Evan Waters - Bulking Up For Baseball!

[webmaster]

In this article, I will take a look at some common baseball player workout myths and examine some beneficial exercises and drills. Just in time for the season!

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/evan2.htm

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[EricS]

If this is a pre season S&C program i don't think it really pays to have your players training like bodybuilders. This would be good for the time right after a season ends and they are looking to stay in decen shape.

But Baseball is largely power ie. generating very high forces in very small time frames. You're program doesn't address that at all.

While 30 yards may be the distance from base to base, simply running that distance doesn't mean you will be better at running bases or get faster. You should include some type of shuttle run as well as over & underspeed training.

I like that you brought up the point of Core training, but all you really have for that is crunches and twists, which hardly gets at the "Core".

Another thing to think about for athletes: are games arranged in such a way that body parts work in segements? Does a pitcher use his leg & abs, then arms and shoulder and finaly their shoulders and Back? hardely if ever does that happen.

Just a few things to think about when designing sports training programs.

[Silent_Impact]

I like how you disspelled some of the myths concerning baseball. I do think that the prescribed workout needs some adjusting. I agree with EricS that athletes should not really following a bodybuilders routine.

While your opening paragraphs certainly went against the norm, the routine you suggest is pretty standard fare. I think suggesting more posterior chain work (low back, glute, hamstring) would benefit a lot of athletes, as they often neglect that specific area. Instead of leg curls (and extensions for that matter) how about deadlifts, good mornings, reverse hypers?

Your forearm exercises also are pretty standard fare. I have found that pull-ups/chin-ups build my forearms much better and translate to better grip and better bat speed. That and also the drill where you attach rope to a weight and to a small bar and roll the weight up, those are good forearm builders.

You also did not hit core training that well. Let's see some barbell rollouts, hanging leg raises, and turkish get-ups. These are brutal core exercises that are much more effective than reverse crunches.

[Marv]

As a baseball player myself I must say that workout was horrible. I'm not big on a ton of sets, but this workout was poorly laid out. It doesn't even belong on this website, let alone the front page.

Only 6 sets for chest? While some players feel a big chest restricts different motions, 6 sets isn't even close to being enough. And I'm being generous, as 4 of those sets I'm counting from close-grip benches.

There was 3 or 4 tricep exercises and not one single bicep exercise. Get serious.

That shoulder workout is a disgrace to any baseball player. Five working sets for a shoulder workout with only two exercises? You gotta be kidding.

Throwing a weighted ball is asking for a shoulder injury.

Who gives a crap if your arms look good for the beach. This is freakin' baseball.

[D Ball]

The more I read this article the more aggravated I get, I cannot stress how bad and inaccurate it is. As a former Div I baseball player, Chicago Cubs draftee, I have to say this workout is begging for injuries, is poorly written and is full of holes. It should be taken off the site. The most important tools a baseball player can develop are explosive power and flexibility.

Squatting is a core exercise and I agree it's importance is underrated. Pitchers and position players need to have strong powerful legs, not bulky legs. This is the only thing they should have in common. Go to any major/minor league camp and you will see pitchers run sprints and throw and train for endurance not strength. Your workout is good for November and December if at all, if you have ever been around a clubhouse you have heard, "baseball is a marathon not a sprint", when is the last time you saw a bulky long distance runner. Long lean muscle gets you through the season, not bulk. By the way Bartolo Colon is proned to be being over weight, that is why his legs are so big, 5'7" and over 240 lbs is obese, a lot of teams passed up on him due to his potential to put on weight very quickly.

Your Mickey Mantle vs. Mark McGwire is crazy, the stadiums are totally different in modern baseball, not to take anything away from The Mick but, Mark hit a few balls that hit the retaining wall of 3 stadiums that would have gone over 600 feet. Not to mention the ball he hit on Colorado that was still going up when it cleared the stands then bleachers then the concession area before it hit the scoreboard while it was still rising. Hitting the ball far comes down to bat speed and trajectory of the swing, not this workout. Upper body strength from the elbows down helps, but too much bulk will slow down the bat, flexibility is key.

