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The baseball player’s off season strength and conditioning program should coincide with specialized sports skill practice. Regardless of the structure of skill practice, the off season is the perfect time to divert efforts towards improving strength, power, speed, and resiliency. As the off season progresses and the athlete approaches the pre-season, the focus on strength and conditioning should decrease. At the same time, sport skill training (pitching, hitting, and fielding) should increase.
Off season strength and conditioning for baseball players improves performance through the development of strength, speed, and explosive power. These qualities are the foundation of a long and successful baseball career.
At “Baseball Creed Academy”, we tailor an off season conditioning and strengthening program based on the player’s age and experience, to meet the individual needs and goals of each athlete, while enhancing their strengths. This program includes a variety of exercises, lifts, and drills to rebuild and re-tool the player’s performance for the upcoming season. Our program includes both core strengthening and empowered conditioning. This will allow the player to make the most gains in his total performance, strength, stamina, and overall game.
This off season conditioning program has to be a total commitment from the athlete, and will only benefit those who give 100% effort, and have a strong desire to improve and be the best. It is an intense program that will help the player strengthen their core body, increase their stamina, and sharpen their skills, in route to be the best they can be.
When you give our Instructors the opportunity, they will help you understand what all high school, collegiate, and professional baseball players do to become and sustain success on the field, by:
· proper and enhanced conditioning;
· implementing sound nutrition;
· incorporating strengthening weight exercises;
· providing you with take-home workouts;
· improving your overall baseball mechanics;
· teaching you ways to reduce the risk of injury; and
· developing a positive mindset
Let our Instructors at Baseball Creed Academy maximize your performance while minimizing the risk of injuries! Take the next step in your baseball journey! Give “Baseball Creed Academy” a call for details and to speak to our Instructors.
High School players, as well as College and Pro-Players, improve themselves through weight training and exercise so they can play more competitively. High school players wishing to compete on a higher level will get involved in weight training programs. Same goes for College players wanting to be considered in the MLB Draft. In the modern era, playing the sport at a “high level” has become much more competitive than ever before.
Baseball players, unlike football, for instance, play both offense and defense in every game. They need to be able to hit fast pitch baseballs, and run with intense stamina. On defense, infield players must have split second reaction time to chase and field ground balls moving away from them in every direction, and to have powerful throwing arms. Outfielders have to track and run after deep line drives and high fly balls, and need to throw accurate and with strength over long distances.
The Benefits of a Weight Training Program:
Years of study show High School and College athletes devote anywhere from 8 to 20 hours per week in activity related to baseball, either directly in team practice or a combination of practice drills and workouts. While drills give you an aerobic workout through running and fielding, drills don’t build strength and endurance like a weight lifting program does. Weight training increases endurance, reduces muscle fatigue and chronic pain, improves reaction time and even your quality of sleep. Nevertheless, there is so much more.
Weight Training Improves Body Composition:
A lot of ballplayers think that running is the best way to lose fat, but in truth running is great as a cardiovascular exercise. However, it won’t reduce body fat all that much. Weight training increases lean muscle mass which will boost metabolism.
If fat loss is your priority, it is recommended that you start a weight training program for three to four days each week, as well as a speed and conditioning program if your schedule permits.
Weight Training Builds Strength:
On the surface, building strength through a lifting program seems obvious. But strength training dramatically increases leg strength, coordination, and power, all of which makes you faster in every field position around the baseball diamond.
In weight training, energy efficiency is improved 10 to 20 percent. When you improve how efficiently you produce energy, you improve your overall endurance.
Purely stated, in hitting, fielding, and running, the body moves from an inert state to an active state in a fraction of a second. This occurs when you are at bat, on the field, or on a base. Baseball players stand still one moment, and in the blink of an eye they swing at a fastball, “slash” speedily to the next base, or react to a fast hit ground ball.
