We're excited to welcome Dana Santas to this week's podcast to talk about how to fine-tune methods of improving mobility. 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
How Dana first became interested in mobility through yoga and why she grew to appreciate this practice for its emphasis on breathing and the opportunity it gave her to sit in silence and relax
Why Dana chose to leave her job in corporate America to pursue her passion for yoga as a yoga instructor
How a chance meeting on a business trip opened her eyes to the lack of mobility training in professional sports
How Dana scrapped her original plan of opening her own yoga studio and instead turned her attention to bringing yoga to professional sports organizations
How she went about establishing credibility in the athletic performance industry by creating a platform for her work and marketing her expertise as a yoga instructor
How writing her first book and mailing individualized letters to influential players on every sports team in all major American sports got her foot in the door of professional sports
How Dana managed the challenges of being one of the first female coaches to work in professional sports
How coaching with humility, being confident in her skillset, and having “feel” allowed Dana to build impactful relationships with her athletes and fellow coaches and excel as a coach in professional sports
How Dana has modified her traditional yoga background to fit the movement needs of her athletic population
What key competencies and professional exposure do coaches and instructors need in order to develop a well rounded movement approach like Dana
How Gray Cook and his work gave reason and explanation to the movement value Dana saw in yoga
Why Dana is so cautious when prescribing stretches to her athletes and how she has found more effective methods to restore range of motion
What cmovement challenges Dana sees in the baseball population and how she attacks them
What common mistakes Dana sees individuals making as they perform yoga
Why having context allows yoga instructors to better prescribe exercises, challenge clients without putting them in harm's way, and more effectively lead individuals through training
What positions and poses yoga instructors should avoid implementing when working with clients, especially in group settings
Why yoga instructors shouldn’t stray far from the basics and learn to appreciate quality movement over finding the most challenging pose to try with their classes
What should people look for when searching to work with credible and reliable mobility experts
What is next for Dana professionally and what valuable projects is she currently working on
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!
We're excited to welcome Dr. Greg Rose to this week's podcast to talk about evaluating and training rotational power across multiple sports. 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 Greg’s professional journey began as a young, aspiring engineer and how becoming involved in the world of golf persuaded him to leave engineering and become a doctor of chiropractic
How Greg became involved with Titleist and, in turn, the Titleist Performamce Institute
How Greg led the way for the incorporation of motion capture technology with athletes
How TPI has evolved to include other sport specific coaching tools like OnBaseU
How Greg’s interaction with Tom House evolved into a more comprehensive interaction with a variety of rotational athletes
What it really means to move efficiently as a rotational athlete
Why individuals need to be careful when analyzing movement from single still shot photo or snapshot of data and how professionals can apply a systematic approach for understanding and improving movement
How coaches can utilize all the tools in their toolbox to understand the what, how, and why a person moves a certain way
How collecting data should drive intervention rather than just being descriptive
How coaches can influence the learning experience for their athletes and how strategies like external vs internal coaching ques and random and blocked practice influence how an individual learns
What research says about the impact of external and internal coaching ques on performance and how coaches can better understand when to use each of these strategies with an athlete
How does considering a sport’s window to excel allow coaches to better prepare athletes for success
How to approach long term athletic development, with particular focus on critical windows for developing certain qualities
Why talent identification can’t be truly trusted until after a child’s growth spurt and how being a early or late bloomer influences an athletes athletic development
How Greg conceptualizes developing rotational skills with young athletes
What books anyone in the rotational sport world should read
You can follow Dr. Rose on Twitter at@OnBaseUand on Instagram at @OnBaseU.
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 - 10 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!
We're excited to welcome New York Yankees pitcher Mike King 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 being a multisport athlete from RI impacted Mike’s athletic development and why he is such a big advocate for playing basketball
How Mike managed his time his time and training in high school in order to always be prepared for the next sport in season
How learning to long toss properly and stretch out the arm taught Mike to feel intent and progress his ability to throw the ball efficiently
Why Mike chose to attend Boston College
What the culture was like at BC during Mike’s tenure there, and how it contributed to making them a competitive ACC team
How Jim Foster - an impactful pitching coach for Mike - facilitated relationships between his catchers and his pitchers and taught Mike important lessons about reading swings, calling pitches, and communicating
How Mike builds rapport and a high level of trust between his catchers in pro ball
How Mike has adopted an analytical approach for preparing to perform, and why he dives deep into data and video prior to games to inspire confidence
How Mike communicates with catchers in game to refine his approach from inning to inning and sequence his game to be efficient and effective
How gaining weight upon entering pro ball allowed Mike to experience a velocity jump
What Mike’s initial experience was like playing professionally for the Miami Marlins
What changed about Mike’s focus and perspective on development in the minor leagues after being traded to the Yankees that allowed him to feel comfortable and find success in 2018
How a conversation Mike had with Max Scherzer at CSP helped him figure out his slider
How Mike has developed his student-of-the-game approach and learned to apply analytics, physics, and biomechanics to improve his game
How Mike throws his laminar two-seam fastball and what laminar flow means for the movement of his two-seam
How Mike has learned to manage his hypermobility and what lessons has he learned about being loose jointed
How Mike exploits his mobility on the mound mechanically to create a unique look for hitters
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!
