Today marks the fifth anniversary of the day my business partners and I founded Cressey Performance. In that time, we've gone through two expansions, and we're now in the process of a third one, which will effectively double the size of our space to over 15,000 square feet.
It's been somewhat of a tradition for me to write something about Cressey Performance on EricCressey.com every July 13 in honor of the occasion. To that end, in light of the fact that I know I have a ton of current or aspiring facility owners reader this site, I thought I'd use today's post to outline one of the most important considerations I want our entire staff to understand.
Success isn't just measured in revenue.
Most business owners look to at a net income total at the end of each month to determine if they're successful. While this certainly governs whether or not they'll be able to keep the lights on at the facility and feed their families, it doesn't speak to the far-reaching implications that a successful business has.
In the case of a fitness business, how many chronic diseases have thousands of exercise programs helped prevent? How many bum shoulders have become asymptomatic so that a father can throw 400 pitches at his son's team's batting practice? How many kids have gained confidence that's gone far beyond the weight room, impacting school performance and social interaction? How many shoulder and elbow surgeries have been avoided by proactive strength and conditioning program initiatives? How many young athletes have spent 10-12 hours a week at Cressey Performance surrounded by professional and college athlete role models when they could have been out getting into trouble with the wrong crowd? How many families have collectively started eating healthier because a young athlete came home from CP with some healthy food options for them to try? How many young athletes have been inspired to pursue fitness as a career? How many people have learned to stand up for their beliefs in vigorously defending their answers to the Tim Collins Question of the Day?
It excites me to see our former interns doing absolutely fantastic things. Many have gone on to master's degrees and doctorates in physical therapy, and two are in medical school. Some have started their own training facilities, and others have gone on to college strength and conditioning positions. Kevin Neeld is working with the U.S. Women's National Hockey team and loads of high-level hockey players. Brian St. Pierre and Jay Bonn are having a huge impact on a number of lives through their work with Dr. John Berardi and Precision Nutrition. Brad Schnitzer can drink a bottle of water really fast, too.
I could go on and on, but suffice it to say that I'm very proud of all these interns and what they've accomplished.
Taking it a step further, I'm always psyched to see guys like Tim Collins (Royals), Steve Cishek (Marlins), Kevin Youkilis (White Sox), and Bryan LaHair (Cubs) doing as much stuff as possible in terms of charity work.
And, I'm even more psyched when I see our minor league guys wanting to follow their lead, and that's why getting involved with charity initiatives is an important part of our off-season pro baseball training crew. These little gestures of kindness mean a lot to people, and they mean even more when you're on the biggest stage and have a rare opportunity to impact thousands of people with your words and actions. My hope is that the Cressey Performance experience has helped to not give our younger guys the the awareness to appreciate these opportunities to help others, but instill in them the humility to properly make use of them.
Additionally, in our case, Hudson, MA isn't a tourism hub by any means (although we do have an Applebees, for what it's worth). Yet, CP brings anywhere from 80 to 120 clients per day to Hudson from all over Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Connecticut, New York, and Rhode Island. They spend money on food (including at our building's cafeteria), gas, and any of a number of other things while they're in town. Additionally, we have a lot of clients and interns who travel from all over the U.S. and abroad to train with us, and they support local hotels and rental properties. Finally, in Tony's case, he single-handedly keeps a local auto body shop in business with all the repairs on his car; in fact, I think their owners would vote for him if he ran for mayor because of all the "economic stimulus" he's provided them. At least these kids got some exercise and entertainment pushing his car to the mechanic.
All these considerations in mind, recognize that you don't go into business solely to make money. When you're six feet under and looking up at the grass, nobody remembers you for your net income in August of 2010, but rather the impact you had on the world before you left it. And, on a related and interesting note, looking at ways to overdeliver and add value to someone's experience is often the best way to make a business more profitable. As my friend Pat Rigsby would say, pursue "value addition" opportunities, not "value extraction" ones.
To all our clients who have supported us for the past five years, thank you very much. Our entire staff is deeply appreciative of your continued support.
Speaking of Pat, he, Mike Robertson, and I collaborated on a product called the Fitness Business Blueprint last year. It discusses all the mistakes we made when opening our fitness businesses, as well as the common mistakes Pat sees in the businesses for which he consults. Mike and I complement Pat's business teachings with training-specific information like assessment and program design. Taken all together, it's a great product for someone looking to start their own fitness business, or improve upon the one they already have. In honor of CP's fifth birthday, we've put it on sale for $100 off for this weekend only (sale ends Sunday, July 15 at midnight). You can pick up your copy at the special sales page HERE.
Sign-up Today for our FREE Newsletter and receive a four-part video series on how to deadlift!
Everyone wants to improve pitching velocity, but unfortunately, the answer to the question of "how" is different for everyone. To that end, I pulled together a quick list of 101 strategies you can use to improve pitching velocity. They aren't the same for everyone, but chances are that at least a few of these will help you. I'd encourage you to print this off and highlight the areas in which you think you can improve.