Moving from an inert to an active state requires significant energy bursts. As a result, when you improve your energy efficiency, you have more powerful energy bursts. Weight training will increase your ability to react more quickly.
Building a Baseball Weight Lifting Program:
Your lifting program should be designed to build strength, size and athleticism. You should want to increase your strength and endurance. Any lifting program you do must help make the energy bursts needed in a typical ballgame more powerful and effective. When your strength is increased, you can then build your foundation of speed and athleticism.
Don’t Build Muscle Mass for the Sake of Building Muscle Mass:
Lifting weights to increase the size of your muscles won’t make you a better athlete. Having big muscles will change your appearance but it may do almost nothing to help you explode off first base and run like the wind to second. Weight training for baseball players is for building specific muscles that will give you the strength you need to perform the functions of a baseball athlete.
The three activities baseball players perform are:
For each of these activities specific parts of the body are utilized.
Hitting: It’s quite obvious that upper body strength is key to having a powerful swing. However, there must also be power in the legs for a powerful stride, swing, and follow through.
Running: Like most of what you do in a ballgame, a runner needs to be fast and have explosive power. One moment you’re inert, taking a lead off the base. Then, the batter gets a hit and in less than one second a runner needs to run at high speed to the next base. There is also athleticism in being able to slide head first or doing a hook or leg slide. Movements are fast: standing still, next, bursting into a run, and finally, end the run with a slide. A runner needs strong legs, but also good upper body strength. Running requires a strong upper body to increase momentum.
Fielding: Fielders need strong arms for throwing, strong legs and great footwork to be able to move quickly to get in front or to backhand grounders. Both infielders and outfielders need to be able to move quickly to get under fly balls.
Specific Weight Training Exercises for Baseball Athletes:
Building Leg Strength
Strong legs are critical to a baseball player’s success. Your legs are being worked in all three physical actives of running, fielding, and hitting. Your legs are your base through which everything else you do builds from.
In weight training, a baseball athlete would perform squats and deadlifts. Players must first learn how to do squats and deadlifts properly to get the most out of the workout. When starting out with squats and deadlifts, start by using lighter weights. Put your ego aside in the gym. Don’t start with heavy weights and try to master them first. Weight training is all about residence, and one needs to build their resistance from the ground up.
Building Upper Body Strength
While using your arms to throw, whether as a pitcher or a fielder, one of the most important parts of the body that’s not always thought about, is the back. The back supports every throwing motion that you make and is the “backbone’ behind all your body’s movements.
Strategy for an Effective Weight Training Program:
When you decide to begin a baseball weight lifting program, you need to establish which weight lifting exercises you’ll perform and then how many sets and repetitions you’ll do. When setting reps and sets, the result you want is to build muscle mass by enlarging the size of the muscle (hypertrophy) and increase the rate at which you burn energy (metabolic rate). The number of sets you do for each lift will impact both of these.
Next, you’ll need to do a “reality check” and determine how much you can lift and sustain. Never take on more than you can handle when lifting weights. Serious injuries like muscle tears and rotator cuff (shoulder area) injuries will happen that will not only put you on the disabled list for the season, but the injury may take over a year to recover from.
Trying to lift more than you are able or trying to do too many reps is an unnecessary pursuit. It is counterproductive because you won’t gain the energy and stamina you need to be a better athlete, one who can have exploded from an inert state, nor will you swing better and with greater power and accuracy. When you work within your zone of ability and focus on the weight, reps and sets that are right for your body type, you will see improvements and have better performance even than those who can lift more or do more heavy lifting repetitions.
Plyometric Exercises and Weight Training:
Plyometrics are a system of exercises in which the muscles are repeatedly stretched and then suddenly contracted. Examples of plyometric exercises include: jumping, starting, stopping and changing directions. This makes muscles exert maximum force in short intervals of time. Plyometric exercises are performed in addition to an athlete’s weight lifting routine.
