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Strength & Conditioning for Baseball - Workouts & Exercises for Athletes
When designing a strength and conditioning program for baseball, certain fundamental questions should be raised. Which energy systems are used? What are the biomechanical movements of the sport? Which are the most common injury sites? How much time, and equipment is available as well as how many athletes do I need to train? Lastly, thorough testing of each athlete will let you know where they stand and what areas need attention. This article will provide a year round strength training program outline for the competitive baseball athlete. The strength program is broken up into three components:
The Off-season starts in mid-June and ends in November. During the Off-season, the athletes will lift four times per week concentrating on basic strength and flexibility. They with train aerobically three times per week and anaerobically twice per week incorporating plyometrics on their anaerobic day.
The following exercises are used on upper body days:
The Off-season strength program is broken down into two components:
The Pre-season starts in December and ends in February. During the Pre-season, the athletes will lift three times per week concentrating on functional strength and power. They will train anaerobically three times per week and aerobically twice per week. Their conditioning program will incorporate upper and lower body plyometrics and an extensive flexibility program with emphasis on the lower back, hamstring and shoulder areas. The following exercises are used during the Pre-season:
This program is broken down into a heavy, light and medium day. On heavy days the athletes will perform 3-5 sets at 2-4 repetitions. On medium days the athletes will perform 3-5 sets at 4-6 repetitions and on light days perform 3-5 sets at 6-10 repetitions. The last component, the In-season starts in March and ends in mid-June. The main focus during the In-season program is to maintain strength, endurance, speed and flexibility for the season. During the In-season, the athletes lift twice per week based around their game schedule. The workouts during the In-season focus on the entire body performing 1-3 sets at 3-5 repetitions. I firmly believe that through a well developed strength and conditioning program, hard work and a good attitude, a baseball athlete can transfer their improved physical abilities to better skill performance on the field as well as help prevent potential injuries.
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The use of weights for improving one's ability in baseball is now largely accepted by the country's leading coaches. It wasn't always so. Until the last 20 years, there was a significant refusal to recognize the value of resistance training for baseball. The opinion being held that strength training would slow their athletes down and make them muscle bound. Now, due to all the research and scientific information available, there is no doubt at all that this is the age of the weight trained baseball athlete. A baseball athlete through a proper strength & conditioning program will become stronger so that he can use his technique with greater skill and efficiency.
The Off-season workout will consist of upper and lower body exercises designed at strengthening the muscles of the arms, shoulders and legs, which are fundamental to the various skills of baseball. By concentrating on these areas, an athlete will improve their chances for base running, hitting, throwing, pitching, catching and fielding success. The following exercises are performed on lower body days:
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