Training the Hypermobile Client - I've features multiple articles about training hypermobile individuals on this site over the years, and Dean Somerset puts out some good information to complement those materials (you can find them here and here, if interested).
Top Tweet of the Week
If you give the same exercise to five different individuals, you might have to coach it five different ways - from the movement corrections needed, to the cues necessary to elicit the desired change. Don't try to make coaching one-size-fits-all.
We're excited to welcome Oakland A's reliever Blake Treinen 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 Blake began his baseball career at a small NAIA college in Kansas and why he chose to leave to attempt to walk on at a Division 1 program
Why Blake was forced to take a year off from baseball and what lessons he learned from taking the time to step away from the game to train and
How Blake’s time away from organized baseball allowed him to add much needed size, prioritize learning to throw with intent, and understand his optimal mechanics on a trial and error basis
What lead Blake to walk on at South Dakota State University and how he progressed to MLB draft prospect throwing a mid-90s fastball
How Blake’s faith in God has propelled him to the success he has had in baseball and been a vital key to his success through the tribulations of his career
How being passed up by the Miami Marlins turned out to be a blessing in disguise for Blake and how he ended being drafted by the Oakland A’s the following year
What cues Blake has adopted to reinforce his consistent, effortless mechanics and how has learned to master creating late arm speed
How training at CSP helped and training functional exercise/core exercise helped Treinen become a more effortless, compact pitcher
How Blake approaches pitch design and developing various pitches
How Blake developed a cutter and the work that went in to trusting to us it in game
How Blake developed a one seam and how future sinker ballers can find success
How the evolution of the cutter has transformed the way current pitchers are attacking the launch angle evolution and attacking hitters inside
What the hardest adjustments were for Blake as he transitioned from starter to reliever
How Blake structures his daily throwing routine
How Blake mentally prepares for each outing
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!
We're excited to welcome San Francisco Giants infielder Joe Panik 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
Joe’s journey to MLB and the developmental years he spent in college and minor league baseball to grow into the player he is today.
Joe discusses the challenges of being scouted as a hitter from the Northeast and how this impacted the direction of his early career.
The reason he chose to attend St. John’s and honor that commitment despite enticing offers from bigger schools.
Joe’s response to high school scouting reports on him
How criticism and speculation in Joe’s early career propelled him to be meticulous in mastering his craft.
The fundamental focused mindset that has led Joe to become the consistent Major League player he is today.
How Joe has modeled his game to play to his strengths, allow him to be himself on the field, and find success at the highest level.
The culture of the San Francisco Giants and how coaches and veteran players can make the transition to the next level easier for young players.
Joe’s hitting approach and why he continues to have a low strikeout percentage when the game of baseball is trending in the opposite direction.
The adjustments he has made to his swing and training in preparation for the 2019 season.
Joe’s thoughts on characteristics of the most impactful coaches he’s had
You can follow Joe on Twitter at @JoePanik, and on Instagram at @JoePanik.
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!
We're excited to welcome two-time American League Cy Young winner Corey Kluber 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
Corey’s journey to MLB and the developmental years he spent in college and minor league baseball to grow into the player he is today.
The establishment and refinement of Corey’s process.
Corey’s creation of routines to inspire comfort on game day.
The pre-pitch routine and mental approach Corey implements when he toes the rubber.
Having a feel for pitches, reading hitters, and building a relationship with the catcher to have the ability to make adjustments on the fly and compete at the highest level.
The design of Corey’s pitching arsenal, including: developing his slider, learning to throw a 2-seam fastball, and having confidence in the changeup.
A discussion of the throwing and training programs Corey relies on to remain durable.