Plyometrics are part of an explosive training workout. These exercises are designed to increase energy and explosiveness, critical for baseball players. It is recommended you incorporate plyometric exercises in any weight lifting program you do.
Explosive Training
Baseball athletes make explosive movements in the course of every ballgame, and your ability to move explosively from an inert, relaxed state is key. Performing the right plyometric and weight training exercises is more important now because throwing velocity, power hitting, and speed on the base paths has become increasingly competitive. To be able to keep up with modern higher performance standards, weight lifting programs must include explosive training. Training exercises should mimic, as close as possible, the explosive movements of real game play.
Split Weight Training
When creating a weight lifting exercise regimen for yourself, you should include plyometric exercises such as sprints, lateral jumps, and box jumps. The purpose of weight lifting is to build muscle mass and increase metabolism. The best approach to weightlifting is a split workout program. Split system training is weight lifting that divides weight lifting sessions into two separate body regions, namely upper and lower body training.
Your program should be defined as follow: one weight lifting session works on the upper body, and the next on the lower body. On the day where you work on your upper body, you will develop the chest, shoulders and triceps. For the next workout, you will shift focus to the back and the biceps.
I hope we have peaked your curiosity and level of enthusiasm. If you want to know more, give us a call and we will develop and/or assist you in enhancing your overall baseball skills by focusing on proper training, core strengthening, while reducing the risk of injury. If you give us 100% effort and dedication you will see dramatic results.
Partial references and sources obtained from: Baseball Boom.com, The Champlair.com
Frequently asked questions regarding off season conditioning program for pitchers:
1) What should a pitcher do in the off season?
Do’s and don’ts in your off season training:
2) What are the best workout exercise for pitchers during the off season?
Exercises such as squats, lunges, and deadlifts should form the basis of any
pitching workout as the player looks to maximize lower body power.
Beyond the shoulder strengthening exercises that every pitcher should be
doing, upper body training for a pitcher should focus on pulling motions
that strengthen the upper back.
3) What exercises should pitchers totally avoid?
These exercises should be avoided in a sound baseball strength and
conditioning program:
their throwing shoulders;
on the shoulder;
4) Do major league pitchers throw in the off season?
MLB pitchers take 1- 2 months off of throwing completely after a season.
Pitchers at that level are a lot stronger and mechanically developed and they
still need their rest because of the stress they put on their arms
5) Should younger pitchers take time-off in the off season?
Pitchers should prioritize deceleration training in the off season. If pitchers
want to take time-off from throwing, it should be for psychological reasons,
not for any perceived physical benefit. Time off should not exceed four weeks.
6) How do pitchers keep their arms healthy?
Secrets to improving rotator cuff strength for pitching:
during the season.
7) Should baseball pitchers lift weights?
If you really must workout everyday, you will want to lift after you pitch.
Nevertheless, keep the weights light! A light workout after you pitch is a good
way to keep your body loose, but lifting too heavy may get you really stiff.
Nobody knows your body better than yourself, so do what works best for you.
8) Why pitchers should not bench press?
The bench press is an upper body lift that allows the athlete to use heavy
loads. It is also very important that a pitcher never uses a machine for the
bench press that will force the shoulder into “Pattern Overload” because the
machine restricts the movement of the lift.
9) Do pitchers need strong shoulders?
All throwing athletes, not just pitchers, need a strong and healthy rotator cuff.
If for some reason, one or more of the rotator cuff muscles can't help stabilize
the shoulder; most major motions of the shoulder become impossible.
Key Elements of an optimal Off Season Conditioning Program:
Rest Period/Phase:
This starts the healing process. We do this every night when we sleep, which gives our bodies time to start healing without the stress from the requirements of the day. Sleep is so important every single night to prevent complete system failure. Ten to twelve hours is ideal but over time, during an active season, this sleep isn't enough to completely heal the body. This is when an off season is critical. This gives the pitcher a good two to three weeks, before starting an off season training program, to allow the body to completely heal itself. So, to start your off season, you must take from two to three weeks off from all activity and focus on proper rest.
