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Athletes, Coaches Katherine Shai Athletes, Coaches Katherine Shai

3 Steps to Advance Your Rope Climb

Rope climbs are an awesome way for wrestlers to build their core, arm strength, and stamina. Its the kind of exercise that helps you get gritty... you can't let go and you have to fight to the top! It can be very representative of a wrestling match, which makes it so applicable! Once you can advance to climbing the rope without the assistance of your legs, you are reaching a new level of strength. Here are your steps to advancing your rope climb.

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Nutrition, Athletes, Parents, Coaches Othella Feroleto Nutrition, Athletes, Parents, Coaches Othella Feroleto

Othella Feroleto: How to Use Protein Supplements as a Female Wrestler

Othella Feroleto is a former athlete for the US Army World Class Athlete Program, has an extensive wrestling resume, and is now pursuing her masters degree in human-nutrition and dietetics. We are thrilled to have nutrition advice from someone who has wrestled and traveled the world. That kind of experience helps you advise younger wrestlers who are looking to reach a new level of training.

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Nutrition, Athletes, Parents Katherine Shai Nutrition, Athletes, Parents Katherine Shai

7 Tips to Prevent Overeating

Wrestlers and athletes spend years learning how to eat better for performance, and then transfer that knowledge to life. Once you've weeded through all the nutritional knowledge, you'll find that a few tips are tried and true. Below are techniques that help with learning your body, and how to appropriately portion your meals throughout the day.

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Athletes, Parents, Coaches, Workouts, Women's Wrestling Katherine Shai Athletes, Parents, Coaches, Workouts, Women's Wrestling Katherine Shai

Why Women Should Get Off the Cardio Equipment and Hit the Weights

I can't begin to tell you how many women and girls have shared with me their concern for getting "bulky." In order to avoid this, they focus hours on the elliptical, running on treadmills, and climbing the stair master. Afterwards, they may walk across the gym and pick up 5, 10, or 15 pound dumbbells to do a couple sets or curls or presses. I rarely see women curl or press dumbbells that are so heavy they can barely finish their set of 8-10 repetitions. Why is this?

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Athletes, Coaches, Injuries Katherine Shai Athletes, Coaches, Injuries Katherine Shai

Read THIS to Prevent Knee Injuries

As wrestlers, we get into extreme positions. If you have knee instability, you are putting yourself at risk for tweaks, sprains, or the worst: ACL tears. The first gif shows a position I often see female wrestlers in. The knees rock in, out, or a combination of the two. This indicates that the muscles of the leg and surrounding tendons (connects muscle to bone) and ligaments (connects bone to bone) which support the knee joint are weak and compromised. If this improper knee position continues while doing jumps, weight lifting, stance drills and wrestling, you can often expect injuries.

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Parents, Athletes, Nutrition Katherine Shai Parents, Athletes, Nutrition Katherine Shai

How to Jump on the Meal-Prep Bandwagon

If you are up to date on athlete trends, you'll have heard about meal prepping. Not only are there countless articles you can read on how to actually meal prep, but also instagram accounts showing others' gorgeously stacked tupperware for their week's meals. But who is actually using this and using it well? And is it actually benefitical for athletes?

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Mindset, Coaches, Athletes Katherine Shai Mindset, Coaches, Athletes Katherine Shai

The Problem with Letting Wins Define Your Self Worth

Competition naturally brings on a count of wins versus losses, who beat who, and how many teams were made when you competed at an elite level. None of this is inherently bad, until we start letting those elements define our self worth. We have all heard stories from past athletes, no matter what level they competed at, of the lessons from sport which have carried over into their careers and personal lives. This happens for a reason, and they share these stories because they are proud of the characteristics sport has given them. They discover that the wins and losses have faded from memory, and they have reaped the benefits of resiliency and determination. It helped them become successful people in life. The athletes who stepped away from sport with a sour taste in their mouth often leave because they focused too much on the wins or losses. They never saw the lessons sport had to give, and often have a harder time adapting to what life throws at them.

