This weekend is going to be one of very mixed emotions for our entire family, as we'll lay my grandfather to rest Saturday morning; he passed last Thursday morning. Gramp had been the center of our family for my entire life, and he was a huge part of making me the man that I am. Were it not for Gramp, I never would have developed the passion for baseball that eventually led to me finding a career that focuses on the game. On one hand, it's going to be hard to say goodbye to him, but on the other hand, we're happy to celebrate his life and take solace that he's finally at peace after a long illness.
That said, in his final weeks, Gramp requested a Saturday funeral because - as a former high school principal - he didn't want any teachers to have to miss school to attend. To that end, he'd want the show to go on at this blog, too - so that's what we'll do with some random thoughts today.
1. I got a mention in the USA Today on Wednesday in a very interesting article on the biceps tenodesis surgery, as this procedure could become the "next big thing" in SLAP repairs. I was mentioned alongside the likes of Curt Schilling, James Andrews, Brett Favre, Jake Peavy, and Bud Selig...pretty good company! Check out the article: For Pitchers, Shoulder Surgery Cuts Both Ways.
2. Speaking of pitchers, here's yet ANOTHER study showing that resistance training (with throwing) improves throwing velocity significantly more than throwing alone. Meanwhile, we still have some old-school coaches saying that kids shouldn't lift. Ugh.
3. How's this for some solid feedback on just the first two months of Show and Go: High Performance Training to Look, Feel, and Move Better?
"Hey Eric, Just wanted to keep you updated with the results I've had from Show and Go, as well as ask a quick question regarding this. I started the program at 10% body fat (measured with AccuMeasure callipers) and am now down to about just over 7% body fat! This is the lowest I've ever gone."
For more information, check out www.ShowandGoTraining.com.
4. Here's some interesting research that shows that vitamin D deficiency doubles stroke risk in Caucasians. Deficiency incidence is lower (6.6%) in whites than African-Americans (32.3%), though. Beyond just cardiovascular health, though, vitamin D is one of the first things we look at in those with chronic soft tissue problems, especially in Northern climates where folks don't get enough sunshine during the winter months.
5. Today is the last day to get Joel Marion's Cheat Your Way Thin Holiday Edition at the introductory discount; check it out HERE, if you're interested.
6. Here's a great video from Mike Robertson on "Conquering the Chin-up:"
7. And your weekly dose of puppy...
Have a great weekend!
Hey Eric,
Just wanted to keep you updated with the results I've had from Show and Go, as well as ask a quick question regarding this. I started the programme at 10% body fat (measured with AccuMeasure callipers) and am now down to about just over 7% body fat! This is the lowest I've ever gone.
Some recommended reading for the day:
The Dynamic Method vs. the Repetition Method - A common question among resistance training beginners who've begun to "think outside the box" is whether they should bother using the dynamic method with their strength exercises if they aren't all that strong (yet). I answer this common inquiry in this blog post.
6 Mistakes: Fitting Round Pegs into Square Holes - This T-Nation article from a while back highlights some situations where it's important to not force something that just isn't there.
"My Coach Says I Shouldn't Lift" - This was one of those pieces that was just fun to write because it's such a ridiculous recommendation from a coach - but the sad truth is that it's happening all the time across the country. So, spread the word and help some kids out!
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I received a few separate emails this week from folks wondering how I plan our guys' off-season throwing programs to include everything from long toss, to weighted baseballs, to mound work.
Most people expect to be handed a simple throwing program - as one might receive with an interval throwing program following rehabilitation. The truth is that there isn't a single throwing program that I give to all our guys; rather, each is designed with the athlete's unique needs and circumstances taken into consideration.