The entertaining story of CSP-MA pitching coordinator Christian Wonders' first day throwing with Corey.
What advise current Corey would give to the teenage, college, and minor league Corey Kluber
You can follow Corey on Instagram at @ckluber28, and on Twitter at @CKluber. To learn more about The Kluber Foundation's charitable initiatives, be sure to check out www.CoreyKluber.org.
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!
Back in 2011, Posner et al. published a descriptive study called “Epidemiology of Major League Baseball Injuries”. The researchers reviewed all the injuries reported in MLB from 2002 to 2008 and classified them based on anatomical region. As expected, there was a lot of disabled list time attributed to injuries to shoulders, elbows, hamstrings, low backs, hands, and wrists – and a host of other maladies.
Interestingly, “illness” accounted for 1.1% of all “injuries.” No big deal, right? Players get the flu, food poisoning, and the occasional migraine, so this is actually surprisingly low.
Actually, it’s a very misleading number. You see, as the study authors point out in their “methods” section, “We utilized data only for those injuries that resulted in a player being placed on the disabled list.”
In other words, “illness” was only counted if it landed a player on the 15-day disabled list (now the 10-day IL). I don’t know about you, but I’ve never been sick enough to miss 15 days at work. Even when I got sick as a kid, I was usually back in school within two days because I got sick of watching the same episode of Sportscenter 18 times per day.
Before I digress too much, let me get to my point:
[bctt tweet="Illness is actually remarkably underreported in professional sports."]
Just because a guy is sick doesn’t mean he goes on the disabled list. As an example, take A’s pitcher Sonny Gray’s food poisoning incident in 2015, where he missed a start in the middle of the summer. In 2015, as one of the best pitchers in baseball, Gray was 14-7 with a 2.73 ERA. In the 31 starts he made, he put up a 3.7 WAR (wins above replacement) number, which equates to a WAR of 0.12 per start. According to Fangraphs, each WAR was worth $7.7 million in 2015 – so Gray’s food poisoning cost the team $924,000 – but definitely didn’t count against any disabled list time. Additionally, he was scratched from his opening day start in 2016 for the same reason – and it still wasn’t included in the man games lost total.
Moreover, just because a guy is sick doesn’t mean he even misses a game. I’ve heard plenty of stories of MLB guys praying to the porcelain gods between innings – and games where an entire team gets ravaged by the flu, but still has to go out and play.
What’s the take-home point? The individuals who manage to not get sick are the ones who make better progress over the long haul. Avoiding those 3-4 periods of sickness each year is on par with avoiding tweaking your lower back and missing a month in the gym.
[bctt tweet="The goal is consistency, and injury/sickness are big roadblocks to a consistent training effect."]
Here’s where I’ll toot my own horn a little bit. My wife and I have twin daughters who were born in November of 2014, and a third daughter who arrived in March of 2019. I’ve rarely been sick since they were born. And, this is with co-owning two gyms in two states on top of my normal writing, consulting, speaking responsibilities, and MLB responsibilities, which includes quite a bit of travel. Staying healthy while managing a life’s craziness has somehow become right in my wheelhouse. With that in mind, I think you can break down your ability to stay healthy into three big categories:
1. Sleep Quality
I came across this Tweet a few months ago, and it became one of my all-time favorites:
Go 3 days without your favorite thing. Then go 3 days without sleep. It turns out sleep is actually your favorite thing.
When I get sick, it's usually when I'm really pushing my luck on sleep deprivation and trying to make up for it with extra caffeine consumption. Doing so always saps your immunity in the long run.
Most sleep trackers aren't particularly accurate, but they can give you a good glimpse into when you get into bed and when you wake up. And, when the gap between those two is greater than seven hours, it has a massive positive impact on how I’ve felt in the gym. Normally, my training is terrible in December and January when our busiest seasons in the gym are upon us. This year, I felt strong – and without any aches and pains. Sleep tracking - no matter how basic it may be - can have a dramatic impact on your immunity and, in turn, your performance.
2. Overall Stress
"Stress" means something different to everyone. As an example, I could work 18-hour days for weeks on end without feeling stressed, yet if you ask me to stand on the 4th floor of a building and look over the edge, my cortisol levels would be off the charts. I'm terrified of heights, but not long hours. Other folks are the exact opposite.
One thing we can all agree on, though, is that training is a big stressor - regardless of whether it's higher volume endurance training or higher intensity weight training. If you want to stay healthy, you have to fluctuating that training stress so that you remain in overload and overreach mode without slipping into true overtraining scenarios. I cover this in much more detail in my e-book, The Art of the Deload.
