The importance of Back Strength in Wrestling – How to build a strong Back: Part 2

By Jason Shea MS, CSCS, PICP IV

In Part 1 of the Importance of back strength in wrestling we looked at some of the research on physiological profiles of wrestlers, did a quick overview of the muscles of the back, and discussed two training methods including hard work/manual strength and weighted vest training. Feel free to click back to part 1 for a refresher.

In the first post we looked at how Dan Gable and other athletes have used the rounded back and rotational movements of hard work/manual labor as a means of creating a foundation of strength (and work ethic). As an example, when we are shoveling that icy, slushy snow at the bottom of the driveway or lifting a moderately heavy stone in the yard, we usually don’t think to ourselves (unless we already have back problems) “arch the back, drive through the heels, activate the glutes, and lift with perfect mechanics.” Instead, we just bend over, round our backs and lift.

This may be effective for that type of work, but in the gym, with heavier weights and more restricted movement, there is a greater risk of injury if our mechanics are way off. In the gym, for many of the movements we will talk about below, it may be safer to stick with arched or neutral back posture.

Here a few exercises that can help strengthen the back. Let’s kick this off with what may be the king of all weight training exercises:

1. Deadlift: To completely upend the previous two paragraphs, did you know that many world records in the deadlift have been set when the athlete was using a rounded back posture?

A recent meta-analysis looked at the EMG activity of deadlifts and its variations (8) and found:

• The spinal erectors had higher muscle activation than the glutes and hamstrings for all exercises tested (except for one study that showed Romanian deadlift had greater hamstring than erector spinae activation).
• Concentric (lifting) phase showed greater activation in spinal erectors, hamstrings, and quads than eccentric (lowering) phase.
• Deadlifting with a combination of free weights + bands led to greater erector spinae activation
• Similar erector spinae activation seen in Hex Bar Deadlifts, conventional deadlifts, and hip thrusts. More glute activation in hip thrusts while more hamstring in deadlifts.
• 3 reps at 85% 1RM in the regular deadlift led to greater erector spinae activation than 3 reps in Hex bar deadlift.
• Greater upper lumbar erector spinae activation in 6 reps at 80% 1RM deadlift vs parallel back squat.

In 2017 (6) researchers found that subjects were able to lift considerably more weight on average (194kg vs 183kg) in the hex bar deadlift compared with conventional deadlift. Power (589.3W vs 459.9W), Force (1705.6N vs 1613.3N), and bar speed (0.33m/s vs 0.29m/s) were all significantly greater in the hex bar deadlift as well.

A study out of Duke University (3) compared the muscle activity of the legs, hips, thighs, and trunk musculature in the sumo versus conventional deadlift.  The researchers had thirteen Division I-A college football players perform 4 reps for each deadlift variation (sumo, conventional, sumo with belt, conventional with belt) and compared the EMG muscle activity of each.  

Significantly greater activation of vastus lateralis and medialis (quad muscles), medial hamstring, tibialis anterior, and upper traps was seen in the sumo deadlift, while the conventional pull had significantly more activation in the medial gastroc (calf). There were no significant differences in activation for the remaining muscles tested. 

According to a 2018 study (2),

“there are two main variations of a conventional deadlift with different starting bar positions based on the barbell sports of powerlifting and weightlifting. In the powerlifting variation, the bar is placed directly above the navicular bone and below the inferior spine of the scapula, termed the close-bar deadlift (CBDL); in the weightlifting variation, the bar is placed above the metatarsophalangeal joint and below the acromioclavicular joint (AC), termed the far-bar deadlift (FBDL).”

“As a result of the bar position, the CBDL style will have a higher hip position and more horizontal torso, which may result in increased net lumbar shear force and increased erector spinae activity.” “These different set up positions may have important implications for experienced lifters in their ability to generate force off the ground from the initiation of a lift.”

The study looked at starting position joint angles and muscle activation per patterns per rep. With regards to starting position joint angles the researchers found:

Joint:     Olympic Weightlifting (FBD) vs   Powerlifting (CBD)

Foot Angle:        12.1 deg                        vs         10.5 deg

Tibia Angle:        19.5 deg                        vs         8.56 deg

Knee Angle:       68.6 deg                        vs         51.2 deg

Hip Angle:           78.4 deg                          vs        78.7 deg

Lumbar Angle:  23.4 deg                        vs         25.0 deg

Torso Angle:      69.0 deg                        vs         77.5 deg

With the greater bend at the knees and shin angle, the weightlifting (fbd) start position engaged the thoracic and upper lumbar spinal erectors significantly more than the close bar deadlift.  The glutes, hamstring, lats, and lumbar spinal erectors had similar activation in both start positions.