With that in mind, I thought I'd outline some of the factors we consider when creating a throwing program for our professional baseball pitchers (many of these principles can also be applied to younger throwers):
1. Where they struggle on the mound (poor control, poor velocity, lack of athleticism, etc.)
2. Whether I want them using weighted balls in addition to long toss and bullpens or not
3. How many innings they threw the previous year (the more they throw, the later they start)
4. Whether they are going to big league or minor league spring training (we have minor league guys an additional 2-3 weeks)
5. How much "risk" we're willing to take with their throwing program (we'd be more aggressive with a 40th rounder than a big leaguer or first rounder; here is a detailed write-up on that front)
6. Whether they are a starter or reliever (relievers can start earlier because they've had fewer innings in the previous year)
7. What organization they are in (certain teams expect a LOT when guys show up, whereas others assume guys did very little throwing in the off-season and then hold them back when they arrive in spring training)
8. Whether guys play winter ball, Arizona Fall League, Team USA/Pan-American games, or go to instructionals
9. Whether they are big leaguers (season ends the last week in September, at the earliest) or minor leaguers (ends the first week in September)
10. What each guy tells you about his throwing history and how his arm feels. Any pitcher can always tell you more than you can ever accurately assume - so you just have to be willing to listen to him.
Here are a few general rules of thumb:
1. Most throwing programs from professional organizations don't have their pitchers playing catch until January 1 - and I think this is WAY too late to give pitchers adequate time to develop arm speed and durability in the off-season.
2. Relievers start earlier than starters (we are starting our relief pitchers three weeks ahead of our starters this year, on average).
3. Medicine ball volume comes down and throwing volume goes up.
4. Most of our guys who don't go to instructionals, winter ball, the fall league, or Team USA start in November. Starters are generally right around Thanksgiving among minor leaguers, with some relievers a bit earlier. Big league guys don't start throwing until mid- to late-December or even January 1.
This is just the tip of the iceberg, but hopefully it gives you some insight into some of what goes through my mind as we work to increase throwing velocity and arm health.
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As a lot of you probably know, I'm pretty much known as a "baseball training guy" - and rightfully so, as about 80-85% of our athletes at Cressey Performance are baseball players.
Most people are surprised to find that I really never played baseball at a high level. While I was super active in it growing up (my mother jokes that I actually taught myself to read with baseball cards), I actually had to give baseball up at the end of eighth grade so that I could focus on tennis, my "stronger" spring sport. And, to take it a step further, when high school ended, I went off to college in 1999 fully expecting to become an accountant. Seriously.
Around that same time, though, I had some health problems - and my shoulder was already a wreck from tennis. Those factors "beckoned" me to a healthy lifestyle - and that's when I made the decision to transfer to an exercise science program and focus on my new passion as a career. I did a double major in exercise science and sports/fitness management, and took part in internships in everything from personal training to cardiac and pulmonary rehabilitation.
When I headed off to graduate school in 2003, I anticipated going in to the research world. About a month after I arrived on campus at UCONN, though, I caught the strength and conditioning bug and was hooked - for life. Interestingly, though, in those first few years, I really didn't work with baseball much at all.
It wasn't until I got out in to the "real world" that I just happened to start working with a few high school baseball players when I first moved to Boston. They were great kids, and I had a lot of fun training them - and they got great results that drew a lot of attention to the work I did with them. I was already a big baseball fan, and given my history of shoulder problems, I really enjoyed learning everything I possibly could about arm care - so it was a great fit.
The rest, as they say, is history. We now have 44 professional baseball players from all over the country here to train with us at Cressey Performance because they believe our expertise, environment, systems, and passion give them the best opportunity on the planet to be successful in their baseball careers. I have guys who swear by my resistance training, medicine ball, mobility, soft tissue, movement training, and throwing programs even though I never even played a single game of high school - let alone collegiate or professional - baseball. I've found my niche - but as you can tell, I never forced it.
What do you think I would have said if you had asked me in 1999 what my ten-year plan was? I would have told you that I'd be filing tax returns in early April, not following all our athletes on opening day around the country.
And, if you had asked me in 2004 what my five-year plan was, I'd have told you that it was to become a great muscle physiology research. I probably would have commented on how cool it was that the Red Sox won the World Series for the first time in 86 years - but wouldn't have had the foresight to note that I'd someday go on to train two guys from that roster who have 2004 world championship rings.
My point is that you can't force a fitness niche; you have to discover and then develop it. A lot of stars had to line up the right way for me to get to where I am with working with a baseball population, but as Thomas Jefferson once said, "I find that the harder I work, the more luck I seem to have."
