O’Shea’s system is based on a circuit interval training approach, with progressive increases in the amount of resistance used in the exercises … his research reflected that students participating in the program reached a sustained rate of 154 beats per minute for 20 minutes, and the group registered significant improvement in cardio-vascular fitness over an eight-week period.

Several years ago the writer designed a group of weight training routines to develop circulo-respiratory endurance in Olympic weight lifters. The interval training principle was employed, using weights in the 10-30 percent range of maximum with a progressive increase in repetitions (20 to 40) on each exercise for two sets and with varying rest periods of one to three minutes between sets and exercises.

Ten exercises at one station composed a routine. The exercises used were Olympic lift skill movements (press, snatch, clean and jerk) and explosive weight training assistance movements (jumping squats, etc.) interspersed with one stationary running exercise. It took 35 to 45 minutes to complete the entire routine.

Pulse rates during a routine ranged from 122 to 185 during the entire period which is in the pulse range recommended by Gerschler for use with interval training programs for runners. The routines developed physiological aspects of both aerobic and anaerobic endurance.

The preceding paragraphs are excerpted from John Jesse’s remarkable book titled “Wrestling Physical Conditioning Encyclopedia, published by The Athletic Press, Pasadena, CA, in 1974.