Free Teleseminar Series at SportsRehabExpert.com
I just wanted to give you all a heads-up on a great audio series - Sports Rehab to Sports Performance - that Joe Heiler has pulled together. I'll was interviewed on Friday, and Joe's also chatted will Mike Boyle, Gray Cook, Kyle Kiesel, Stuart McGill, Phil Plisky, Brett Jones, and Charlie Weingroff. The entire interview series is COMPLETELY FREE and begins airing later tomorrow night. You can get more information HERE.
Also, don't forget that the third annual Mike Boyle Strength & Conditioning Winter Seminar is fast approaching. For more information, click here.
Snowy Sunday Sentiments
Yesterday, in an email exchange I was having with some guys who are really "in the know" in the world of baseball pitching, one of them commented that pitchers need to start thinking more along the lines of training like Troy Polamalu of the Pittsburgh Steelers. In other words, less external loading, more pure-body weight drills, and a big focus on reactive ability (plyometrics drills, for the lay population).
I'll be the first to recognize Polamalu's accomplishments on the field - including an interception return for a touchdown yesterday. And, I admit that I don't know much about his training philosophy aside from what I have seen in 3-4 minute YouTube and NFL clips. So, I guess you could say that my point of contention is with what some folks take from viewing these clips, as was the case with this email exchange. So, I'll be very clear that I'm not criticizing the Sportslab philosophy; I'd love to buy these guys lunch and pick their brains, in fact.
However, I've got two cents to add - or maybe even three our four cents, depending on how poorly the American dollar is doing nowadays. I'm writing this on a snowy day in Massachusetts and I've got a little bit of extra time on my hands (a rarity during the baseball off-season for me).
I think that it is wrong to assume that weight training is unnecessary and plyometrics are sufficient for injury prevention and performance enhancement in pitchers. This is a common belief held among a large body of pitching coaches that I feel really needs to be addressed.
The fundamental problem I see is that a system that relies extensively on training elastic qualities. Or, in the terminology I like to use, it teaches an athlete to be more "spring," making better use of elastic energy from the tendons. This works best in an athlete who is largely static, or has a solid base of muscular strength.
Who would be a static athlete? Well, one example would be an athlete who gained a lot of strength in the previous four years...say, Troy Polamalu. He was a first-round draft pick out of USC, known for a good program under strength and conditioning coach Chris Carlisle. They've packed lots of muscle and strength on loads of high school guys over the years, no doubt. Polamalu may not realize it, but those four years of USC training probably set him up for the positive results he's seeing in this program - especially when you compare him to a good chunk of the NFL that now uses machine-based HIT training because they're afraid of weight-room injuries.
Basically, for the most part, only the freaky athletes make it to the "big dance" in football, so the S&C coach is responsibly for not hurting them. It's not much different in the world of baseball - but we're dealing with a MORE TRAINED population in the first place.
I'm sure that many of you have read Moneyball (and if you haven't, you should). One thing that they touch on over and over again is that high school draft picks don't pan out as well as college draft picks.
Sure, it has to do with facing better hitters and maturing another four years psychologically. However, one factor that nobody ever touches on is that these college draft picks have another four years of strength and conditioning under their belt in most cases. It may not be baseball-specific in many cases, but I would definitely argue that it's better than nothing. Strength goes a long way, but physiologically and psychologically.
And, that's what I want you to think about until my next newsletter comes out - when I'll get a bit more to the science of all this, and how it's been demonstrated in professional baseball.
New Blog ContentRandom Friday ThoughtsHow to Make an Exercise TougherAnother CP Intern on the Road to DieselFrozen Ankles, Ugly Squatting
Until next time, train hard and have fun.
EC
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Q: I attended the baseball strength training clinic you gave in Long Island. I have a question for you about push-ups for pitchers. I am using push-ups with all player, and one of the parents has been concerned that push-ups are not good for pitchers. I was wondering if you could help me explain why push-ups are good for pitchers.
