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Are Your Workouts Making You Better, or Making You Tired?

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By bh | May 11, 2013 1:14 am | Featured, News, Training | Leave a comment

Over the years, I have seen a lot of players who have been given well-designed programs by their strength and conditioning staff and then proceeded to do only the exercises that they enjoyed and omit those that they really needed to do. Usually, the ones they liked were a lot easier than those that they needed to. The programs provided were based on valid, scientific principles and proper exercise progressions. The exercises selected and the order in which they were to be performed were intended to produce a desired outcome. When you pick and choose which exercises to do or alter the order, you can’t expect to get max results.

Training is about achieving a balance between work and recovery. Work is the stimulus needed for improvement, but improvements occur during recovery. To get better, you have to first train hard and then recover properly. If you skip the recovery, you are just making yourself tired. Think back to your last workout and ask yourself, “Did I work out to get better, or did I just workout to make myself tired?”

A well-designed and properly followed in-season program should get you in and out of the weight room in 20 minutes or less. Strength exercises should follow a circuit or super-set program in which you perform one exercise and then, with minimal rest, perform a second exercise for another part of the body. Working with minimal rest between exercises and working opposing muscle groups works the primary energy system used in baseball (anaerobic system). When you take two minutes or longer between exercises while you check your text messages, walk across the room to change the music, admire yourself in the mirror, stop to watch Sports Center for the 15th time or talk to your teammate, you’re training the wrong energy system. If your running consists of a slow jog or cycle, you’re training the wrong energy system (aerobic system). Baseball is an anaerobic sport, not an aerobic sport. “The energy system used is the energy system trained.” If you are going to work out, why not train the right energy system?

For max results, train with a purpose and utilize the correct energy system needed to achieve your desired goals. Training without a proper plan makes you tired, wears down your body and provides minimal gains. Make every set, every rep, every run, every jump, every swing and every throw count! Work without a purpose is not training. Work without a purpose will make you tired but it won’t make you better. Following properly-designed, in-season strength and conditioning program can help you maintain the strength, speed and power needed to maximize performance and minimize the risk of injury.

Final thought. Dizzy Dean once said “Throw your best pitcher today, it might rain tomorrow.” If you skip a workout because you have an extra day between starts or an off-day coming up and then get sick, you will end up missing 2-3 workouts instead of just one. Work today. You don’t know what might happen tomorrow. There are no rain checks for a missed workout.
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Gene Coleman was the Head S&C Coach for the Houston Astros from 1978-2012 and is currently a strength and conditioning consultant for the Texas Rangers.

Training : Reverse Sled Drags

Reverse Sled Drag
By bh | April 22, 2013 2:53 pm | Featured, News, Training | Leave a comment

Reverse Sled Drags Reverse sled drags are a very low-tech and versatile lower body exercise. They can be used to rehab an injury, reduce stress on a sore joint, increase strength, improve conditioning and/or as an alternative to traditional strength training exercises. Reverse drags work the quads in a knee-friendly way for both “healthy” athletes and those with joint problems. They can be used as a standing terminal knee extension exercise to help strengthen and increase quadriceps mass after a knee injury, or to provide an effective alternative for anyone who needs to avoid more stressful knee-dominant exercises. Because reverse drags let you work the legs with little or no spinal loading, they are also good for those with minor back problems. Finally, because  there is limited eccentric stress when reverse sled drags are performed properly, athletes should exhibit less residual muscle soreness following a reverse drag workout than following a workout using traditional strength exercises.

Reverse sleds can be used as both a strength tool and/or conditioning tool. To improve strength, increase the resistance, shorten the distance and increase the rest interval. For conditioning, reduce the load, and increase the distance and rest interval. Put them in at the end of a workout when using them as a conditioning tool or “finisher” drill.  Because the arms, shoulders, core and hands are engaged as you push with the legs, reverse drags allow you to integrate upper and lower body strength through a stable core.

Specific distance and rest intervals will vary depending on strength and conditioning level of each athlete. For most athletes, we use distances of 20-40 yards for strength and 40-80 yards for conditioning. The mechanics of the drill are fairly simple. Attach some straps to a sled, grab hold and walk backwards. Focus on keeping the back flat so it doesn’t round. Reverse drags can be performed standing upright or squatting down a few degrees. Both ways are good, but squatting tends to stress the quads a little more.

Jose Vazquez, PT, CSCS

Head Strength Coach, Texas Rangers

Starting Pitchers – Training Structure

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By bh | July 17, 2012 4:10 pm | Featured, News, Training | Leave a comment

INTRODUCTION

Starting pitching is the foundation for any successful organization. Whether they came from your minor league developmental system, via a trade or signed through free agency, this collection of five starters has a significant impact on your team’s success or failure.

