Different Conditioning Styles By Wrestlers

If anyone laid the foundation for wrestlers and how they condition themselves in the sport, it was arguably Wrestlers from the Middle East & India hands down. They taught the fundamentals of how to utilize the body to such a degree that stamina was inexhaustible, strength lasted for hours on end and being explosive was inevitable at any given time. They created what is still being used today just through certain variations.

The thing is, not every wrestler or coach uses the same exact exercises or even principles of their training to be successful in the sport. Some conditioned according to their size and what gave them the tools to be successful. Now in modern times when it comes to conditioning or even more specific, bodyweight conditioning, there were the three main forms of exercises that were the ground work; the pushups, the squats and the bridges. Those were the pinnacle aside from actual wrestling but there was more to them or in better terms, what other wrestlers and coaches took into consideration that honed the skills and the ideal training methods. 

Every culture since ancient times has their hand in wrestling in some form or another and formed their own ideas on how to condition the men to fight in order to be dominant in a tribe, kingdom or just a village for that matter. In Mongolia you didn't see wrestlers do Hindu Pushups or do Hindu Squats in order to condition, yet some of these were so powerful, it was unbelievable. There were cultures that if you look throughout history, probably didn't do a single supplemental exercise and just wrestled and were just as strong and dominant. Look up how Senegalese Wrestlers sometime and check out their methods.

In America, you had some of the best wrestlers in the world that came from everywhere and took their skills to places that just baffled onlookers. Some of the greatest in history utilized more of a weight training approach, some used a mixture of bodyweight and weights, bodyweight alone and some either ran or just wrestled in order to get in condition. The fact of the matter is, regardless of how you wrestled, you used basic exercises and often times compound movements to be successful. Once Karl Gotch came into the picture, his use of the Hindu Style became a requirement in most wrestling gyms since the 60's or even as far back as the 50's when he was being groomed but if you look at the ideals of conditioning the body for the sport, at least from an American point of view, the Hindu Style wasn't written up as much if at all.

Although many exercises can be traced back to the Hindu Style, you didn't see their version of the pushups & squats along with others in the old Physical Culture courses from the likes of Farmer Burns, George Hackenshmidt, Bernarr McFadden, Earle Liederman and others. At least two of these guys were very successful wrestlers in their time but you never saw the Hindu Style of conditioning. Also with that in mind, wrestling styles vary from culture to culture. Mongolia had more of a Greco-Roman/Judo type style, Senegal was grappling mixed with boxing or bare-knuckle type fighting, Hindus were a close relationship to our modern Amateur Wrestling and today's Catch Wrestling is utilized with Submissions and overall base of takedowns, suplexes and throws. Then you have styles from Turkey, Brazil, Japan and Russia that vary the rules of combat. 

Is the Hindu Style the very best? That all depends on the coach and what they're willing to teach students of the art. It certainly works in many aspects but if it was the very best, every wrestler since the dawn of man would do it but they don't. Today's aspect of conditioning for MMA still has its roots that trace back to India but with the concept of utilizing more explosive based conditioning than just stamina and strength based, there are countless ways to be a successful combat athlete or even a wrestler for that matter. The Hindu Style works without a doubt but there should be options to how we base our training according to the needs of the athlete. Look at the success of Dan Gable and the University Of Iowa, their style of conditioning wasn't like the Hindu Style but what did they produce? Some of the greatest wrestlers that went on to Olympic glory. 

Last thing, there are wrestlers out there that are so fanatical on conditioning they base their livelihood on it. I do believe the better condition you are, the higher chances of being successful but it's not always the supplemental stuff that will get you there, hell even Ed Strangler Lewis had said that wrestling was the best conditioner and despite the fact that he wasn't shredded or had the body of a Greek god, his stamina was the stuff of legends. The man in his prime just didn't know the meaning of the word "tired", he can go for hours and be practically just as efficient towards the end of a match as much as the beginning. 

You be the judge, what do you feel makes a successful wrestler?    

Mythology & Superhuman Strength

            No matter how you slice it, we've been fans of Mythology for as long as we can remember. We've read the comic books, we've watched the movies, we've practiced certain elements that are based on the gods and we've even trained to be like them but can we really? There are different heroes and villains in the world of Mythology basing on how much we've learned about them. It’s important to have these stories but one must be cautious because we never know what we might find.

            Gods, monsters, heroes, villains, superhuman powers; these things have stretched our imaginations for eons and we still are finding more things about them than we thought to believe. The god Zeus is one of the most prolific figures in Mythology because of not just his power of the thunder bolt but some look at him as a man of great stature and superhuman entities to do good on this world, others see him as a complete asshole for wanting to overthrow his brothers Poseidon & the dark lord of the underworld Hades and control mankind to do his bidding. It is important however to know that a god like that is very powerful and can learn to use his great strength for our own way of training.

