The B.I.C. Program (The Ultimate No-Equipment Strength & Conditioning Program for Wrestlers)
No equipment? No problem.
If we are without equipment, we lean on Teddy Roosevelt's famous phrase, "Do what you can with where you are with what you have". Simple as that.
But the problem is you are probably a teenager who does not know anything about how to design a strength and conditioning program. Okay, that's a problem and that's also where I can come in and provide help.
Program Goals
Each training program we do should have defined goals. The recommended goals should be tied to two things: 1) physical qualities 2) performance outputs.
What are physical qualities? Absolute strength, relative strength, anaerobic conditioning, aerobic conditioning, balance and stability, muscle mass, agility and speed, leanness, muscular endurance, tissue resilience. As wrestlers, we need to master a lot of these! That means we need 1) organized training 2) productive and effective training 3) lots of training.
The program goal from a physical quality standpoint is muscular endurance and tissue resilience. This will be our foundation for strength.
What is muscular endurance? In wrestling, muscular endurance refers to a wrestler's ability to sustain repeated muscle contractions or maintain a certain level of force over an extended period.
What is tissue resilience? Tissue resilience refers to the ability to withstand and recover from stress or impact during wrestling activities. It involves the capacity of the tissues to absorb and distribute forces effectively, while minimizing the risk of injury or damage.
The program goal from a performance output standpoint is 100 Push-ups for time (ideally, the outcome is under 2 min but many will not reach this high standard) and 5 min isometric holds in one or several positions.
This program will not train aerobic conditioning to a great degree. When I say "Conditioning Day" in this program, I am referring to Anaerobic Conditioning specifically Alactic energy system training. This is the short burst, powerful energy system. If you want to improve your aerobic conditioning, I would recommend adding long duration running of 20-90 minutes to your workouts (total of 180 minutes is an amazing weekly target but that's a big time commitment - that's why it's not in the program). The other workouts can all be done in the comfort of your home so that's why I did not include running in the program.
Equipment
I know this is meant for no equipment but if you do have equipment, it can be utilized in this training program. The bulk of the movements are no equipment but pulling exercises are difficult to mimic without any equipment.
Pull-up bars, TRX suspension trainers, and dumbbells are common at-home equipment items. All 3 of these can be used for the pulling exercises. Pull-ups, TRX Rows, Head/Chest Supported Rows or Reverse Flyes would be my go-to recommendations for pulling exercises at home. I am going to utilize 1 rowing exercise with equipment in the program below because I do not see any viable substitution. If you do not have any equipment, skip the pulling exercise with equipment.
The Training Program
32 workouts. 6-8 weeks. Bodyweight, Isometrics, Conditioning workouts.
The training program is an 8 day cycle. There will be 3 styles of workouts. Bodyweight (abbreviated BW), Isometrics (abbreviated ISO), and Conditioning (abbreviated COND). The 8 day cycle is BW, ISO, BW, COND, BW, ISO, BW.
6 week program schedule (5-6 days per week):
Week 1 - BW, ISO, BW, COND, BW, ISO
Week 2 - BW, COND, BW, ISO, BW
Week 3 - COND, BW, ISO, BW, COND
Week 4 - BW, ISO, BW, COND, BW, ISO
Week 5 - BW, COND, BW, ISO, BW
Week 6 - COND, BW, ISO, BW, COND
8 week program schedule (4 days per week):
Week 1 - BW, ISO, BW, COND
Week 2 - BW, ISO, BW, COND
Week 3 - BW, ISO, BW, COND
Week 4 - BW, ISO, BW, COND
Week 5 - BW, ISO, BW, COND
Week 6 - BW, ISO, BW, COND
Bodyweight Day
4 movements (Push, Pull, Squat, Hinge).
Push-ups, TRX Rows, Hindu Squats, Glute Bridge.
Note 1: Exercise substitutions. You can make substitutions here if you're educated on Push, Pull, Squat, Hinge variations. For example, Air Squats or Lunges are acceptable replacements for Hindu Squats. Let's keep it simple though and lock in on these exercises for now.
