Monday, October 12, 2015

A Taste Of Old School Pro Wrestling Conditioning

Back in the day before WWE was the major king of wrestling promotions, you had territories spanned across the country in practically every state plus some around the world like in Mexico, Japan, Europe, Puerto Rico, Hawaii and parts of Africa & Asia all had rosters filled with wrestlers. You had promoters, bookers, ring generals and of course a champion of that promotion even though the NWA of the time was considered the company where you had one world champion. Behind every wrestler that comes in, there is someone who trained them before promotions came calling.

When it comes down to it, forget the aesthetics, the high flying stuff and the brawling; if you don't have the strength & stamina to stay with the other guys you're working with you have no business being in the ring. Some champions took on hour long Broadways that kept people on the edge of their seats and today it's somewhat of a lost art. Can you imagine the conditioning it takes to go hard night after night let alone any good match for 10-20-30 minutes or more. When it comes down to guys who can go hard for nearly any time in the ring and still have reserves are guys like Lou Thesz, Brisco Brothers, Ric Flair, Ted Dibease, Ricky Steamboat, Harley Race, Bruno Sammartino, Karl Gotch, Billy Robinson and a few others including Kurt Angle & Bret Hart. Some trainers rely on getting his students in the best shape possible just to be able to handle himself in the ring whether it's taking bumps, high spots, chain wrestling or whatever the case may be so they put them through workouts that would make most men even at a world class level cringe.

The point I want to make here is if you want to be in awesome shape, it's going to take more than a few rinky-dink exercises that will have you look like a greek god and trust me if you can't back up your training by only looking good you have no business telling people how to train. It's going to take you going beyond certain limits and really take on a mentality most would call "insanely dangerous."Conditioning ideals when it comes to pro wrestling is bonified circuit training that has you repping totals in the triple digits of an exercise. Most people would be considered crazy doing this but as Karl Gotch use to say "Conditioning is your best hold" imagine the type of energy you can use in the sport you're playing or having insane endurance and strength in your workouts. When it comes to circuits I call on Darebee.

Some of these circuits based on their theme and set of levels you can achieve it makes me think of what Pro Wrestlers would go through in order to achieve that green light for the promoter or trainer to say "yeah he's ready." Like some of the Superhero type circuits such as Batcave, Justice Served, Ivy, Loki and even Black Widow will have you doing up to 10 sets of 1 circuit which for example would be something like from the Strength Of Asgard Thor Workout: 200 Squats, 200 Lunges, 400 Side To Side Chops, 200 Climber Taps, 100 Push-ups, 200 Shoulder Taps, 200 Sit-ups, 200 Seated Twists & 200 Get-Ups; that's nearly as close to a Pro Wrestler's Conditioning Workout you will get. Talk about being crazy fit, you will look awesome too but your conditioning can be right up there with some World-Class people. Even if you have no ambitions to be a wrestler or athlete you can still progress up some serious fitness and outlast your friends or even your gym buddies. It's up to you but think about it and progress at your own pace. No one will be able to do these at first and Level 1 might be very difficult to achieve at first, take your time.

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