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We're excited to welcome Washington Nationals relief pitcher Aaron Barrett to this week's podcast. Aaron is one of the most impressive comeback stories you'll ever hear. A special thanks to this show's sponsor, Athletic Greens. Head to http://www.athleticgreens.com/cressey and you'll receive a free 20-pack of Athletic Greens travel packets with your first order.
Show Outline
- What major injuries and setbacks Aaron experienced that removed him from competitive baseball from 2014 to 2018
- What the medical priorities and overall rehab process were for recovering from this freak injury
- How Aaron managed his psychology as he endured a major setback
- How he incorporated and began to increase his hand speed as he progressed throw his rehab throwing program
- When in Aaron’s rehab protocols he felt more consistent and confident as he began throwing in professional baseball games once again
- What recovery modalities Aaron utilizes to help his arm bounce back
- How Aaron modified his routine after enduring these setbacks
- How Aaron remained process oriented and focused on his goals for the long haul of a four-year rehab period
- What lessons has Aaron learned after experiencing the workload of being a reliever in a major league bullpen
- How Aaron manages his throwing volume and intensity in-season
- What Aaron’s gameday routine is
- What the characteristics of coaches and rehab professionals that have been the most impactful on his career
- What Aaron’s next step is for his career as he transitions from this incredible recovery from injury to being a consistent performer for the Washington Nationals
You can follow Aaron on Twitter at @AaronBarrett30 and on Instagram at @AaronBarrett30.
Sponsor Reminder
This episode is brought to you by Athletic Greens. It’s an all-in-one superfood supplement with 75 whole-food sourced ingredients designed to support your body’s nutrition needs across 5 critical areas of health: 1) energy, 2) immunity, 3) gut health, 4) hormonal support, and 5) healthy aging. Head to www.AthleticGreens.com/cressey and claim my special offer today - 20 FREE travel packs (valued at $79) - with your first purchase. I use this product daily myself and highly recommend it to our athletes as well. I'd encourage you to give it a shot, too - especially with this great offer.
Podcast Feedback
If you like what you hear, we'd be thrilled if you'd consider subscribing to the podcast and leaving us an iTunes review. You can do so HERE.
And, we welcome your suggestions for future guests and questions. Just email elitebaseballpodcast@gmail.com.
Thank you for your continued support!
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!
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We're excited to welcome Cressey Sports Performance - Massachusetts strength and conditioning coach and associated pitching coordinator Kyle Driscoll to this week's podcast. A special thanks to this show's sponsor, Athletic Greens. Head to http://www.athleticgreens.com/cressey and you'll receive a free 10-pack of Athletic Greens travel packets with your first order.
Show Outline
- How the CSP staff onboarded and assessed each college athlete for the Elite College Development Program
- What specific strategies Kyle used to assess the pitchers in the program, including subjective evaluations and the use of technology like Rapsodo and high-speed camera
- Why evaluating each pitcher’s routine is key component of an initial assessment
- How understanding exactly where a pitcher is on day one allowed Kyle to structure realistic, obtainable goals for each player to achieve over the 10 week program
- What the most surprising lessons Kyle took away from initial evaluations of the college summer program were
- What goes into matching up throwing partners
- What Kyle’s approach was for designing each athlete’s throwing program and why he made sure to teach them how to effectively program for themselves following their experience at CSP
- How the synergy of CSP works to consolidate stress in the college summer program and how Kyle specifically programs throwing alongside the strength and conditioning component
- What specific positions Kyle looks for pitchers to hit in their throwing delivery – and how they can reinforce these positions in the weight room
- Why Kyle emphasizes certain positions early in the delivery so quality movement is persevered as the throwing motion becomes faster down the chain
- What specific pitch design and velocity changes individuals made over the summer
- What the most influential takeaways for the pitchers that attended the Elite College Development Program and how these takeaways stretch far beyond mechanical adjustments
You can follow Kyle on Twitter at @kdrisc35 and on Instagram at @bigdriskk.