3. Nutritional practices.
A discussion of proper nutrition and supplementation habits to optimize immunity has been the topic of entire books, so I won't even attempt to do the topic justice in a matter of a few sentences (although this article from over a decade ago tested the waters in that regard: Invincible Immunity).
I can speak to personal experience when I say that I feel the best when I hydrate sufficiently, get in enough total calories, and eat plenty of healthy fats and vegetables. I'm also a huge advocate of AG1 (formerly Athletic Greens), which I take religiously every single day. I use it instead of a multivitamin, and also like the fact that it includes some digestive enzymes and probiotics for gut health. Full disclosure: they're actually a podcast sponsor of ours and I invested in the company, but only because I love the product. If you head to https://www.drinkag1.com/cressey, you’ll receive a free 10-pack of AG1 travel packets with your first order.
It's not rocket science, but that's because it doesn't have to be complex. Getting sick is about your ability to fend off stress to your system. Two of these factors - sleep quality and nutrition - are about warding off the stress. The third factor is about managing the amount of stress actually imposed to the system. Critically examine these three broad realms if you want to find ways to stay healthy!
Sign-up Today for our FREE Newsletter and receive a four-part video series on how to deadlift!
Today, we've got part 2 of a guest post from Andrew Ferreira on the topic of nutrition in the minor leagues. In case you missed it, be sure to check out Part 1. -EC
Strategy #3: Back-load Your Carbs.
Carb back-loading simply means saving your carb intake until later on in the day. Personally, I've found it advantageous to eat most of my carbs at night, predominantly after the game. There are several reasons why I suggest you employ this strategy:
A) Maintain sympathetic dominance when it's time to work
Minor leaguers consume a LOT of energy drinks. They consume so many, in fact, that I wouldn't be surprised if our population could keep energy drink companies in business all by ourselves.
Because the majority of minor league games are played at night, we work when our bodies' natural circadian rhythm wants to unwind and relax with the setting of the sun. Sure, your biological clock can adjust, but there is a physiological ideal that your body operates most efficiently under. In a perfect world, cortisol levels are lowest during the evening, fueling relaxation and a smooth transition into restful sleep. Clearly, these are conditions that are not conducive to high performance. At a superficial level, moderate stimulant consumption is understandable.
Unfortunately, two to three energy drinks a day doesn't quantify as moderation consumption. Stimulants are ingested at extreme levels and I think a big part of it stems from our half-haphazard approach to nutrition. Let me explain.
When we have to perform mechanical work, we want our sympathetic nervous system (SNS) to be locked in. Our sympathetic nervous system (fight or flight) excites us and floods our blood stream with catecholamines, providing us not only with energy, but the ingredients to be locked in and focused.
When we wake up in the morning, this is our bodies' natural state. Cortisol levels are high and we're ready to take on the day. The problem is that our bodies' enthusiasm for getting stuff done all but goes out the window when you stop at Chick-Fil-A and eat a bunch of refined carbs.
Ingesting carbs causes a spike in blood glucose levels and, consequently, a rise in insulin. Glucose and insulin promote a shift from the SNS to the parasympathetic nervous system. You start to feel groggy, sluggish, and tired because your body is more concerned with digesting the food you just ate than whatever task you were focused on beforehand. So what do you do? You shotgun that Red Bull, prompting a shift back to the SNS, and consquently unneccesarily stressing the adrenals. If your pregame meal looks like anything like your first meal, then you'll again feel sluggish – prompting another energy drink.
We want to avoid this cycle.
If you back-load your carbs and focus on protein, healthy fats, and vegetables during the day, you will trigger a much smaller spike in insulin and in all likelihood stay locked in to sympathetic mode, allowing you the mental acuity to adequately handle the necessary mechanical work without disrupting the balance with the autonomic nervous system.
B) Stay Leaner.
In the minors, we're not fortunate enough to have post-game five star spreads similar to what is available to major leaguers. There's not ever going to be steak or a piece of wild caught fish waiting for us after the game. The economics of the situation simply make it impossible. What we're largely going to get is a staple of refined carbohydrates. The last team I was with had a steady rotation of pizza, fried chicken and fries, and lasagna as our three main post-game meals. Because we pay for the food out of clubhouse dues and the fact that our hunger after the game relegates any notions of health conscious behavior to the background of our minds, we're going to eat whatever we have in front of us.
