Incorporate odd objects for brute wrestling strength
Editor’s Note: This article appeared in WIN’s Volume 31 Issue 9, which was published on June 5, 2025. Looking for more strength training and nutrition articles? Digital subscribers can access every WIN issue published dating back to October of 2011 in our digital archive. Click here to view WIN’s subscription options (Print/Digital/Combo).
By Zach Even-Esh
I look back and recall the many mistakes I made when I trained for wrestling in the late 80s and early 90s. Too many machines, too many isolation movements, too much distance running and not tough strength training. Ironically, I see wrestlers making the same mistakes today that I made in the early 90s. We thought more information on the internet would empower coaches and wrestlers with greater knowledge, but now the problem is sifting through the fads and gimmicks.
I have seen wrestlers go to the local gym and sit down or lay down on every machine, all for high reps, all isolation exercises and none of which is helping to improve their wrestling strength and conditioning. With all the advancements, we need to go back in time to where the local gym was called Hercules Gym or Atlas Gym, and you were afraid to show up, so you got strong with calisthenics every day on your own.
Today, we have wrestlers who cannot perform a proper bodyweight squat or 10 full range pull-ups. These are basic movements that contribute to greater wrestling strength and power.
This reminds me of a podcast my friend Joe DeSena did probably 10 years ago with Nate Carr, Sr. Nate said he had a large family and not much money, so his “gym equipment” came from the junkyard. Nate went to the junkyard and carried a car axle home and into his basement. He did floor presses off of milk crates, military presses, deadlifts and holds for time with the car axle. He said this “Junkyard Training” built serious strength for his wrestling!
That brings me to the need for odd objects. Sandbag training, thick bars and thick dumbbells, stones, tractor tires and ropes. Don’t just throw these exercises in haphazardly. Use them with intelligence. I prefer to have one odd object movement per training session, OR I devote a full training session to odd objects. With ropes, we use them for exercises like pull ups and recline rows. Climbing ropes are also great if you can set them up in a wrestling room, garage, basement or backyard.
Here are some odd object/strongman exercises I recommend for wrestlers, in no specific order:
– Tire Flip – I believe wrestlers should EARN the right to flip a tire with these standards:
Trap-Bar Deadlift 275 x 5 Reps
Pull-Ups/Chin-Ups x 10 reps
1-Arm DB or KB Clean & Press x 5 Reps with 50 lbs – each arm
– Sandbag Shouldering – Try to use a bag that is 50 percent of your bodyweight, build up to a heavier bag or weighted D-Ball.
– Log or Thick Bar Clean & Press – Keep a flat back on every rep, perform each set for 5-10 reps or perform a few sets for 30 seconds of MAX reps.
– Odd-Object Carry – We use stones, sandbags, water-filled kegs or two different weights in each hand. Distances vary from 100–200 feet
– Truck Push – These were always great fun. Put the car or truck in neutral and push 50–100 feet, then sprint back.
You can organize a full training session of strongman training or choose one of these exercises as a main lift for your training that day. To develop brute strength as a wrestler, you must get away from traditional training and start training like you live on a farm!
(Zach Even-Esh is a strength and sports performance coach and consultant located in New Jersey. For more info, visit http://ZachStrength.com and http://UndergroundStrengthGym.com.)