Muscle Activation         FBD vs CBD

Thoracic Erector Spinae:                9.73    vs   1.06

Lumbar Erector Spinae:                5.06    vs   5.32

Upper Lumbar Erectors:                9.30     vs   1.03

Latissimus Dorsi:                               7.88     vs   7.30

Gluteus Maximus:                            1.34     vs   1.16

Biceps Femoris (hammies):          2.14     vs   3.12

Vastus Lateralis (quad):                4.09     vs   3.03

Things to think about:

• Pick the stance that is most comfortable for you and allows you proper range of motion and straight line of bar path from mid foot.
• Sumo allows for greater quad activation, a more upright torso angle and lower hips. This may save the back from some trainees.
• Shorter torso and longer armed lifters may benefit conventional deadlifts more, while longer torsos and shorter armed lifters may gravitate toward sumo deadlifts.
• Conventional deadlifts can be a great bridge to learning the power clean and its variations.

For a great book on learning Deadlift technique, check out Mark Rippetoe’s Starting Strength.

• Rack Pulls: Partial range of motion deadlifts (starting from the rack usually above, at, or below the knee) versus full range of motion deadlifts from the floor. With the shorter range of motion, these can allow for more weight to be used. This can help in busting through sticking points while improving grip, upper/lower back, glute, quads, and hamstring strength. For an added challenge try performing these at a 3013 tempo with a car axle/fat grip bar.
• Squat Variations: Squat variations include:
  • Back Squat: Focus on maintain neutral/lordotic posture, heels in contact with ground, knees travel in same direction or slightly outward of toes, eyes straight, hamstrings to calf (if possible).
    • Focus on 1.0-1.5 m/s on concentric movement (effective bar speed measurement tools include Gymaware, Bar Sensei, Push, and Beast)
    • At one of his seminars, Olympic Gold Medalist Dimitriy Klokov introduced the attendees to one of his rehab/prehab protocols for hip impingement syndrome:  “10 second eccentric, a three-second pause at the bottom” of the squat.  Check out this video of Klokov doing a 5s eccentric/5s pause at the bottom squat with 550lbs!
    • Back squats with chains, bands, and weight releasers are effective methods of accommodating resistance.
  • Front Squat: Crossover grip, clean grip, or straps, maintain neutral/lordotic posture, knees in same direction or slightly outward of toes, heels remain in contact.
    • Focus on 1.0-1.5 m/s concentric
    • Challenge workout: 10 minutes (Density)
      • A1: Front Squats: 5-6 reps @ 4010; rest 0-20s
      • A2: Pull-Ups: 8-10 reps @ 3010; rest 0-20s
      • Try to complete minimum of 6 sets of each
  • Overhead Squat: Good squat variation for core strengthening, improving torso posture/hip mobility, and strengthening the shoulders/back for Olympic lift variations. Check out this link article for great advice on technique.
  • Dumbbell Squat (Heels elevated): Dumbbells at your sides or resting upright on the shoulders. Good variation for teaching squat technique to beginners, especially when combined with heel elevations and slow eccentric. Check out this video with coaching cues.
  • Zercher Squat: This squat variation is a great training variation for wrestlers. If you have access to FloWrestling.com, Coach Myers, the strength coach for the Ohio Regional Training Center at The Ohio State University, has a great video on technique and the importance of this exercise for wrestlers (check it out here). Below is an image of strongman and world powerlifting legend Bill Clark performing a Zercher Squat with 405lbs!

• 1 ¼ Squats: Add a ¼ rep to the bottom of each squat for more time under tension and strength/rebound out of the bottom. Here is a great article with instructional videos on the 1 ¼ squat.
  • Inertia Squats: These squats target the top ¼ to 1/3 of a squat. Here is a quick video tutorial.
  • Heels Elevated Squats: Variation for improving range of motion, maintaining upright torso, and getting more quad activation. Olympic weightlifting shoes will do the trick as they have a heel elevation built in. Check out the Reeboks line of Olympic lifting shoes on Amazon.
  • Split Squat Variations: There are many variations to this single leg squat exercise. Here is a good resource article to get started.
  • Box Squats: A good variation to teach squat technique, potentially save the knees, and allow for strong recruitment of the glutes and hamstrings. Here is an excellent article on Box Squat technique from one of the best in the world, Louie Simmons of Westside Barbell. 
  • Safety Bar Squats: Allows for vertical torso alignment during squat; 

• Can aid in decreasing shearing forces on the spine during the squat

• Jump Squat Variations: More on these in the Power section.
  • May want to stay away from the “standing on the Swiss Ball” squats as these can be an ACL tear waiting to happen. The reward may be far outweighed by the risk.