Getting sick forced me to learn how to better take care of my body - and that led me to the fitness industry and strength and conditioning.
Having shoulder pain motivated me to learn more about shoulder health.
Being a "non-baseball guy" growing up forced me to do a lot more listening than talking with our athletes early-on, as I had to learn their culture. It also put me in a position to never accept stupid training principles (like distance running for pitchers) simply because they were "tradition" - because crappy training was never a "tradition" that I'd learned.
If I'd purposely gotten sick, whacked myself in the shoulder with a sledgehammer, and then read every book on baseball tradition that I could, do you think I'd be where I am today? If you answered "yes," put down the glue you're sniffing and start reading this again from the top.
Every business consultant in the fitness industry raves about how important it is nowadays to get a niche. Train middle-aged female fat loss clients only. Or, maybe it's 9-12 year-old kids. My buddy Eric Chessen even works exclusively with fitness for kids in the autism spectrum. I agree completely with these consultants' advice - but your appropriate niche won't magically appear unless you experience a lot of different settings and find the right fit for you, then follow up on it by educating yourself as much as possible by reading/watching everything you can, expanding your network of colleagues, and finding solutions to problems others haven't been able to solve.
If you are going to do something exclusively, you better be:
a) passionate about it
b) good at it
c) sure that it alone can financially support you
d) excited about the possibility of becoming an expert and contributing to the existing body of knowledge in that realm
e) willing to potentially pass up on opportunities in other realms
To be very candid, I just don't think that having specific 5- and 10-year plans is necessarily a good idea. Sure, it's okay if we are talking about financial planning, marriage, etc. - but when it comes to professional goals, there are just too many factors that can change things on a dime and turn you in a new direction. I love what I do now, but couldn't tell you for the life of me where I'll be in 5-10 years - and I happen to think that I have a pretty good grasp on where I'm going, as compared to the rest of the fitness industry. If I was just leaving college today, I'd definitely be taking it one day at a time!
How about you? What's your niche - and how did you discover and develop it?
Related PostsWant to be a Personal Trainer or Strength Coach? Start Here.7 Steps for Attacking Continuing Education in the Fitness IndustryHow Do You Find Time for Everything?
It's been a while since I did a random thoughts blog; actually, it was October 6 - which is also known as the "Pre-Puppy Era" in the Cressey household. As such, we have a lot to get to, so let's not waste any time.
1. It's been interesting to watch the Giants - a team without a true superstar (aside from Lincecum, who's only thrown one game) - take control of the World Series. However, the most interesting part of the World Series for me was when former president George W. Bush came out and threw an absolutely effortless SEED to Nolan Ryan for the first pitch of Game 4.
It was a nice change of pace from what we often see with ceremonial first pitch appearances, as I wrote about previous in Why President Obama Throws Like a Girl. You almost have to wonder if him busting out the cheddar during election week was a calculated attempt to win some Republican votes!
Also, please refrain from political fighting in the comments section, kids; this is a bipartisan blog. I will, however, encourage everyone to please get out and vote tomorrow, regardless of your candidates of choice.
2. I am still waiting for someone to convince me that cold water immersion post-training does anything for athletes other than cause serious shrinkage and irritate them. It seems like it becomes more and more of "the rage" with each passing day, but I still haven't seen anything in the scientific literature supporting the efficacy of ice baths for recovery. This piece came out just recently: Post exercise ice water immersion: Is it a form of active recovery?
We do not advocate cold water immersion for our athletes right now because I feel that there isn't any evidence to suggest that it has any favorable effects, and for such an annoying experience, you need to be getting considerable benefit in order to be using it regularly. Moreover, I have seen a TON of pitchers who absolutely despise icing their arms after throwing outings, saying that it interferes with their arm bouncing back and gives them stiffness and difficulty warming up in the subsequent throwing outing. There is going to need to be some definitive evidence supporting cold water immersion before I even consider experimenting with it in any of our athletes.