Proper rest means you must create a sleeping environment that supports deep sleep. This means you must go to bed at a reasonable time and remove all distractions from your bedroom. These distractions include: noise, temperature, and light. It is recommended you make your room as dark as possible, with no sounds coming from inside or outside the room and set your room at a good temperature to prevent you from overheating at night. This will help you create the ideal environment to promote good sleep. Ear plugs or white noise will also help a great deal.
Recovery Period/Phase:
This would include nutrition and hydration. Now that you are getting good rest, your body is starving for nutrition. It is recommended that once you awake from that proper sleep you immediately drink one sixteen ounce glass of water, largely because your body is dehydrated from a full night of no water. The best water you can put into your body is ionized or alkaline water.
Once you fully hydrate yourself, you should take a whey protein or a good protein supplement to feed your starving system. You also need a carbohydrate for some morning fuel. It is a good rule of thumb to have carbohydrates whenever you take protein. This is to prevent your system from converting protein to fuel. You want your system to use the protein to help you rebuild and recover, not to fuel your system. Great examples of this would be egg and toast, or a protein shake and oatmeal, or whole grain bread.
The last bit of nutrition your body needs are vitamins and minerals. It is recommended you do your best to get this from vegetables, grains, and more good whole foods; but also supplement this with a good multi-vitamin.
Rebuild Period/Phase:
The two to three weeks has ended and it is now time to start building your body. As your body has been resting and recovering, it has also been atrophying. This means it has been breaking down and losing size and strength. This occurs because of the demands that you have put on your body. During rest, the demands on your body are minimal, so your body naturally reduces size and strength to adapt to the new demands. This is the purpose of the rebuilding process. You need to rebuild your body to be ready for the demands of the season. This is also the opportunity to enhance performance and increase velocity.
Increase Core Body Strength Period/Phase:
This period/phase works in conjunction with the rebuilding period/phase. Not only do you want to rebuild your size and strength, but you also want to remodel faster twitch muscle fibers. This means you are not only building size and strength, but now speed. Speed and strength equals power. Pitching is a power position, so increasing your body's ability to produce power will benefit you as an athlete/pitcher. If you are going to increase power and remodel faster twitch muscle fiber, then you must use an off season program that has been developed specifically for this purpose, and also developed for the pitcher and his demands.
SUMMARY:
The off season is not the time where pitchers should be throwing at high volumes. Youth pitchers should rest from throwing for a minimum of two to four months per year. The off season throwing program must be individualized to meet the needs of the athlete.
At “Baseball Creed Academy”, we customize an off season conditioning program based on the player’s age and experience, to meet their individual needs and goals, while enhancing their strengths. This program includes a variety of exercises, lifts, and drills to rebuild and re-tool the pitcher’s enhanced performance for the upcoming season. Our program includes both throwing and strength and conditioning. This will allow the pitcher to make the most gains in pitching performance, accuracy, stamina, and velocity.
This off season conditioning program has to be a total commitment from the athlete, and will only benefit the pitcher who puts in 100% effort, and has a strong desire to improve and be the best. It is an intense program that could help the pitcher increase velocity in his fastball, in addition to master the control over the rest of his pitches. Parents, watch as they take the next step in their baseball journey! Give “Baseball Creed Academy” a call for details.
Partial Sources & References: Baseball Player Magazine-Media Center
The “off season” is fast approaching. For youth baseball players the off season is the ideal time to focus on developing muscular strength and explosive power. These physical attributes transfer to the baseball field as quickness, running speed, bat speed, throwing velocity, ball exit velocity, and overall resiliency needed to survive the grind of a baseball season.
Under most circumstances, youth athletes should always be encouraged to participate in a variety of sports throughout the year, up until about the age of fifteen or sixteen. Continuing efforts to improve baseball skills, such as hitting, is important for the mature and dedicated youth athlete. However, baseball performance will never be optimized without a well-structured and supervised off season strength and conditioning program.