• For more on squat technique here is a good article by the Poliquin Group titled Ten Tips for A Better Back Squat: A Start-to-Finish Guide.
• Chin up/Pull-Up Variations: We saw in Part 1 of this blog series that Elite Iranian Junior freestyle wrestlers averaged anywhere from 19.5 (120kg heavyweights) to 40.7 (50kg) pull-ups. A separate study found that Elite Senior Greco Roman wrestlers averaged 31 pull-ups while their non-elite counterparts averaged 26 pull-ups.

Strengthlevel.com, a site that allows users to post in their best numbers in certain lifts, provides this table (based off of 256,000 user lifts/responses) for Chin-Ups. The table provides max reps and 1 rep max weight standards for beginner, novice, intermediate, advanced, and elite.

The site provides a similar chart for pull-ups, deadlifts, squats, pushups, and more.

Below are a few different pull-up/chin-up variations:

• Weighted Chin-Up (medium and narrow grip)
  • Weighted Pull-Up (Wide and medium grip)
  • Weighted Neutral Grip Chin Up
  • Subscapularis Pull-Up (Lean-aways)
  • Towel or rope chin ups
  • Sternum Chin Ups
  • ¼, ½, ¾, full Chin Ups
  • Commando Pull-Ups

Here is a Great article by legendary world-renowned strength coach Charles Poliquin (and his team) on “Why you must do Chin-Ups”.  If you want to improve both your Chin-up strength and reps (along with your entire upper body) give this 16 week workout a try.

Another training method to try is what Pavel Tsatsouline coined “Greasing the Groove”. Or as Dan Gable preferred, every time you walk past a chin-up bar, do 10. This is an excellent article on greasing the groove, or submaximal training throughout the day.

• Romanian Deadlifts: Reportedly originating from former Romanian Olympic Weightlifting coach Istvan Jovorek or from Romanian weightlifter Nicu Vlad’s s seminar demonstrations back in the 1990’s, this exercise has been a staple for many a strong back, butt, and hamstrings.

Learning how to do this exercise from Olympic Weightlifting Coach Denis Reno, I can still remember him reiterating: BIG BUTT.  Arch your back and bend your knees roughly 20-30 degrees. Think BIG BUTT as you shift your weight back through the heels as you begin the eccentric part of the movement. Maintaining the same knee angle throughout, thinking BiG BUTT, lower the barbell to just before the point where you start to lose the arch in the back. Lift the bar back to the top keeping the same knee bend and back arch. For more hamstring recruitment try a wider grip on the bar.  

Stretching the hip flexors between sets and utilizing a slow eccentric tempo can also help.

• Row Variations: Bent over barbell, Chest supported (Hammer/selectorized, etc), seated cable, T-Bar, 1-Arm DB rows, Inverted barbell/ring/TRX, standing cable, etc)
  • Technique stuff:
  • Bent Over Barbell –With knees locked at slight bend (roughly 20-30 degrees), torso roughly parallel to the floor, lordotic/neutral posture, and head neutral (looking down), pull the bar somewhere between sternum and belly button. Think about pulling the elbows back while pinching the shoulder blades back and down.
  • 1 Arm DB Row: Standing or with knee on bench with torso support from opposite arm. Here is a good video of the technique by strength coach Ben Pakulski.
• Landmine grappler/wrestler twist variations: Rather than get to fancy here (you can probably find hundreds of landmine exercise variations online), let’s just get down to pure old aggression training with this. Start with a manageable weight (see below) at one hip. Rotate/swing the bar up and out as powerfully/aggressively as you can, pivoting both feet, until the bar reaches the other hip. Immediately change direction. For a challenge try for either 10 reps in 10 seconds or 20 reps in 30 seconds. If you hit the reps/time, add 10lbs. Keep at it until you can no longer hit the reps in allotted time.
• Lat Pulldowns: Pronated, Supinated, Neutral, Wide, Close, Single Arm, Fat Grip, Towels, etc
• Death March: Great exercise for strengthening the glutes, hamstrings, and lower back. Click here for a video of legendary Olympic Weightlifting Coach Glenn Pendlay teaching the exercise.
• Good Mornings: Here is an excellent article titled “The Most Important Back Exercise You’re Probably Not Doing” by the Poliquin Group’s Editorial Staff. After reading this you may find yourself incorporating this exercise into your next workout. I know I did.  
• Low back extension variations: 45 degree, horizontal, rotating, accentuated eccentric, band resisted back extensions, snatch grip barbell back extensions, and more.
• Reverse Hypers: A 2019 study out of the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research found that while the back extension had greater activation of the glute max and biceps femoris (hamstring), the researchers expressed that the Reverse Hyperextension had a preferable “movement profile”. The researchers explained that the Reverse Hyperextension “produces greater hip ROM with less angular stress applied to the lumbar spine while providing equivalent erector spinae activity. Several investigators have reported that low back pain may be related to limited ROM in the hip, resulting in excessive stresses on the lumbar spine (7).”
• Pull Throughs: Good exercise for targeting the glutes, hamstrings, and low back while strengthening the hip hinge movement. Here is a great article by Dr. John Rusin on how to perform different pull-through variations.
• Glute Ham Raise: According to an excellent 1997 article by Kim Goss titled Discover the Glute-Ham Advantage, “the glute-ham raise enables an athlete to work the entire length of the spine and both the knee and hip extension functions of the hamstrings. This is not possible with the back extension benches found in most gyms. Says Poliquin, “The design of the glute-ham developer allows an athlete to strengthen the erectors especially in the middle portion, which, in most sports, is exposed to high forces (4).”