            Another great Hero or mythical figure; Thor, he’s one of the strongest gods there is and he’s famous because of that great Hammer of his. When he strikes down the Frost Giants or marches into battle, his hammer is the equivalent to a samurai’s mighty sword. The weapon is apart of who he is, it symbolizes his power unlike anything else and with that power can either be great for saving the world or destroy it b the choices we make.

            How can we tie in these mythological figures into building a foundation for fitness today? Well let’s look back to how real warriors of ancient times trained; they didn't have machines like pulldowns or cardio machines to keep them fit or have barbells and dumbbells to strengthen their muscles so what the hell did they do? Depends on the type of warrior you’re looking at, some were swordsmen, some were archers, others were snipers when they shot arrowheads and even some had special weapons made for specific occasions or battles so they’re training consisted on the type of role they played in. When you look at archers, they have strong shoulders, a keen eye and a great sense of control of on pulling isometrics. That makes me think of Strand Pulling or today’s Lifeline Chest Expander, working the same muscles as an archer did just in a different format.

            If we truly want to put in training like god or a warrior of ancient times, we can’t just march into the gym or get a certain tool of weight or cable and expect to be super strong. Like anything else we progress to become better and stronger and fitter. Think of Hercules, the strongest god of all or should we say demi-god. He was already super strong and had superhuman qualities but at first he didn't understand how to use that strength, it made him awkward and his control was horrible. After learning to use his mind and putting in the effort to control what he was doing, over a period of time his strength helped him in the 12 labors he was assigned by the Greek goddess Hera if you read the stories and the tragic entities that go with this.

            We are inspired by powerful beings, whether they’re gods, extraordinary men and women or even a certain person of status whether an athlete or strong being; it gives us hope that we can be those things to and possibly more if you put your mind to it. The power of our imagination is endless if you really understand it and continue to learn it. We all have great gifts within us and most of us don’t even know it and never learn to unlock them. Learn what you’re good at, progress and turn it into something you can proud of and you can be super strong and powerful. Use your imagination and doors will open to you that you never seen before.   

Why Old School Is Superior

             Back in the old days of the early 20^th century, you had workers in mining towns, quarries and other places where things needed to be dug up, barreled out and transport heavy equipment or rock/stone that weighed more than you can imagine. These men were extremely strong from this back-breaking work and can topple just about any modern strength athlete today. You want to talk about hard times, try being underground for 10-12 hours a day, cutting, toppling and carrying out rock, stone and coal for a living. It’s a point to learn what real strength is like.

            In my opinion Blacksmiths are some of the most underrated artists in their profession. There are paintings in Paris that are as beautiful as a smoking hot woman but when you assemble a weapon or a crafting tool by your very own hands, the labor, the grip strength, the mind and precision is just off the charts. Blacksmiths are very rare today because you have machines that cut down the object making to a 1/3 of the time. These guys were very good at what they did and the strength of their hands was second to none. I wouldn't doubt some of those guys would be able to bend tough steel or crush your hand by shaking it or squeezing it. There’s a lot we can learn from them.

            If there was the type of athlete we should strive to learn from is that of the ancient athletes of the remote past especially the original Olympic athletes of Greece and Rome long before the modern games came into play. You had guys that can most likely destroy athletes of today. In India, wrestlers were the best soldiers the old empire had because of the discipline, the conditioning and the level of strength that came when they were called upon for war. Milo of Croton would lift and carry a calf everyday, as the calf got older and bigger, Milo would still pick it up and carry him on his shoulders, when the calf matured into a full-size bull, Milo was still at it carrying this massive animal. This was one of the first documented ways to progress to a heavier weight. In the middle ages, you had to be tough as a knight because of the armor you wore was pretty damn heavy and still had to have precise accuracy and strength to fight in battle.

            How can we learn and use to create certain methods for old school strength and fitness? For starters, want to get an idea of what it’s like to work in a rock Quarry, get a tire and a sledgehammer and hit that tire for as long as you can. To simulate moving and carry something heavy, lift odd objects and/or sandbags and carry them a certain distance. Learn the ancient traditions of Indian Wrestling by swinging the Clubs and the Mace, when you’re doing them right you’re carrying on a legacy that has lasted for centuries. Don’t have equipment, learn how to handle your body in awkward positions by moving like an animal in the wild, or learn how to use natural movements that the very first men had to learn; sprinting, jumping, crawling, lifting/carrying kind of like moving like Tarzan. Push-ups and Squats are great foundational movements if you’re in a closed-in space or learn how to handle your body similar to a gymnast or wrestler. These modern fads in fitness today really cannot compare to those who actually had to bust their ass back in the day, training can be fun as I've always emphasized but to really get to what you want, it’s training hard and smart that gets you the best results.