Thread: turn me into a grappling monster!!

well i dont know about wrestler specific workouts...but i will suggest running long and running hard

id think about doing a lot of squats and shoulder work.

3 minute rounds are a lot longer than most people think. . . but id do 80% cardio and 20% str.... kuz wrasslin is about 2 things, endurance and technique. strength helps a lot. but you gotta have those 2 things to win.

You'd think that isometric exercises would be the order of the day if you're into wrestling.

what is isometric
please no vocab, i want everythign in laymens terms.

should i just work pure endurance than??
mostly bodyweight like push ups, chins, jump squats?? i want intense workouts in the gym that'll make me a monster on the mat.
im gona try to keep lifting/grappling days separate but sometimes i may have to do on same day.

How many days/ hours are you training on the mat? What is you fitness like right now- what are you doing strength training wise now?

Just keep in mind that I don't know crap...

Here's a good primer on isometric exercise.

I just figured that a lot of what you do during real (non-WWE) wresting is holding the other guy still, so it makes sense to work on some isometric exercises in addition to strength.

neck, grip, and core strength are key to success on the mat. in addition to the primary lifts: bench, military press, close grip bench/dips, pullups, rowing, chinups, deads, and squats you might want to focus on neck exercises, shrugs, grip exercises, and additional core strengthening work. the tough part is trying to stay in your weight class while making strength and muscle gains.

rope climbs are excellent too

conditioning is what seperates two equally matched wrestlers. we used to lift weights (not everyday, even less during season), run 3-5 miles a day for aerobic fitness at the beginning of practice, practice, then end practice with lots of different sprints and drills for anaerobic fitness. the action in wrestling matches tend to come in intense spurts and you will find that you will quickly fatigue if you don't train anaerobically. all this is probably overtraining/overkill, but it definitely helped keep the weight off and will make you mentally tough!

maybe do something similar but tone it down a bit so you don't burn out. how often or what level you currently compete?

I used to have this split
chest/bis
back/tris
lower body
shoulders/traps

i had like 3x12 week 1
4x8 week2
5x5 week 3

and i did 2 hour bjj classes 5-7, monday, tuesday, wed
so mon, tues, wed 5-7 are my bjj days, andi can lift on thesame day too if necessary

so should i stick to the weights?? but what kind of split should I have???

2 upper bodies and 1 lower body day?? lifting 3 times a week.
i also want to have one day a week of just pure body weights

First of all this all depends on how many times your grappling a week

I grapple twice a week

You need to focus on Maintaining or gaining strength, and maintaining or gaining conditioning

See which you need more, are you getting outmuscled or are u just getting beat cardiovascularly? Prioritize your training.

Depending on what you need to prioritize, you would do that more often than the other variable(s)

So for example, if you needed strength + power this is what I'd do

2-3 days/ week full body, 1-2 days of conditioning. 2 strength days to start to get used to the fatigue. No bullshit isolation exercises, all full body stuff.

deads (conventional, snatch grip)
squats (back, front, front with KB's or DB's, Overhead with BB, KB, OR DB's)
snatches (barbell, DB, or KB)
Cleans (BB, DB, or KB)
swings (KB or DB)
Pullups (weighted, bw)
Dips (weighted, bw)
step ups
lunges
pushups and all variations, including 1 arms and all variations of 1 arm
pistols (single leg squats)
rows

THE SPLIT DOES NOT MATTER, THE VOLUME, INTENSITY, AND REST INTERVALS IS MUCH MORE IMPORTANT.

Don't waste time trying to "perfect" your routine, alot of people tend to go overboard with that. The important thing is that your increasing the variables that are prioritzed and maintaining the others

That is alot in of itself. Remember to have a proper warmup, cooldown and stretch, otherwise your gunna be tight and soar for grappling which is not fun.

