Even-Esh: Fall is a key time for wrestlers to make strength gains

Editor’s Note: This story appeared in WIN’s Volume 31 Issue 11, which printed on August 22, 2025. Click here or call 641-792-4436 to subscribe to WIN Magazine. Buy a Digital or Combo Subscription to get immediate digital access to WIN’s Volume 31 Issue 11, which features the first NCAA DI Tournament Power Index (TPI) as well as Preseason Individual Rankings. 

By Zach Even-Esh

If you’re a serious wrestler, wrestling coach or wrestling parent, this article is for you.

Before we begin, I want to address something crucial: the fall is one of the most important times to get ahead of your competition. But, if you slacked off in the spring and summer, you CANNOT cram six months of average or missed training into the three-month preseason.

Here are three fall strength tips I’ve used for 20-plus years training wrestlers who’ve gone on to become state champs, All-Americans, and Division I standouts.

1. Get STRONG vs. “wrestling-specific workouts”

In the fall, too many wrestlers are doing “wrestling-specific circuits” — but they are still weak. We see endless plate-raise circuits with 10 or 25-pound plates, curls and high pulls with 20-pound dumbbells, band-resisted wrestling drills, etc. Let your drilling and live wrestling be your main contributor in muscular endurance and wrestling conditioning.

These same wrestlers struggle with basic strength exercises. This “stuff” might get you more likes and views on TikTok or Instagram, but it will not be a major factor in improving your wrestling.

We are in a strange place on the internet where strength is being downplayed as if it is not important in wrestling. This is the mindset until that same wrestler continues losing to stronger opponents. Developing strength takes time, consistency and commitment. It is an all-year commitment, even in season. Start now.

The fall is a great opportunity to build strength that will increase your success and decrease your chances of injuries during the season. Below is a short list of some great and proven exercises:

• Trap-bar deadlifts/sumo deadlifts
• Farmer carries/odd-object carries (sandbags, offset carries, etc.)
• Rope climbs, pull-ups and dips (weighted for strength, high reps for endurance and size)
• Clean and press with barbell, kettlebells, heavy medicine balls and/or sandbag
• Rowing with barbell, dumbbells, kettlebells and bodyweight
• Zercher squats
• Lunges and split squats with various loads and positions
• Sleds – heavy and light, for various distances, times and speed
• Thick-bar training for presses, rows, deadlifts and arm work
• Plyometrics, upper and lower body
• Hill sprints and jumping rope

2. Nutrition/Recovery/Lifestyle

Most wrestlers are coasting with training and neglecting their nutrition and sleep. They are at open mats at their high school and saving their energy for club practice. They are in the high school weight room but skipping sets when the coach is not hovering over them and saving energy for “chest day” at the local gym, loaded with machines, copying workouts from bodybuilding influencers who could not last 30 seconds in a wrestling match.

Breakfast is often skipped, or they eat something in a wrapper with an expiration date two years from now. Getting strong, building muscle and becoming a GREAT wrestler requires commitment to everything you do — eating properly, getting to bed on time and maximizing effort in every training session.

Wrestlers are wrestling more than ever before, but the focus and intensity is lacking. I love Bo Bassett’s “Machine Gun Mindset.” He maximizes everything he does. There will be good and bad days, which is normal. But, to consistently coast as you try to survive from one practice to the next will get you good at one thing: coasting!

3. The best wrestlers train year-round … The average ones just “get ready”

Fall is the time where the serious separate from the seasonal. The best wrestlers are building on the work they have been doing since the season ended. The average wrestlers are likely not reading this article, so it will need to be shared with them. The average wrestlers have been gone all summer. They say things like, “I’ve been training on my own” because they don’t want to be coached. These same wrestlers not only hold themselves back, but they also hold back the team. Why? Because everyone needs a GREAT teammate and training partner to get better and jump levels.

If you have been MIA from strength training during spring and summer, then your fall will need more volume of strength training. Being weak in wrestling is a liability to yourself and to the team. In the fall, we like to see wrestlers at The Underground Strength Gym three times per week. Once November comes around, some will continue to train three times per week, and others might strength train twice per week and add one more wrestling practice.

I have yet to see a wrestler who gets worse because he or she got stronger. That being said, the priority is always to become better at wrestling. You must commit to the complete formula of becoming a better wrestler. This includes strength, skill, mindset, nutrition, recovery and all-around lifestyle.

Now, it’s time to DO THE WORK!

(Zach Even-Esh is a strength and performance coach located in Manasquan, N.J. He is the founder of The Underground Strength Gym and creator of The Underground Strength Coach (USC Cert) and Strength and Sports Performance Coach (SSPC) Certifications. Zach also serves as a coach and consultant for teams, programs and organizations who seek elite performance. To connect with Zach, you can go to https://UndergroundStrengthCoach.com and https://UndergroundStrengthClub.com. Training and consulting opportunities are available in person and online.)