Though the choices aren't going to be ideal, if we back-load our carbs, we can mitigate damage. Whatever glycogen debt we created from either training earlier that day, pre-game sprint work, or actually playing in the game will be refueled with the post-game carbs, preparing our body to be ready to go for the next day.
Further, back-loading our carbs is going to keep us leaner. I guarantee if you eat nothing but refined carbs all day, you're going to gain fat. Has not having a six-pack ever kept someone from being a major leaguer? Absolutely not. Over the short term, it's really not going to make a significant difference; yet, habits just don't go away. You'll fall into a habitual pattern of eating refined carbs and over time you're going to be a “bad body guy.” It's not a stigma you want attached to your name. I have seen a player (a top prospect, in fact) have to go to Instructional League and do nothing but work out all day because he finished the season in incredibly bad shape. It's a situation that can be easily avoided.
C) Sleep Better.
Sleep is the greatest recovery tool we have. If we want to survive the duration of the season and stay healthy, it's imperative that we sleep well. Sure, it's difficult to get quality sleep when you’re traveling on a crammed bus for eight hours overnight. That's why we must optimize sleep when we can.
Our energy drink consumption becomes most problematic in terms of sleep quality. You may be able to get to sleep after drinking that energy drink in the 4th inning, but the quality of your sleep is going to suffer. Caffeine shortens phases three and four (REM sleep and dreaming), which are the most restorative for the brain (Keenan 2014). Continually short-circuiting our bodies' ability to recover is like taking the pin out of a live grenade. Eventually, something is going to blow up.
Back-loading carb intake does a few things for our sleep quality.
First, as I mentioned earlier, glucose intake (carbs) and a rise in insulin promotes a shift to our parasympathetic nervous system. Inducing parasympathetic nervous system dominance at night is crucial to recovery and allowing for high quality digestion, absorption, and cellular uptake of nutrients.
Second, carbohydrate intake inudces a release of serotonin. Serotonin release, through a series of chemical interactions, promotes lasting, quality sleep.
By back-loading our carb intake, sympathetic dominance can be maintained while we have to train and play. When we have to turn our bodies off and relax and recover, ingesting ample amounts of carbs (healthy or not) prompts a shift to our parasympathetic nervous system, facilitating restorative sleep and optimal recovery.
Tip #4: Supplement Wisely.
In terms of in-season supplementation, inducing incredible gains in the weight room isn't priority #1. Sure, that latest pre-workout you got may be the equivalent to cocaine, but is getting a pick-me-up to power through your low volume, moderate intensity in-season lift all that necessary?
Rather than setting a new squat max in July, I want to be sure our physiology is optimized to facilitate proper recovery. I understand that I keep hammering home the importance of recovery, but it's incredibly important on a day-to-day basis.
Take a reliever, for example. Say my max velocity is 92 and another reliever's max velocity is 95. On the surface, the other guy is more valuable. Yet, overlooked is the fact that I am able to pitch at near 100% effectiveness every day while reliever B is only able to utilize his premium ability twice a week. Now who is more valuable? The answer is clear.
Enhancing one's ability to recover is our top priority in terms of in-season supplementation. There are five that I think are essential to facilitate adequate recovery.
1) Fish Oil – For reasons I mentioned above, supplementing with a high-quality fish oil is essential to fighting off inflammation.
2)Athletic Greens (or some form of greens supplement) – Cooking vegetables is the bane of my existence. I just don't do it near as often as I should, partly because it's just not sexy or appealing to my brain's limbic system. Delayed positive effects on my testosterone levels are just not enough positive justification to cook up a batch of broccoli alongside my steak and 'taters. Athletic Greens is my nutritional insurance. It's loaded with about every health food known to man just in case your vegetable intake is as bad as mine. You'll never feel better, I promise.
3) Vitamin D – I know what you're thinking... the minor league season is played in the heart of summer, why the need for Vitamin D supplementation? Valid point, but for many AA and AAA leagues, you don't see the sun in April and May. You're miserably cold and I'm sure your vitamin D levels are not optimal. Additionally, once the season gets going, most guys wear sunscreen, so actual sun exposure is lower than you might think. Supplement with vitamin D until the seasons turn.
I know what you're thinking at this point - and, no, leaving the newest fad testosterone booster off my list wasn't a mistake. Stick to the basics during the season and put your focus on optimizing your body’s ability to recover when it comes to supplementation. It's bland and boring – but bland and boring works.
