From NCAA champion to Olympic bronze medalist. J'den Cox jumped levels in such a short period of time, but how did he do it? Go behind the scenes with J'den Cox as he prepares for his Olympic debut in Rio, and makes a splash on the international stage.
J'den Cox Training Like It's Chess
Dec 6, 2016
Since he was a young boy, J'den Cox has been coached by Mike Eierman, who has an outside-the-box approach to the sport.
Many coaches focus on teaching something to their wrestlers and then having them drill that move every day. Instead, Eierman focuses on continually learning new things and constantly building upon them. This challenges their minds as much as it challenges their bodies.
One thing that stands out to me about the way these two train together is the amount of time they spend talking, wrestling slow, collaborating and working through positions together.
In this particular workout J'den and Mike were working on gut wrenches and leg laces when J'den makes a breakthrough on transitioning from one to the other.
This workout is more about working smart than working hard and it took place in July during the filming of J'den Cox: The Only Way Is Up while J'den was preparing for the Rio. Cox, of course, went on to win a bronze medal at the Rio Olympics Games.
