The sport of wrestling involves 2 main physical factors: speed and endurance. Speed at the start of a match is essential to set yourself up in an advantageous position, and quick, powerful moves are necessary for offensive and defensive moves. But your opponent’s speed and strength are a good match for your own, winning and losing comes down to sheer endurance.

Core, lower body, and upper body strength are all vital components of a wrestler’s training routine. Combining standard exercises like exercise ball crunches, squats, or lunges with weight and endurance components can build the lasting strength a wrestler needs to not only survive a match; but to come out on top. Adding some isometric exercises, like planks (for core endurance) with the occasional plyometric push ups and lower body exercises will result in a solid strength with the capacity for quick bursts of speed.

Drawing from some other exercise methods, such as yoga or pilates can help a wrestler build and execute strength and endurance in a variety of positions (rather than simply standing or sitting). These methods have the added benefit of increasing the flexibility necessary for a wrestler to perform successfully in matches.

Low repetition, higher weighted sets in the gym will increase overall strength and muscle mass. A wrestling strength training workout that has the athlete maxing out after 4-6 repetitions of each exercise is effective if the goal is to bulk up in order to compete in a higher weight class.

When weight maintenance, rather than increase, is the goal, a wrestling strength training routine should include exercises performed at higher number of repetitions (usually 8-10); with appropriate weights. As always, the final repetition in a set should be at or just prior to failure.

Cardiovascular exercise is also an important part of a wrestler’s training routine. Running, cycling, or any other regular cardio workout improves heart and lung function and capacity. This internal endurance is as important as outer, physical strength to a strong performance on the mats.

An effective wrestling strength training routine should combine speed, endurance, and full body strength with positional variation and flexibility training that simulate real-match situations. A successful wrestler will train to improve all of these aspects equally, and be able to combine them as necessary to dominate any match situation.

Whether you’re just beginning a strength training routine, or you’re a resistance training veteran with the biceps to prove it, there are probably going to be times when you just don’t feel so motivated to adhere to your program. Here are some strength training tips to help get you started and keep you going in your resistance training program.

Strength training Tips: Learn Something New

Though this might seem easiest if you’ve never set foot in a gym, there’s always something new to learn or try, even if you’ve been strength training for 20 years. Whether it’s learning to use a new piece of equipment, working with a trainer, or attending a group strength training class, there are a number of ways to change up your workout. Keeping your mind working and your muscles confused has the dual benefit of preventing strength gain plateaus and keeping you interested.

Strength Training Tips: Keep an Exercise Log

Whether your goal is to lose fat, gain muscle, increase endurance, or a combination of these, results are best evaluated in comparison to a starting point. Using an exercise log in the gym will help you keep track of increased weights or reps, and will remind you to change up your routine every couple of weeks. Your strength training regimen will be consistently challenging, and you won’t have to waste precious workout time trying to remember which dumbbell you curled last, and for how many reps. Furthermore, you’ll be able to look back at past weeks and months and get a good sense of the progress and gains you’re making. And that feels good.

Strength Training Tips: Work to Fatigue

You’ve probably heard it before, but to recap: our muscles grow (in strength and size) because we break them down through resistance training, and force them to rebuild stronger than they were. If your strength training routine isn’t challenging your muscles enough, you won’t see the gains you desire. So work to fatigue on every set. That last curl, press, or lunge should be difficult; testing the boundaries of your strength. If you feel like you can keep going even after you’ve done 6, 8, or 10 reps of an exercise, do it. And next time, up the weight a little. The goal of strength training, after all, is to get stronger, so don’t be alarmed when it happens. Just make sure your workout is keeping up.

Whether you’re brand new to resistance training, a seasoned gym rat, or somewhere in the middle, hopefully these strength training tips will give you some ideas on how to get stronger and stay motivated. Good luck!

We all know that our bodies need fuel to function. And most of us are at least vaguely aware that the type of foods we eat have a direct effect on how well we function. For example, eating a candy bar or drinking a large soda might give you a rush of energy: a “sugar high.” But with most highs comes an low, and sugar is no exception. Sugars are made up of simple carbohydrates that get quickly into the bloodstream. Unfortunately they’re just as quickly used up and your body is left needing something else. This is the crash that follows the rush.

Chances are that if your idea of a super food is a candy bar, your standard workout goes well for the first 10-15 minutes, but quickly loses steam as your body comes down from its sugar high. And it’s not only candy or other obvious sugars that have this effect. All simple carbohydrates (think white bread, crackers, white rice, etc.) have the same effect.

Especially when following a strength training regimen, we need to fuel our bodies with foods that will provide lasting energy. After all, we don’t just need to get through the day: we need to work hard for at least part of it. So for the 60% of your daily diet that should be made up of carbohydrates, choose multi-grain, whole grain, complex carbohydrate options.

They’ll break down and provide energy over a longer period of time, so having a whole grain snack 30-45 minutes before a strength training workout should result in lasting energy.

Another important consideration in a strength training diet is protein intake. The kind and quantity of protein we eat can help or hinder the way our bodies function before, during, and after a workout.

For a strength training diet, protein should make up about 20% of each day’s caloric intake. Dividing your daily protein allowance among 3-6 meals and snacks per day will provide your body consistently with the muscle-building fuel it needs. As in any healthy diet, lean proteins like fish, poultry, and legumes are wise choices.

Having a protein-rich snack soon (within an hour) after a strength training workout is a good way to supply your fatigued muscles with the fuel they need to rebuild. Peanut butter on crackers or a tuna sandwich are great refueling options after a hard workout.

The best strength training diet is one high in complex carbohydrates—to provide lasting energy before, during, and after your workout—and supplemented by lean proteins, consumed through the day. When your food gives your body the strength to work out hard, and the materials to rebuild itself afterward, you know you’re doing things right.