Next is conditioning

Theres alot of stuff you can work on. General endurance, power endurance, bodyweight circuits, GPP, sprints. this is wear the training gets fun, tough, and interesting all at the same time. Start with SMALL circuits. Here are some examples, read that article.

http://www.strengthcats.com/ZEhard-c...ittraining.htm

I would start off with some swing conditioning to get used to fatigue. Then build from there. Dont over reach yourself. WHat do I mean by this? Do not go fucking nuts, i mean go fucking nuts, but do not push yourself unneccesarily. Remember you still have to grapple and chances are your gunna have a few days when your weight training AND grappling, keep that in mind.

And make sure your diet is in order, otherwise your going to get injured! Make sure to stay hydrated. 1 gallon of water at least per day. Eat a majority of your diet from complex carbs. You will be burning alot of calories. My diet is 30/50/20. Your metabolism will go thru the roof by eating a ton of calories and burning a ton, you will get much much leaner this way. No more bodybuilding bulk and cut diets, that is unhealthy. Good luck

Breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth when you perform a take down or even just trying to defend yourself from getting taken down. Its hard to beleive but trust me, proper breathing techniques will allow you to over power someone much larger and stronger than you. However, any of the strength training routines mentioned earlier are good to perform in the odd chance that your opponent does the same training, in which case you'll have to prevail because of your strength. Pull-ups and closed-fist pushups have always been personal favorites of mine.

Originally Posted by fUnc17

First of all this all depends on how many times your grappling a week

I grapple twice a week

You need to focus on Maintaining or gaining strength, and maintaining or gaining conditioning

See which you need more, are you getting outmuscled or are u just getting beat cardiovascularly? Prioritize your training.

Depending on what you need to prioritize, you would do that more often than the other variable(s)

So for example, if you needed strength + power this is what I'd do

2-3 days/ week full body, 1-2 days of conditioning. 2 strength days to start to get used to the fatigue. No bullshit isolation exercises, all full body stuff.

deads (conventional, snatch grip)
squats (back, front, front with KB's or DB's, Overhead with BB, KB, OR DB's)
snatches (barbell, DB, or KB)
Cleans (BB, DB, or KB)
swings (KB or DB)
Pullups (weighted, bw)
Dips (weighted, bw)
step ups
lunges
pushups and all variations, including 1 arms and all variations of 1 arm
pistols (single leg squats)
rows

THE SPLIT DOES NOT MATTER, THE VOLUME, INTENSITY, AND REST INTERVALS IS MUCH MORE IMPORTANT.

Don't waste time trying to "perfect" your routine, alot of people tend to go overboard with that. The important thing is that your increasing the variables that are prioritzed and maintaining the others

That is alot in of itself. Remember to have a proper warmup, cooldown and stretch, otherwise your gunna be tight and soar for grappling which is not fun.

Next is conditioning

Theres alot of stuff you can work on. General endurance, power endurance, bodyweight circuits, GPP, sprints. this is wear the training gets fun, tough, and interesting all at the same time. Start with SMALL circuits. Here are some examples, read that article.

http://www.strengthcats.com/ZEhard-c...ittraining.htm

I would start off with some swing conditioning to get used to fatigue. Then build from there. Dont over reach yourself. WHat do I mean by this? Do not go fucking nuts, i mean go fucking nuts, but do not push yourself unneccesarily. Remember you still have to grapple and chances are your gunna have a few days when your weight training AND grappling, keep that in mind.

And make sure your diet is in order, otherwise your going to get injured! Make sure to stay hydrated. 1 gallon of water at least per day. Eat a majority of your diet from complex carbs. You will be burning alot of calories. My diet is 30/50/20. Your metabolism will go thru the roof by eating a ton of calories and burning a ton, you will get much much leaner this way. No more bodybuilding bulk and cut diets, that is unhealthy. Good luck

hey man good adivce u gave me tehre
the article u told me to read, it gives me 4 circuits, should i do all 4 or just pick the ones i like?? and does one circuit count as one workout??

also I think strength is more important to me at this point. also most of the things we do in bjj class is for endurance. So outside of the mat, i would like to focus on strength.

i see step ups as one of the exercises u mentioned. I see that as more of an endurance exercise?? or did u mean to do that on a conditioning day?

and also the pushups are included in the conditioning days right??

also i didnt see any form of benching??

i was thinking maybe i do a circuit training session on the days i go to BJJ class??

func 17 whre u at dawg?