What Physical Qualities Are Important In Baseball:
Which physical qualities are important in baseball:
Baseball requires short and intense bursts of effort, meaning that it is primarily anaerobic. The key physical qualities for baseball are therefore strength and speed. Strength training has been shown to noticeably increase throwing velocity in baseball players.
The vast majority, if not all, of MLB coaches incorporate running drills to improve speed in players. MLB coaches also incorporate Olympic-style lifts; most importantly, the squat (and its variations), and lunges, into their training programs.
With that said, cardio training is still very much important in baseball because some positions are more aerobically demanding. Although baseball players run less than half a mile a time during a game, good cardio conditioning can be very helpful.
What should be the focus of the off season baseball strength & conditioning program:
Off season baseball strength and conditioning should focus on improving total body strength, enhancing core strength, rotational power, and lower body power. Pitchers also focus some of their efforts on arm care programs in order to prepare for the volume of throwing which places unique stresses on the shoulder and elbow. Pitchers must possess adequate strength in order to develop power and throwing velocity. Off season programs could last up to twelve weeks, with training occurring no more than three days per week.
The volume and intensity of these programs are progressed and tapered down as the athlete gets closer to “pre-season” when baseball-specific skill training becomes increasingly important. Resistance training with free weights and/or cables, plyometric training, and medicine ball training are the cornerstones of the off season program.
Resistance training has been proven to improve both bat speed and throwing velocity in youth baseball players. These exercises seek to build foundational strength through movement patterns such as the squat, hinge, and press. Nonetheless, as previously stated, baseball involves a great deal of rotational and diagonal movement which should be heavily incorporated into training.
The cable push-pull exercise has been shown effective for improving torso rotational strength in the position player and pitcher. Baseball players often exhibit muscle imbalances where the front of the body is stronger than the back of the body. Thus, it is common for programs to include a two to one ratio of pull to push exercises. Training volume with movements such as rows and lifts targeting the back of the body should be stressed over movements such as presses.
Baseball is also an asymmetrical one-side dominant sport which involves throwing with one arm or batting from the same side of the plate. Barbell training for the squat, deadlift, and sometimes the bench press can be included in an off season program to help improve bilateral strength. However, it is very important for the baseball player to be training unilaterally with dumbbells or kettlebells. Single arm rows, split-stance squats or lunges, and single-arm kettlebell swings are popular and effective examples of unilateral exercises.
Power is the product of strength and speed. Power is expressed when throwing, swinging or jumping during the game of baseball. Strength is trained with resistance exercise using heavy loads at slower speeds. Plyometric training involves drills designed using maximal force as quickly as possible. These exercises are important for training the speed component of power.
Complex training utilizing both heavy resistance training and plyometric jump training improves power in baseball players to a greater degree than either resistance or plyometric training alone. Lower body plyometric drills to improve explosive power for the baseball player include exercises such as box jumps, lateral jumps, and split squat jumps.
Another great power exercise is medicine ball training, which is a form of explosive exercise using rapid force development and transfer from the lower body and torso through the arms. Medicine ball throws are ideal for developing rotational power, which is crucial for any baseball player. Twelve weeks of resistance training plus medicine ball training resulted in greater improvements in rotational strength compared to resistance training without medicine ball drills. In another study, six weeks of supervised medicine ball training in high school baseball pitchers was shown to result in a two percent increase in throwing velocity. It is very important that athletes are instructed in proper technique during these drills. Performing explosive medicine ball training without proper technique can result in decreased throwing performance or injury. Common medicine ball drills used with baseball players include the squat and throw, perpendicular throw, and hitter’s throw.
Frequently asked questions regarding off season conditioning:
1) What do baseball players do during the off season?