1. Optimize mechanics (this could be 100 more ways in itself; I will leave it alone for now).
2. Gain weight (if skinny).
3. Lose weight (if fat).
4. Get taller (shorter throwers can’t create as much separation, and are further away from homeplate)
5. Get shorter (taller throwers have more energy leaks).
38. Change footwear (guys usually throw harder in cleats).
39. Throw less.
40. Throw more.
41. Pitch less.
42. Pitch more.
43. Politely ask your mom to stop yelling, “Super job, kiddo!” after every pitch you throw.
44. Do strength exercises outside the sagittal plane.
45. Take all the money you were going to blow on fall/winter showcases and instead devote it to books, DVDs, training, food, and charitable donations. If there is anything left over, blow it on lottery tickets and sketchy real estate ventures, both of which have a higher return-on-investment than showcases in the fall and winter.
46. Switch from a turf mound indoors to a dirt/clay mound outdoors.
51. Improve glute activation so that you can fully extend your hip in your delivery.
52. Stop thinking that the exact workout a big league pitcher uses is exactly what you need to do.
53. Subcategory of #52: Remove the phrase "But Tim Lincecum does it" from your vocabulary. You aren't Tim Lincecum, and you probably never will be. Heck, Tim Lincecum isn't Tim Lincecum anymore, either. You can learn from his delivery, but 99.9999% of people who try to copy his delivery fail miserably.
54. Read more. This applies to personal development in a general sense, and baseball is certainly no exception. The guys who have the longest, most successful careers are usually the ones who dedicate themselves to learning about their craft.
55. Stay away from alcohol. It kills tissue quality, negatively affects protein synthesis, messes with sleep quality, and screws with hormonal status.
56. Incorporate more single-leg landings with your plyos; you land on one leg when you throw, don't you?
57. Be a good teammate. If you aren't a tool, they'll be more likely to help you when you get into a funk with your mechanics or need someone to light a fire under your butt.
58. Respect the game. Pitchers who don't respect the game invariably end up getting plunked the first time they wind up going up to bat. Getting hit by a lot of pitches isn't going to help your velocity.
59. Train the glutes in all three planes (read more HERE).
60. Remember your roots and always be loyal. You never know when you'll need to go back to ask your little league, middle school, high school, or AAU coach for advice to help you right the ship.
61. Get focal manual therapy like Active Release.
62. Get diffuse manual therapy like instrument-assisted modalities or general massage.
63. Make sweet love to a foam roller.
64. Throw a jacket on between innings to keep your body temperature up.
65. Pitch from the wind-up.
66. Drink magical velocity-increasing snake oil (just making sure you were still reading and paying attention).
67. Pick a better walkout song.
68. Get on a steeper mound (expect this to also increase arm stress).
69. Train hip mobility and core stability simultaneously.
70. Get around successful people in the pitching world and learn from them. Find a way to chat with someone who has accomplished something you want to accomplish. If you hang around schleps who complain about their genes and have never thrown above 75mph, though, expect to be a schlep who throws 75mph, too.
71. Pick the right parents (sorry, genes do play a role).
74. Get 8-12 weeks off completely from throwing per year. Read more about why HERE and HERE.
75. Be candid with yourself about how hard you’re really working (most guys talk about working hard when they should actually be working hard).
76. Take the stupid sticker off your hat.
77. Stop thinking so much.
78. Think more.
79. Stop stretching your throwing shoulder into external rotation (read more on that HERE).
80. Get in a better training environment.
81. Surround yourself with unconditionally positive and supportive people.
82. Talk to a different pitching coach to get a new perspective.
83. Stop talking to so many pitching coaches because too many cooks are spoiling the broth.
84. Lengthen your stride (learn more HERE, HERE, and HERE).
85. Shorten your stride.
86. Get your ego crushed when you realize that no matter how strong you think you are, there is a girl somewhere warming up with your max. And, my wife might even be able to do more pull-ups than you!
87. Stop trying to learn a cutter, knuckle-curve, slider, and “invisiball” when you can’t even throw a four-seam where you want it to go.
88. Play multiple sports (excluding cross-country).
89. Stay healthy when other pitchers are getting hurt.
90. Stop pitching for five different teams in the same season.
91. Pre-game routine: dynamic warm-up, sprinting progressions, long toss, pull-down throws, flat-ground, bullpen. Post-game routine: make out with prom queen after complete game shutout.
92. Do rhythmic stabilizations before you throw (if you’re a congenitally lax/”loose” guy) to "wake up" the rotator cuff.
104. Breath better (less shoulder shrug and more diaphragm).
105. Train the rotator cuff less.
106. Change the day on which you throw your bullpen.
107. For relievers, stay loose and warm throughout the game (read more about that HERE). Staying entertained is also important, as CP athlete Joe Van Meter demonstrates.
108. Here and there, between starts, skip your bullpen and throw a flat-ground instead to give your arm a chance to bounce back.
109. Consider creatine (the most researched strength and power supplement in history, yet surprisingly few people in baseball use it)
110. Work faster (the fielders behind you will love you).
111. Work slower (recover better between pitches and self-correct).
112. Stop ignoring your low right shoulder and adducted right hip.
113. Pick a college program where you’ll have an opportunity to play right away and get innings.
114. Move from a 5-day rotation to a 7-day rotation.
115. Decide to wake up in the morning and piss excellence!
These are really just the tip of the iceberg, so by all means, feel free to share your own strategies and ask questions in the comments section below.
