Disclaimer: make sure you consult with a medical professional before commencing any exercise regimen.

Workout overview

The workouts will focus on quality reps with maximum speed.

Weekly schedule

Wrestlers need to juggle wrestling practice and strength and conditioning. The below schedule shows how to program skill and strength sessions in the same week.

Testing day

The kip involves getting from your back to feet without using your hands. It requires flexibility, power and co-ordination.

The post TRAIN LIKE A WRESTLER (ADVANCED) appeared first on BASEBLOCKS DIGITAL.

Active Pike Compression (APC, or ‘core compression’) involves getting into a pike position using our muscles rather than gravity. This involves a combination of both core strength AND hip flexor strength.

Disclaimer: make sure you consult with a medical professional before commencing any exercise regimen.

Workout overview

Weekly schedule

Below is a sample of how to schedule the workouts when combining it with a mobility program.

Baseline testing

This program has two tests to measure your pike performance. Tracking stretching improvements can be tricky – I recommend taking a photo/video of each test.

Test one: standing forward fold

Test two: seated forward fold

If you scored beginner on either of the tests, this program may be too advanced for you.

The post THE PIKE PROGRAM appeared first on BASEBLOCKS DIGITAL.

Disclaimer: make sure you consult with a medical professional before commencing any exercise regimen.

Workout overview

There are four workouts each week; three days for upper body and one day for lower body.

Weekly schedule

We’re trying to rest forty-eight hours between training the same muscle group/s.

Baseline testing

This program has two tests to measure your pushing and pulling strength. Rest 3-5 minutes between tests and make sure to record your score.

Test one: dips for max repetitions

Female

Male

Test one: tuck front lever for max duration

Female

Male

Game-changer

A common technique error for beginners is to work through a partial range of motion. There is a natural tendency to favor the part of the exercise where you are the strongest, as this is where the exercise will feel the easiest. Strength development is joint-angle specific which means you only develop strength in the range that you train. Performing partial repetitions means you will only strengthen that part of the exercise. Performing each exercise with a full range of motion (ROM) will result in strength development throughout the entire movement.

The post THE BASEBLOCKS TRAINER PROGRAM appeared first on BASEBLOCKS DIGITAL.

Disclaimer: make sure you consult with a medical professional before commencing any exercise regimen.

Workout overview

There are two workouts in this program. You will perform the same workout for the entire week, and switch workout the following week.

Weekly schedule

Below is a sample of how to schedule the workouts when combining it with a strength program.

Baseline testing

This program has two tests to measure your core strength/endurance. Rest 3-5 minutes between tests and make sure to record your score.

Test one: hollow body hold for max duration

Test two: plank hold for max duration

The post Abs Like a Gymnast appeared first on BASEBLOCKS DIGITAL.

Disclaimer: make sure you consult with a medical professional before commencing any exercise regimen.

Workout overview

There are two workouts in this program. You will perform the same workout for the entire week, and switch workout the following week.

Weekly schedule

Below is a sample of how to schedule the workouts when combining it with a mobility program.

Baseline testing

This program has two tests to measure your single-leg strength/endurance. Rest 3-5 minutes between tests and make sure to record your score.

Test one: pistol squat

Test two: pistol squat on box/chair

*If you didn’t score the same amount of reps on both left and right sides, the smaller number is your score.

Game-changer

The post THE PISTOL PROGRAM appeared first on BASEBLOCKS DIGITAL.

Disclaimer: make sure you consult with a medical professional before commencing any exercise regimen.

Weekly schedule

Below is a sample of how to schedule the workouts when combining it with a strength program.

Baseline stretches

To measure progress objectively, you would need to measure the joint angle with specialised equipment. I recommend taking a photo of each of the four stretches below.

Stretch #1: Shoulder flexion

Stretch #2: Shoulder extension

Stretch #3: Shoulder internal rotation

Stretch #4: Shoulder external rotation

Game-changer

We want enough range of motion to function optimally during the movements we perform. The movements we perform vary from person to person; the flexibility demands to perform basic calisthenics exercises will be different to a contortionist. Considering the shoulder joint is already unstable by design, increasing the level of flexibility beyond what is required may increase your injury risk by reducing stability.

The post The Shoulder Mobility Program appeared first on BASEBLOCKS DIGITAL.

Disclaimer: make sure you consult with a medical professional before commencing any exercise regimen.

Workout overview

The workouts will focus on quality reps with maximum speed.