Sponsor Reminder
This episode is brought to you by Athletic Greens. It’s a NSF certified all-in-one superfood supplement with 75 whole-food sourced ingredients designed to support your body’s nutrition needs across 5 critical areas of health: 1) energy, 2) immunity, 3) gut health, 4) hormonal support, and 5) healthy aging. Head to www.AthleticGreens.com/cressey and claim my special offer today - 20 FREE travel packs (valued at $79) - with your first purchase. I use this product daily myself and highly recommend it to our athletes as well. I'd encourage you to give it a shot, too - especially with this great offer.
Podcast Feedback
If you like what you hear, we'd be thrilled if you'd consider subscribing to the podcast and leaving us an iTunes review. You can do so HERE.
And, we welcome your suggestions for future guests and questions. Just email elitebaseballpodcast@gmail.com.
Thank you for your continued support!
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!
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We're excited to welcome highly regarded pitching consultant Alan Jaeger to this week's podcast to discuss long toss and both performance and rehabilitation throwing programs. A special thanks to this show's sponsor, Athletic Greens. Head to http://www.athleticgreens.com/cressey and you'll receive a free 20-pack of Athletic Greens travel packets with your first order.
Show Outline
Sponsor Reminder
This episode is brought to you by Athletic Greens. It’s an all-in-one superfood supplement with 75 whole-food sourced ingredients designed to support your body’s nutrition needs across 5 critical areas of health: 1) energy, 2) immunity, 3) gut health, 4) hormonal support, and 5) healthy aging. Head to www.AthleticGreens.com/cressey and claim my special offer today - 20 FREE travel packs (valued at $79) - with your first purchase. I use this product daily myself and highly recommend it to our athletes as well. I'd encourage you to give it a shot, too - especially with this great offer.
Podcast Feedback
If you like what you hear, we'd be thrilled if you'd consider subscribing to the podcast and leaving us an iTunes review. You can do so HERE.
And, we welcome your suggestions for future guests and questions. Just email elitebaseballpodcast@gmail.com.
Thank you for your continued support!
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!
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Episode 25 of the podcast features a collaborative effort between Cressey Sports Performance - Massachusetts Director of Performance John O'Neil and me. We go in-depth on the topic of planning out an effective baseball offseason for high school, college, and professional players. This week's episode is brought to you by Joovv Red Light Therapy. The research on the wide-ranging health benefits of red light therapy are compelling, and Joovv is at the forefront of delivering this technology to improve your health and performance. Head to www.Joovv.com/eric and enter coupon code CRESSEY to get a special gift with your purchase.
Show Outline
- How John and Eric model their training programs to optimize an individual’s off-season
- What John’s off-season training priorities are when working with high school, college, and professional athletes
- How having a single sport high school athlete impacts off-season training
- What factors high school ball players should consider when deciding to play fall ball
- Why consistency is the most important aspect of a training program and how John emphasizes this message to his youth athletes
- Why health and performance are not mutually exclusive in the world of performance enhancement
- How coaches can find success with athletes by identifying the duration of time they have them, honing in on low-hanging fruit in their development, and working backward to drive favorable changes in their abilities
- What training qualities John focuses on developing early in an individual’s offseason and how these strategies are progressed as an athlete transitions to being in-season
- Why building a robust aerobic base is of high priority early in the off-season and how this idea transforms into more power related development as the off-season progresses
- How John conceptualizes his sprint progressions for athletes
- Why off-season training slowly builds athletes to move more explosively as they approach the season and how John specifically translates general motor potential into skill specific activity
- What a typical professional off-season training program looks like
- How John and Eric model off-season training programs around throwing programs to make sure their baseball players are prepared for all facets of their sport
You can follow John on Instagram at @oneilstrength and Twitter at @oneilstrength, and reach out to us at cspmass@gmail.com for offseason training inquiries.
Podcast Feedback
If you like what you hear, we'd be thrilled if you'd consider subscribing to the podcast and leaving us an iTunes review. You can do so HERE.
And, we welcome your suggestions for future guests and questions. Just email elitebaseballpodcast@gmail.com.
Thank you for your continued support!
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!
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We're excited to welcome Philadelphia Phillies First Baseman Logan Morrison to this week's podcast. This week's episode is brought to you by Joovv Red Light Therapy. The research on the wide-ranging health benefits of red light therapy are compelling, and Joovv is at the forefront of delivering this technology to improve your health and perforance. Head to www.Joovv.com/eric and enter coupon code CRESSEY to get a special gift with your purchase.
