With athletes for the most part still training at home, the tough part is keeping them motivated and their competitive spirit alive. Athletes, especially wrestlers, thrive on competition and the idea of outworking their opponent or the teammate next to them. Even the most self-motivated athlete can lose their edge when training solo and without the competitive push from others.

One of the things that has helped my athletes stay focused during this time away from the gym is challenge workouts. These workouts may not be part of our normal strength program, but similar to a practice room “finisher” they are a good motivator and measuring stick to compare their effort. Try this workout and send your time to your teammates to challenge them — keep a leaderboard and push to better your times each week. Just because you are training remotely doesn’t mean that you can’t challenge your friends and tap into their competitive instincts.

The GutCheck 300

Plate workout for time. Advanced athletes should use a 45lb plate. Lightweights and young athletes may use either a 25lb or 35lb plate. Complete the prescribed number of each exercise, either in a single set or during multiple sets with short breaks. Time the entire workout, start to finish.

25 Clean and Press — hinge forward as if you are sitting the plate on the floor between your feet. Pick it up, curl to chest height, and press overhead.

50 RDL — straight-leg deadlift.

50 Squat — hold the plate at chest height or hug while squatting.

50 Row — grip the lip of the plate and bend over into a partial square wrestling stance. Row the plate up and towards your hip. Do 50 on each side.

50 Overhead Lunge — hold the plate locked overhead while you perform walking lunges (50 on each leg).

50 Raise Press — raise the plate out in front of you. In one potion pull it in toward your chest and then press out explosively before lowering back towards your thighs.

25 Arches — keeping your arms locked, raise the plate out in front of you to one side, then up over and down to the other side, forming an arch. Taking the plate up and over to one side and then back again equals 1 rep.

Coach Myers is the strength coach for the Ohio Regional Training Center at The Ohio State University. With the Ohio RTC since 2012, he served as Ohio State Wrestling’s primary strength coach from 2014-18, helping the Buckeyes win three Big Ten titles, their first-ever team NCAA championship, and two runner-up finishes.

A certified strength and conditioning specialist (CSCS), Coach Myers owns the Old School Gym in Pataskala, OH, and is a founding partner of top supplement company Max Effort Muscle. Follow him on Instagram and Facebook, and learn more about his strength and conditioning programs for wrestlers of all ages here.