Superset structure is as follows:
1A: Push-ups. 1B: Hindu Squats.
2A: TRX Rows. 2B: Glute Bridge.
We're pairing an upper and lower body so while the upper body is working, the lower body is resting. This makes the workout more time efficient yet still high performing. If we structured it with two upper body exercises, we would be taxing similar or adjacent muscle groups and we would fatigue sooner.
Bodyweight Day Progression, Sets & Reps.
Bodyweight Days will be progressed using a structured wave. This means each workout will increase in difficulty (less sets and more reps) then it will wave back through every 5th workout.
Workout 1: 20 sets of 5.
Workout 2: 10 sets of 10.
Workout 3: 5 sets of 20.
Workout 4: 4 sets of 25.
Workout 5: 10 sets of 10.
Workout 6: 5 sets of 20.
Workout 7: 4 sets of 25.
Workout 8: 3 sets of 35.
Workout 9: 5 sets of 20.
Workout 10: 4 sets of 25.
Workout 11: 3 sets of 35.
Workout 12: 2 sets of 50.
Workout 13: 4 sets of 25.
Workout 14: 3 sets of 35.
Workout 15: 2 sets of 50.
Workout 16: 1 set of 100.
Bodyweight Day Execution
Complete 1A and 1B together. Minimal to no rest between sets. Record how long it takes you. Take a longer break in between Superset 1 and Superset 2. 2-5 minutes rest. This will help you recover some. Now, as the workouts get harder, you want to shoot for getting all the reps in one continuous, unbroken effort. But, I recognize this will be extremely difficult and near impossible towards the end.
Measure and record your progress. Keep track of how long the Superset 1 and 2 take. Record if you have to break up any sets. Compare and outperform "like vs. like" workouts. For example, the workouts sets and reps repeat. Workout 2 and Workout 4 are both 10 sets of 10. When you record Workout 2, this is your baseline. When you do Workout 4, try to beat Workout 2 performance. Go faster or don't break up the sets as much. This is a great way to achieve progress. See examples below of how to record
Bodyweight Day Workout Log Example
Workout 10
1A: Push-ups. 1B: Hindu Squats. 4 x 25.
Notes: 15:45 total time to complete (slightly faster than Workout 7's 16:11). Broke up set of 25 push-ups into 2 sets (15 reps then 10 reps) after the first set of 25.
2A: TRX Rows. 2B: Glute Bridge. 4 x 25
Notes: 20:50 total time to complete (faster than Workout 7's 22:13). Feeling tired from the Superset 1. Unbroken on Sets 1,2,3. Broke up the last set for TRX Rows into 2 sets.
Isometric Day
Isometric Day Exercises
4 movements (Push, Pull, Squat, Hinge).
Push-up Position (bottom of the Push-up). Bat Wing Plank. Wall Sit. Hip Thrust.
Isometric Day Progression, Sets, and Reps
The workout will always be 20 minutes and 4 exercises.
This is an aggressive progression. If you do not have much fitness or sports background, this will take much longer than 20 minutes because you are taking breaks. Strive to improve and stay on your isometrics as long as you can. Record the total workout time as well.
ISO Workout 1: 1 min/exercise. 5 Rounds.
ISO Workout 2: 2 min/exercise. 2 Rounds. 1 min/exercise. 1 Round.
ISO Workout 3: 3 min/exercise. 1 Round. 1 min/exercise. 2 Rounds.
ISO Workout 4: 4 min/exercise. 1 Round. 1 min/exercise. 1 Round.
ISO Workout 5: 2 min/exercise. 2 Rounds. 1 min/exercise. 1 Round.
ISO Workout 6: 3 min/exercise. 1 Round. 1 min/exercise. 2 Rounds.
ISO Workout 7: 4 min/exercise. 1 Round. 1 min/exercise. 1 Round.
