my Arte Suave

iInterview: Ben Askren edition

Please do not steal this, instead ask to use. Takes alot of leg work to do this stuff.

Welcome to my very first interview! Hopefully I can do a few of these per month.

I am not sure about other people in their pursuit of their goals, but for me its about getting results. Find the best way NOT to waste my time. And what better way then to learn from 4X NCAA wrestling finalist 2X Champion, Olympian, Pan Am Gold medalist BEN ASKREN!?

Ben Askren attended and wrestled for The University of Missouri. He is a 4X NCAA Finalist, losing two times in ‘04 and ‘05, before winning his National Titles in ‘06 and ‘07. Ben is also a ‘05 Pan American champion. 2008 Olympian in Beijing. And Current welterweight champion in Bellator!

What got you started into wrestling?

BA: I played all the sports when I was young, and wrestling was the one I

liked the most.

What motivated you to keep going after so many years wrestling?

BA: I wanted to be the best. Plain and simple i trained to be a champion.

What were some of your most valuable lessons, or something that you draw strength from, can you point to anything specific and why?

BA: Hard work pays off. I think there are a lot of valuable assets I have

created for myself as a wrestler and being a hard worker is prob one

of the most important.I have grown many times and slightly altered my thinking many times

also. I don’t think any changes can be cited to one loss, but more to

a desire to be the best and keep evolving as necessary to be the best.

What was a typical day for you like during your time at mizzou?

BA: College wrestling is a full time job. I loved trying to be the best

and I was very passionate about it, I trained very hard year round and

I had a strong desire to know everything I could about wrestling.

Regarding your strength and conditioning, what were your splits during

your time at MU?

I left all of these decisions up to our strength and conditioning

coaches, i didn’t love to lift weights so I let them write the plans bc

they knew much more than I did.

Regarding the last two questions, what was a typical day for you like? I.E.

wake up at 7am for morning jog, lift at 9a, wrestling practice at 10..etc..

And did that change over time?

BA: I would wrestle twice a day 3x a week. The other two say I would

wrestle once and do strength and conditioning in the morning. The

weekend changed a lot but I was doing something everyday to make

myself better including the weekend.

What got you started into wrestling?

BA: I played all the sports when I was young, and wrestling was the one I

liked the most.

What motivated you to keep going after so many years wrestling?

BA: I wanted to be the best. Plain and simple i trained to be a champion.

What were some of your most valuable lessons, or something that you draw strength from, can you point to anything specific and why?

BA: Hard work pays off. I think there are a lot of valuable assets I have

created for myself as a wrestler and being a hard worker is prob one

of the most important. I have grown many times and slightly altered my thinking many times

also. I don’t think any changes can be cited to one loss, but more to

a desire to be the best and keep evolving as necessary to be the best.

What was a typical day for you like during your time at mizzou?

BA: College wrestling is a full time job. I loved trying to be the best

and I was very passionate about it, I trained very hard year round and

I had a strong desire to know everything about wrestling I could.

Regarding your strength and conditioning, what were your splits during

your time at MU?

I left all of these decisions up to our strength and conditioning

coaches, i didn’t love to lift weights so I let them write the plans bc

they knew much more than I did.

Regarding the last two questions, what was a typical day for you like? I.E.

wake up at 7am for morning jog, lift at 9a, wrestling practice at 10..etc..

And did that change over time?

BA: I would wrestle twice a day 3x a week. The other two say I would

wrestle once and do strength and conditioning in the morning. The

weekend changed a lot but I was doing something everyday to make

myself better including the weekend.

How did your schedule/routine change post college into the freestyle days?

BA:I was my own boss, I made my practices and I had to be very self motivated.

You always hear some of the best and most recently I heard Terry Brands

talk about paying the price. What’s does “paying the price” mean to you?

BA: Paying the price means a lot of things to a lot of people. It is all

about the sacrifices you have to make to be a champion and lots of

times this invloves giving up things other people would never do.

Now that your a champion in MMA, how has your training evolved from

wrestling to MMA?

BA: Well I have to be a lot more diverse when training bc there are so

many new aspects to the sport of MMA that I was not used to.

Anyone you’d like to thank?

BA: I would like to thank my sponsors Cage Hero, Cage Fighter and Everlast.

To Learn more about Ben Askren, check out www.benaskren.net

Please support one of my sponsors, Ranger Up!