That said, what has your experience been with cold water immersion and ice baths for recovery? Please share your thoughts in the comments section.
3. Agents paying college football players to sign with them is a very corrupt and unacceptable practice, but the most scary part of this article for me is that three of the 23 players in question were DEAD before they hit 30. Does anyone else find that a 13% mortality rate among this guy's potential clients kind of odd? My guess would be that they weren't the most ethical guys in question and probably were involved in some sketchy stuff on the side, but it is still pretty wild that the author of this article just tosses it in there as a quick closing sentence like it's nothing worthy of consideration.
4. We are kicking on all cylinders with our professional baseball training crew. As of right now, we have 44 guys from all over the country committed to getting after it this winter. It's shaping up to be a fun time and great atmosphere - especially when you factor in our high school and college baseball guys.
5. Speaking of Cressey Performance, we've got Nick Tumminello coming in this morning to do an in-service for our staff. Nick's a smart dude who teaches all over the world (he's headed to China right after us), and we're really lucky to have him. In this dynamic industry, if you aren't getting better, you're falling behind - so be sure to seek out opportunities to watch industry leaders present whenever you can. For more information on Nick, check out www.NickTumminello.com. Here's a little taste of some of Nick's stuff:
Because Alex Maroko is a good buddy of mine, I decided to make this webinar available to you at absolutely no cost. If you want to learn about the thought process behind each strength and conditioning program I write - for athletes that range from baseball players, to basketball stars, to professional boxers, to Olympic bobsledders - then look no further.
If You Read Alex's Daily Emails, Use His Special Show and Go Half-Off Discount Link Below Today for Big Savings!
1. The most obvious reason, of course, is that at midnight tonight, the early bird discount (40% off) ends. Forever. There won't be any of this "our system was maxed out, so we're extending the sale by 2 days because I really care about you, friend!" You know you've all heard it before - but you won't hear it here.
2. To follow up on that one, let's be honest: I'm not really sure if you're my "friend." You could be a crazy internet person, for all I know. In fact, many of you probably are - and acquiring a program like Show and Go could be really good for you to attend to your social awkwardness by heading to the gym to do the program and, in the process, meet some new people. You might even get diesel and attract a member of the opposite sex, settle down with them, and name your first child "Eric Cressey." No pressure on that one, though.
3. The feedback thus far from customers has been excellent. In addition to all the testimonials you'll see from the "guinea pigs" I put through the program, I've gotten some immediate one from people who have purchased the program via email; here's one quick example that just came in this morning.
"Eric, I've just purchased Show and Go. Have started to use this straight away, and can definitely say that it makes training and writing programs for clients very easy and effective especially with the massive data base available. Plus all the add-ons from the other coaches - such as conditioning and glute exercises - are awesome." - Chris Carter
4. At first glance, this simply looks like one demonstration from the huge Show and Go video library (don't worry; trap bar deadlifts are not mandatory).
However, if you look closely, what's going on in the background is possibly more significant. You'll see a few of my pro baseball guys starting up their sessions with foam rolling and mobility warm-ups. Most of these guys are just now arriving for their off-season training - as the product is released. In other words, this video was filmed back in February or so - which tells you that it literally took seven months (an entire professional baseball season) to bring this sucker to market because we spent so much time tinkering with it and trying to make it perfect (and putting a host of people through it as a pilot program over a four-month period). In a day and age when some folks are kicking out new products each week, you have my word that this is not a fly-by-night operation; we invested a lot of time, thought, and energy into making this something of which we could be really proud.
5. On the financial side of things, I'm getting married next weekend...and it would be nice to use this book to pay for a wedding, honeymoon, and protective helmet to wear for the rest of my life. Just kidding, honey!
6. On a more urgent note, tomorrow night is my bachelor party - and we're going to need bail money to get Tony out of prison after he's incarcerated for causing a scene at the casino when he realizes that they only serve free alcohol - and not almond milk - at the blackjack tables.