Weekly schedule

Wrestlers need to juggle wrestling practice and strength and conditioning. The below schedule shows how to program skill and strength sessions in the same week.

Testing day

The kip involves getting from your back to feet without using your hands. It requires flexibility, power and co-ordination.

Game-changer

To improve your maximal strength, you typically want to keep overloading the external resistance (or manipulating leverage) to increase the force production requirement of the exercise. When training for power, it’s all about performing the concentric phase of the exercise at high velocities. We want to perform the part of the lift against gravity (up in a pull-up, up in a dip, up in a squat, etc.) as quickly as possible. This results in neural adaptations where your brain can activate your muscles to generate large amounts of force quickly. Sport takes place in milliseconds, not seconds. As a result, we want to be able to generate as much of our strength, in the smallest amount of time possible. It’s worthwhile to note that the intention to move quickly can yield a positive adaptation, regardless of actual movement speed. That is, the intention to be explosive is the primary driver of neural adaptations.

The post TRAIN LIKE A WRESTLER (INTERMEDIATE) appeared first on BASEBLOCKS DIGITAL.

Disclaimer: make sure you consult with a medical professional before commencing any exercise regimen.

Workout overview

Each workout is designed to emulate the final minutes of a high-level wrestling bout where you are fully fatigued and still need to perform.

Weekly schedule

Wrestlers need to juggle wrestling practice and strength and conditioning. The below schedule shows how to program skill and strength sessions in the same week.

Testing day

Isometric row hold

This exercise uses the same muscles commonly used on the wrestling mats. This will be a good indication of where your wrestling strength is and how much it improves by the end of the program.

Male

Female

Think like a wrestler

Grit goes further than talent. The ability to persevere is the most important attribute of an athlete. There isn’t much time to recover in these workouts. You’ll constantly try to justify taking more time in between sets. Be mentally tough! Push yourself to limits you didn’t know possible. Once you raise the bar, you will never go under that workload again!

The post TRAIN LIKE A WRESTLER (BEGINNER) appeared first on BASEBLOCKS DIGITAL.

Disclaimer: make sure you consult with a medical professional before commencing any exercise regimen.

Workout overview

There are two workouts in this program. You will perform the same workout for the entire week, and switch workout the following week.

Weekly schedule

We’re trying to rest forty-eight hours between training the same muscle groups.

Baseline testing

This program has two tests to measure your pushing and pulling strength. Rest 3-5 minutes between tests and make sure to record your score.

Test one: chin above bar for max duration

Female

Male

Test two: push-ups for max repetitions

Female

Male

The post The Upper Body Endurance Program appeared first on BASEBLOCKS DIGITAL.

Disclaimer: make sure you consult with a medical professional before commencing any exercise regimen.

Workout overview

There are three planche-specific workouts each week. There are two optional workouts each week (pulling workout and lower body workout).

Planche-specific workouts

Supplementary workouts (optional)

Weekly schedule

We’re trying to rest forty-eight hours between training the same muscle group/s.

Testing day

The test should reflect the goal of the training program. We’ll be testing the max advanced tuck planche and the tuck planche.

Test one: advanced tuck planche max duration

Test two: tuck planche max duration

Note: If you were unable to hold the tuck planche hold (second test) for over 15 seconds, I recommend you perform my Unlocking the Tuck Planche program first.

Game-changer

It’s worth revising some of the basic concepts we introduced in the previous planche program. While it was intended for beginners, you should continue to think about these key cues when performing all of the exercises in this program.

Straight arms

The isometric planche is a straight-arm exercise. Bending your arms will reduce the difficulty and is considered cheating.

Scapula protraction

Protraction is an anatomical term that means rounding the shoulders by separating the shoulder blades (scapulae). The primary muscle that does this is the serratus anterior.

Posterior pelvic tilt

For most bodyweight exercises we want a flat lower back. Tilting the pelvis posteriorly will flatter then lower back. Think of trying to tuck your tailbone between your legs. The muscles that do this are the abs and glutes.

Hollow body

A hollow-body involves eliminating any arch from the spine. As the natural curvature of the spine involves an arch in the lower back, a posterior pelvic tilt will address this component. Additionally, protraction of the shoulder blades can help accentuate the hollow body aesthetic through the upper back.

The post THE INTERMEDIATE PLANCHE PROGRAM appeared first on BASEBLOCKS DIGITAL.