ISO Workout 8: 5 min/exercise. 1 Round.
Isometric Day Execution
Complete 1 set of an exercise. Then, go to the next exercise. Repeat until you've done all 4 movements. Going through each movement 1x is a "Round".
Here's the steps to executing isometrics:
- Hit your position. Push-up will be the bottom (shoulder below crease of the elbow). Bat Wing Plank (elbows contact the wall, shoulders are retracted). Wall Sit (90 degree position). Glute Bridge (Fully extended through the hip but not overextended).
- Hold. This is the name of the game with Isometrics!
- Be mentally tough and stay there. Isometrics are particularly challenging to the mind. There's many ways we can convince ourselves to stop.
- <how to break up sets> If you *absolutely* need to drop, stop the timer. Start a rest timer. Shake out the tension for 30 sec. Continue. Keep yourself accountable through the rest timer. If 30 sec is not enough, go to 1 min rest. But finish the workout. If the workout calls for 5 minutes straight, accumulate 5 minutes no matter how many breaks it takes. Record these performances so you know where you stand and can improve upon them in the future.
Your mental and physical fitness after this will be top notch!
Isometric Day Workout Log Example
ISO Workout 5: 2 min/exercise. 2 Rounds. 1 min/exercise. 1 Round.
Push-up Position. Notes: Unbroken. Felt chest burning.
Bat Wing Plank. Notes: Unbroken. Tried to stay focus on driving the elbows into the wall.
Wall Sit. Notes: Unbroken on Round 1 of 2 min hold. Split up 2 min hold on Round 2 into 1:15 and 0:45.
Hip Thrust. Notes: Unbroken. Started dropping hips a bit. Glutes were burning.
Total Time: 25:54. Mostly transition time.
Conditioning Day
Conditioning Day Exercises
Burpees & Split Jumps. Maximum height jumps. Power output is extremely important. Move quickly and explosively on these reps.
Conditioning Day Progression, Sets, and Reps
Conditioning Day will use a structured wave progression similar to Isometric Day. The number of minutes will increase each workout. Then, every 5th workout, wave back down.
EMOM means Every Minute on the Minute. Each EMOM, complete 12 sec work, 48 sec rest. During rest periods, do "Fast & Loose" drills. This is shaking out the tension of the muscles.
COND Workout 1: EMOM for 6 - Burpees. EMOM for 6 - Split Jumps.
COND Workout 2: EMOM for 7 - Burpees. EMOM for 7 - Split Jumps.
COND Workout 3: EMOM for 8 - Burpees. EMOM for 8 - Split Jumps.
COND Workout 4: EMOM for 9 - Burpees. EMOM for 9 - Split Jumps.
COND Workout 5: EMOM for 7 - Burpees. EMOM for 7 - Split Jumps.
COND Workout 6: EMOM for 8 - Burpees. EMOM for 8 - Split Jumps.
COND Workout 7: EMOM for 9 - Burpees. EMOM for 9 - Split Jumps.
COND Workout 8: EMOM for 10 - Burpees. EMOM for 10 - Split Jumps.
Conditioning Day Execution
The purpose of the short work duration and long rest duration is to allow the Alactic energy system to recover. Too little rest and we are not training that specific energy system. We want to train power endurance with this conditioning work.
EMOM for 8 - Burpees x 12 sec.
Do not slow down on reps! Go quickly and change direction.
Do not shortchange the reps! Jump explosively and aim high.
Do not fumble the reps! Land softly and absorb the force.
Conditioning Day Workout Log Example
COND Workout 3
EMOM for 8 - Burpees. Notes: 5 for all 8 sets. Height was good throughout workout.
EMOM for 8 - Split Jumps. Notes: 6/side for all 8 sets. Power was good throughout workout.
Conclusion
When you complete this program, please let me know your results. I know this program will produce great results. When you complete it, please let me know how you did, what you improved upon, and how you felt.
Find all my free training and nutrition programs here! https://grayyard.mykajabi.com/wrestleready
