Yesterday I had the privilege of doing a bodyweight strength training seminar at a local high school with my biz partner Joe Chizek.
Long story short, we came in there and crushed it!
The kids worked their butts off, had a great time, and learned some important things about bodyweight training.
To let you in on what we did even more, below is the workout we did with them.
Grab yourself a partner and do the following…
5 min AMRAP of:
1A) Partner Double Leg Pick Ups (use hips for power!) x 3 / person
1B) Partner Hand Walks / Wheel Barrow Walks
***If you don’t have a partner, do some sandbag power cleans for the partner takedowns then do some power wheel hand walks
5 Min AMRAP of:
2A) Push Ups x 10
2B) Partner Drags x 25 yards
6 Min AMRAP of:
3A) Squats x 10
3B) Lunge Jumps x 5/leg
3C) Hollow Rocks x 25
4A) 2 Min Sit Out Challenge Workout Finisher
While it’s a simple workout, it wasn’t easy. In the end, it’s all about effectiveness.
Being back in the presence of a bunch of hungry wrestlers and after spending some time in that high school wrestling room, it brought back a ton of memories of when I used to wrestle.
With all the reminiscing I did, I took a step back and started to really think about all the different LIFE LESSONS wrestling has truly taught me over the years.
The lessons I’ve learned while being a wrestler and going through all the struggles, the pains, and the triumphs have been life changing, so when I started to really think about these things, I knew I had to share them with you.
Bottom Line – It doesn’t matter if you’re a wrestler or not, you can take these lessons and apply them within your own life. If you’re a wrestler or once were, you’ll know what I’m talking about…
Here’s The 8 Life Lessons I Learned From The Mat…
Lesson #1 – Train Like a Mad Man – At an early age, my dad would always say to me that I could never be in “good enough” shape.
He would always remind me to think about what my opponent was doing to prepare for our match.
Was he doing extra push ups? Was he staying after practice doing extra take downs, running sprints, doing 
more pull ups then me?
Bottom Line, was my opponent out working me?
After my dad put that in my head, I never wanted to leave it to chance that I would ever be weaker then my opponent or worse, out worked.
I can remember all of the push ups and pull ups I would crank out daily and before I went to bed at night.
I was a man possessed.
In addition to that, I always made sure to stay after practice for extra pull ups, sit ups, and sprints.
At night after dinner, I can remember in the dead of winter when I would bundle myself up and go for 3-5 mile long runs. I did this 2-3 times a week sometimes even 4.
I was always doing something to get myself stronger and into better shape. If I didn’t, it would constantly be in my mind that I was taking the easy way out.
All of this extra training and hard work was an addiction and the good thing about it was that it crossed over into all of my other sports I played.
The most important thing about this thought of never allowing my opponents to out work me was the fact that I knew that I had total control over the amount of work I was to do. If I wanted to be lazy, I could be. If I wanted to be successful, I knew it was up to me to do it and to put in the extra time.
It was all about “Training Like A Mad Man!”
In wrestling or anything else in life, if you want SUCCESS, you’ve got to do the extra work needed to get the job done.
110% H.A.M. anyone?
Lesson #2 – You Gotta Be Tough!
Now, when I look back at some of the grueling practices and workouts I’ve been through in the past in wrestling as well as some of the brutal ovetime and down to the wire matches I went through, there’s not much that I’ve done that has been tougher then some those times.
Dan Gable said it best…
This is the #truth!
In times where I think life gets a bit hard, I look back at some of the practices I was able to get through and some of those excruciating matches I was able to survive. When I think about those times, what ever I think is tough in life at the moment doesn’t seem as tough anymore…
Lesson #3 – What the Word Discipline really means.
The word DISCIPLINE was learned at an early age with wrestling.
I cut an average of 20 lbs every wrestling season which was a hard task to do since I never really had any fat to lose.
Cutting and making weight consistently took a ton of disciplne. Since wrestling went on during Thanksgiving and Christmas, you can imagine the torment I went through not being able to eat all of the great holiday foods.
I was constantly around food, but since I had to cut 20 lbs, I had to be committed and DISCIPLINE beyond belief.
I can remember how tough it was at Thanksgiving and Christmas how dedicated I had to be with staying away from the desserts!
One year I let it slip away a bit and I can remember how badly I had to pay for it. I came in on a Monday after Thanksgiving break and was 15 lbs overweight and had two days to lose it all before a weigh-in. Those few days were NOT fun…
It’s better to be DISCIPLINE then to regret not being so…
Lesson #4 – EARN it!