Show Outline
- How baseball has changed since Logan was acquired as a draft and follow in 2005
- What the biggest differences from level to level are in pro baseball
- How the way evaluating players has transformed from merely getting on base to how much a hitter produces at the plate as organizations begin to value metrics like OPS+ over batting average
- How Logan’s approach at the plate has evolved over the years
- How has the increased use of data, analytics, and technology impacted Logan’s career
- Why Logan has adopted a short memory to survive in the world of baseball and how he has learned to manage his desire to avoid complacency
- How Logan has learned to read pitchers and recognize common tendencies that tip pitches to opposing hitters
- How training to be durable in the off-season and simplifying his process at the plate allowed Logan to have a breakout 2017
- Why Logan doesn’t take batting practice on field before games and instead chooses to lighten his workload in the cages to stay quick and fresh for the swings that matter
- What lessons Logan learned from Hall of Famer Edgar Martinez and MVPs Giancarlo Stanton and Christian Yelich
- How differentiating when to be analytical and when to compete have impacted Logan’s career as a hitter
- What strategies coaches can implement to be more impactful for their players
- What coaching cues and minute details Logan has focused on in his swing to become a more consistent hitter
- How Logan’s father influenced his early development and love for the game of baseball and what lessons Logan would pass on to his son if he wanted to pursue a career in professional baseball
- How social media has impacted Logan’s career
You can follow Logan on Instagram at @lomogram.
Podcast Feedback
If you like what you hear, we'd be thrilled if you'd consider subscribing to the podcast and leaving us an iTunes review. You can do so HERE.
And, we welcome your suggestions for future guests and questions. Just email elitebaseballpodcast@gmail.com.
Thank you for your continued support!
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!
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We're excited to welcome Ben Hansen, the Vice President of Biomechanics and Innovation at Motus Global, to this week's podcast. Ben shares insights on mechanical stressors and workload monitoring to help us understand how we can best keep pitchers healthy while still developing them.
A special thanks to this show's sponsor, Marc Pro. Head to www.MarcPro.com and enter the coupon code CRESSEY at checkout to receive 10% off on your order.
Show Outline
- What led Ben to pursue a career in biomechanics and wearable technology
- How Motus Global strives to impact the game of baseball and how their model for developing healthy arms has shifted over the years
- What peer reviewed research says about the significance of joint torques and how we should interpret these metrics for predicting the risk of injury in baseball players
- What acute and chronic workloads are, and how managing these variables can allow coaches to keep their athletes healthy and high performing
- Why pitchers should have individualized throwing programs to account for the diverse variables that impact a player’s health
- How truly different catch play, flat ground, bullpen, pre-game, and in-game throws are, and how coaches can more accurately account for the stress they impose on pitchers throughout a season
- How rest should be incorporated into a baseball players year and why short breaks during a season of heavy throwing may be doing more harm than good for throwers
- What ballplayers should consider when deciding between continuing to throw into the next season or shutting down to rest
- What role mechanics plays in the health of a throwing arm and how common mechanical tendencies, like the Tommy John Twist and the Inverted W, influence arm stress
- How fatigue is more predictive of injury than mechanics
- Why building a durable work capacity is more important for staying healthy than mastering mechanics
- How reliable using perceived effort is when creating and executing a throwing program
- Why professionals need to rewrite the return to throwing program for common injuries in baseball
- Where more research is needed to further understand how to manage baseball arms
You can follow Ben on Twitter at @BenHansen9 and on Instagram at @MotusGlobal.
Podcast Feedback
If you like what you hear, we'd be thrilled if you'd consider subscribing to the podcast and leaving us an iTunes review. You can do so HERE.
And, we welcome your suggestions for future guests and questions. Just email elitebaseballpodcast@gmail.com.
Thank you for your continued support!
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!
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We're excited to welcome Atlanta Braves starting pitcher Mike Soroka to the podcast. A special thanks to this show's sponsor, Lumberlend. Head to www.Lumberlend.com and enter the coupon code CRESSEY to get 10% off on your order as you customize a bat mug today.
