of the adaptations you're going to get
the volume will dictate how much of that
you're going to get and you want to
start with the minimum volume you can
and then build from there to make
progress that way you're not shooting
yourself in the foot coming out and
doing 20 plus sets of whatever it is or
starting with 2 hour runs for your
steady state cardio then you have no
room to move so hopefully that made your
wrestling conditioning a little clearer
please make sure to like And subscribe
and I'll bring you more videos just like
this
5.0 / 5 (0 votes)