Running programs that are implemented during the lead up to a pitcher’s start are critical for the health and performance for of each starter. Outlined below is my assessment over the years of the daily programs for each starter.

DAY ONE AFTER START

This is the day when pitchers usually do a run for an extended period of time. The next day after a start the conditioning is designed to increase the pitcher’s cardiovascular conditioning. Improving heart and lung function while challenging the pitcher’s mental toughness is the key to day one. Being able to push through fatigue while conditioning goes a long way to keep your starters out there every fifth day and have them perform at their best. There have been many ways to accomplish this. A 30-45 minute run has been the traditional protocol. Timed poles with a certain period of rest time, 3/4 poles for 30 minutes, distance running followed by stair running and treadmill sprint programs have been implemented for the day one for starters. The use of heart rate monitors can help the athlete understand how hard he can push himself and how many calories he’s burned. Charts and graphs from the monitors can provide added information as to what level the athlete is performing on and how he can get improve. Constantly challenging the athlete and giving a variety of options help in keeping the pitcher motivated through the six months and 34 starts in a season.

Ultimately, that pitcher needs a sense of self motivation to accomplish the activity at a high level and challenge himself periodically on his own. When that starter gets in the 6th, 7th, 8th and 9th innings, he has to draw on that conditioning and toughness to push through to get that win.

DAY 2 and DAY 3

These are the days where anaerobic conditioning is implemented at a high level. Pitching is a start and stop activity over a period of time. Besides throwing each pitch, he might have to sprint to cover 1st base, back up another base, field a bunt, or, in the case of National League and interleague play, hit for himself and run the bases. Following a long inning on the mound, the starting pitcher may have to step in to be the first batter, possibly running the bases and eventually scoring.  Conversely, with the “quick inning,” he may only sit and rest for 1-2 minutes prior to immediately returning to the mound. We, as strength coaches, have to prepare our starters for these various scenarios. Conditioning protocols include gassers and half gassers for time with a certain rest period. For example, the pitcher would run 90 feet down and back twice in 30 seconds or less with a rest period of one minute. He would do this for eight reps.

Other examples would be running half poles with a short rest period, 180 feet (60 yards) and 90 feet (30 yard) sprints with 30 and 15 second rest periods along with short 15, 30, 45 second and one minute treadmill sprint programs. The basic principle is to repeatedly challenge the anaerobic threshold of the athlete with short rest periods. The ability to accomplish these activities and have the heart rate come back down before the next rep is the key to increasing anaerobic threshold.

DAY 4

The day before the next start is usually low in intensity and volume. Ten easy sprints or striders is the protocol. Getting the legs loose and stretched out is the main goal. At this point all the hard work has been done and recovery is the key.

INJURIES AND AGE

As with all baseball players, battling nagging injuries throughout the season and career can hamper the athlete’s conditioning. We, as strength coaches, must adapt to the athlete’s particular circumstances when it comes to age and injuries. Sometimes using aquatic therapy for conditioning in conjunction with treadmills, bikes, stair masters and ellipticals might be the better choice when dealing with ankle, knee and low back issues. Being in constant communication with trainers and doctors to prescribe the correct exercise is crucial to keeping your starter on the mound) every 5th day.

Being able to change the intensity and volume of training during the season can help also. Travel schedules, “night followed by day” games, time zone changes, and being “under the weather” can influence your programs. Developing a professional relationship with your pitcher so he can honestly give you an assessment on how he feels on a daily basis is extremely important.

CONCLUSION

As strength coaches, we are constantly challenged to keep our pitchers in the best baseball- specific condition as possible. Preventing injuries and having him take the mound every fifth day is paramount to our jobs. By understanding the athlete and his needs, implementing the best sport-specific programs and keeping in constant communication with trainers and doctors, we give the athlete the best chance at success. I firmly believe that the specific programs we implement will help to bring out and maximize the pitcher’s natural athletic ability. There is a great sense of satisfaction when a starter goes the distance for a complete game and his conditioning and preparation helped him perform it.

Phil Falco

Atlanta Braves

Head Strength Coach

 

 

Training Today’s Player – At All Levels

By baseballstrength | May 18, 2012 2:42 pm | Featured, Training | Leave a comment

Injuries in baseball seem to be on the rise at every level of play and many of them are preventable.  This is a multifaceted concern with several possible culprits.  One potential issue is that athletes are designing their own strength and conditioning programs without the benefit of a scientific foundation or fundamental knowledge of exercise physiology and biomechanics. To say you don’t need a CSCS educated in baseball physiology and biomechanics would be like saying you don’t need a hitting or pitching coach.  Another common issue is that baseball players don’t train to improve stamina like they did in years past.  Ten years ago, the challenge was trying to convince players to lift weights whereas now the challenge is getting the guys out of the weight room and onto the running field. The key to preventing injury is conditioning, which involves tempo, fluidity, repeatability and helps improve recovery.  Over the past several years, we’ve found that our better conditioned pitchers performed significantly better than our poorly conditioned pitchers.  This doesn’t mean that if you run more you’ll automatically pitch better, as a better aerobic capacity will not directly improve your pitching velocity or give you the ability to throw more strikes.  Conditioning will, however, help you complete the tasks on the field, making them feel much easier.