A: No problem. The two big "players" in scapular dysfunction are lower trapezius and serratus anterior. These muscles work in conjunction with the upper trapezius to upwardly rotate the scapula, which allows for safe overhead movements. Research has shown that baseball pitchers have less scapular upward rotation compared with position players and non-athletes - so it's definitely an adaptive change that we need to work to address.
Push-ups (when done correctly) can be useful for activating the serratus anterior, and as a closed-chain exercise, it has proprioceptive benefits at the shoulder girdle. Plus, you get a considerable effect in terms of core stability training, as you're resisting the effects of gravity in the "plank" position where the lumbar spine wants to slip into extension.
That said, if you're dealing with high school athletes, I'll warn you that over 90% of them (in my experience) need to be coached on how to do a push-up correctly. It isn't as simple as "just do this," as most of them will resort to incorrect technique. With a good pushup, the upper arms should be tucked to a 45-degree angle to the torso, and the athlete should actively "pull" himself down to the bottom position with the scapular retractors. The hips shouldn't sag, and there shouldn't be a forward head posture. Essentially, the chest - not the chin or hips - should get to the ground first.
Recently, I received an email inquiry about the value of strength training for pitchers. The individual emailing me had come across the following quote from a pitching "authority:"
"Training will not teach you how to apply more force...only mechanics can do that. And pitching is not about applying more effort into a pitch but is about producing more skilled movements from better timing of all the parts. That will help produce more force.
"No matter how hard you try, you will not get that from your strength training program...no matter who designed it, how much they have promised you it would or your hope that it will be the secret for you."
To say that this surprised me would be an understatement. I'll start with the positive: I agree with him that pitching is all about producing skilled movements secondary to appropriate timing of all the involved "parts." I've very lucky to work hand-in-hand with some skilled pitching coaches who really know their stuff - and trust in me to do my job to complement the coaching they provide.
With that said, however, I disagree that you can't gain (or lose) velocity based exclusively on your strength and conditioning program. On countless occasions, I've seen guys gain velocity without making any changes to their throwing programs or mechanics. I know what many of the devil's advocates in the crowd are thinking: "you're just making that up!" So, if my word isn't enough, how about we just go to the research?
From: Derenne C, Ho KW, Murphy JC. Effects of general, special, and specific resistance training on throwing velocity in baseball: a brief review. J Strength Cond Res. 2001 Feb;15(1):148-56.
[Note from EC: Yes, it's pathetic that this REVIEW has been out almost seven years and people who are supposedly "in the know" still haven't come across ANY of the studies to which it alludes.]
Practical Applications
Throwing velocity can be increased by resistance training. A rationale for general, special, and specific resistance training to increase throwing velocity has been presented. The following findings and recommendations relevant to strength and conditioning specialists and pitching coaches can be useful from the review of literature.
In the "further reading" section at the end of this article, I have listed ten different studies that each demonstrated a positive effect of weight training on throwing velocity. The authors in the review above also have a table that summarizes 26 studies that examined the effect of different strength protocols on throwing velocity, and 22 of the 26 showed increases over controls who just threw. In other words, throwing and strength training is better than throwing alone for improving velocity -
independent of optimization of mechanics from outside coaching.
The saddest part is that the training programs referenced in this review were nothing short of foo-foo garbage. We're talking 3x10-12 light dumbbell drills and mind-numbing, rubber tubing blasphemy. If archaic stuff works, just imagine what happens when pitchers actually train the right way - and have pitching coaches to help them out?
Oh yeah, 10 mph gains in six months happen - and D1 college coaches and pro scouts start salivating over kids who are barely old enough to drive.
With that rant aside, I'd like to embark on another one: what about the indirect gains associated with strength training? Namely, what about the fact that it keeps guys healthy?
