Why Do Wrestlers Tuck Their Pants in Their Socks, and How to Do It Properly.

When I hang out with my wrestler friends, one of the common things I see is how they tuck their pants on their socks. It is common to notice this, and it is becoming apparent even to people outside the sport. I also learned how to do this since I’m using wrestling for takedowns. But why do wrestlers tuck their pants in their socks?

Wrestlers tuck their pants in their socks to help them in their weight control. The socks keep the air trapped in the body, so they sweat more. So ultimately, this practice became a culture in the wrestling world that many wrestlers are doing it not just for weight control but also for fashion purposes.

This blog post will discuss the other purposes of tucking sweatpants or pants on socks. We will also discuss how to tuck the pants on the socks properly so it would not look baggy.

Why do wrestlers wear socks over their pants?

Wrestlers wear socks over their pants or sweatpants to induce sweating. This helps them lose water weight to pass their respective weight classes. However, this practice became so common to wrestlers that it became a culture, and people who aren’t cutting weight are beginning to do it for fashion purposes.

The practice of wearing socks over the pants is called a sock tuck or back tuck.

It has been around for a long time in the wrestling world.

However, I only realized that it was becoming a trend since Kanye West tucked his track pants into his socks and was photographed on several occasions.

This led to some people adopting the same fashion.

However, tucking the socks on the pants has been a practice in wrestling for decades before this. That’s why many people associate tucking the pants on socks with the wrestling community.

To be honest, I didn’t notice this practice until I read Jordan Burroughs’ 10 Rules to Wrestling Swag. In case you don’t know, Jordan Burroughs is a very popular wrestler in the USA.

He is an Olympic gold medalist and a three-time world champion.

In the ten rules, he specifically talked about tucking the pants on socks.

When I read that, I started to realize how my friends who do wrestling also do the same.

As someone who learned wrestling for takedowns, I realized this was interesting and started researching the topic.

As we previously discussed, the primary purpose of tucking the pants over socks is to trap the air inside the body. So, naturally, this leads to more sweating and weight loss.

Back tuck provides less airflow in the body, which helps in weight control. Heat is better trapped within the body, so we sweat more.

Ultimately, this practice became so common to Wrestlers that it became a style choice since people are inclined to do what others do. Thus, this habit became a culture.

If done right, sock tuck also looks cleaner as it reduces the bagginess of your pants.

It could also keep your pants from getting dirty as it keeps the bottom of the sweatpants from dragging on the floor and getting dirty.

Interestingly, if wrestlers have to do rolls while wearing these pants, there is a lesser chance of destroying the pants since the fingers can’t easily pull the pants.

We can see in the photo above that we can quickly destroy the pants if you accidentally pull the tip. This can be prevented by putting the socks above the pants.

Basically, it doesn’t look baggy, so it would be harder to pull the pants.

Check the photo below.

As you can see, it would be harder to pull the tip if we tucked the end of our pants. Thus, we will be less likely to destroy our pants if we tuck them in the socks.

Should you tuck pants into socks?

There is no need to tuck your pants into your socks. However, wrestlers should consider tucking in, especially if they wear sweatpants on spars or matches, since it is easy to pull and destroy the pants if not tucked in. Other than that, sock tucking is optional.

While sock tucking has become a culture for wrestlers, it is unnecessary.

Even if this practice helps in weight loss, there are other ways to cut weight other than sock or back tucking.

If you want to do it for fashion or weight loss, there is nothing wrong with sock tucking.

Perhaps, the only time where this is necessary is if you plan to spar with another since they can accidentally pull and break your pants.

Thus, on these occasions, back tucking is essential.

However, be careful on sock tucking since you can do it incorrectly.

Incorrectly tucking your pants over socks can make it look baggy. Furthermore, your pants would quickly come out of the socks.

Thus, you should know how to tuck your pants into socks properly. Luckily, I got you covered, as it’s what we will discuss in the last section.

How to Tuck Pants into Socks? An Easy Tutorial

Chances are, you want to try tucking your pants on your socks. However, doing it incorrectly would make it look messy.

Thus, I decided to give an easy tutorial with photos on how to tuck your pants on the socks properly.

That way, it would look cleaner.

1. Put on your socks and pants

The first step is to put your socks and pants on like this.

This will be our preparation before folding the pants and placing them in the socks.

2. Grab the pants at the back

The next step is to grab the back of your pants. This will create some space that’s necessary if you need a clean look.

Check the picture below for how it should look.

3. Neatly fold the pants to the side

You should neatly fold the pants to the side after grabbing the back of your pants.

However, make sure to fold it facing your body. This means you should fold it to the left for the right leg and the right for the left leg. This would make the fold look clean.

Here is a photo of how to do it properly.

4. Put the socks on top of the fold

If you’ve done everything correctly, the last step should be easy. Furthermore, the fold would look so neat and not baggy.

To do this, use your index finger to circle the socks around the fold. This would properly hold the fold.

Check the photo below for how to do it.

After everything has been done, you should have a neat fold.

The final result should look like this.

There you have it! You now have the reasons why wrestlers put their socks over their pants and a simple tutorial on how to do it properly.

Good luck!

What’s next? Have you also wondered why wrestlers tape their wrists? Compared to striking sports like boxing, where wrist injuries are common, why do wrestlers tape their wrists if the sport doesn’t include punches? If you’re interested in the topic, you would have fun reading my other post here: Why do Wrestlers have to tape their wrists?