Most players do things that they enjoy, but don't have time for during the
season. They play golf, tennis, fish and/or hunt and stay just active enough to
maintain fitness as they recover from the season. Players are encouraged to
take at least three weeks to unload, rest, and recover before starting off
season training.
2) How do you get conditioned for baseball?
When conditioning for baseball speed, focus on running intervals (walk/sprint
between the bases) and building your strength. Examples of great workouts
for speed strength are sled pushes and drags. Load a sled in the gym with
some heavy weights and build up your leg strength.
3) How many days a week should baseball players workout?
While players are training with a trainer four to six days a week during the off
season, the instructor will have more control over the players exercises and
activity. However, when the season rolls around, that may be limited to one
to two days a week.
4) Do MLB players lift during season?
The answer is a resounding “yes.” Players can lift during the season, but
there are considerations that need to be made. First, and the most
important, is fatigue. We need to be cognizant about the amount of fatigue
placed upon our athletes and how that fatigue is actually accumulated in
the weight room.
5) Should baseball players bench press?
Should a baseball athlete simply avoid the bench press? No, a baseball
athlete should not simply avoid the bench press as it plays an especially
large part in upper-body hypertrophy and strength development. However,
circumstances may exist that result in a need to modify the bench press
exercise.
6) Why do baseball players lift weights?
Baseball players need to lift heavy to maximize their development as an
athlete. Most people know that a more powerful and explosive baseball
player is a better baseball player. However, reps of twelve to fourteen on
single-leg exercises is not going to get you there.
7) Does bench press make you throw harder?
Let's start with the most obvious answer. It won't help you throw a baseball
harder or hit a baseball farther. but to say that the bench press is a key factor
in helping baseball players become better baseball players is an
overstatement. Throwing and hitting are full-body movements that will
make you better.
8) Is incline bench good for baseball?
It's a solid choice for general fitness folks, too. But by now, it's widely
accepted in the baseball world that the reward of getting really strong on
the bench press is outweighed by the risk the exercise poses to the shoulders
and elbows.
9) What muscles does baseball workout?
Baseball works all the major muscle groups in your legs. Moving laterally,
throwing, and squatting down to retrieve a ball engages your glutes,
quadriceps, hamstrings, and calf muscles. Running is not only a good
cardiovascular workout, but also ideal for toning and building up your leg
muscles.
10) Should baseball players do cardio?
Contrary to popular belief, pitchers, and other explosive athletes for that
matter, do not need to incorporate aerobic training into their routines.
While training aerobically may increase “general fitness levels,” it's not what
pitchers need to do to enhance their performance. Baseball players are
fast-twitch athletes. Running sprints are the ideal solution.
11) What muscles help you throw a baseball harder?
The deltoids are the muscles of your shoulder, which play a crucial role in
rotating your arm. Strengthening these muscles will help you put more
force in your wind-up, allowing you to throw the ball harder.
12) What is the most important body part in baseball?
The Core. The abs are hugely important to a baseball player. The abdominal
muscles can create a lot of movement, but their truest role is to stabilize the
spine. In the baseball world, that means that the abs have to hold the trunk
rigid to transfer the power of the lower body to the extremities of the upper
body.
13) Why is long distance running bad for baseball players?
Baseball players simply need to throw, swing, or sprint many times without
losing power. Two completely different sports require completely different
training, even if "endurance" is the common goal. Studies show long
distance running decreases explosive power, which players can't afford to
lose.
14) Does long toss increase velocity?
So, studies revealed throwing velocity on average actually decreased when
throwing past 180 feet. However, long toss does increase your intensity to
throw the ball and that is a benefit. It can actually help you gain additional
velocity, but if you are a pitcher who needs more than 2-3 mph to reach 90
mph you need more than long tossing.
Partial Sources & References: BSR Physical Therapy.com
You can also reach our Instructors via email at:
BARRETT A. HERNANDEZ - barretthernandez2127@gmail.com
ADAM J. ROY - AJRoy312@yahoo.com
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