We know that:
a) Pitchers (compared to position players) have less scapular upward rotation at 60 and 90 degrees of abduction -and upward rotation is extremely important for safe overhead activity.
b) 86% of major league pitchers have supraspinatus partial thickness tears.
c) All pitchers have some degree of labral fraying - and the labrum provides approximately 50% of the stability in the glenohumeral joint
d) There is considerable research to suggest that congenital shoulder instability is one of the traits that makes some pitchers better than others (allows for more external rotation during the cocking phase to generate velocity).
e) Most pitchers lack internal rotation range-of-motion due to posterior rotator cuff (and possibly capsular) tightness and morphological changes to bone (retroversion). Subscapularis strength is incredibly important to prevent anterior shoulder instability in this scenario.
We also know that resistance training is the basis for modern physical therapy - which I'm pretty sure is aimed at restoring inappropriate movement patterns which can cause these structural/functional defects/abnormalities from reaching threshold and becoming symptomatic. Do you think that a good resistance training program could strengthen lower traps and serratus anterior to help alleviate this upward rotation problem? Could a solid subscapularis strengthening protocol help with preventing anterior instability? Could a strong rotator cuff and scapular stabilizers allow an individual to work around a torn supraspinatus?
And, last time I checked, strength and conditioning was about more than just being the "weights coach." We do a lot of flexibility/mobility and soft tissue work - and it just so happens that such work does wonders on pec minor, levator scapulae, rhomboids, infraspinatus/teres minor, and a host of other muscles in pitchers.
I also like to tell jokes, do magic tricks, and make shadow puppets on the wall. Am I to assume that these don't play a remarkable role in my athletes' success? I beg to differ. Sure, banging out a set of 20 chin-ups because one of my athletes called me out might make me look like a stupid monkey when my elbows refuse to extend for the subsequent ten minutes, but I still think what we do plays a very important role in our athletes success; otherwise, they wouldn't keep coming back. And, for the record, my shadow puppets are great for building camaraderie and bolstering spirits among the Cressey Performance troops - even if I'm just a "weights coach" or whatever.
This only encompasses a few of the seemingly countless examples I can come up with at a moment's notice. Pitchers are an at-risk population; your number one job in working with a pitcher is to keep him healthy. And, I'm going to go out on a limb and say that a guy who is healthy and super-confident over his monster legs and butt is going to throw a lot harder than a guy who is in pain and as skinny as an Olsen twin because his stubborn pitching coach said strength training doesn't work. You've got to train ass to throw gas!
Last fall, I started working with a pro ball player whose velocity was down from 94 to 88 thanks to a long season - but also because he'd had lower back issues that have prevented him from training. In other words, he counts on strength training to keep his velocity up. And, sure enough, it was a big component of getting him healthy prior to this season.
Putting it into Practice
I suspect that some of the reluctance to recognize strength training as important to pitchers is the notion that it will make pitchers too bulky and ruin pitching-specific flexibility. Likewise, there are a lot of meatheads out there who think that baseball guys can train just like other athletes. While there are a lot of similarities, it's really important to make some specific upper body modifications for the overhead throwing athlete. Contraindicated exercises in our baseball programs include:
Overhead lifting (not chin-ups, though)
Straight-bar benching
Upright rows
Front/Side raises (especially empty can - why anyone would do a provocative test as a training measure is beyond me)
Olympic lifts aside from high pulls
Back squats
The next question, obviously, is "what do you do instead?" Here's a small list:
Multi-purpose bar benching (neutral grip benching bar)
DB bench pressing variations
Every row and chin-up you can imagine (excluding upright rows)
Loads of thick handle/grip training
Medicine ball throws
Specialty squat bars: giant cambered bar, safety squat bar
Front Squats
Deadlift variations
The Take-Home Message
There is nothing fundamentally wrong with strength training program for pitchers. In reality, what is wrong is the assumption that all strength training programs are useless because some are poorly designed and not suited to athletes' needs and limitations. Be leery of people who say strength training isn't important. Everyone - from endurance athletes, to grandmothers, to pitchers - needs it!
Further Reading
1. Bagonzi, J.A. The effects of graded weighted baseballs, free weight training, and simulative isometric exercise on the velocity of a thrown baseball. Master's thesis, Indiana University. 1978.
2. Brose, D.E., and D.L. Hanson. Effects of overload training on velocity and accuracy of throwing. Res. Q. 38:528-533. 1967.