Sign-up Today for our FREE Baseball Newsletter and Receive a Copy of the Exact Stretches used by Cressey Performance Pitchers after they Throw!
With spring training upon us, I thought I'd draw this week's exercise of the week from a recent video shoot I did with Stack.com and New Balance Baseball at Cressey Performance with two of our big leaguers, Tim Collins (Royals) and Steve Cishek (Marlins) . In this video, Tim demonstrates the Figure 8 Rotational Medicine Ball Shotput while I do the voice-over.
Most of my comments serve as a general overview with respect to how we approach medicine ball workouts in general, but there are a few key points/observations I should make with respect to the Figure 8 drill in particular.
1. Notice (especially at the 1:20 mark) how Tim works to keep his head back prior to aggressively rotating through the hips and "launching" the ball. This piggybacks on something I discussed in my recent posts on increasing pitching velocity by improving stride length; if the head comes forward, you'll leak energy early, as opposed to storing it and snapping through with aggressive hip rotation later on. Notice Tim on the mound; his head (and, in turn, the majority of his body weight) remains back well into his delivery.
This drill helps to teach guys how to control and time their weight shift.
2. A while back, Matt Blake wrote up a good piece on how we utilize the Figure 8 drill with pitchers; you can check it out HERE.
3. Some folks will make the mistake of going too heavy on this drill. The med ball shouldn't weigh any more than ten pounds - and we usually stay in the eight-pound range. Making the med ball too heavy won't just interfere with generating the ideal power; it will also lead to athletes creating too much tension in the upper traps and levator scapulae to resist the downward pull of gravity. This gives us too much tension in the neck and upper back, and interferes with the good "scap load" and long deceleration arc we're trying to create.
I hope you like it!
Sign-up Today for our FREE Baseball Newsletter and Receive a Copy of the Exact Stretches used by Cressey Performance Pitchers after they Throw!
For this week's exercise of the week, I had some help from Miami Marlins pitcher and Cressey Performance client Steve Cishek, as well as Stack.com and New Balance Baseball. Check it out:
A lot of folks do lower-level single-leg plyos and bilateral jumping/landing variations, but many folks never get around to combining the two. This is a great option for those looking to take things to the next level. Just make sure you're conservative with box height, for safety sake.
Sign-up Today for our FREE Newsletter and receive a four-part video series on how to deadlift!
When I woke up this morning, it seemed just like any other Wednesday morning.
I didn't even realize that it had been four years since July 13, 2007: the day we opened the doors at Cressey Performance. I would have blown right through today if my business partner, Pete, hadn't reminded me of July 13's significance when I came in to the office today.
On our first anniversary in 2008, I was absolutely swamped, as we'd just moved into a larger facility. I was 100% aware of the significance of the day, but literally didn't have time to enjoy it.
On the second anniversary, things had settled down a bit, and I wrote up a blog to celebrate the day: The Two Year Mark.
Last year, on the third anniversary, I went "all in" and wrote up this bad boy: Three Years of Cressey Performance: The Right Reasons and the Right Way.
This year, I celebrating by simply forgetting.
Is this my first "over 30" moment, or is there something to be said for the fact that I forgot?
This has been, unarguably, our best year on a variety of fronts. Some highlights:
Tim Collins - one of our first pro guys and longest tenured clients - went to the big leagues this year. The same goes for guys like Cory Gearrin, Steve Cishek, and Trystan Magnuson. We also saw more professional athletes (and clients overall) than any other year before.
Tyler Beede - also a long-time Cressey Performer - was drafted in the first round of the 2011 MLB Draft...and we celebrated in my living room.
Tyler was one of 12 players with CP ties taken in this year's draft.
Over 30 CP athletes in the Class of 2011 signed letters of intent to play Division 1 baseball.
We expanded our staff to include some great people who complemented our existing skill sets and program offerings nicely.
We added about 1,000 square feet more office space and polished up our look with some new paint and more framed/autographed jerseys on the walls. I even got my own office - which is shared with our new mascot, Tank, of course:
Most importantly, though, we continued to have an absolute blast each and every day we came to "work" - and that, to me, is what it's all about. We made new friends and further developed already-existing friendships. The CP family grew, and we offered a service to people that helped them get to where they wanted to be.
You'll notice I didn't mention financial gain - and the reason is pretty simple; I view it as secondary. It's the destination, and I'm a lot more concerned about the process. Cultivate relationships, deliver a quality service, and genuinely care, and the money will take care of itself. Before the business gurus out there start crapping on me, I'll add that our business has grown by more than 30% over the past year in spite of the fact that I usually forget that I'm supposed to receive a paycheck at month's end. Pete just surprises me with it.
Don't get me wrong; you need effective business systems to make things work. If you're an organizational disaster and can't make your rent, it's going to be pretty hard to put on a happy face and make someone's day with your smile. However, the overwhelming majority of "savvy business decisions" are actually a combination of common sense, courtesy, and a genuine desire to help someone.