Tip #5: Include Super Shakes to Maintain Weight.
In order to get to “The Show,” it's all about continually producing favorable adaptations and taking steps forward. Most athletes’ off-seasons place a predominant focus on gaining quality weight: the more muscle, the better. Everything else held constant, more mass will equate to greater force production and, in all likelihood, a better athlete.
So all off-season we focus on eating BIG. Force-feeding oneself into near sickness at the dinner table and thousand calorie shakes a couple times a day become the norm. Compound these eating habits with a quality strength program and we gain 20 pounds by the time we leave for spring training. We look and feel strong as hell and because of the weight gain, our velocity experiences a nice jump.
Your body wants to continually maintain homeostasis. Keeping your bodyweight is an important metabolic homeostatic process. By eating BIG the entire off-season, you forced your body to adapt by disrupting homeostasis and gaining weight. The problem is that your body chooses the path of least resistance when it comes to maintaining homeostasis. Metabolically, it's a whole lot easier for your body to maintain 200lbs than it is to maintain a new 225-lb frame. So, eating big for just one off-season isn't going to cut it if you want to maintain your new frame, strength, and velocity. You have to keep pushing adaptation until your body establishes a new set point and you are better able to maintain your weight without having to consume 5,000 calories a day like you do in the off season.
All too often, I hear stories of guys gaining all this weight and strength in the off-season – but they struggle to hold on to any of it during the season. By the time the season ends, they are back to where they started the previous year. It's a perpetual cycle that keeps them playing catch up each off-season rather than using the time to build on the foundation and keep pushing favorable adaptations to take them to the next level.
Maintaining your off-season eating habits during the season is necessary if you want to maintain your weight. Unfortunately, with our schedule, it's easier said than done. It's nearly impossible to feel comfortable playing when your stomach is full from a gigantic breakfast and lunch.
Enter the super shake. It's a whole lot easier to drink 1,000 calories than it is to eat them. Implementing one or two a day may be what you need in order to keep pushing your body to establish a new set point and maintain your new frame.
A good place to start in constructing your super shake is using the formula EC wrote about in this article: low-carb protein powder, almond or whole milk, coconut oil, fruits, natural nut butters, greek yogurt, oats, ground flax, and veggies.
It's not rocket science, nor is it sexy. With the above ingredients, the combinations are literally endless, the calories dense, and the product healthy. Unless you literally have no other option, which I can't imagine, avoid the standard weight gainers you’ll see on the market. They are processed crap.
Wrap-Up
Ever since I started my professional career, I was in search of a new model to adequately handle in-season nutrition to give me the best shot of making it. The results of my search gave birth to the model constructed above.
It's not revolutionary, nor is it a model that's going to lend itself into a New York Times' Bestseller. However, it has allowed me to stay lean, maintain my strength, and most importantly feel good throughout a 142-game season. The minor league baseball season is a beast with so many less-than-ideal environmental variables. The ability to adapt is foundational in order to be successful. To adapt adequately, having a workable framework is a necessity. The model above is a start.
About the Author
Andrew Ferreira is a current Harvard student concentrating on human evolutionary biology. He currently writes for Show Me Strength - a site dedicated to improving all aspects of human performance - and was previously drafted by the Minnesota Twins. Follow him on Twitter.
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!
I'm going to let you in on a little shocker: I really don't train as hard as I used to train.
Blasphemy, I know. Every strength and conditioning coach is supposed to constantly be pursuing a mythical level of fitness at all times. Because it's my job to make people healthier and more athletic, I, in turn, am expected to be able to bench press 800, vertical jump 40 inches, complete a marathon in under three hours, and be able to fart lightning at a moment's notice. While I can make a decent run at the last challenge after a batch of my mom's famous calico beans recipe, I guess I'm just content with not making optimal progress.
Now, don't get me wrong; I haven't let myself turn into a blob, and I'm still training 5-6 days a week. The goals, however, have shifted since my last powerlifting meet in December of 2007. Nowadays, I get a lot more excited about watching one of our minor league guys get a big league call-up than I do about a ten-pound squat personal record after a 16-week training cycle. I worry more about being a better husband, business partner, boss, and coach than I do about whether I'm 10 or 11% body fat, and whether it'll make my weight class. And, I certainly expect these priorities to change even more when my wife and I decide to have kids.
In short, I think I'm a lot like a solid chunk of the exercising population. Training hard excites me, but it doesn't define me anymore.