7. One afternoon earlier this week, just for the heck of it, I counted the professional baseball players in our facility. There were 12 - two Royals, one Blue Jay, one National, four Braves, one Met, two A's, and one Tiger - and this is just minor leaguers, without the major league season even having wrapped up. All told, we'll be over 40 professionals from all over the country. This is not to blow sunshine up my own butt; it's to make a very important point: I actually train people six days a week. I write a ton of programs, do a ton of evaluations, and love to coach. And all this give me a great perspective from which to program for the "masses" - as I see everything from 10-year-olds to 70-year-olds in just about every athletic and weekend warrior population.
This shouldn't even be something I have to mention, but I do - because you'd be surprised how many people write and sell programs when they aren't out there seeing it first hand. Theories are all well and good, but the best programs are rooted in principles that have proven effective time and time again in the real world.
Give it a shot; you've got nothing to lose: www.ShowandGoTraining.com.
In honor of the end of the minor league baseball season yesterday, I thought I'd go with a baseball-only theme today for our "Stuff You Should Read." First, though, I thought I'd give you the heads-up that I finally broke down and got a Twitter account, on the recommendation of a few people. If you're interested in following me, you can do so HERE.
With that out of the way, some baseball articles that may interest you:
Athlete Profile: Shawn Haviland - This is a great feature at Precision Nutrition on one of our athletes, Shawn Haviland, who was recently named a California League All-Star after striking out 169 batters in 153.2 innings, with a 3.65 ERA. Shawn has worked really hard to get where he is, and this article shows just how tough getting in proper nutrition can be during the professional baseball season.
Medicine Ball Madness - This piece touches on our unique medicine ball training program. At some point, I'm going to get around to writing up a detailed resource on this, but for now, this will do. Suffice it to say that our guys will get a little bit of a break over the next few weeks, and then we'll be destroying a lot of med balls up through the first of the year.
Should Pitchers Overhead Press? - The following video is an excerpt from Mike Reinold and my Optimal Shoulder Performance DVD set. It's a great resource for fitness professionals and rehabilitation specialists alike - especially if you are working with baseball players.
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Q: I just saw your post about Strasberg and pitching injuries. This may be hopelessly naive, but - do "submarine" throwers face the same perils? I'm old enough to remember Kent Telkulve, so it made me think. It seems as though I see a fair number of throws from SS and 3B positions that appear somewhat submarine-like in motion, so the technique wouldn't be completely unknown. Thoughts?
A: In short, the answer would be "yes," they do face the same perils.
If you actually slow things down and example joint angles, you'll see that the shoulder and elbow positioning most of these guys get to is very similar to what you see in more overhand throwers. The difference is in how much lateral trunk tilt they have; the more trunk tilt, the lower the release point.
The primary difference you'll see is that sidearm/submarine throwers will typically break down at the elbow a lot more than the shoulder. Aguinaldo and Chambers found that sidearm throwers had significantly higher elbow valgus torques than overhand throwers. It's not surprising, given that they do tend to lead with the elbow a bit more.
Position players who throw more sidearm can largely get away with it because a) they don't have anywhere near the volume of throwing in a single outing or a season that pitchers do, and b) they aren't throwing off a mound. We know that just stepping up onto the elevated mound dramatically increases arm stress.
So, what are the practical applications of knowing the demands are, for the most part, very similar?
First, spend a considerable amount more time focusing on core stability and working to iron out excessive right-left asymmetries that arise secondary to all the lateral trunk tilt. In other words, worry as much about the spine as you do about the arm.
Second, I'd put an even greater emphasis on soft tissue work at the medial elbow - particularly on the common flexor tendon (the muscles that join to create this tendon protect the ulnar collateral ligament from excessive valgus stress).
Third, as is usually the case, use these guys as relievers to keep their throwing volume lower while still maximizing their utility.
Other than that, manage them as if you would any other pitcher - which should always be a tremendously individualized process, anyway!
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Since a lot of folks reading this blog know me as "the baseball guy," I got quite a few email questions about the elbow injury Washington Nationals phenom Stephen Strasburg experienced the other day. Likewise, it was the talk of Cressey Performance last Friday - and got tremendous attention in the media. Everyone wants to know: how could this have been prevented?