Most of the people that ask us business questions want to know how much we charge, how much our rent is, how we schedule, what our hours are, who painted Tony's t-shirt on him, what our start-up costs were, and why we don't use electronic funds transfer (EFT). What they should be asking us:
1. How do you remember so many people's names?
2. How can you possibly know everyone's health history who walks through your door?
3. How do you write individual strength and conditioning programs for everyone?
4. What do you do to build relationships?
5. How do you find time to get to so many baseball games?
6. How do you do to educate and retain staff?
7. How is it that all of your clients seem to be friends with each other? (As a little aside to this point, Tim Collins was at the facility the past two days while home for the all-star break, and he greeted every person who walked through the office door. He even answered the phone for us twice. That's big-league customer service.)
There are some brilliant business consultants out there. Pat Rigsby and Alwyn Cosgrove, for instance, are super bright guys and great friends who have helped loads of fitness professionals increase their incomes and improve their quality of life. They are also the first guys to tell you that if you don't know how to cultivate relationships and treat people right, then you're studying for the wrong test by looking for the perfect business plan.
Spend more time focusing on the process, and worry less about the destination. Four years from now, you'll probably enjoy your "job" a lot more - both psychologically and monetarily - and have a lot more friends and experiences that make you smile each time you think of them. You'll probably even forget it's your business' anniversary!
Thank you, as always, to everyone for all your support.
As a mini-celebration of this day, I'll do a little promo: if you purchase a CP hat HERE before Friday (July 15) at midnight, I'll send along a video of a 37-minute staff in-service I did on shoulder assessment that's uploaded to the 'web.
Sign-up Today for our FREE Newsletter and receive a deadlift technique tutorial!
I just wanted to put out this quick note for my readers out there who may be baseball fans located near a professional baseball park. It's a listing of where the participants in this season's off-season program will begin the year. Please comment if you're located near one of these teams and plan on heading out to support our guys, as it's awesome to know when our players have a good audience cheering them on.
This list progresses from East to West, American to National League (by organizational affiliation):
Chad Jenkins – Dunedin, FL (Blue Jays High A)
Matt Abraham – Dunedin, FL (GCL Blue Jays)
Kevin Youkilis – Boston, MA (Boston Red Sox)
Jeremy Hazelbaker – Salem, VA (Red Sox High A)
Jeremiah Bayer – Salem, VA (Red Sox High A)
Matt Kramer – Ft. Myers, FL (GCL Red Sox)
Craig Albernaz – Montgomery, AL (Rays AA)
Kevin Moran – Kannapolis, NC (White Sox Low A)
Phil Negus – Kannapolis, NC (White Sox Low A)
Corey Kluber – Columbus, OH (Indians AAA)
Tim Collins – Kansas City, MO (Kansas City Royals)
Anthony Seratelli – Northwest Arkansas (Royals AA)
Kevin Pucetas – Omaha, NE (Royals AAA)
Crawford Simmons – Kane County, IL (Royals Low A)
Matt Perry – Lakeland, FL (GCL Tigers)
Ryan O’Rourke – Beloit, WI (Twins Low A)
Tim Kiely – Little Rock, AK (Angels AA)
Trystan Magnuson – Sacramento, CA (A’s AAA)
Shawn Haviland – Midland, TX (A’s AA)
Jeff Bercume – Phoenix, AZ (AZL Athletics)
Nick McBride – Hickory, NC (Rangers Low A)
Ryan Rodebaugh – Hickory, NC (Rangers Low A)
Chad Rodgers – Lynchburg, VA (Braves High A)
Cory Gearrin – Gwinnett (Braves AAA)
Tim Gustafson – Pearl, MS (Braves AA)
Steve Cishek – New Orleans, LA (Marlins AAA)
Matt Bouchard – St. Lucie, FL (Mets High A)
Chris McKenzie – Hagerstown, MD (Nationals Low A)
Bryan LaHair – Des Moines, IA (Cubs AAA)
Steffan Wilson – Huntsville, AL (Brewers AA)
Cory Riordan – Tulsa, OK (Rockies AA)
Dan Houston – Modesto, CA (Rockies High A)
Will Inman – Tuscon, AZ (Padres AAA)
Kyle Vazquez – Scottsdale, AZ (AZL Giants)
Sign-up Today for our FREE Newsletter and receive a deadlift technique tutorial!
This is the fourth installment of a series on in-season strength and conditioning for baseball. In case you missed them, here are links to check out the first three parts of this series:
Today, I'll be talking about what I believe to be the optimal set-up for professional baseball players. This might be a minority in the big picture of all the baseball players on the planet, but pro guys' responses to in-season strength and conditioning programs can really tell us a lot.
Professional baseball players are the ones with the most accumulated wear and tear on their bodies, so effective programming is essential. Likewise, they play daily games - often upwards of 200 per year when you combine spring training, the regular season, and post-season play - so you really need to be able to manage competing demands and fatigue if you want to keep pro guys healthy and performing at a high level.