Interestingly, though, I really haven't wasted away like one might expect. In fact, I've gotten stronger while keeping my weight about the same - or slightly lower, right where I want to be. Just for the heck of it, not too long ago, I staged my own little mock raw powerlifting meet and totaled 1435 at a body weight of 180.6 (1396 is considered an "Elite" total, as a frame of reference). I used the giant cambered bar for squatting, simply because my shoulder gets cranky when I back squat. Sue me.
A few notes on the mock/impromptu meet:
1. Thanks to the CSP staff and interns for helping with spots, handoffs, and videos - and putting up with my musical selection (which I think, for the record, was an outstanding representative sample of modern training music).
2. I weighed in at 180.6 first thing that morning (about three hours before I lifted). I didn't have to cut weight.
3. I had a scoop of Athletic Greens, two cups of coffee with vanilla protein powder, and five eggs with spinach, peppers, and onions for breakfast, then drank a bottle of water at the facility before I started. So, I really didn't carb up for this "meet" (or really prepare for it in any capacity, for that matter). I did have an accidental open mouth kiss with my dog, Tank, while I was foam rolling when he licked my face while I wasn't looking. I'm not sure if making out with a puggle constitutes ergogenic assistance?
4. Speaking of Tank, he makes a great cameo during my opening squat. He's eating air, in case you're wondering.
5. The great thing about squats in powerlifting meets is that they can look like good mornings to parallel and still pass. Score!
6. I haven't free squatted with a wider, powerlifting style stance in about three years. So, you can say that I was a bit rusty, as evidenced that my stance width was a bit erratic from attempt to attempt (and especially narrow on the third squat).
7. The first squat and last deadlift were exactly 90 minutes apart. Talk about efficiency!
All that said, I really don't think I could have even come close to this total back in 2007, and according to some research that says strength peaks at age 29, I should be on the downslope, especially if I'm not training as hard. So, what gives?
I suspect it has a little something to do with the fact that I have a pretty good idea of how to sustain a strength training effect. Much of it has to do with my experiences with in-season athletes; some of them waste away if they don't pay attention to detail and stay consistent with their training. Meanwhile, others come back so strong that you'd think they never left. Here are some of the factors that have surely helped me (and them) over the years.
1. Very little alcohol consumption.
My first date with my wife was April 22, 2007. She's seen me drink twice in the entire time we've known one another. I'm absolutely not going to stand on a soapbox and say that I don't think other people should drink; they can do what they want, but it just really isn't for me.
That said, if you're concerned with helping your strength training gains along (or simply sustaining them), simply have a look at the research on alcohol's negative effect on effect on endocrine status, sleep quality, neural drive, tissue quality, and recovery from exercise. People who drink a lot feel and move like crap. Sorry, I don't make the rules.
2. Early to bed, early to rise.
I find the 6AM world far more entertaining, refreshing, and productive than the 1AM world. I feel better, train better, recovery better, and am an all-around happier person when I get to bed early and awake early without an alarm. For me, 10:30PM to 6AM is pretty much the norm.
Now, for those who insist that sleeping 1:30AM to 9AM counts exactly the same, check out some of the research on night shift workers and their health; it's not good. As a rule of thumb, one hour before midnight is worth two after midnight - and it certainly helps to try to go to bed and wake up at the same times each day.
3. A foundation of strength and mobility.
In talking with our athletes about the relationship between off- and in-season training, I use the analogy of a bank account. During the off-season, you make deposits (work hard and acquire a training effect). When you go in-season, you make withdrawals (play your sport). If the withdrawals exceed the deposits, you're in trouble - and that's why in-season training is so important.
Now, for the general fitness folks, this simply means that if you put a lot of "money in the bank," you'll be prepared for the day when life gets crazy and you miss a few days in the gym. You have more wiggle room to go on a spending spree.
Mobility works the same way. Once you've built it, it's hard to lose unless you really go out of your way to avoid moving for an extended period of time.
4. Regular manual therapy.
I'm very fortunate to have an outstanding manual therapist next door to my office. Chris Howard is a massage therapist and does a tremendous job with more diffuse approaches, recovery modalities, and some focal work with the Fibroblaster tool, plus fascial manipulation. Along with regular self-myofascial release, he has made a big difference in me staying healthy, which leads me to...
