Basic nutrition is no longer common place in our world, especially in the US. When it comes to making good decisions, we've unfortunately never been given the right tools. As we live our lives on the go, we reach more for alternatives than for whole foods. Even as athletes, we are still faced with the misconceptions that society instills. How do we educate ourselves to rise above the ideas that most of our peers and the people around us believe to be true about nutrition? We've brought back world medalist Othella Feroleto to help us address common misconceptions and to give us helpful tips.

We have a bit of a dilemma in the US: if you want to wrestle on your high school team in most states, you must wrestle the boys. Unfortunately, most parents and athletes are not comfortable with the idea of competing in a contact sport with boys. This means female athletes who would like the sport of wrestling are less inclined to join. As prideful as it may be to compete against the opposite gender and be successful, it doesn't always prove fruitful for the sport in the long run.

As wrestlers, there's a few basic motions that translate into the variations of movement needed for wrestling technique. Focusing on a few basic body weight exercises can make a huge difference in your wrestling game. Not having any gym equipment isn't any excuse! Use your body, get outside, and sharpen up your skills off the mat.

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.

How often have you arrived at competition and realized you just started your period? Did you have all you needed, or did the stress of being with out the proper tools wear you down? Learning good habits which help support you during your period are a must for female athletes. Being prepared is key, but often we don't have a clue what we should be prepared for! Let's talk strategies and tools we can utilize so the day of competition is a little less painful.

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.

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.

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?

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.

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?

As a beginner wrestler, how do you become effective in competition without obsessing over learning every technique? When we focus solely on the need to perfect technique, it can often prevent you from seeing the big picture. What is sport, but accepting the challenge from another competitor to compete to your best abilities? By simplifying the idea of sport, we can focus on being a fierce competitor, and focus on where to position yourself for the best advantage. I've seen many great wrestlers who learned how to be tough competitors without high level technique. In good time, the technique will come with work and repetition.

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.

For every sport competition, we have our typical packing list of must haves: uniform, food, water, lucky socks. But the more we compete, the more we find ourselves in situations where we didn't have what we needed. And even though we try and buffer for most situations, not everyone knows what to pack just in case. Here are the 5 items you should never forget to bring with you to a competition.

Wrestling has a stigma about weight cutting, and often the wrestling community is perpetuating it ourselves. In my opinion, it is emphasized much too heavily and much too young. Through competing, coaching, and educating young wrestlers about the sport, I have observed that our young athletes are taught they might only be successful if they compete at a lower weight. The number of males and females I've spoken to who have decided not to continue their career onto a collegiate or international level, have mostly been due to burn out from weight cutting. When does it become impractical to maintain a weight class? Should our minds, bodies, technique, and love for the sport suffer? This post is meant to be a guide for young athletes to navigate the pressures they may be receiving to cut weight.

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!

Giving yourself the opportunity to be okay with the ups and downs of training is important. No one has consistently perfect training sessions, no matter how positive they seem or how awesome their workouts look on social media. Here are my tips so you don't get hung up on a tough training session:

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.

Trying to stereotype a female wrestler’s body as only short and stocky will only give you a narrow view of our sport. Wrestling is one of the few sports where you use your body type as a way to get the advantage over your opponent. Tall wrestle short, skinny wrestle stocky. As long as they are the same weight, you must learn how to wrestle whatever your opponent looks like...

Whenever I speak with my adult female friends on nutrition, I often hear them speak about wanting to "get back to eating clean." When I ask them what does that mean or look like for them, it is often "oh, super super healthy and I do everything perfect." 

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!