See the issue: September 2008

 

Over the past 15 years, the University of Oklahoma has won a pair of Big 12 conference titles and crowned 49 All-Americans and six national champions. Effective defense has been a key.

According to Tim Overman, team strength and conditioning coach, working the muscles that increase your sprawl is a necessity. He says, “If you have a slow sprawl, your opponent will get to your leg, and you’ll be taken down.”

To enhance his wrestlers’ ground-based power, which is essential to sprawling, Overman has the Sooners perform basic Box Jumps in the offseason. Once you’re comfortable with the jumps, superset them with Squats.

Box Jump Dos
• Pick a box height that is difficult, but not impossible
• Stand in front of box with feet shoulder-width apart
• Use arms to jump explosively onto box
• Land on balls of feet as softly as possible
• Land on box with same body height as loaded position
• Perform 5 sets of 4 or 4 sets of 5

Box Jump Don’ts
• Increase box height or superset with Squats until form is perfect
• Rock body to gain momentum
• Go through reps quickly, but do jump explosively every rep
• Perform more than 20 jumps
• Perform more than 12 jumps when supersetting with Squats

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