Circuit Training in the Wrestling Room

Working out all the major muscles while having fun and getting into shape

By Milt Sherman

Is your wrestling team going anywhere this season or is it just going around in circles? Believe it or not, it's sometimes possible to go around in circles and still go someplace. Circuit training is the answer.

The development of wrestling skill requires a lot of repetition. By midseason, the athletes may have most of their routines down pat, which will enable the coach to get a lot done. There is a danger, however. The constant drilling of predictable routines may bore the athletes and diminish the intensity level. That is why we introduce variations in our activities. They prevent staleness and stimulate the effort. For example, if we are competing on Tuesday and Friday nights, we may introduce different activities on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays. These activities will not only provide a break from the routine, but help the conditioning and skill teaching. We include both wrestling games (see the March 1998 issue of Scholastic Coach), simple contests (most pushups in a minute), and circuit training.

Why circuit training? Because, like wrestling itself, circuit training works out all the major muscle groups and offers a fun way to maintain a target heart rate to improve conditioning. Circuit training is also flexible. The variety of stations is limited only by the imagination of the coach. To avoid any standing around, the number of stations should at least match the number of participants. Coaches may repeat some of these stations or add others, such as live wrestling, shadow wrestling, shooting drills, up-downs, isometrics, and others.

The organization of circuit training in practice or in a physical education class should begin with an explanation of the activities for each station. Most stations such as jumping jacks or sit-ups, will be familiar to everyone; others may require demonstrations. Your coaching style will determine the procedures you use. You may prefer blowing a whistle or relying on your drill-sergeant voice.

Basically, the athletes have to understand that they are going to be expected to go at it hard until they are commanded to rotate to the next station. I prefer to start them on a whistle, stop them on a whistle, and remind them to rotate on a whistle, then whistle to let them get set and resume the activity. We typically go 12 to 15 seconds per station. We constantly reinforce the athletes during the exercise. Example: "Way to run, Joey!" We also make sure the captains motivate the troops by talking it up.

Yes, your athletes will be going around in circles while circuit training, but they will also have fun and improve their conditioning. This will keep your team going places during the season.

• Stations 1-3: Headstand, jumping jacks, and stretching.
• Stations 4-6: bridging, vertical jumps, and neck harness.
• Stations 7-9: squeezing hand grips, pull-ups, and chin-over-bar hang.
• Stations 10-12: pegboard, moving in stance, and jump rope.
• Stations 13-15: body twists, reverse-grip pull-ups, and wrist roller.
• Stations 16-18: another pegboard, sit and turn drill, and shooting takedowns at the post.
• Stations 19-20: more jumprope and throw dummy.
• Stations 21-23: shoot takedowns on the "Adam" machine, close-grip pull-ups, and handstand push-ups.
• Stations 24-26: sit-ups, pushups, and shuttle run.
  

Retired from D.H. Conley H.S. in Greenville, NC, Milt Sherman racked up 470 victories in a storied career. He is a member of both the East Carolina University Hall of Fame and the North Carolina chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame. He presently teaches at East Carolina University.