On Thursday's edition of Baseball Tonight, my buddy Curt Schilling made some excellent points about Strasburg's delivery that likely contributed to the injury over time. Chris O'Leary has also written some great stuff about the Inverted W, which is pretty easily visualized in his delivery.
The point I want to make, though, is that an injury like this can never, ever, ever, ever be pinned on one factor. We have seen guys with "terrible mechanics" (I put that in quotes because I don't think there is such a thing as "perfect mechanics") pitch pain-free for their entire careers. Likewise, we've seen guys with perfect mechanics break down. We've seen guys with great bodies bite the big one while some guys with terrible bodies thrive.
The point is that while we are always going to strive to clean things up - physically, mechanically, psychologically, and in terms of managing stress throughout the competitive year - there is always going to be some happenstance in sports at a high level. As former Blue Jays general manager JP Ricciardi told me last week when we chatted at length, "you've only got so many bullets in your arm."
Strasburg used up a lot of those bullets before he ever got drafted, so it's hard to fault the Nationals at all on this front. In fact, from this ESPN article that was published when the team thought it was a strain of the common flexor tendon and not an ulnar collateral ligament injury (requiring Tommy John surgery), "Strasburg has told the team he had a similar problem in college at San Diego State and pitched through it." It's safe to assume that the Nationals rule out a partial UCL tear in their pre-draft MRIs, but you have to consider what a common flexor tendon injury really means.
As I wrote in in my "Understanding Elbow Pain" series (of interest: Anatomy, Pathology, Throwing Injuries, and Protecting Pitchers) the muscles that combine to form the common flexor tendon are the primary restraints - in addition to the ulnar collateral ligament - to valgus stress. If they are weak, overused, injured, dense, fibrotic, or whatever else, more of that stress is going on that UCL - particularly if an athlete is throwing with mechanics that may increase that valgus stress (the Inverted W I noted above) - the party is going to end eventually. Is it any surprise that this acute injury occurred just a few weeks after Strasburg dealt with a shoulder issue that put him on the disabled list for two weeks? The body is a tremendously intricate system of checks and balances, and it bit him in the butt.
There are other factors, though. As a great study from Olsen et al. showed, young pitchers who require surgery "significantly more months per year, games per year, innings per game, pitches per game, pitches per year, and warm-up pitches before a game. These pitchers were more frequently starting pitchers, pitched in more showcases, pitched with higher velocity, and pitched more often with arm pain and fatigue. They also used anti-inflammatory drugs and ice more frequently to prevent an injury." And, they were also taller and heavier.
Go back through the last 12-15 years of Stephen Strasburg's life and consider just how many times he's ramped up for spring ball, summer ball, fall ball, and showcases - only so that he can shut down for a week, just to ramp right back up again to try to impress someone else. Think of how many radar guns he's had to pitch in front of constantly for the past 5-7 years - because velocity is all that matters, right?
Stephen Strasburg's injury wasn't caused by a single factor; it was a product of many. And, it can't be pinned on Strasburg himself, any of his coaches or trainers, or any of the scouts that watched him. Blame it in the system that is baseball in America today.
We already knew that this system was a disaster, though. Yet, people still keep letting their kids go to showcases in December. Heck, arguably the biggest underclassmen prospect event of the year - the World Wood Bat Tournament in Jupiter, FL - takes places at the end of October. When they should be resting, playing another sport, or preparing their bodies in the weight room, the absolute best prospects in the country are pitching with dead, unprepared arms just because it's a convenient time for scouts and coaches to recruit - because the season is over.
They're wasting their bullets.
Now, I'm not saying that Strasburg's injury could have been avoided in a different system - but I'd be very willing to bet that it could have been pushed much further back - potentially long enough to allow him to get through a career. An argument to my point would be that if it wasn't for all these exposures, he wouldn't have developed - but my contention to that fact was that it is well documented that Strasburg "blew up" from a good to an extraordinary pitcher with increased throwing velocity when he made a dedicated effort to getting fit when he arrived at college.
My hope is that young pitchers will learn from this example and appreciate that taking care of one's body is just as important as showing off one's talent.
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