We'll break things down by position.
Position Players
Position players tend to represent the widest range of preferences. On one hand, you have guys who are completely dragging from having to stand on their feet for hours upon end day-after-day.
On the other hand, I've known guys who literally want to do something every single day - whether it's lifting, med ball, sprinting, or a combination of one or more. Don't believe me? Here's an awesome email I got from a big league middle infielder who trained 5x/week (3-4 lifting sessions and 1-2 movement training sessions):
I want to thank you for all that you've done for me, EC. In this my 18th professional season, I can say, without a doubt, this is the best I've felt during any season. By following your program, I was able to stay strong and explosive the whole season. This is the best I've felt after the season too. I don't have any nagging injuries or soreness and I know this is because I followed your programs. I can't express in words how much you contributed to my success this season.
We're talking about a guy in his late 30s with a lot of years of service time under his belt - and he felt better by doing more. Don't be afraid to make guys work in-season; if you don't, they'll eventually break down.
This, of course, is the rarity; most guys will be best off finding the balance between doing nothing and doing what we did in the above example. I tend to give position players the most wiggle room in terms of time and day of their lifts. They can either do it earlier in the day, or after games. We usually shoot for three full-body lifts per week on non-consecutive days - and never with more than 15 sets in a given day. One of those three lifts is almost exclusively upper body and core work. They get in, do their work, and get out.
Some guys, however, prefer to split things up into two upper-body and two lower-body sessions per week. They are shorter sessions, but are good for ensuring that athletes are going through their foam rolling and mobility drills more frequently.
Catchers
In my high school and college examples, I included catchers with position players' programming needs. However, when you catch 4-5 games a week, things change - and we take that into account with our programming.
First off, we don't squat our catchers in-season. Trust me, they squat enough. We use more deadlift variations and single-leg exercises during the season.
Second, I encourage catchers to lift post-game, if they have the opportunity and energy to do so. Training before a game might be okay for a pitcher or position player, but crushing a lower body lift right before getting in the bottom of a squat for three hours isn't particularly appealing. If you can get in the work the night before, you've got a better chance of being fresh.
Third, I think that 2-3 strength training sessions per week is sufficient - and only two of those days have lower body work in them. It takes far less volume than you can possibly imagine to maintain strength, so a couple sets each of a bilateral and unilateral exercise usually does the trick for catchers in-season.
Also of note, I don't like the idea of guys lifting much on their off-days from catching. If you're only getting 1-2 days off from catching per week, you might as well use them for full recovery. In other words, try to consolidate training stress and earn 24-hour "recovery windows" where you can.
Starting Pitchers
Professional baseball starting pitchers might have the coolest job and schedule in professional sports. It's very predictable - and they should be able to get in a good 12 lifts per month on the following schedule:
Day 0: pitch
Day 1: challenging lower body lift, light upper body work
Day 2: movement training only
Day 3: challenging upper body lift, easier lower body work
Day 4: low-intensity dynamic flexibility circuits only, or off altogether
Day 5: next pitching outing
If they wind up with five days between starts, they can split the day 3 training session up into upper body (Day 3) and lower body (Day 4), then take a day off on Day 5.
Life is tough, huh?
Relief Pitchers
Describing what I do with my relief pitchers is a mouthful, but I'll give it a shot.
Every reliever has three strength training "options" and one movement training day in each program that I send them:
Long Option (Full-Body Strength Training: 15-17 sets)
Movement Training
Short Option 1 (Full-Body, but Lower Emphasis: 8-12 sets)
Short Option 2 (Full-Body, but Upper Emphasis: 8-12 sets)
Here's exactly how I describe it to them:
"If you go over 20 pitches in an outing, perform the regular Day 1 and then Day 2 in the subsequent two days, as you can assume you won't throw for 48 hours. Then, progress to Short Option 1, day off, Short Option 2.
"If you make less than 20 pitches, go right to Short Option 1, then Day 2, then Short Option 2, then day off. This is good for when you think you may be going on back to back days. You can do the Short option lifts earlier in the day even if you think you may be throwing a bit that night; the volume will be so low that you'll still be fresh.
"If you are going to be a long/middle reliever, most of your work will be the Day 1, Day 2, Short Option 1, Day off, Short Option 2, etc. option. Listen to your body and take days off when you need to, but at the very least, make sure you're getting in the gym 2-3 times a week.
"If you're going to be a 'face-one-guy' reliever or a closer, you'll be doing more of the short option work."
Hopefully, that makes sense - because our guys have loved it and I know of a few smart pitching coaches "in the know" who have implemented it in their programs with excellent success.
That wraps up this series on in-season strength and conditioning. It's taken a long time to test-drive these programs and tinker with them to make sure that they work. At the same time, though, no two athletes are the same, so be sure to individualize your recommendations whenever possible.
Please help me spread these articles around via Facebook, Twitter, and emailed links, as we need to get the word out that in-season training is a must for baseball players at all levels!
Sign-up Today for our FREE Baseball Newsletter and Receive Instant Access to a 47-minute Presentation from Eric Cressey on Individualizing the Management of Overhead Athletes!
