Today’s show is with Ben Askren, former mixed martial artist and wrestler, who is now a wrestling coach (amongst his other ventures). Ben is one of the most successful wrestlers, and MMA fighters of all time, known for his unique style and technical skills.
Ben’s NCAA career consisted of a 157-8 overall record. His final two years were dominant with an 87-0 record capped by back-to-back national championships (2006 & 2007). Ben was a four-time all-American, and two-time recipient of the Dan Hodge Trophy (the college wrestling equivalent of the Heisman). Askren was the former Bellator and ONE Welterweight Champion, remaining undefeated for over a decade before competing in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, and had a final win-loss record of 19 and 2. Ben has co-founded Askren Wrestling Academy (AWA) with his brother Max. They currently operate 5 gyms.
I am perpetually fascinated by elite talent in sport. In training athletes, so often we take for granted, the long term process, the mental process, and the creativity that makes some athletes so elite. It is very easy to get “sucked in” to sets, reps, exercises and positions, and fail to nurture both the individual creative and mental processes that are going to help athletes succeed as the level of competition rises.
On today’s podcast, Ben takes us through his early life in sport, and about when he made the transition from multi-sport athlete to specialist in wrestling. He shares about the grounds the led to some big leaps in his creative ability as an athlete, and the balance between creativity and structure in the development of a young athlete. Finally Ben shares lots of information on developing one’s practice of mental composition for athletic performance.
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Timestamps and Main Points
4:53 – What inspired Ben to make the jump from wrestling to MMA fighting in his career
8:52 – Ben’s athletic background from a young age, starting from a multi-sport perspective, and how that eventually funneled into specializing in wrestling
15:52 – Prime coaches and mentors in Ben’s athletic career that impacted his formation as an athlete
18:16 – Ben discusses his practice of study in his own development into an elite wrestler and fighter
21:24 – The balance between creativity and structure in training wrestlers as they go from youth to a mature athlete
22:59 – How Ben’s wrestling academies teach children with individual facets of performance in mind
25:56 – Thoughts on teaching athletes to deal with adversity in their sporting careers, and as they advance in level of competition
33:14 – A conversation on the value of submaximal lifting versus heavy strength training in performance training
44:04 – Development of young wrestling athletes, and how early success is not a requirement for later successes
50:17 – How to educate parents to buy into the long term vision of success for their athletes, and why the youth sport system (and monetization) is not set up in favor of long term athlete success
55:40 – How to manage stress and anxiety in big competitions
58:03 – How Ben approaches mental training in practice and competition
1:03:49 – Tactics to minimize anxiety in competition
“(When I made the decision to specialize in Wrestling after freshman year of high school) At that time, that was totally unheard of… all specialization was much more limited at that point in time”
“I try to not let the parents push the kid into more participation, I want it to be the kid’s choice”
“I know there are some people who say you should never specialize, and I strongly disagree with that… at my academy, there are certain kids who going into their freshman year are 92 pounds, what other sports can they play?”
