Competition-Day Nutrition for Tournament Success Tournament nutrition is different from everyday nutrition. You’re no longer trying to build muscle. You’re no longer trying to lose weight. You’re trying to perform. And performance favors preparation. Think Fuel, Not Meals Tournament days are not buffet days. They’re fuel stops. Large meals often lead to: Instead, think small…
Post Weigh-In Nutrition and the Golden Two Hours For many wrestlers, making weight feels like the finish line. In reality, it is the starting line. The tournament begins the moment you step off the scale. Everything you do during the next two hours will determine how much of your strength, endurance, and explosiveness returns before…
Weight-Cut Nutrition Without Sacrificing Performance In Parts 1 and 2 of the Feed the Goal series, we focused on building the wrestler and gradually preparing for the season ahead. If those phases were handled correctly, the final one to two weeks before major competition should not require drastic measures. Unfortunately, this is where many wrestlers…
Preseason Nutrition: Winning the Weight Class Before the Season Begins In Part 1 of the Feed the Goal series, we discussed the importance of using the offseason to build strength, develop muscle, and create healthy habits. During those months, the goal was growth. As the season approaches, however, the goal begins to shift. The focus…
Offseason Nutrition: Building the Wrestler, Not the Weight Class In our introduction to the Feed the Goal series, we introduced the idea that nutrition should change with the goals and demands of the season. The offseason is perhaps the most misunderstood phase of the wrestling year. Many wrestlers spend these months worrying about their future…
Feed the Goal: A Wrestler’s Guide to Nutrition Throughout the Year One of the greatest misconceptions in wrestling is that nutrition is simply about making weight. Unfortunately, many athletes and parents spend years chasing shortcuts, avoiding entire food groups, or believing there are “good foods” and “bad foods.” Others assume that eating less is somehow…
In this powerful talk to Central Catholic High School and CCRTC wrestlers, Coach Emilio Saavedra delivers a message that every athlete needs to hear: time is running faster than you think. Using a simple but powerful concept—730 days—Coach Emilio challenges wrestlers to recognize how few opportunities remain in a high school career. He discusses missed…
One of the most important lessons wrestling teaches has very little to do with takedowns, escapes, or championship matches. It teaches ownership. Every wrestler eventually learns that the things they value most are often the things they worked hardest to obtain. The victories mean more because of the difficult practices that came before them. The…
Every wrestling season follows a remarkably predictable pattern. The first few weeks are exciting. New gear arrives. Goals are discussed. Athletes imagine themselves winning matches, standing on podiums, and accomplishing things they have never done before. Then reality arrives. Practice becomes difficult. Conditioning becomes exhausting. The novelty wears off. Matches are harder than expected. Some…
One of the greatest misconceptions in youth wrestling is the belief that there will always be more time. Young athletes rarely think about it. Parents often don’t either. When you’re fourteen years old, four years of high school feels like an eternity. Even middle school wrestlers often assume they have plenty of seasons ahead of…