You can do conditioning on BJJ days. Step ups are not an endurance exercise, there are many variations if you get bored with them. (hold 2 DB's or KB's overhead, 1 overhead 1 at your side, 2 at your side, reverse step ups, and so on)

Benching you dont need to focus on, its a beach muscle exercise. You don't need it. Your pulling muscles are more important, you need to be picky with exercises because your gunna be doing ALOT of work in the course of the week. BJJ 3 days a week, conditioning, strength training, plus work and any other everyday activity. It all adds up.

Originally Posted by fUnc17

You can do conditioning on BJJ days. Step ups are not an endurance exercise, there are many variations if you get bored with them. (hold 2 DB's or KB's overhead, 1 overhead 1 at your side, 2 at your side, reverse step ups, and so on)

Benching you dont need to focus on, its a beach muscle exercise. You don't need it. Your pulling muscles are more important, you need to be picky with exercises because your gunna be doing ALOT of work in the course of the week. BJJ 3 days a week, conditioning, strength training, plus work and any other everyday activity. It all adds up.

ok so how does this look
monday/tuesday/wednesday
i will pick one of those circuit workouts on that website u gave me

thursday - rest
friday/sat OR sun (whichone is better??) - i will go lifting focusing on strength, also, should i do high sets x low reps?

Strength day 1
---------------
DB Snatches - 3x3, 5x5, 3x8, anything works with these just keep it reasonable

Deadlift - no more than 5 reps per set
Rows
Pullups (weighted)
Dips (weighted)

Strength day 2
---------------
DB cleans - same as the snatches, mix it up

squat - no more than 5 reps per set
Step ups
Bench - no more than 5 reps per set
Rows

Mon - Circuit day/BJJ
Tue - BJJ only
Wed - Circuit day/BJJ
Thurs - Strength full body
Fri - off
Sat - Strength full body
sun - off

Originally Posted by fUnc17

Strength day 1
---------------
DB Snatches - 3x3, 5x5, 3x8, anything works with these just keep it reasonable

Deadlift - no more than 5 reps per set
Rows
Pullups (weighted)
Dips (weighted)

Strength day 2
---------------
DB cleans - same as the snatches, mix it up

squat - no more than 5 reps per set
Step ups
Bench - no more than 5 reps per set
Rows

Mon - Circuit day/BJJ
Tue - BJJ only
Wed - Circuit day/BJJ
Thurs - Strength full body
Fri - off
Sat - Strength full body
sun - off

questions:
1. should db cleans be one handed too or 2 handed
2. weight dips and pull ups, how do i do that again? just hold dbs with my feet??
3. im guessing the ones without reps, i pick how many reps i want?
such as the rows,pull ups, and dips??
4. i can also incorporate some exercises in there right such as overhead squats, turkish get up, iron cross??

Originally Posted by dontsurfonmytur

questions:
1. should db cleans be one handed too or 2 handed
2. weight dips and pull ups, how do i do that again? just hold dbs with my feet??
3. im guessing the ones without reps, i pick how many reps i want?
such as the rows,pull ups, and dips??
4. i can also incorporate some exercises in there right such as overhead squats, turkish get up, iron cross??

db cleans are one handed

weighted dips and pullups, you can either hold a db with your feet or buy a weight belt, they are pretty cheap

as far as the reps/sets just go with something reasonable to start and build up, do not train to failure.

turkish get ups are one of the best things to do for BJJ, OH squats are cool as long as you have the flexibility to do them

Originally Posted by fUnc17

db cleans are one handed

weighted dips and pullups, you can either hold a db with your feet or buy a weight belt, they are pretty cheap

as far as the reps/sets just go with something reasonable to start and build up, do not train to failure.

turkish get ups are one of the best things to do for BJJ, OH squats are cool as long as you have the flexibility to do them

alright func
thanks for all ur help man. i will do what u said doing circuit training 2 times a week and strength days 2 times a week, and try to run a lot.

