Normally, Alex Marinelli would be in Carver-Hawkeye Arena wrestling right now. 

Not wrestling like he does in the thick of the collegiate season, but a lighter version where he doesn’t go as hard for longer periods of time. 

This offseason training period looks different than in years past, putting an individual and unique spin on what would normally be the drill for Iowa’s wrestlers and those all across the nation. 

It’s on each wrestler by themselves to see their goals for the 2020-21 season and to bring that to fruition by keeping themselves accountable and holding somewhat of a routine. Marinelli is keen on that visualization of his goals, but he knows it extends beyond that. 

“I always know my goal is to be a national champion, to be undefeated and major, tech or pin everyone, to get bonus points,” Marinelli told FloWrestling. “The fact that I haven’t done that yet . . . that alone gives me motivation. Then obviously writing things down and hanging things up — I know I’ve got a lot of things hung up, posters on the wall, sayings, and all that stuff is great. Putting it into action is another thing.”

Hear Marinelli talk about winning his second Big Ten title:

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So, he spends his days based off of what he did the day before and what he has already accomplished during the week. It’s a routine not based on workouts, but on doing the little things that will all add up when Carver-Hawkeye Arena opens back up and wrestling season returns in the fall. 

“[Iowa head coach] Tom [Brands], he’s big on getting up and being active and doing blue-collar work, whether that’s chopping wood . . . [or] I can do on runs and do hills,” Marinelli said. “We have trails right by Carver so we can still be outside. I have a stationary bike at my house, my buddy has weights in his garage, so there’s a lot of options. 

“You don’t need necessarily Carver to get you better and to make you a national champion.”

Marinelli likes to sleep and eat, two major things that now are more individualized than ever. He doesn’t have to be awake at a certain time and controlling his diet is all on him. 

Marinelli got a brutal pin to advance out of the conference semifinals:

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“If we’re not being as active you have to cut it down a little bit, you’ve got to make sure you’re not getting too heavy and you’ve got to really eat the right things,” Marinelli said. “Weight control starts in the kitchen. Everyone can do as many workouts as you can but if you’re not eating the right way, it’s detrimental.”

He supplements that with doing whatever he can to stay active. The biggest part comes with getting up and getting moving every single day, not lingering in bed for too long. 

When the day does start, the options aren’t limited to just straightforward, cookie-cutter workouts. Anything that gets the heart rate up will do the trick. The key, however, is to make sure you feel the workout in the end. 

“Now I’ve got to try to find ways to just have really tough workouts . . . I don’t know so much of a routine but it’s just day-by-day getting what I need,” Marinelli said. “If I lift one day, I’m running and doing whatever the next day. I’m trying to do it smart but on my own and being independent.”

Anna attended the University of Iowa, where she covered multiple sports from volleyball to football to wrestling. She went to Pittsburgh in March 2019 for the NCAA DI Wrestling Championships and did live coverage of the entire event and Spencer Lee’s second-straight NCAA title. Follow her on Twitter.