It should be noted that the pathways we are taking toward maximizing power and athleticism do take on inherent risks.  To decrease that risk, a resistance training program for adolescents should fit the individual based on factors including, but not limited to, motor development, experience and aptitude.  By implementing a strategic program that blends both injury prevention and power producing techniques, you can help to minimize the high rate of preventable injuries.

Where it concerns resistance training injuries, the most likely cause is reported to be “inappropriate training techniques, excessive loading, poorly designed equipment, ready access to the equipment, or lack of qualified adult supervision,” according to Faigenbaum, et al., (2009) (S61).  Perhaps the biggest difference between adults and children lies in the exercises prescribed. One common mishap occurs when a youngster attempts exercises like a squat or bench press with improper technique and poor function and it goes unnoticed and/or uncorrected.  For example, due to the lack of core strength, an improperly functioning scapula can cause shoulder joint movement dysfunction, acting as the precursor to labrum and/or rotator cuff injuries later in the athlete’s career. Another potential result is knee valgus, which is common for young girls and often predisposes them to ACL tears.  A recent report, however, points out two things worth taking notice of for all of those who implement a youth resistance training program: first, prepubescent boys and girls are equally predisposed to knee valgus and second, there is no evidence of strength differences between preadolescent boys and girls (Barber-Westin, et al., 2005),  Faigenbaum, et al., (2009). Although acute injuries might not occur immediately, biomechanical predisposition and poor technique can lead to future problems for both genders.

In regards to duration, intensity and volume of training, many similarities seem to exist between both adult and prepubescent protocols.  Training volume for youths may be similar to suggestions given to adults but it is important to keep in mind that young athletes should not be treated as miniature adults.  When incorporating weight-lifting and plyometric exercises, a lower volume of training is preferred for young and/or inexperienced athletes.

When designing an effective program for a young person, it is important to learn what types of programs have shown to be effective in the past.  According to the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA, nsca-lift.org) (by Faigenbaum, et al., 2009), the most common programs designed for young athletes take on an eight to twelve-week training cycle, and are performed two to three days per week on nonconsecutive days.  Every training session should begin with a five to ten-minute dynamic warm-up period.  To improve muscular endurance, 10-15 repetitions are used vs. using 6-10 repetitions when strength is the goal.  To improve power, the young athlete should perform one to three sets of three to six repetitions.  In all cases, one to three working sets seem to be sufficient after the appropriately prescribed warm up set(s).  We typically begin counting working sets when using over 65% of the individuals one-rep max.  To improve strength, a variety of multi-joint upper body and lower body exercises can be performed.  Routines should involve an overall effort on improving core strength, which will be explained in further detail later.  As strength improves, resistance should increase gradually (5-10%) and we do not progress by adding weight until two sets can be completed comfortably at the prescribed rep range.  Every session should end with a cool down incorporating less intense calisthenics and static stretching exercises.

Another important priority when implementing a program for young people is having the practitioner devise a list of exercise progressions and classify each exercise based on its difficulty level.  There are a wide range of exercises available that differ in intensity.  Eccentric contractions, as well as heavy load isometric contractions, are more likely to cause muscle damage (Elsayed & Reilly, 2010).  Examples of highly eccentric exercises include weight-lifting under extremely heavy loads as well as high impact plyometrics like depth jumps and downhill running.  The presence of higher eccentric contractions involved in these exercises might make them unsuitable for the prepubescent athlete, partly because the active stretch creates more strain on the muscle fibers.  While high load, highly eccentric contractions are an effective way for well-trained adults to gain strength, this mode of training (especially performed over many repetitions) might not be best for young athletes.

It is important to also consider that prepuberty children have a faster lactate clearance rate (Beneke, Hütler, Jung, & Leithäuser, 2005).  With a high aerobic capacity and a higher resistance to fatigue, training using higher repetitions (>10) might offer a proper stimulus to increase motor unit recruitment and muscle firing patterns.  Improvements in coordination made via neural adaptations are often made best over many repetitions.  Rest times can also mimic the sport that is being played.   In the case of a baseball player, average rest time in between pitches is 20 seconds (Szymanski, 2009).