Originally Posted by yuppy

well i dont know about wrestler specific workouts...but i will suggest running long and running hard

id think about doing a lot of squats and shoulder work.

3 minute rounds are a lot longer than most people think. . . but id do 80% cardio and 20% str.... kuz wrasslin is about 2 things, endurance and technique. strength helps a lot. but you gotta have those 2 things to win.

yuppy.......how much experience do you have in actually grappling/wrestling?

you say to run long and hard, to train for a 3 minute round..... Endurance work would be handy in pre season for some conditioning, but this would work down to shorter, more specific, and higher intensity exercises closer to a season/big fight. You need to train for what you do. I wrestled a guy 8" shorter, and similar weight 2 days ago, football player, a powerful stronger nugget than me (6' 178lbs). He has far more fitness/running endurance than me. We had to keep stopping after 30sec bouts because he was shattered. I train in short hard intense bursts.

Strength will help a lot, both that explosive powerful strength, and isometric.

func17 sounds pretty good what youve said.

Originally Posted by slip

yuppy.......how much experience do you have in actually grappling/wrestling?

you say to run long and hard, to train for a 3 minute round..... Endurance work would be handy in pre season for some conditioning, but this would work down to shorter, more specific, and higher intensity exercises closer to a season/big fight. You need to train for what you do. I wrestled a guy 8" shorter, and similar weight 2 days ago, football player, a powerful stronger nugget than me (6' 178lbs). He has far more fitness/running endurance than me. We had to keep stopping after 30sec bouts because he was shattered. I train in short hard intense bursts.

Strength will help a lot, both that explosive powerful strength, and isometric.

func17 sounds pretty good what youve said.

so slip u agree with the 2 STR days func assigned me??? also any tips to become more explosive with my take downs??

also func i can find any vids of db cleans with one hand??
is one hand more benefical tahn two?

http://www.grapplearts.com/Kettlebell-MMA-Training.htm

Read that article, lots of good stuff for takedowns. the split snatches especially.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=zRJcU9lJxhw

thats a video of a clean and dumbell curl, just focus on what hes doing with the kettlbell, dont worry about the dumbell. and you cant do 2 handed dumbell cleans.

EDIT: It would also be a good idea to make a journal

func this was my workout today, only think i am confusing about is the setsxreps

one handed Db snatches 4x6
deadlifts 1x5 1x4 1x3 1x2
DB rows 4x6
pull ups 4x6/5
weighted dips 4x5

turkish get ups

how is that?

also isnt this 2 handed db cleans?

also should i do clean and presss? or just cleans?
http://media.crossfit.com/cf-video/db.wmv

deadlift type movements (to hold their weight and keep your stance), deep squat (for leg drive) movements, and row stregnth (to hold the leg/s after the shoot) will help with takedowns.

also, practice what you want to improve. if its takedowns, find some big bastard, and do repeated explosive takedowns with various levels of resistance. Also train against different heights. I had a lot of problems with defence against a short stocky opponnent of the same weight because Id never come up against anyone like that.

Originally Posted by dontsurfonmytur

also isnt this 2 handed db cleans?

also should i do clean and presss? or just cleans?
http://media.crossfit.com/cf-video/db.wmv

ohhh, 2 db clean, yea thats fine

Originally Posted by dontsurfonmytur

func this was my workout today, only think i am confusing about is the setsxreps

one handed Db snatches 4x6
deadlifts 1x5 1x4 1x3 1x2
DB rows 4x6
pull ups 4x6/5
weighted dips 4x5

turkish get ups

how is that?

looks fine, i suggest for pullups pick a number to achieve, say 25 and do as many sets necessary to get to it

ok so for rep wise i guess i have a sense of what to do

also this is going 2 be my new schedule, how does it look?

monday: ciruit training/bjj class
tuesday: bjj class
wed: circuit training/bjjc lass
thurs:STR day 1
fri:rest
sat:open mat
sun: STR day 2

?????????????????????