Comments Off February 27th, 2011

How to train for baseball

 Training for strength is very important in baseball, because a many types of muscle groups are used to play. Each position demands marginally different movements; for instance, a pitcher utilizes his arm more than a catcher, who uses his lower body for squatting at home plate. Baseball conditioning is broken up into four different sections of the year, and each includes a slightly distinctive exercise focus.

Early Pre-Season Baseball Training (January-February)
The early pre-season is used to get more standard workouts, like general fitness training. These workout sessions will gradually shift into more rigorous workouts – the main element here is not to start off too intensely, since that will probably add stress and strain to rested muscles, increasing the opportunity for injury. You want to work on getting your body back into shape following the off-season before you start pushing it too much. You want to start building your foundational strength, which basically your overall strength. The core muscle groups are most essential to a baseball player; they facilitate motions such as turning, jumping, and twisting. Bodyweight exercises are great when used in a circuit as they lower the potential risk of injuries through depending only on body weight for resistance.

Late Pre-Season Baseball Training (March-April)
Late pre-season is when your workouts will need to get more intensive. You should be working on developing your optimal strength, or basically the degree of power in one repetition. This is where countless baseball players get it wrong – they try too hard to bench press too heavy a weight and wind up with an injury. The goal will be to peak with your explosiveness and power during in-season. Medicine ball workouts are great for late pre-season, and there are a variety of workout routines you can do using a medicine ball. The medicine ball will help build explosiveness, which leads to more power.

In-Season Baseball Training (May-September)
In-season is all about maintenance. You’ve already worked hard, developed your explosiveness and power, and you just want to sustain everything that was gained while in pre-season. There shouldn’t be demanding or intense training performed, given that, again, pushing yourself too hard can lead to injuries. This is also the time to concentrate on balancing out your muscles. Most baseball players only bat from one side and throw from one side, which means that the other side is just not getting as much of a workout. Having unevenness between muscles will also lead to an injury – doubtlessly something to avoid.

Off-Season Baseball Training (October-December)
Off-season is the time to take a rest away from your workout and allow your body rest. A 3-4 week break is great – too much longer and you chance losing a lot of the muscle mass that you gained. Towards the finish of the off-season, you should begin focusing on your foundational strength, which will point you back to the early pre-season.
Baseball training for strength is all about preventing and avoiding injury by doing a workout including a variety of options – weight training, body weight exercises, and medicine ball drills. A number of exercises are to be avoided; for instance, you should never press with heavy weights, as it adds too much tension upon your shoulders. Rotator cuff injuries can be prevented by using bodyweight training instead of larger weights

This entry was posted on Sunday, February 27th, 2011 at 5:35 amand is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

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