Hail to the Dinosaurs!
In an earlier message I mentioned Henry Whittenberg’s weight training program. Whittenberg won the Olympic gold medal in freestyle wrestling in 1948 and the silver medal in 1952. At one time, he had a winning streak of over 300 matches. He is considered to be one of the greatest wrestlers of all time.
His secret?
Weight training.
Nothing fancy. Just basic stuff – with heavy poundages. (As in 180 pounds for 3 x 10 in the military press – at a bodyweight of 191 pounds.)
Here’ his program:
1. Clean and press, light weight for warm-up, 1 x 10
2. Military press 3 x 10
3. Squat 3 x 10 – 15
4. Light breathing pullovers after each set of squats 1 x 10
5. Barbell bent-over rowing 3 x 10
Optional
Note: optional means optional. These are extras, to work in if time and energy permit.
6. Wrestler’s bridge with weight on chest 1 x 10
Note: If you’re not a wrestler, feel free to use a head-strap for your neck work.
7. Sit-up with weight 1 x 15
8. Barbell curl 2 x 10
9. Bench press 2 x 10
10. Rope skipping or running, and then wrestling practice
Note: You might also do some grip work. Thick bar holds or thick bar pull-ups would work well. So would some serious work with heavy-duty grippers like these:
http://www.functionalhandstrength.com/ironmind_handgripper_buying_guide.html
As always, thanks for reading and have a great day. If you train today, make it a good one!
Yours in strength,
Brooks Kubik
P.S. We’ve had a number of good programs for wrestlers, football players and martial artists in the Dinosaur Files newsletter. Subscribe now, and I’ll start your subscription as of May, 2010 and send you the back issues so you don’t miss anything. There’s great material in every issue!
http://www.brookskubik.com/dinosaur_files.html