When the goal is improving strength in young athletes, it’s easy to assume that kids just need to get outside to play more and participate in team sports, but practitioners cannot solely rely on anaerobic conditioning drills.  Basketball is an effective means to improve maximal aerobic capacity and reduce body fat; however, this form of exercise will not significantly improve strength or joint mobility (Vamvakoudis, et al., 2007).  Basketball is a fun conditioning option that can co-exist with a strength building routine in an effort to improve overall fitness and prevent injuries.  Since strength is relative to mass, it is likely that strength gains achieved during pre-pubertal years will lead to an earlier development of additional lean muscle mass after puberty, if training continues.

When building strength in young people (or beginners of any age), their regime should focus on improving core stability, coordination, movement technique and reactive skills.  To that end, upper body exercises selected for youth need to focus on “core” musculature that ultimately alleviates stress on less stable joints.  Core exercises should strengthen the musculature supporting three important structures of the body: the scapulae, the spine and the pelvic girdle.   One example is a Push-Up Plank Hold (see figure 1), an upper-body exercise that focuses on core stability. For an athlete that lacks the core strength and the stamina to hold this position accurately, stress is added to the shoulder joint and increases the likelihood of injury when that athlete moves on to a more advanced exercise, like a traditional push-up.

Appropriate resistance training exercises for youth will lead to neuromuscular adaptations, resulting in increased strength.  Unilateral body weight squats are a challenging exercise that can be incorporated into youth resistance training routines in an effort to improve balance, coordination and lower limb strength.  Conversely, bilateral squats might be a safer alternative when the goal is to achieve maximum strength and power using higher external loads.  One study (McCurdy, et al., 2005) concluded that unilateral and bilateral lower body resistance training were both equally effective in improving strength during the early phases of training in untrained adults.  A typical two to three-day resistance training program for youth should strategically incorporate both unilateral and bilateral exercises.  It is anticipated that youth can experience similar neuromuscular adaptations to adults in the first 10 weeks of training.

A positive, injury-free experience is easily attained with proper exercise progressions, optimal technical performance and a strategic program formulation.  For anyone concerned about the increased likelihood of injury resulting from resistance training, it is good to know that the risk is no greater than participating in sport-related activities (Faigenbaum, et al., 2009).  New updates in research and growing support among adults continue to drive the development of youth exercise programs and fitness initiatives. In fact, physical education curricula now commonly include activities to improve muscular strength and endurance (Faigenbaum & Myer, 2010).  The growing number of youths participating in these types of activities is a positive change but it is also the probable cause for the rise in reported injuries attributed to resistance training. Creating proper exercise progressions—as well as establishing the appropriate intensity, volume and frequency of fitness regimens—remains an integral component of safe youth and adolescent resistance training programs.

References

Barber-Westin, S., Galloway, M., Noyes, F., Corbett, G., & Walsh, C., (2005, December).  Assessment of lower limb neuromuscular control in prepubescent athletes.  American Journal of Sports Medicine, 33(12), 1853-1860.

Beneke, R., Hütler, M., Jung, M., & Leithäuser, R., (2005 August).  Modeling the blood lactate kinetics at maximal short-term exercise conditions in children, adolescents, and adults.  Journal of Applied Physiology, 99(2):499-504.

Clarkson P., (2006, February).  Case report of exertional rhabdomyolysis in a 12-year-old boy.  Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, 38(2), 197-200.

Elsayed, E.F., & Reilly, R., (2010, January).  Rhabdomyolysis: a review, with emphasis on the pediatric population. Pediatric Nephrology, 25(1), 7-18.

Faigenbaum, A., Kraemer, W., Blimkie, C., Jeffreys, I., Micheli, L., Nitka, M., & Rowland, T., (2009, August).  Youth resistance training: Updated position statement paper from the national strength and conditioning association.  Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research. 23(5). August 2009.

Faigenbaum, A., & Myer G., (2010, May-June).  Pediatric resistance training: benefits, concerns, and program design considerations.  Current Sports Medicine Reports, 9(3), 161-8.

Malina, R., (2006).  Weight training in youth: growth, maturation, and safety: an evidence based review.  Clinical Journal of Sport Medicine, 16, 478–487.

McCurdy, K., Langford, G., Doscher, M., Wiley, L., & Mallard, K.,  (2005, February).  The effects of short-term unilateral and bilateral lower-body resistance training on measures of strength and power.  Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 19(1), 9-15.

Ozmun, J.C., Mikesky, A., & Surburg, P., (1994, April).  Neuromuscular adaptations following prepubescent strength training.  Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, 26(4), 510-514.

Ramsay, J., Blimkie, C., Smith, K., Garner, S., MacDougall, J., & Sale, D., (1990, October).  Strength training effects in prepubescent boys.  Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, 22(5), 605-614.

Vamvakoudis, E., Vrabas, I., Galazoulas, C., Stefanidis, P., Metaxas, T., & Mandroukas, K., (2007, August).  Effects of basketball training on maximal oxygen uptake, muscle strength, and joint mobility in young basketball players.  Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 21(3), 930-936.