How many wrestling programs implement weight lifting? If you do how does it benifit your program and when do you lift? If you dont, do you think it would benifit your program.I personally believe it helps in all ways, I had my team lift 2-3 days a week and they were alot stronger.

I would have to agree with you 100%. Especially if they are on the BFS program or one similar to that. I am trying to implement lifting at the school where i am, it is going to be a long up hill battle.

We always said BFS stood for Bigger Fatter Slower. Boyd Eply's (sp) program was very effective.

BFS is a program designed to put weight and mass on kids, in my honest opinion. I do not agree that it means slower. I do not think that it is a great wrestling program. Many facets of any program can be adapted to help wrestlers. I think that the most important lift that a wrestler could do would be a hang clean. Lat pulls and rows would be second on my priority if I were beginning a program specifically for wrestling. I always want to laugh when a coach will brag in a seeding meeting how much his kid can bench. I remember a Brad McBee quote from a few years back....."Hell, if you'll start your kid on his back, I'll give you the one seed". As it turned out, Mr Bench Press never got out of the quarters. Wrestler lifts, in no particular order: Cleans, seated lat pulls and rows, lower back, curls, tricep extensions, squats. grip, neck. If your kids are not enrolled in a weight class, they are not all that serious about being an athlete. If your school does not offer a weight class, they are not a place that you need to stay.

If your kids are not in the weight room, they are not close to fulfilling their potential. Having said that, it's kind of cool when a skinny kid whips up on the guys that look great in a uniform. Too many average kids think that wrestling is all about muscle.

Yes I agree with you all but how do you feel about a head coach who refuses to implement weight in his program? States it takes too much time! Instead of lifting this particular coach would rather see his assistants have the wrestlers running 45 min out of the practice. I used the weight room 2-3 times a week when I was the head coach and I personally noticed the difference. Weights are not everything but I think it could make the difference between a Champion and 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th.

I agree with what shelstin said about the bench press thing, I think chest strength is third or fourth on the list behind legs, back and arms. But I was just like all the other kids growing up the first question that always gets asked is "how much do you bench". It may come in handy but only if your on your back!

Over the last couple of years in the wrestling forums I have seen the comment about the bench press only being an effective for a wrestler if the wrestler is on his back. I do not believe it is completely true. I have never heard a football coach discredit the value of the bench press by saying the only thing it is good for is to throw off you the tackler who just slammed you to your back. Football coaches seem to place value in the bench press exercise.

In a strength training book that I have it lists these as the muscles strengthened by the bench press: "Back of upper arm (triceps), front of shoulder (anterior deltoid), and chest (pectoralis group)area." If you use a narrow grip bench press technique the book states that the development emphasizes more the back of the upper arm and front shoulder area and to a lesser extent the chest area than a normal grip bench press.

I would think that strengthening these areas would help a wrestler on top in preventing escapes, securing back points and in applying pins. I am not saying it is the most important exercise for a wrestler and it might be overly emphasized by some football and wrestling coaches, but I do think it has its place in a strength program for a wrestler. Leg exercises and other upper body exercises done on your feet are probably more important for a wrestler.

In the book I referred to "Strength Training for Young Athletes" by William J. Kraemer, PhD and Steven J. Fleck, PhD, there are sport specific strength training programs given. Here are the wrestling programs in the order of exercise listed:

Off Season Program-Wrestling: Bench Press, back squat or leg press, dead lift, overhead press, seated row, knee curl, lat pull-down, elbow curl, abdominal exercise. Additional or replacement exercises-Front squat, calf raise, neck exercises. All these are recommended to be done in two to three sets of 10 to 12 repetition resistance. They recommend rest periods of 1.5 to 2 minutes per set but they do say that due to the high intensity of wrestling that the rest periods need to be gradually decreased from 1.5 minutes to 30 seconds during the course of your training cycle. Recommended exercises for advanced lifters are: Power clean or power snatch from floor, knee, or thigh level. Clean pull or snatch pull from floor, knee, or thigh level. They recommend that the advanced exercises should be done at the beginning of the training session with no more than five reps per set but using lighter weight (weight where you can perform the exercise 8 to 10 times at that weight).

