Distance running has been baked into wrestling culture for decades. However, the physiological demands of wrestling look nothing like a jog. High-intensity bursts of effort, frequent directional changes, and limited rest differ drastically from the aerobic work of steady-state running. Wrestlers relying heavily on road work for conditioning are building the wrong kind of endurance while also increasing joint impact stress with no meaningful transfer to performance. They increase the risk of overuse injuries right when they need the joints to be strongest: during the season. The primary risk in this mismatch is that high volumes of long slow distance (LSD) training can blunt power and speed development. A wrestling match is basically three 3-minute street fights, punctuated by six-second car crashes and awkward yoga poses. High-volume running promotes fiber-type shifts that blunt explosive movements, which are essential in scoring, sprawling, and hand fighting. That same mileage piles repetitive impact