The Best of 2019: Strength and Conditioning Videos

Written on December 25, 2019 at 5:02 am, by Eric Cressey

With my last post, I kicked off the “Best of 2019” series with my top articles of the year. Today, we’ll highlight the top five videos of the year.

1. Glute-Ham Raise with Banded Reach

If you’ve followed this blog for any length of time, you’ll know that I’m a big fan of training the posterior chain and also working on getting serratus anterior firing to improve scapular upward rotation. So, you can imagine how excited I am to present to you a video that hits both. Mets pitcher Noah Syndergaard offered a great demo:

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Glute-ham raises with banded reach are a great way to train scapular upward rotation while working the posterior chain. Serratus anterior works like an “anti-lat,” so this setup keeps athletes honest: they can’t cheat the concentric by moving through lumbar (low back) extension instead of hip extension. #Mets pitcher @nsyndergaard with the stellar demo.👍#cspfamily

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2. Subscapularis 101

The subscapularis is the largest of the four rotator cuff muscles, but it might also be the most misunderstood. This excerpt from my Sturdy Shoulder Solutions resource will bring you up to speed on it.

3. 1-leg Dumbbell Pullover – The 1-leg dumbbell pullover is a nice variation on a classic. It’ll add a rotary stability challenge to what is normally considered an upper body and anterior core drill. I’m using this variation a bit more in the late offseason (with throwing volume and intensity ramping up), as you can get a good training effect with less external loading.

4. Half-kneeling Cable Lift with Flexion-Rotation Hold

The half-kneeling cable lift w/flexion-rotation hold is a new variation on an old drill, and we’ve been implementing it quite a bit with athletes this year. It’s a creation of CSP-FL co-founder and pitching coordinator Brian Kaplan.

5. Landmine Squat to 1-arm Press

It’s not secret that I love landmine presses, and this is a great progression. This drill fits well as a first exercise on a full body day and pairs well with horizontal or vertical pulling. I really like it late in the offseason when we’re trying to keep sessions a bit shorter and get extra bang for our training buck. I’d do sets of 3-5 reps per side.