“Another plus for the glute-ham raise is that it is one of the most important exercises for preventing back and knee injuries, especially the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL). “The spine is exposed to great compressive forces in many sports,” says Poliquin. “I’ve found that athletes who are weak in the hamstrings, glutes and lower back not only are more likely to injure the lower back, but also are especially prone to tearing the ACL. Because the glute-ham exercise increases muscle mass and strength in the back, glutes and hamstrings, those athletes who include this exercise in their programs are better able to withstand the compressive loads on the spine and those forces that occur with sports such as football and alpine skiing,” says Poliquin (4).” Here is the link to the entire article. Highly recommend reading it.                   

• Eccentric Overload (EOL) Flywheel/inertia training devices: Think of trying to start a pull cord lawnmower that just won’t start. According to a recent study “flywheel training instead utilizes kinetic energy transferred to a flywheel. This allows for eccentric overload and variable resistance throughout the movement (9).”   
  • Versa Pulley:
  • Desmotec
  • Exxentric

A few recent studies have found that eccentric overload (EOL) flywheel training is an effective tool at improving strength, power, and coordination (1, 5). A 2018 Meta-Analysis study on flywheel training analyzed dynamic muscle strength, muscle growth, power, and development of vertical and horizontal movement. The researchers concluded that “flywheel training could be a useful load-alternative for development of several variables of strength and to improve results on functional tests” in well-trained individuals. They also expressed that the “real-time feedback on several training variables” on many of these devices could also create a positive training response (9).   

For more on strength and power development in athletes as well as a year long combined training and conditioning program check out Jason Shea and coach Farren Davis’s new book Explosive Athlete: Jump Higher, Run Faster…..Perform Better! (Specific Sports Training and Athletic Workout Programs).

Stay tuned for part 3 in this back strength in wrestling blog series. There we will get into modified strongman and power training.

Thx for reading and keep moving forward!

                                                                                References

1. Beato M, et al.  Current Evidence and Practical Applications of Flywheel Eccentric Overload Exercises as Postactivation Potentiation Protocols: A Brief Review. International Journal of Sports Physiology and Performance. 17; Pp 1-8. 2019.
2. Edington C, et al. The Effect of Set Up Position on EMG Amplitude, Lumbar Spine Kinetics, and Total Force Output During Maximal Isometric Conventional-Stance Deadlifts. Sports (Basel). 6(3); Pp 90. 2018.
3. Escamilla R, et al. An electromyographic analysis of sumo and conventional style deadlifts. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise. 34(4); Pp 682-688. 2002.
4. Goss K. Discover the Glute-Ham Advantage. Bigger Faster Stronger. Winter. 1997.
5. Illera-Dominguez V, et al. Early Functional and Morphological Muscle Adaptations During Short-Term Inertial-Squat Training. Frontiers in Physiology. Sept 2018. https://doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2018.01265
6. Lake J, et al. Effect of Hexagonal Barbell on the mechanical demand of Deadlift Performance. Sports (Basel). 5(4); Pp 82. 2017.
7. Lawrence M, et al. Biomechanical comparison of the reverse hyperextension machine and the hyperextension machine. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research. 33(8); Pp 2053-2056. 2019.
8. Martin-Fuentes I, et al. Electromyographic activity in deadlift exercise and its variants. A systemic review. PL0S One. 15(2); e0229507. 2020.
9. Petre H, et al. Effects of Flywheel Training on Strength-Related Variables: A Meta-analysis. Sports Medicine Open. 4(55). 2018. PMCID: PMC6292829.