CrossFit for wrestling?

[Hu4life]

I've been looking for a summer strength program that I won't put on much weight with and decided CrossFit may be a good option. I understand that a sports program needs more compound lifts than most CF WOD's contain so I was wondering if y'all could throw out some ideas on how to incorporate more weight training into CF. My Idea was to take the CF work out format and use it for weight training (Compound lift x5, Bodyweight move x5, Compound lift x5, Bodyweight move x5 -5 sets for time) would this work or not?

[DCSpartan]

CF sucks for strength training. YOu cant do everything at once. When training for strength, focus on strength. When training for endurance, focus on endurance.

[JacobHillMMA]

I've been looking for a summer strength program that I won't put on much weight with and decided CrossFit may be a good option. I understand that a sports program needs more compound lifts than most CF WOD's contain so I was wondering if y'all could throw out some ideas on how to incorporate more weight training into CF. My Idea was to take the CF work out format and use it for weight training (Compound lift x5, Bodyweight move x5, Compound lift x5, Bodyweight move x5 -5 sets for time) would this work or not?

I have to agree with the statement that crossfit sucks for building strength quickly, but it will over time help develope muscular endurance and strength stability. I have wrestled for years and used crossfit styled circuit training successfully. Wrestling and MMA are unlike any other sports in the world. The abuse you have to take and give for 3 rounds or maybe even more is UNREAL. An extra piece of free advice for wrestling: when cutting weight, stay FAR the hell away from diuretics. That crap can kill you in a heartbeat, usually people cut water to drop weight and diuretics dry you out and leave all the salt. When your body has too much salt is shorts out your nervous system and causes complete shutdown and cardiac arrest.
Be smart, train hard, and stay off your back my friend.

[Cantlive4ever]

I've been looking for a summer strength program that I won't put on much weight with and decided CrossFit may be a good option. I understand that a sports program needs more compound lifts than most CF WOD's contain so I was wondering if y'all could throw out some ideas on how to incorporate more weight training into CF. My Idea was to take the CF work out format and use it for weight training (Compound lift x5, Bodyweight move x5, Compound lift x5, Bodyweight move x5 -5 sets for time) would this work or not?

Best thing you could d for wrestling is run run run... And of course wrestle
Get your endurance way up...
Workout your core and neck forget about bench and curls.
If you will listen this is the best advice ever given to me for wrestling
Master three moves from top bottom and neutral that's all you need to work on over and over
Master is the key word
You will succeed

[JiuJitsuAddict]

I'm using CrossFit right now to supplement my Jiu Jitsu training and so far its going great. Like it was mentioned before, it depends on your goals. If you want to simply get more pure strength, then you need to look at Powerlifting. But if your looking for metabolic conditioning, with a little bit of strength gain and overall functionality, then I strongly suggest CrossFit.
I found that my body responds way better to CrossFit and makes the jump over to Jiu Jitsu quite remarkably, however, I can't say the same thing about when I tried a Powerlifting routine with my jitsu.

[MNAthlete]

In my opinion/experience CF circuit workouts are awesome for getting in wrestling shape (well, practicing wrestling is the only true way, but that aside...), especially for muscular endurance and cardioresp. system .

From what I understand, what most CF workouts lack are horizontal push (i.e. benching) & pull (i.e. bent rows) exercises.

So if you did, say a CF WOD, and incorporated some benching and rows you'd be set.

[matthewf1971]

I am a strength and conditioning coach, gym owner, competitive athelte and have been coaching people for over 30 years, so that being said, first off if anyone says CrossFit won't get you stronger, that's laughable. They probably haven't tried it, if they did it was with a ineffective coach, and/or they are entirely misinformed about it. Crossfit it all about strength, central nervous system endurance, and muscular stability....that's pretty much wrestling. It also addresses cardio and explosiveness while under varied loads for varied periods of time depending on workout, which again is wrestling. Powerlifting or Bodybuilding all have their place and are good, but they do not transfer directly in any way to wrestling or any other athletic sport besides body building or powerlifting. They are needed for what I refer to as accessory work, that meaning to focus on a specific weaker Muscle group in your personal situation. They will not improve your motor skills, they will not improve your capacity to to more work in the way it will be required for wrestling. plus building muscle "fast" as one comment said, is counterproductive to wrestling because you will be much heavier and not have the cardio to fuel it due to the fact you build it faster than you build your central nervous system and lung capacities. And running long distances, like over 5k, will cause damage to your joints that is needless, when all your really after is stronger hips, legs, and lungs. No need to beat up the joints your trying to keep strong and stable, that's the worms mentality for Elite level training in any sport. Your goal is not to see how much pain you can be in, it's train your body to endure more punishment without destroying it in the process, and that is where a good, knowledgable Coach comes in that should be current on modern studies on sports movement patters, neurological factors and levels of training, proper body mechanic movement patterns, strength building procedures for athletes (and there is a huge difference for athletes) just to name a few.