In wrestling, Championships can’t be bought, they can’t be giving away, and they don’t come easy…
If you want some bad enough, especially Championships, you must EARN IT.
This goes for anything in life worth having.
Nothing in life comes for FREE…
Wrestling taught me to EARN the things that I want in life.
Instead of waiting for hand-me-out’s, I learned that if you want something bad enough to go out and get it myself.
Lesson #5 – RESPECT
Any wrestler out there worth his share, has learned how to respect their opponents, teammates, and coaches from being in the sport.
I’ve had the privilege to having some very respectable coaches and teammates over the years as a wrestler.
I was taught to be a respectful WINNER as well as a respectful loser.
There were a few times that I lost my cool after a loss, but I learned quickly that being a sore loser got me nowhere.
The bottom line – just be respectful in all areas of life. You’re not going to get very far being a complete jerk…
Win, lose, draw… be and set the example.
Lesson #6 – Take 110% Responsibility for your RESULTS
In wrestling, at the end of the day, after all of the smoke has cleared, the only person you can blame on whether or not you won or lost is YOURSELF.
This is one of the many reasons wrestling resonated with me so well. I enjoyed being the only one out there in competition. While I loved Football, Baseball, and other team based sports, nothing was quite like wrestling.
Wrestling may be considered a team sport, but in the end it’s the most individualized sport there is.
When you’re out on the mat, it’s only YOU out there.
If you get tired, you can’t rely on your teammate to pick up the slack. If you mess up, get distracted, it’s all o YOU.
If you win – YOU DID IT.
If you lose, there’s NO EXCUSES – YOU lost.
Wrestling has taught me how to take more responsibility for the things I have and the things I want. Doing so has made me more successful.
Now, my mindset is that I’m 110% Responsible for everything in my life. If I want it, I have to make it happen. While people may be able to help me get to where I want to go, it will ultimately come down to me to truly make it happen.
When you take full responsibility for your life, that’s when some serious things start to happen.
Lesson #7 – You Must Have The KILLER Mindset.
All of the Champions within wrestling that I’ve met over the years have made me notice how much different of a breed of person they are.
You can see it in their eyes.
Unfortunately I was never a champion in my career. I won my fair share of tournaments, but you’re not considered a true “champion” unless you take state.
I was a bit of a “mental midget” when it came to state. I’m not ashamed to admit that I would choke at state every year as I’ve taken those events and have learned from them.
Instead of dwelling on how I performed back then and to feel sorry for myself, I now use that as fuel and as a reminder to always be a “Go-Getter”.
Back then, I had all the skills, the abilities, the conditioning, and the power you could ever ask for in order to dominate my competition, but when it came down to the wire, I had serious doubts within myself and what I was truly capable of doing which held me back from a ton of success.
Today, I am a Go-Getter.
I make lightning fast decisions and I think on the fly and I don’t worry about whether or not I’m going to fail.
A lot of people sit around “thinking” and when they start to think, they start to doubt and think of ways they’ll lose. I’ve already done that enough back in the past. Now it’s time to SUCCEED.
Wrestling taught me how to have that “Killer Mindset” so in present time, when I see an opportunity, I go for it!
If I lose, I’ll get back up on my feet and try again because in life, you’ve never truly lost until you decide to be done and to quit.
With that in mind, it brings me to the final lesson I want to share with you…
Lesson #8 – You Must Have 110% BELIEF in ONESELF – Eliminate ALL Self Doubt and Do What You Can Do – Just Make It Happen!
Lesson #8 says it all right there in the title.
In order to be a success, nothing else matters unless you first, without a doubt have total trust, commitment, and BELIEF in that fact that YOU can and will SUCCEED no matter. What.
If you don’t have BELIEF in yourself, nothing can help you succeed.
I learned this in wrestling not through all of the wins I had over my time, but rather through the losses I experienced.
At the end of the day, if I had only believed in myself a bit more, I could have achieved even more success.
Today, I have without a doubt the absolute BELIEF that I can and will prevail in anything I set out to do.
As for YOU, if you want to bring home the SUCCESS that you so desire, you too must have this belief.
Take it or leave it…. It’s all up to you.
Leave you comments and thoughts below! Looking forward to what YOU have to say!
Live and Train Aggressive!