Always love the rhetoric (from coaches or from athletes) of we need to lift to get bigger during the winter so can’t wrestle. Yet they don’t pull that logic with the basketball coach or dedicated BB players and those guys aren’t gaining any real muscle strength in their season. Then see 90% or more of those same athletes not in an organized constant lifting routine over winter.
The athletes have the spring and summer to lift and get bigger. Most football guys having a chance to using winter to be in a secondary sport to help work on other athletic aspects and just get a break from solely a football focused mindeset. I feel like football coaches should want to see their guys in something even if it’s basketball or swimming, rather than them wasting away most of the winter doing little with the occasional weight room visit mostly to be social.
Sure some of it’s are the football guys using lifting as an excuse because they don’t want to put in the work wrestling required but for the football coaches to not encourage it worse discourage it seems ridiculous. Most football guys could substitute sitting around most of winter and occasionally lifting, especially as a lineman, with working on balance, footwork, hand fighting, and mental toughness through wrestling.
Sure they may lose a little weight but it’s mostly needed body fat and have plenty of time to add that weight back on as solid muscle through a consistent lifting routine Spring through Fall. Be nice if many football coaches could recognize this or at least have an open mind to engage the wrestling coaches is a useful dialogue to try to work through some of their hesitations/concerns.