Written on January 1, 2009 at 2:34 pm, by Eric Cressey
A New Model for Training Between Starts: Part 2
By: Eric Cressey
In Part 1 of this article series, I discussed everything that was wrong with distance running for pitchers. In Part 2, I’ll outline my thoughts on how to best integrate conditioning for pitchers between throwing sessions. This article will focus on managing starters, but I suspect you’ll find that managing relievers isn’t entirely different aside from the fact that you’ll need to “roll with the punches” a bit more.
I think the best way to introduce this article is to describe a coincidence from the beginning of the year. On January 5, I received an email from one of my pro pitchers asking me if I could outline some thoughts on my between-start strength and conditioning mentality, as his old college pitching coach had asked for his input from him, as he was a student of the game and had tried some non-traditional ideas. In response to that email, I replied with essentially everything I’ll describe in this article – plus everything I outlined in Part 1 with respect to how bad a choice distance running is.
The coincidence didn’t become apparent until a week or two later when I got my hands on the January installment of the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, which featured a study entitled “Noncompatibility of power and endurance training among college baseball players.”
These researchers divided a collegiate pitching staff into two groups of eight over the course of a season, and each group did everything identically – except the running portion of their training programs. Three days per week, the “sprint” group did 10-30 sprints of 15-60m with 10-60s rest between bouts. The endurance group performed moderate-to-high intensity jogging or cycling 3-4 days per week for anywhere from 20-60 minutes.
Over the course of the season, the endurance group’s peak power output dropped by an average of 39.5 watts while the sprinting group increased by an average of 210.6 watts (1). So, basically what I’m saying is that I was right all along – and I’m totally going to brag about it. Part 1 of this series simply justified all of my thoughts; now it’s time to put them into a framework.
Some Prerequisite Q&A
As a response to Part 1, I got an email from a college pitching coach looking for some further details, and here were his questions (bold) and my answers:
Q: Is running 1-2 miles once a week considered distance running?
A: I’d call anything over 150m “distance running” in a pitching population, believe it or not. I haven’t had a baseball player run over 60 yards in two years – and even when they go 60, they’re build-ups, so only about 50% of that distance is at or near top speed.
Q: Is running 10 poles in 30s with one minute of rest considered distance?
A: Let’s say it takes 30s to run a pole, and then you rest a minute (1:2 work: rest ratio). Then, you go out and pitch, where you exert effort for one second and rest 20s (1:20 work:rest ratio). This is the equivalent of a 100m sprinter training like a 1500m runner.
Q: Don’t you need some endurance to pitch a complete 9-inning game?
A: If all endurance was created equal, why didn’t Lance Armstrong win the New York or Boston Marathon? Endurance is very skill specific. Additionally, there is a huge difference between exerting maximal power over 20-25 individual efforts with near complete rest (a sample inning) and exerting submaximal efforts repeatedly with no or minimal rest.
Q: What about guys who are overweight? What should they do?
A: Fat guys should be paperweights, bouncers, sumo wrestlers, or eating contest champions. If they want to be successful players at the D1 level or beyond, they’ll sack up and stop eating crap. Several years ago, I promised myself that I would never, ever try to use extra conditioning to make up for poor diet.
Q: What are your thoughts on interval training?
A: We know that interval training is superior to steady state cardio for fat loss, but the important consideration is that it must be specific to the sport in question.
These responses should set the stage for the following points:
1. The secret is to keep any longer duration stuff low-intensity (under 70% HRR) and everything else at or above 90% of max effort (this includes starts, agilities, and sprints up to 60yds). For more background on this, check out the McCarthy et al. study I outlined in Part 1.
2. Ideally, the low-intensity work would involve significant joint ranges-of-motion (more to come on this below).
3. Don’t forget that pitchers rarely run more than 15 yards in a game situation.
4. Strength training and mobility training far outweigh running on the importance scale.
5. If you need to develop pitching specific stamina, the best way to achieve that end is to simply pitch and build pitch counts progressively. If that needs to be supplemented with something to expedite the process a bit, you can add in some medicine ball medleys – which can also be useful for ironing out side-to-side imbalances, if implemented appropriately. However, a good off-season throwing program and appropriate management of a pitcher early in the season should develop all the pitching specific endurance that is required.
The 5-Day Rotation
In a case of a five-day rotation, here is how we typically structure things. Keep in mind that dynamic flexibility and static stretching are performed every day.
Day 0: pitch
Day 1 (or right after pitching, if possible): challenging lower body lift, push-up variation (light), horizontal pulling (light), cuff work
Day 2: movement training only, focused on 10-15yd starts, agility work, and some top speed work (50-60 yds)
Day 3: bullpen (usually), single-leg work, challenging upper body lift (less vertical pulling in-season), cuff work
Day 4: low-intensity dynamic flexibility circuits only
Day 5: next pitching outing
Notes:
1. When a guy happens to get five days between starts, we’ll typically split the Day 3 lifting session into two sessions and do some movement training on Day 4 as well.
2. I know a lot of guys (myself included) are advocates of throwing more than once between starts. For simplicity’s sake, I haven’t included those sessions.