[lucia316]

^^Man, I hope OP isn't still trying to figure out that Crosss*&t is terrible for anything other than Crosss*&t. Excellent bump to shill crossfit. I think Glassman and Castro do that enough. But it's great that you pop in every few years to make a post about Crosss*&t or bump some other old thread to talk about how awesome you are as an individual.

Ask Knowshon Moreno how great Crosss*&t was for his career. Bottomline, Crosss*&t doesn't make you a better athlete and it's sub-par for improving areas of strength, endurance, etc versus other more direct work. Further, for "knowledgeable coaches" the last place I'd look is a Crosss*&t gym. "Coach" means you had $1000 and 48 hours to attend a class. And Crosss*&t is known for talking about form, but then throwing it out the door when it's time to AMRAP or max. Ego lift it brah!

[grouchyjarhead]

I remember maybe 10 years ago when a lot of pro MMA fighters were saying they were training in Crossfit for their next fight.

Typically it only took them one fight for them to move on. What big name actually trains in Crossfit now?

Crossfit is good for people who want to compete in Crossfit. That's all.

[peeskekun]

wrestling is a tough sport. wrestled back in highschool. good luck man!

[lucia316]

wrestling is a tough sport. wrestled back in highschool. good luck man!

Wow, glad you got your post count up with that gem.

[Jakebz]

I know a guy who got really good at wrestling through crossfit and would've probably been a contender at the NCAAs had he continued wrestling. Unfortunately, he now does crossfit religiously. I recommend that you try it out for a couple weeks and if you notice results in your training, keep it up. If not, then go back to your usually routine. Based on the routine you've given, I wouldn't expect you to have bad results so long as you're a high school athlete which I'm assuming you are. Moreover, I think it would be helpful for you to focus on a certain few techniques and get really good at them or develop a really strong cardio base and focus on developing explosiveness (BB jump squats, power clean supersets would be helpful IMO since this is a lift that the strength trainers at my school give to our wrestlers).

[lucia316]

I know a guy who got really good at wrestling through crossfit and would've probably been a contender at the NCAAs had he continued wrestling. Unfortunately, he now does crossfit religiously. I recommend that you try it out for a couple weeks and if you notice results in your training, keep it up. If not, then go back to your usually routine. Based on the routine you've given, I wouldn't expect you to have bad results so long as you're a high school athlete which I'm assuming you are. Moreover, I think it would be helpful for you to focus on a certain few techniques and get really good at them or develop a really strong cardio base and focus on developing explosiveness (BB jump squats, power clean supersets would be helpful IMO since this is a lift that the strength trainers at my school give to our wrestlers).

LOL. Crossfit didn't make him better at wrestling. He got better at wrestling despite crosssshiz. Was probably already a good wrestler. Crossshiz doesn't do anything specific to any sport to make you "better at it."

You get better at a sport by working on that sport, not doing Crossshiz or any other type of training.

Again, 4 years later, I hope OP isn't still trying to figure this out.

[DCSpartan]

I know a guy who got really good at wrestling through crossfit .

Explain how this works.

You get better at wrestling techniques by doing movements that have nothing to do with wrestling?

[KiwiJames]

Lol lucia316 is right, end thread.

[skiloe]

I've been looking for a summer strength program that I won't put on much weight with and decided CrossFit may be a good option. I understand that a sports program needs more compound lifts than most CF WOD's contain so I was wondering if y'all could throw out some ideas on how to incorporate more weight training into CF. My Idea was to take the CF work out format and use it for weight training (Compound lift x5, Bodyweight move x5, Compound lift x5, Bodyweight move x5 -5 sets for time) would this work or not?

Crossfit will definitely increase strength and endurance. You will have to find good crossfit programming that incorporates strength as well as the WOD. As you should know wrestling is aerobic and anaerobic. You get both of these doing crossfit or HIIT.

[amar654]

Useless bump, but no crossfit is not the way. The anaerobic and the acerbic system can not be devolved to a high level by working then both at once in a workout. You need a properly perodized program. I'll be putting up a post in the near future about programming for wrestling (something I have started focusing on recently, training combat sports only). But no, crossfit is definitely NOT the answer.

[DCSpartan]

Crossfit will definitely increase strength and endurance.

If you are an untrained athlete, maybe, for awhile. But if you are trained, all that randomness and nothing but interval workouts leads to plateaus really quick, which is why serious Crossfit Athletes dont do crossfit!