3. Jackson, J.B. The effects of weight training on the velocity of a thrown baseball. Master's thesis, Central Michigan University,. 1994.
4. Lachowetz, T., J. Evon, and J. Pastiglione. The effects of an upper-body strength program on intercollegiate baseball throwing velocity. J. Strength Cond. Res. 12:116-119. 1998.
5. Logan, G.A., W.C. McKinney, and W. Rowe. Effect of resistance through a throwing range of motion on the velocity of a baseball. Percept. Motor Skills. 25:55-58. 1966.
6. Newton, R.U., and K.P. McEvoy. Baseball throwing velocity: A comparison of medicine ball training and weight training. J. Strength Cond. Res. 8:198-203. 1994.
7. Potteiger, J.A., H.N. Williford, D.L. Blessing, and J. Smidt. Effect of two training methods on improving baseball performance variables. J. Appl. Sport Sci. Res. 6:2-6. 1992.
8. Sullivan, J.W. The effects of three experimental training factors upon baseball throwing velocity and selected strength measures. Doctoral dissertation, Indiana University,. 1970.
9. Swangard, T.M. The effect of isotonic weight training programs on the development of bat swinging, throwing, and running ability of college baseball players. Master's thesis, University of Oregon,. 1965.
10. Thompson, C.W., and E.T. Martin. Weight training and baseball throwing speed. J. Assoc. Phys. Mental Rehabil. 19:194-196. 1965.
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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.
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We actually got a snow day up here, so I'm using it to catch up on all sorts of stuff - from holiday shopping, to wrapping presents, to writing articles and programs. Admittedly, I did sleep until 9AM this morning, and that's pretty late for me.
1. It occurred to me that thanks to the miracle known as YouTube, I can embed a music video in my first random post each week, and you'll have musical entertainment in the background (if you want) as you read my stuff. And, since it's the season of miracles, I'll do just that. For the record, the experience will be all the more enjoyable if you hold your mouse in your right hand and raise a lighter in the air with the left arm. Of course, it won't really work out that well if you try to play the other videos below at the same time, but my intentions were good...
Here's Coming Undone by Korn, a classic song around Cressey Performance. It gets me all fired up to blog like a rock star.
2. While snow is a royal pain in the butt up here in New England, it does have one upside: accident-prone reporters who think they need to be outside to accurately relate just how much it is snowing.
Occasionally, you'll even get an in-studio goofball:
3. The only thing better than weathermen making tools of themselves? You guessed it: clumsy women stomping grapes with their feet on camera.
4. Apparently, we've got some pro pitchers - one in VA, and the other in NH - drawing inspiration from this blog as they prepare to get up here in early January to prepare for spring training. How you like these apples, fellas? Up five reps from the Thanksgiving day lift - simply because that's how we roll.
Come get some, fellas!
A huge thanks goes out to Jeremy Heffer and the University of Georgia Strength and Conditioning staff for the "Power G" beanie that made this all possible.
5. I've talked previously about the long-term detrimental effects of taping ankles, and I recently got a good inquiry about whether I thought this same issue would be present in MMA fighters who tape their wrists. My response was that it probably wasn't an issue as much at the wrist predominately because the wrist isn't a weight-bearing joint. By loading the ankle while it's taped, we solidify neural patterns a lot more quickly. Additionally, nobody tapes their wrists for the same duration and frequency as those athletes (basketball players, for instance) who tape their ankles daily for several hours - and combine those restrictions with wearing high-top sneakers. I remember seeing an interview with Bill Walton back in the mid-1980s when he joked about how the ankle taping got tighter and tighter as the season went on - probably because the guys got more and more unstable at their ankles!
That's all she wrote for today. Have a great weekend, everyone!
As a guy who trains a ton of baseball players - and is a competitive powerlifter (and weight-training author), I get a ton of questions from both baseball coaches/players and folks looking to get stronger (and healthier, for that matter). And, to take it a step further, since the release of Maximum Strength, I've gotten a lot of questions about whether or not Maximum Strength is appropriate for baseball players.