Show Outline
- How growing up playing baseball in Canada influenced Mike’s early career
- How playing for the Canadian national team as a teenager allowed Mike to compete against the best and learn to fail forward at a young age
- How Mike transformed from a lanky 6-2, 140-pound high school ball player to one of the youngest players in the big leagues
- What has led Mike to his unique pitching delivery and what positions he prioritizes feeling throughout his throwing motion to remain consistent while still preserving his deception on the mound
- How Mike differentiates his two-seam and four-seam fastball
- How Mike learned to spin and manipulate the movement of a baseball by playing with a Wiffle Ball as a kid
- What key skills and major adjustments helped Mike progress through the minors quickly
- How learning to command the zone, specifically in different counts, has given Mike an edge in pro ball
- How having a true grasp of reality and embracing a growth mindset have allowed Mike to shape his mentality to be a mature and successful young pitcher
- Why making mental adjustments are just as influential as making mechanical adjustments when working to be consistently successful, and how learning to make adjustments on the fly have given Mike an advantage
- How Mike’s curiosity for answers and appreciation for details have allowed him to master the intricacies of the game of baseball
- How Mike structures his throwing and training programs on a 5-day rotation, and how he takes advantage of the high-low model to manage stress throughout the season
- What Mike’s schedule is on game day
You can follow Mike on Instagram at @mikesoroka_ and on Twitter at @mike_soroka28.
Sponsor Reminder
This episode is brought to you by Lumberlend Co. If you're looking for a unique gift for a baseball fan in your life, you'll definitely want to check this out: they've hollowed out the bat barrel and created a cool drinking mug. You can customize these with colors, names, logos, and photographs. They're also an officially licensed MLBPA product, so you can get your favorite teams and players incorporated into the designs. I've used these as gifts with great feedback, so I'm confident you'd experience the same. Just head to Lumberlend.com and enter the coupon code CRESSEY to get 10% off as you design yours today.
Podcast Feedback
If you like what you hear, we'd be thrilled if you'd consider subscribing to the podcast and leaving us an iTunes review. You can do so HERE.
And, we welcome your suggestions for future guests and questions. Just email elitebaseballpodcast@gmail.com.
Thank you for your continued support!
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!
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We're excited to welcome the co-founder of Precision Nutrition, Dr. John Berardi to this week's podcast. In lieu of a sponsor this week, we've just got a reminder about this year's fall seminar and business building mentorship at CSP-MA. They'll take place September 21-23; you can learn more HERE.
Show Outline
- How Berardi became the fitness influencer and successful businessman he is today
- Where Precision Nutrition began, and how John has grown a massively successful company in the health industry
- What the core values and mission of Precision Nutrition are
- How John differentiates Precision Nutrition through the creation of digestible, interactive content and what John’s model is for mastering marketing and creating influential content consistently
- How understanding the basics of nutrition and executing the simple things at the table are the common problems of all populations John works with
- What John’s first step is when working with a new client looking to change their eating habits
- How John works to define his client’s health goals and identify their dietary limiting factors in order to drive behavioral changes that will yield results
- Why John strives to inspire autonomy in his clients by creating a simple nutritional plan built on small changes rather than creating a complicated, restrictive eating experience with rules and regulations
- How parents can learn to speak more effectively with their children about food and what strategies they can implement to create an atmosphere of happy, healthy eating
- How John approaches educating his athletic populations about nutrition
- How John deals with athletes who want to make drastic changes to their eating habits and experiment with a new type of eating (i.e. keto, gluten-free, vegan, etc.)
- How John would update his “7 Habits of Highly Effective Nutrition Programs” if he were to rewrite them today
- How individuals can fine tune their eating environment and become more attuned with their hunger and appetite
- How John’s new book, can help health and fitness industry professionals learn more about business, building a reputation, and orienting a career
Here's where you can find John and Precision Nutrition on the web:
Precision Nutrition (Facebook)
Precision Nutrition (Instagram)
JohnBerardi.com
PrecisionNutrition.com
ChangeMakerAcademy.com
And, to pre-order his new book, head to the following link: Ch ange Maker: Turn Your Passion for Health and Fitness into a Powerful Purpose and Wildly Successful Career
Podcast Feedback
If you like what you hear, we'd be thrilled if you'd consider subscribing to the podcast and leaving us an iTunes review. You can do so HERE.
