KUORTANE, Finland (November 22) -- United World Wrestling partnered with the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) last week to deliver its first-ever Strength and Conditioning Course for wrestling.

The course, which is part of United World Wrestling’s “Grow Wrestling” initiative, was held at the Kuoratane Olympic Training Centre (KOTC) facility in Finland and supported by Olympic Solidarity, the Finnish Wrestling Federation, the Finnish Weightlifting Federation and the KOTC.

More than two-dozen coaches from 11 National Federations used the course to exchange ideas, experiences and increase knowledge of strength and conditioning within an interactive learning environment. The course covered topics like wrestling-specific testing, tapering, post-activation potentiation, and incorporating weightlifting into strength training.

The course also utilized theoretical and practical sessions covering Olympic weightlifting technique, functional training for wrestling, and nutrition and weight control strategies.

Suples provided further wrestling-specific strength and conditioning training sessions and assessed coaches for the “Suples Fit” certification. The course also welcomed 2016 Olympic Champion Helen MAROULIS (USA) who shared her knowledge of strength training and weight management from her perspective as a top-level athlete.

Tamás Fehér of the IWF said, “This is a fantastic project to create a dialogue between two sports; I feel like a part of the wrestling family already!”

United World Wrestling donated $40,000 worth of wrestling training equipment and mats to the KOTC. The center’s Olli PEKKA KARJALAINEN added, “This course is great start for a successful partnership as wrestling is one of the main sports at the KOTC. We are very happy to partner with United World Wrestling and support its coaches and athletes training programs”.

The KOTC also helped with the recovery of course attendees by providing the complementary cryotherapy recovery sessions at their facility.