The book also has a Preseason and In Season program for wrestling. The dumbbell bench press or dumbbell incline press is a recommended exercise in the preseason program and the regular bench press is included in their In Season program. A couple of years ago I saw Oklahoma State University wrestling team's strength training program in an article and I believe the bench press was included in the program. I will try to find that article.

I wasnt trying to imply that its a total waste of time, only that bench press strength is over emphasized and to many kids go straight to the bench every workout and neglect the most important functional wrestling muscles. Most kids can tell ya how much they can bench for a set of ten but ask them about cleans, squat, or deadlifts and you'll get a blank look.

I don't disagree with you that the bench press is often overemphasized by both coaches and athletes. I do not even think it has to be performed every strength training session but I do think it has a key place in a wrestler's off-season, pre-season and in-season training. I also disagree with the thought that the only value to a wrestler of the bench press is when the wrestler is on his back and trying to escape back points or a pin. I definitely agree with you that you need to emphasize other exercises and other areas of your overall body development at least as much if not more than the bench press.

I know a strength training coach who prefers performing the bench press with dumbbells instead of the barbell bench press. He likes the fuller range of motion that the dumbbell exercise provides. He also likes to use the dumbbells for other exercises like the military press, curls, etc. for the same reason. On many strength training exercises that are done on your feet, he instructs his athletes to raise on their toes as they are performing the lift since he believes that helps their coordination.

The bench press is something that should be included in any weight program. It has some value in most athletic movement. The incline bench press is much more indicative of angles used in sports of any type.

Dumbbell training is nothing new, and neither is standing vs. sitting while lifting. Nebraska is recognized as one of the leaders in this area, and it was their belief several years ago that standing for lifts is more beneficial than sitting for several reasons. It is more beneficial to the core of the body (abs and lower back). Also, they believed that belts should only be used when maxing or doing very heavy lifts. Squatting with a belt during a relatively light weight-high rep workout was discouraged for the same reason.

Light weights - max reps - good for conditioning

I have the luxury (in my opinion) of having a great weight progam at SHS and a great strength coach.We do BFS and I see nothing but positives in it. All of my kids are strong, even the little guys. In college programs around the country they lift weights but modify the workouts. Heavy in off season, circut training/ploymetrics in season.
At Sabetha most athletes are in a GPC(general physical conditioning)class, it is an elective class for anyone. It not only has weights but aerobic and anaerobic conditioning and I think this only helps my athletes, and I beleive the other coaches at SHS would agree with me!
Coach Brown

Hate to do a shameless plug here, but we adapted the programs we use from some information from Grapplers Gym, http://www.grapplersgym.com They send out regular routines, and tips which we have found to be productive. The good thing is that a lot of times some of the routines can be made at home and replicate wrestling work outs. Some old school stuff there but all very good. You could almost have a poor mans gym that gets the job done. One of the things I like about it is that it breaks the monotony and can actually be quite fun for those that do it.

Check out the web site, I am not getting anything for promoting it but it is a web site I have belonged to for several years now. Again, the link is http://www.grapplersgym.com

a couple thoughts... Back in the late 80s and early 90s we never lifted weights. Some lifted in the summer or off season but our practices were intended for tech. and conditioning. 11 straight team titles and on and off titles since tells the story. Even now adays, lifting is done in the off season - explain to me how lifting weights during the season is beneficial for that season as opposed to tech and conditioning? I think weight lifting as part of a practice schedule is a bad idea. just my thoughts...

I think lifting during the season is actually a good idea, but the emphasis, goals, and approach to it is definitely different than during the off season. For example, the off season is the time to lift to get strong and gain power and possibly size if that is one of the objective. A well planned lifting schedule of 3 times a week or so, maybe more depending if it is split routines or total body workout routines. During the season though is more to maintain what you have built during the off season. I would not recommend lifting more than 2 times a week during the season. In fact, 2 times should be plenty during the season, and some weeks depending on competition schedule once or maybe none during a particular week may be in order.

In my opinion, I think it is a good idea to not do any lifting at all when an athlete is within 10-14 days of the competition that they want to peak for whether it is the state championships, nationals, and in some cases the regional tournament in high school which is the week before states.