3. There are definitely exceptions to this rule. For instance, if a guy is having a hard time recovering, we’ll take Day 2 off altogether and just do our sprint work after the bullpen and before lifting on Day 3. That adds a full day of rest to the rotation in addition to the really light Day 4.
The 7-Day Rotation
With a 7-day rotation, we’ve got a lot more wiggle room to get aggressive with things. This is why in-season can still be a time of tremendous improvements in the college game, especially since you can work in a good 2-3 throwing sessions between starts. Again, dynamic flexibility and static stretching are performed every day. To keep this simple, I’m going to assume we’ve got a Saturday starter.
Saturday: pitch
Sunday: challenging lower body lift, light cuff work
Monday: movement training only, focused on 10-15yd starts, agility work, and some top speed work (50-60 yds); upper body lift
Tuesday: low-Intensity resistance training (<30% of 1RM) circuits, extended dynamic flexibility circuits
Wednesday: full-body lift
Thursday: movement training only, focused on 10-15yd starts, agility work, and some top speed work (50-60 yds);
Friday: low-intensity dynamic flexibility circuits only
Saturday: pitch again
Of course, traveling logistics can throw a wrench in the plans on this front sometimes, but the good news is that collegiate pitchers have six days to roll with the punches to get back on schedule.
Closing Thoughts
As you can see, I am a big fan of quality over quantity. Our guys only sprint twice in most weeks – and certainly not more than three times. This certainly isn’t the only way to approach training between starts, but I’ve found it to be the most effective of what our guys have tried.
References
1. Rhea MR, Oliverson JR, Marshall G, Peterson MD, Kenn JG, Ayllón FN. Noncompatibility of power and endurance training among college baseball players. J Strength Cond Res 2008 Jan;22(1):230-4.
Sign-up Today for our FREE Baseball Newsletter and Receive and Receive a Copy of the Exact Stretches
used by Cressey Performance Pitchers after they Throw!
One Response to “A New Model for Training Between Starts: Part 2”
eugene sedita Says: December 27th, 2010 at 12:49 ameditWow, I’ve got nothing to do with pitching and throwing and still read these articles like a mystery novel, (just couldn’t stop ) Thanks, Eric, very interesting.
It's been a few months in the making, but we just finished up a promo video about how we attack off-season baseball training at Cressey Performance for our professional, collegiate, and high school baseball players.
We'd love to hear what you think - and hopefully you'll like it enough to help spread the word on Facebook and Twitter. Thanks!
A big shoutout goes out to Jamie and Matt at Lasting Memories Videotaping; these guys do an awesome job, and we can't recommend them highly enough!
Sign-up Today for our FREE Baseball Newsletter and Receive a Copy of the Exact Stretches used by Cressey Performance Pitchers after they Throw!
Just a quick heads-up on where some of the Cressey Performance minor league guys are winding up to start the season. If you're in their neck of the woods, get out and show 'em some love at your local ballpark.
Tim Kiely - (Little Rock) Arkansas (Angels AA) - Opening Day Starter Tonight
Jim Fuller - Savannah (Mets Low A)
Chad Rodgers - Myrtle Beach (Braves High A)
Will Inman - Portland (Oregon - Padres AAA)
Tim Collins - (Manchester) New Hampshire (Blue Jays AA)
Steffan Wilson - Huntsville (Alabama - Brewers AA)
Steve Cishek - Jupiter (Florida - Marlins High A)
Cory Riordan - Tulsa (Rockies AA)
Anthony Seratelli - Northwest Arkansas (Royals AA)
Kevin Pucetas - Fresno (Giants AAA) - Opening Day Starter Tonight
Shawn Haviland - Stockton (California - A's High A) - Opening Day Starter Tonight
Benji Johnson - Mississippi Braves (AA)
Craig Albernaz - Durham Bulls (Rays AAA)
Chad Jenkins - Lansing Lugnuts (Blue Jays Low A)
Kevin Nolan - Lansing Lugnuts (Blue Jays Low A)
We also have quite a few younger guys in extended spring training who will be assigned to short-season teams in a few months - or (hopefully) play their way up to A-ball teams.
Good luck, guys!
Today marks the end of one of the funnest "eras" of my life.
Back on September 9, we officially kicked off the pro baseball off-season with Tim Collins' arrival at Cressey Performance for his first training session of the off-season. Coming off a great season that included a promotion to Double-A at age 20 and a Blue Jays organizational pitcher of the year award, Tim was ready to get after it - and that's exactly what he did. From that day in September through February 6 (when he was called to Florida for mini-camp), Tim added 21 pounds to his frame while getting leaner - and increased his vertical jump by four inches (to 37.9 inches).
Tim was one of over 30 pro guys we had this winter. Results were typical.
Chad Rodgers (Atlanta Braves organization) went from 206 to 233 while adding just under three inches to his vertical jump. And he dominated "No Shave November."
Jeremiah Bayer (Red Sox organization) packed on muscle mass faster than just about any athlete I've ever seen - to the tune of 13 pounds in only two months - while adding an inch to his vertical. That's a 5.6% improvement in predicted peak power in a short amount of time - and one that is carrying over to the mound already.
