You have been eyeing up next season’s competition and have been noticing there are some big boys you will be coming up against. Now you want to know how to stack on the pounds and get yoked so you when next season rolls around you will be rag dolling your opponents. In this article we will show you how you can get big for wrestling.
How do you get big for wrestling? To get big for wrestling you have to eat big. The only way to get big is to eat more calories than you are burning. If you combine a calorie surplus diet made up of steak, chicken, fish, rice, fruit and vegetables with consistent wrestling and strength training you will get big.
If you eat a calorie surplus you will get big. Now how much of that extra weight you put on is fat vs muscle will be determined by the size of your calorie surplus, what foods you are using to achieve that calorie surplus, your genetics and your training routine.
Calorie Surplus
When you are first eating a calorie surplus you should start off slow. You should aim to eat a 250-500 daily calorie surplus. You can get a rough idea of what your calorie intake should be by plugging your stats into an online calorie calculator. These are not that accurate but they can give you a starting point. Once you start eating a calorie surplus track your weight and if you aren’t slowly increasing your weight then simply just add more calories. If you are gaining weigh too quickly then reduce your calories. Continue the process till you have gained your desired amount of weight.
Diet
If your diet is poor when attempting to gain weight a lot of your extra pounds will be water and fat as opposed to muscle. To maximize the lean muscle you gain during your bulk you need to eat high protein and healthy natural foods. You should aim to eat 1 gram of protein for every 1 pound of your body weight. For example if you weigh 150 pounds you should be hitting 150 grams of protein per day. Your diet should consist of red meat, chicken, fish, eggs, vegetables, rice, pasta and fruit. You stick with that diet and get in the right amount of protein you will blow up and get big.
Genetics
Your genetics will determine how much muscle you will put on when you attempt to bulk. Some people’s body can naturally build and maintain muscle easier than others. You will have seen these people they often don’t train or eat much but they still have a decent amount of size. Don’t worry if you don’t have amazing genetics all healthy teenagers and young men can put on a large amount of muscle through effective diet and training.
Training Routine
To maximize your muscle growth you need to train hard. Just training wrestling will still be enough for your muscles to grow. However, to maximize your muscle growth you need to lift weights. Your weight lifting training should focus on the big 3, bench, deadlift and squat. You should add different strength exercises to supplement those big 3. If you combine your wrestling training with strength training 3 times a week be prepared to buy some new t shirts because you are going to get big.
How Do You Get Stronger Legs For Wrestling?
Olympic Gold Medalist Kyle Snyder Shows You How To Get Stronger
How do you get stronger legs for wrestling? To get stronger legs for wrestling you need to practice stance in motion until you are as comfortable in stance as you are walking. You need to increase the amount of time you live wrestle and then you can also add leg specific weight training exercises such as squats, barbell jumps and lunges to your routine.
Wrestlers need strong legs. Wrestling places a large amount of stress on the legs particularly the quads. Just moving in stance can exhaust and fatigue your legs let alone going live and shooting, sprawling and re-attacking.
The best ways to get stronger legs for wrestling:
- Stance in motion – It may not be fun but it is effective, you should add 15-30mins of stance in motion to the end of each of your training sessions, do not do it half ass, visualize an opponent in front of you and pretend you are wrestling for the state final against them, constant movement for the whole period, move those feet, level change, shoot, sprawl, down block, re-attack, if you do this over and over again your legs will become like steel
- Live wrestling – To develop your legs for wrestling you need to practice exactly what your legs are going to be doing during a match, you should be live wrestling at every training session, as you can over train doing too much high intensity live wrestling you should mix in more play wrestling and positional live work at lower intensities, this will allow you to live wrestle for longer and more frequently allowing your legs to become stronger
- Leg focused strength training – Increasing the muscle mass of your legs will make them stronger, strength training is one of the most effective ways to make muscle grow and become stronger, If you want to develop your legs you should train them 1-2 times a week and focus on exercises such as squats, leg extensions, barbell jumps, lunges
Do You Have To Be Strong To Be A Wrestler?
Do you have to be strong to be a wrestler? Yes, you have to be strong to be a good wrestler. That doesn’t mean you need to have a 600 pound deadlift. It does mean you need to be strong enough to maintain good position and attack and finish takedowns for a whole match. This requires strong abs, back, legs, neck and arms.
How Can I Improve My Stamina For Wrestling?
Kyle Dake And David Taylor Play Wrestling
How can I improve my stamina for wrestling? To improve your stamina for wrestling you need to improve the efficiency of your technique (drill, drill, drill until your technique is perfect), your breathing method (don’t forget to breathe, breathe through your nose the whole match), and cardio (increase the amount of live wrestling you do, add in some hill sprints).
The best ways to improve your stamina for wrestling:
- Technical Efficiency – The better your technique is the easier it will be for your body to perform, for example if you are trying to pick your opponent up off a high crotch with your back and arms you are going to become exhausted, however if you have your hips in and use your legs it feel effortless, by improving your technique your stamina will shoot through the roof, the best way to improve your technique is to drill for hours and constantly fix any mistakes you are making, be sure to ask your coach to keep a close eye on your movements and get him to continually critique your form
- Breathing Technique – Your body needs oxygen to perform, wrestling requires a huge amount of oxygen, many wrestlers forget to breathe due to the high stress nature of the sport or breathe incorrectly, make sure you are taking big controlled nose breathes throughout your wrestling match, as you a performing an explosive move you can quickly breathe out of your nose like a boxer, these breathing tips will make a big difference to your stamina
- Cardio Training – If you want to wrestle effectively your body needs to be experienced in maintaining a high heart rate for prolonged periods of time, the best way to train your cardio for wrestling is live wrestling, as you can’t always wrestle hard in practice add hill sprints and 400m sprints to your training routine
How Do Wrestlers Get So Muscular?
How do wrestlers get so muscular? Wrestlers get so muscular due to the nature of the sport which places a lot of stress on the neck, back, legs and arms causing them to grow. Wrestlers supplement their training with strength exercises, leading to muscular development. Wrestlers also have low body fat percentages which makes them appear more muscular than they actually are.
Why Do Wrestlers Have Big Traps?
Why do wrestlers have big traps? Wrestlers have big traps because they are constantly preventing their opponents from pulling on their necks and snapping them to the ground. Maintaining this position forces your traps to grow. Wrestlers also supplement their wrestling training with weight lifting exercises such as deadlifting which causes big traps.
Wrestlers are constantly pulling on each others head often fast and violently in an attempt off balance their opponents to set up takedown attacks. To prevent being pulled out of position wrestlers will maintain a strong pose with their back’s straight and their heads looking slightly up. This pose engages the traps and makes it difficult for their opponent to move their neck. Maintaining this pose for hours and hours week after week and dealing with strong wrestlers constantly trying to grab your neck causes wrestlers’ traps to grow and become big.
To further grow their traps wrestlers will also regularly lift weights. Many wrestlers focus on weight lifting exercises which develop the back, neck and abs. These include deadlift, shrugs, 4 way neck exercises and farmer walks. All these exercises will causes you to develop muscular and big traps.
Conclusion
Being big and muscular is an important part of wrestling. The most effective way to get big for wrestling is to eat a moderate calorie surplus made up of high protein and healthy foods such as steak, chicken, eggs, vegetables and fruits. Then combine this diet with consistent wrestling and strength training. You do this and you are sure to stack on the size and be power doubling your opponents off the mat.