My response is "yes" - but only with some important modifications:
1. Substitution of dumbbell bench pressing in place of barbell bench pressing (rep count will have to come up a bit higher, as you aren't going to be doing heavy dumbbell bench pressing singles)
2. Substitution of clap push-ups in place of speed benching
3. Substitution of front squats in place of back squats
4. Substitution of alternating low incline dumbbell press in place of 1-arm dumbbell push press
5. Really emphasize the sleeper stretch, wall triceps stretch, and elbow flexors stretches - particularly after you throw.
As I mentioned last week, this past weekend was Ron Wolforth's Ultimate Pitching Coaches Bootcamp just outside of Houston, TX. To say that it was an awesome experience would be an understatement. I considered myself really lucky to be presenting alongside the likes of Brent Strom (St. Louis Cardinals), Phil Donley (Philadelphia Phillies consultant who has rehabbed loads of million-dollar arms), Perry Husband (Downright Filthy Pitching), and Ron himself. These guys are not only getting important information out there for coaches, but also getting their hands dirty in the trenches to take athletes and coaches to the next level with new information.
Just as great as the presenters were the 100+ attendees. In addition to many enthusiastic high school and private sector coaches and a few physical therapists, you had pitching coaches and/or baseball strength coaches from big-time colleges like Vanderbilt, South Carolina, Auburn, Kennesaw St., Savannah College of Art and Design, Michigan, Virginia Tech, Columbia, and Trinity. These guys immediately earned a ton of respect in my book for thinking outside the box, and it makes me want to encourage a lot of my stud athletes their way post-high school because I know that they're going to get coaches who are always looking for ways to help them succeed.
The title of my presentation was "Building the Complete and Superior Pitching Athlete." In my introduction to the coaches, I tried to make it very clear that my goal wasn't to try to teach them everything there was to know about S&C for baseball players, but rather to give them the knowledge (and resources, in the form of my handouts) to become informed consumers in dealing with the folks who carry out their players' programs. I wanted them to know that you CAN give a pitcher a tremendous training effect without injuries to the throwing arm or interfering with velocity by losing pitching-specific mobility.
I think that the secret to appreciating what it takes is understanding that baseball strength and conditioning is not just about lifting and running. Sure, these are components of the overall process, but if you only address these two components, you DO run the risk of impairing a pitcher's development. Sure, you've got to pay attention to these issues, but you also have to strategically address flexibility and mobility (yes, they are different), optimize soft tissue quality, and appreciate that you can use medicine ball work to maintain pitching-specific mobility during down-periods from throwing without all the stresses that come with throwing itself.
I also tried to get folks to think about what they already are doing with respect to distance running, "core" training, upper and lower body lifting, assessments, warm-ups (check out the Monster Mobility Pack for ideas), and post-throwing flexibility work. I discussed the difference between inefficiency and pathology and how your can have a terrible-looking MRI and/or x-ray and still be pain free.
You can still get all the information from the event by purchasing the DVDs of the entire weekend. I'd highly recommend them, as they include some great pitching analysis and recommendations from Brent Strom, awesome information on glenohumeral internal rotation deficit (GIRD) by Phil Donley, intriguing thoughts on "effective velocity" from Perry Husband, and excellent ideas on "blending" by Ron Wolforth. Just head over to Pitching Central's UPCBC page and pick up a copy now.
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Shawn Haviland is a Cressey Performance athlete who started up a blog a month or two back. The Oakland A's drafted Shawn out of Harvard in the 33rd round in 2008. He actually wrote up a piece about training at CP:
5 Things I have Learned (So Far) from the Guys at Cressey Performance
Shawn started out as a janitor at M.I.T. before he solved a complex math problem left on a chalkboard - and that led to instant baseball success. Or maybe that was Good Will Hunting...
I know, it's heresy! You can't lift weights on four consecutive days unless you're a juiced up professional bodybuilder - or just some teenager who doesn't know a thing about weight-training. I beg to differ.