And, we welcome your suggestions for future guests and questions. Just email elitebaseballpodcast@gmail.com.
Thank you for your continued support!
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!
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We're excited to welcome Cincinnati Reds starting pitcher Alex Wood to this week's podcast. A special thanks to this show's sponsor, Athletic Greens. Head to http://www.athleticgreens.com/cressey and you'll receive a free 10-pack of Athletic Greens travel packets with your first order.
Show Outline
Sponsor Reminder
This episode is brought to you by Athletic Greens. It’s an all-in-one superfood supplement with 75 whole-food sourced ingredients designed to support your body’s nutrition needs across 5 critical areas of health: 1) energy, 2) immunity, 3) gut health, 4) hormonal support, and 5) healthy aging. Head to www.AthleticGreens.com/cressey and claim my special offer today - 20 FREE travel packs (valued at $79) - with your first purchase. I use this product daily myself and highly recommend it to our athletes as well. I'd encourage you to give it a shot, too - especially with this great offer.
Podcast Feedback
If you like what you hear, we'd be thrilled if you'd consider subscribing to the podcast and leaving us an iTunes review. You can do so HERE.
And, we welcome your suggestions for future guests and questions. Just email elitebaseballpodcast@gmail.com.
Thank you for your continued support!
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!
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I'm flying solo for this week's podcast, as I wanted to tackle a controversial topic in the world of baseball development: distance running. Before we get to it, though, a special thanks to this show's sponsor, Athletic Greens. Head to http://www.athleticgreens.com/cressey and you'll receive a free 10-pack of Athletic Greens travel packets with your first order.
Show Outline
- Why “traditionalism” is so rooted in baseball, leading to distance running becoming commonplace
- How athletic performance is a multifactorial equation and coaches should avoid pinpointing success to one specific methodology and being married to the n=1 training approach
- Why skill coaches need to appreciate the dynamic nature of exercise science and understand that what we know about training athletes is remarkably different from decades prior
- How the athletes playing baseball have grown to be bigger and heavier over the decades and what the implications are for using outdated training practices with this new breed of baseball players
- How physiological adaptations are incredibly specific
- Why coaches need to better understand the energy system demands of baseball and employ methodologies that build an aerobic base rather than thrash their athletes and end up training the players anaerobically
- Why clearing lactic acid is a poor excuse for using distance running and what the real reasons are for feeling fresh after long distance, low intensity running
- Why building an aerobic base is necessary for athletic performance and vital for acute and chronic recovery
- How training an aerobic base requires a much lower intensity than most athletes and coaches think
- Why using a low amplitude, low variability movement, like distance running, is insufficient for training a high amplitude, low variability movement, like pitching
- How coaches can implement more practical methods, such as mobility circuits, to drive adaptations, preserve strength and power qualities, and optimize recovery
- When the ideal time is to target the aerobic system – and how these benefits can best be preserved throughout a season
Mentioned Resources: Building Aerobic Capacity with Mobility Circuits
Sponsor Reminder
This episode is brought to you by Athletic Greens. It’s an all-in-one superfood supplement with 75 whole-food sourced ingredients designed to support your body’s nutrition needs across 5 critical areas of health: 1) energy, 2) immunity, 3) gut health, 4) hormonal support, and 5) healthy aging. Head to www.AthleticGreens.com/cressey and claim my special offer today - 20 FREE travel packs (valued at $79) - with your first purchase. I use this product daily myself and highly recommend it to our athletes as well. I'd encourage you to give it a shot, too - especially with this great offer.
Podcast Feedback
If you like what you hear, we'd be thrilled if you'd consider subscribing to the podcast and leaving us an iTunes review. You can do so HERE.
And, we welcome your suggestions for future guests and questions. Just email elitebaseballpodcast@gmail.com.
Thank you for your continued support!
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!
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LEARN
HOW TO
DEADLIFT
- Avoid the most common deadlifting mistakes
- 9 - minute instructional video
- 3 part follow up series
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