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Competition, Athletes, Women's Wrestling Katherine Shai Competition, Athletes, Women's Wrestling Katherine Shai

Choosing Underwear for Female Wrestlers

As combat athletes and especially wrestlers, we face a very different set of challenges when it comes to choosing our workout gear. Being in tight fitting leggings, shorts, or competition singlets requires us to look at our undergarments from a different perspective. Gone are the days where we can wear our favorite lucky neon pink undies for competition... especially if we appreciate some modesty. When it comes to wearing spandex, we have to know how "sheer is our gear" before we get into a stance. I have had my fair share of undergarment faux pas, at practices and competitions. Here are my recommendations to help you navigate the world of sport and underwear!

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Coaches, Athletes, Competition Jessica Medina Coaches, Athletes, Competition Jessica Medina

Improve your Wrestling Game this Season

As a former athlete transitioning into coaching, I have had the opportunity to work with some of the best coaches and athletes in the country. This summer I had the opportunity to travel around the country helping youth athletes improve in the off season. From clinics, to the Freestyle National tournament, to cadet and junior world team camp I have watched a variety of wrestling. As the new season approaches many athletes have asked what they need to do to have a successful season. After evaluating some of our nation’s best youth athletes these are my recommendations for the upcoming season.

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Parents, Athletes, Nutrition Katherine Shai Parents, Athletes, Nutrition Katherine Shai

Habit Changes for Picky-Eater Athletes

We are inherently influenced by what something looks like that we are about to eat. It's in our DNA, as a visual cue was what protected us from eating something poisonous while we were hunters and gatherers. Second cue? Taste and texture. I know this well as I was an extremely picky eater as a child, and my fight or flight radars went off often with new foods. Texture was big for me and I was extremely resistant to trying anything new. I was encouraged to not give up and am proud to say that today, I will try anything once (well almost anything). Your body needs fuel to go, and recognizing that your choices make a difference can help you make changes for the better as an athlete, and for the rest of your life as a healthy human!

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Athletes, Stories, Women's Wrestling Katherine Shai Athletes, Stories, Women's Wrestling Katherine Shai

Professional Athletes and Pregnancy

There have been some awesome articles lately about pregnancy and elite athletes. Serena Williams is pregnant with her first, and won a Grand-Slam title while 8 weeks pregnant. Track athlete Alysia Montanio was just in the news as she competed in the 800-meters at 5 months pregnant. There are also countless numbers of female athletes who have competed in their athletic career at the highest levels while pregnant.

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Athletes, Coaches, Injuries Katherine Shai Athletes, Coaches, Injuries Katherine Shai

What You Aren't Doing That's Preventing Your Return to Sport

We are often our own worst enemies with healed injuries. When we start noticing the inevitable progression towards competition nears closer and closer, and we start loosing our heads. Those last, critical steps towards a full recovery are missed, and we become anxious and over focused on being back to sport in full. What we don't realize is, we already have the tools in our pocket to be ready for competition. It is not the first time we are competing! But are our bodies ready to adapt to the demands we must place on it? 

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Athletes, Injuries, Mindset Katherine Shai Athletes, Injuries, Mindset Katherine Shai

12 Week Surgery Update

So far, I have had a lot of ups and downs typical of surgery. My last update focused on the the types of workouts I was able to maintain while I was living in a sling. The next phase has been working on increasing my range of motion (ROM) as well as adding band strength rehab. I have also been cleared to do some light swimming, which has been an awesome and freeing feeling for my shoulder!

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Athletes, Mindset, Injuries Katherine Shai Athletes, Mindset, Injuries Katherine Shai

Comfort Zone

My husband is into podcasts and videos which emphasize self improvement. He loves thinking outside the box, so we really get to share the intricacies of how the mind works as an athlete and in everyday life.  He was watching a video about cold showers and how they can be just the beginning of helping you get out of your comfort zone. It inspired me to write about comfort zones and why it has made a difference in my sport and life!

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Athletes, Coaches, Competition Katherine Shai Athletes, Coaches, Competition Katherine Shai

High Level Training Myths

No matter what level you are on currently, reaching your next level or goal comes from introspection and learning how and where you can make improvements. However, as you start exploring where you can make changes as an athlete, it is important to not fall into the trap of what you expect the end results to be, or how you should look getting there. Here are my top 5 training myths for reaching a higher level. 

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