5. No missed training sessions.
I'm fortunate to have been very healthy over the years. Like everyone, I've had minor niggles here and there, but haven't pushed through them and let them get out of hand. It's better to skip benching one day and do higher rep floor presses than it is to push through some pain and wind up with a torn pec. If long-term consistency is your goal, you have to be willing to assess risk: reward in your training on a regular basis.
Moreover, training is a part of my life, just like brushing my teeth, feeding the dog, or checking my email. It's not an option to "squeeze it out" because my calendar gets too full. I make time instead of finding time. Of course, it's a lot easier when your office is part of a 15,000+ square-foot gym!
6. Lots of vegetables and quality protein.
Call me crazy, but I'd take grass-fed meatloaf and spinach and onions cooked in coconut oil over a chocolate cake any day of the week. I'm not making that up; I just don't have much of a sweet tooth.
In Precision Nutrition, Dr. John Berardi talks about the 90% rule: as long as you're good with your nutrition 90% of the time, you can get away with slip-ups or intentional cheat meals for the other 10%. If you eat five meals a day, that's 31-32 "clean" meals and 3-4 "whoops" meals each week. When I think about it in that context, I'm probably more like 95-98% adherent, and the other 2-5% is me grabbing a protein bar on the fly while I'm coaching at CSP. I could certainly do a lot worse.
I'm sure Dr. Berardi would agree that if you get closer to 100%, you likely have a little wiggle room with your training program. For example, you might be able to cut back slightly on the amount of conditioning needed to meet your goals.
7. Great training partners.
I've been extremely fortunate to lift in a number of great environments, from my time in the University of Connecticut varsity weight room, to my days at Southside Gym, to Cressey Performance 1.0, 2.0, and now 3.0. You've always got spotters nearby, and there are always guys to give you feedback on weight selection and technique. We crack jokes, play loud music, and challenge and encourage each other. I'm convinced that this factor more than any other can absolutely revolutionize the way many folks train; they need human interaction to get out of their comfort zone and realize what they're capable of accomplishing in the right environment.
8. Planned deloads.
I rarely take a week of training off altogether, but at least once a month, I'll reduce training stress substantially for 5-7 days to recharge. The secret to avoiding burnout is to understand the difference between overload, overreaching, and overtraining. The former two are important parts of the training equation, but if you are always seeking them 24/7/365, you can wind up with the latter. I talk about this in great detail in my e-book, The Art of the Deload.
9. Accountability.
In my opinion, one of the main reasons many people struggle to achieve their fitness goals is that they are only accountable to themselves - and that's a slippery slope if you aren't blessed with great willpower and perseverance. It's one reason why we encourage our clients to tell their friends and family about their fitness goals; they'll constantly be reminded of them in conversation throughout the day.
Being in the fitness industry is a blessing because your peers and your clients/athletes are your accountability. Fat personal trainers don't have full schedules. Weak people don't become strength coaches of NFL teams. And, in my shoes, it's magnified even more because I'm in front of thousands of people every single day through the videos on this website, DVDs that we've produced, and seminars at which I present. Even if "tapping out" on my training was something that interested me, I have too much at stake. Think about where you can find that level of accountability in your life to help you reach your goals.
10. Cool implements to keep things fun.
I live really close to our facility, so I often joke that I have the best 15,000 square-foot home gym you'll ever see. We've got a bunch of specialty bars, bumper plates, slideboards, sleds, tires, sledgehammers, turf, kettlebells, dumbbells, bands, chains, farmer's walk handles, TRX units, medicine balls, a glute-ham, chest-supported row, functional trainers, benches, and a host of other implements that I'm surely forgetting. There is absolutely no excuse for me to ever get bored with training, as I have an endless source of variety at my fingertips.
Now, I know some of you are thinking, "But Eric, I don't have anything cool at my commercial gym!" My response to that has five parts:
a. If they didn't have what you needed, why did you give them your money instead of taking your business elsewhere?
b. Have you considered outfitting home gym?
c. They probably have a lot more than you might think, but you just need to be more creative and prepare a bit more.
d. Remember that there are many different ways to add variety to programming beyond just changing exercise selection. You can tinker with sets, reps, rest intervals, training frequency, tempo, range-of-motion, and a host of other factors.
e. Have you used a strength and conditioning program written by a qualified coach? He or she may see the same equipment through a different lens than you do.
These are surely just ten of countless factors that one can cite when it comes to sustaining performance over the long haul, and I'm sure that they'll change as I get older. With that said, I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments section: what factors have contributed to you making (or sustaining) progress with your strength and conditioning programs?
