High Cut Wrestling
Should my son go out for High School Wrestling?
My son is a freshman and is thinking about going out for wrestling. He’s about 5’6″ and probably about 155 lbs, but I’m not exactly sure. He’s not very athletic, but I think for freshman there are no cuts. This might sound stupid, but I’m a little worried about the killer staph bacteria that’s going around because my son has eczema. Sometimes there’s broken skin when he scratches it too much. Should I worry? Should he give wrestling a try?
Can you also tell me anything that will help him prepare for the tryouts? What makes a good high school wrestler?
Should he ride in your car to his wrestling practice? More people have died in car accidents since that Staph scare than have died from Staph inferction. Basically so long as he sterilizes his equipment and the school keeps the mats clean he should be o.k.
This whole scare is our “If it bleeds, it leads” media making a mountain out of a mole hill in the quest for more ratings. Remember the Bird flu, SARS, Anthrax, and the West Nile Virus? Been a while since they pulled those Edsels out of the garage.
Your kid should be fine don’t worry about it. I’ve wrestled for years as an amatuer and I first started when everybody was panicking over HIV/AIDS.
Improving Your Grip For Wrestling
If you are a wrestler in High School, College or at International level; grip strength training should be an important of your workout. The ability to control your opponent because you have a superior grip could be a decisive factor to the outcome of your match. You can work on your grip strength 2 or 3 times a week during the off season, but when you are competing you should cut it back to just once in a while so you maintain some strength. Below are a couple examples of the many workouts you can use.
Climbing rope is one of the best, it not only strengthens the hands and forearms but the shoulders as well. Even just grasping the rope and hanging till you drop off will bring results. If you could attach or tie a thick rope to a heavy object and pull it hand over fist to you, you will also get a great forearm workout, just keep at it until your forearms are burning.
Using barbells and dumbbells with a thick bar is better than using the standard style. You can make your regular bar thicker by wrapping a towel around the bar and taping it on. A thicker bar will give your grip more of a challenge. Using a thicker grip on the dumbbells, do farmer walks while you carry two dumbbells at your side for some distance or till you can no longer carry them. This not only develops your hands and forearms but it also gives your hips a workout too.
There are many more things you can do from wrist rollers to pinch grip workouts. Do not continue to do the same exercises, use as many as you can to prevent any imbalance in the muscle development.
About the Author
Go to Grip Strength to find more info on how to improve your grip strength. Tim Archbold’s interests are Fitness Training and Health.