You can also do it (not necessarily by choice) if you're Eric Cressey and are flying to Houston Thursday night and not getting back until Sunday afternoon - and you know you're not going to have a chance to train while there. Knowing that this was the case, I took this past Sunday off altogether, and planned to train MoTuWeTh. Here's how I set it up:
Monday was a speed bench day with some chain push-ups and loads of horizontal pulling and shoulder health stuff (especially considering I made over 500 throws that day while I helped eight separate pitchers through their throwing programs).
Tuesday (last night) was some easy sprint work, and then front squats vs. two chains per side. I kept it light (205) and fast for the first six sets. For my last two sets, I changed the bar weight to 265 (325 at the top) for two reps. I added in some mat flips (like a tire flip), forward sled pushing, and then some Pallof Press isometric holds. As you can tell, there wasn't much eccentric stress (aside from the front squats), so I intentionally avoided soreness (feel fine Wednesday morning as I type this).
Wednesday (tonight), I'll bench (floor press, actually) heavier, use dumbbells for my pressing assistance work, do more vertical pulling, and incorporate plenty of scapular stability and direct rotator cuff work. This session should be me up quite a bit more than Monday's.
Thursday (tomorrow) morning, I'll deadlift heavier, do weighted glute-hams, hit some heavier single-leg work, and drag the sled at the end. I should be pretty dead by the end of the session and potentially sore for a few days - until I get back to train again on Sunday night.
Basically, the point of this post is to show you that if you manipulate training stress within the sessions, you can have a lot of flexibility in your training schedule. All our pro baseball guys train Mo-Sa, for example, because we can incorporate mini-deloads within the week.
This is especially important when you've got lifting, medicine ball, movement training, mobility, flexibility, and throwing programs all competing for an athlete's time and energy.
I actually wrote about this in a fair amount of detail in 4 Ways to Stay on Track.
1. I have seen a lot of guys who have hamstrings pulls in their health histories, but I don't recall ever coming across any studies that show that shooting yourself in the leg expedites recovery time.
The sad truth is that you'll probably have dozens of kids around the country with hamstrings strains shoot themselves in the leg in hopes of returning to play sooner because "Burress does it." I'll stick with soft tissue work, glute activation, and sprint mechanics training...
2. I got a question the other day about how we approach rest periods for our medicine ball work, and while it could be somewhat of a long, detailed response, I can probably respond even better with a simple, "We are always trying to slow guys down because they rush through them." Usually, our rest intervals are in the ballpark of one minute between sets. So, here's a little sample of what one of our professional pitchers did yesterday:
A) Side High Box Step-ups w/Leg Kick: 2x4/side
B1) Overhead Med Ball Stomp to Floor: 4x8 (5kg)
B2) Side-Lying Extension-Rotation: 3x8/side
C1) Recoiled Shotput: 3x3/side (4kg)
C2) Wall Hip Flexor Mobilizations: 2x8/side
D1) Recoiled Shotput: 3x3/side (2kg)
D2) Lying Knee-to-Knee Stretch: 2x30s
E1) Crow Hop to Overhead Med Ball Throw: 5x2 (2kg)
E2) Multiplanar Hamstrings Mobilizations: 2x5/5/5/side
So, as you can see, we use mobility work between sets to slow the guys down and address range-of-motion deficits they might have at the same time. A lot of these drills can be found on Magnificent Mobility (lower body) and Inside-Out (upper body).
4. For some good reading - particularly with respect to nutrition - check out Brian St. Pierre's blog.
5. I'm going with Joseph Addai over LenDale White this weekend. Thanks to everyone for the feedback from Tuesday. Fingers crossed...
6. Happy Birthday to Cassandra Forsythe-Pribanic! Cass and I go way back, and she's been a great friend and resource for me all along the way. If you're looking for top-notch female-specific nutrition and fitness resources, you definitely ought to check out The New Rules of Lifting for Women and the Women's Health Perfect Body Diet, both of which Cass or co-authored.
That'll do it for this week. I've got some sweet content in line for next week, so stay tuned. Have a great weekend!