Heck, Pat Bresnehan packed on 14 pounds and jumped 37.5 inches (a 6.3 inch) improvement - and got himself signed by the Mariners - after coming to us in the latter phases of his rehab period!
Craig Albernaz (Rays organization) increased his vertical jump by over five inches while adding seven pounds before heading to big league camp - and this is a guy who has always struggled to put on any weight, let alone good weight!
Cory Riordan (Rockies) and Steve Cishek (Marlins) win the awards for the longest commutes to train. Cory drove two hours to CP, and two hours home to Connecticut to get in his work with us - and he's got a new body and a lot more athleticism to show for it. Cishek wasn't far behind with his 1 hour, 45 minute commute from Cape Cod four times a week all the way up through January. I can say without wavering that both of them would tell you that the ride was 100% worth it.
Two other Braves guys - Derick Himpsl and Matt Kramer - also put in some great work that is already carrying over to the field.
Zach Piccola's headed to White Sox camp with a great few months of training under his belt alongside free agent Nick Asselin. Jim Fuller (Mets) committed himself to train like he never had before, and looks fantastic now. Another Mets guy, Tim Stronach, has busted his hump to get better alongside his rehabilitation from shoulder surgery.
Steffan Wilson leaned out and dramatically changed the way he looks and moves - and it helped get him a much-deserved call-up to big-league camp last week.
Kevin Youkilis had a great off-season as well - due in part to his love of pushing the sled. So far this spring, Youk's looked good (much better than his strength coach, as is shown below), and we're excited about the Red Sox season ahead.
Will Inman (Padres), Phil Negus (White Sox), and Kevin Nolan (Blue Jays) put in a great few months in the fall, and Steve Hammond (Giants), Kevin Pucetas (Giants), Nick McBride (Rangers), Benji Johnson (Braves), Matt Morizio (Royals), Justin Edwards (Cardinals), and Howie Clark (Blue Jays) made the most of all their visits to Boston this winter.
And, some "distance-based" guys of mine - Chad Jenkins (Blue Jays) and Anthony "A-Tan" Seraterelli (Royals) - made some excellent progress by following everything to a "T." A-Tan, Howie, and Morizio even made a hilarious video about their experiences (a joke, FYI):
One athlete, though, stepped it up big time on Thursday to set himself apart from all the rest. Tim Kiely (Angels) added 11 pounds and seven inches to his vertical jump, but his biggest claim to fame is that he took home the Gold in the first ever Cressey Performance Elite Baseball Olympics on the last day. Granted, the "Olympics" were limited to five participants who collectively agreed to not tell the most athletic guys of the bunch about the event ahead of time - but that doesn't mean that the boys didn't bring their A games! The Silver (5-lb) went to CP pitching coach Matt Blake, and the Bronze (2.5-lb) went to free agent Alex Szymanski. Shawn Haviland (A's) finished fourth, but he has a Harvard degree, and probably would have won if Sabermetrics trivia and word searches had been part of the contest. Here's the much-anticipated medal ceremony:
I am not sure where the championship belt fit in, but the entire day didn't make much sense, so it seemed right. Congratulations, Tim.
From these videos, a lot of people might think that we're all about goofing around - but that couldn't be further from the truth. Our guys have a good time, for sure, but it always comes after they've busted their butts in the gym. And, frankly, if we didn't have such great camaraderie and the guys weren't such good friends, the motivation to train would never approach the level it has. A good culture and outstanding results absolutely, positively go hand-in-hand.
Most of my writing on this blog is obviously geared toward educating folks on the training, research, nutrition, and other geeky science stuff. However, I should make it absolutely clear that all the knowledge in the world in these regards won't matter if you don't have a good culture established for your athletes and clients. They need to enjoy training and look forward to each and every session because they enjoy the process as much as the destination.
They need to be willing to come to you to critique the best man's toast they've written (happened this winter). They need to feel comfortable staying at your place if they're in town for a few days (happened multiple times this winter). They need to feel welcome spending Thanksgiving with your family (two of my athletes came home with me this past November). And, they need to respect you enough as a person to value your opinion as a professional. As the saying goes, they don't care how much you know until they know how much you care.
That's why most of our pro guys train six days a week from September/October all the way up until now, whereas many other places pro guys frequent consist of 3x/week "workouts" for the 4-6 weeks before spring training starts. And, I feel like it is one of many things that differentiates us from our competition (whatever that may be). We are about making athletes better, not just "working them out."
I'm proud of all our guys not only for their hard work this off-season, but for taking an ownership stake in Cressey Performance to make it something special now and in the future.
Thanks for an awesome 5+ months, guys. We can't wait to do it again.
Sign-up Today for our FREE Baseball Newsletter and Receive a Copy of the Exact Stretches
used by Cressey Performance Pitchers after they Throw!
December 27th, 2010 at 12:49 am editWow, I’ve got nothing to do with pitching and throwing and still read these articles like a mystery novel, (just couldn’t stop ) Thanks, Eric, very interesting.