Running 30 yard dash's has nothing to do with mimicking running the bases, it developes an explosive first step and cardio training, long distance running is required for endurance and to burn out lactic acid, again baseball is a marathon. Pitching 9 innings is about as hard as running 10 miles.

Throwing a weighted ball is the worst thing you can do to your arm. DO NOT THROW A WEIGHTED BALL! Throw a football instead. Surgical tubing exercises are the only way to tighten and strengthen your rotator cuff; there is a lot more to long toss then just throwing a ball as far as you can, a good long toss session will cover 20-30 minutes and distances building up to 150-275 feet with the ball thrown on line drives to not screw up your release point. Long toss should be done everyday, since over the head motions are not natural, the muscle will try to go back to a normal state of hanging as fast as possible and you can lose armstrength in 2 days of not throwing for distance and power. Even long toss will only do so much, the great thing about baseball is you can only get so much better by doing drills, god and genetics gives you the rest. That shoulder exercise is a disgrace, if you use heavy weights to get your shoulders in shape for baseball you will have a very short season playing and a long one on the DL.

I can tell this article was written by a kid, and if that is you in those pics, you have to be kidding. This article will not even apply to high school or Junior High level, I recommend anyone interested in building muscle for baseball find an alternate source to prevent injury.

Big bump to throwing with the heavy ball. This is the dumbest part of the article. Only an idiot would think that this would make their arm stronger. Long toss is the best way to build arm strength. I am saying this as a former collegiate outfielder.

[chargeMEup31]

Thank you for your response. I agree that baseball
> is more of a marathon than a sprint, especially for
> pitchers. I do not advocate getting HUGE, but
> building a core. I received my information about
> Mick vs. McGuire through creditable sources. Pick
> your fight with them, not me. My theory for running
> small distances many times is that you will
> eventually increase your speed. Repetition is the
> key to conditioning. Long distance is excellent for
> pitchers because their type of work is longer than
> say that of a Leftfielder who may only throw a ball
> 1-5 times a game.
> Notice my shoulder workout has high reps. Sticking
> with high reps will strengthen the muscle, but not
> necessarily bulk it unbelievably. In response, to
> the weighted-ball throwing, if it is so bad, why do
> players with unbelievable arms like Ichiro and
> Vladimir Guerrero do this? I will check again, but
> I do not believe I instructed doing long toss
> everyday. I think I said every other or every 3
> days.
> The majority of this information did not come out of
> my head. I researched a long time and used
> creditable scouts and other sources for my
> information.
>
> I am sorry if you feel this way. Instead of
> attacking my article, could you give me some
> suggestions on how to alter it so I could make
> revisions
>
> Evan

[chargeMEup31]

In my workout I have four ab exercises:
Leg Lifts: 1 set of 30 reps
Crunches: 2 sets of 15 reps
Oblique Twists: 1 set of 25 reps
Reverse Crunches: 1 set of 30 reps

This does not mean you are restricted to this. I maintain that this workout may not be for everybody, or anybody for that matter.



If I could get the assistance of everyone I think it would be great if we could collaborate and make a workout to replace the current workout posted.

[D Ball]

I cannot pick my fight with them becuase you said it.

You and your friends or a coach that has never stepped on a Major League field is not a credible source. It has to come from someone near the source, If you are going to publish material reference some sources. So you can back it up and not regeritate information.

And according to your theory if we all run a bunch of sprints we wll get faster and faster. That is beyond logic.

this I cannot believe you figured out on your own:
>Repetition is the
> key to conditioning. Long distance is excellent for
> pitchers because their type of work is longer than
> say that of a Leftfielder who may only throw a ball
> 1-5 times a game.

I mean that had to come from a credible source, wherelse could that insight come from?

Again, a weighted ball will pull your arm out of the socket and snap it back in everytime you throw it. Not good.

[chargeMEup31]

"You and your friends or a coach that has never stepped on a Major League field is not a credible source."

My sources are people who have wrote baseball training articles and in fact I know MLB people. I have a realtive who is a partner with a MLB team and through him I have met a bunch of people.

>Repetition is the
> key to conditioning. Long distance is excellent for
> pitchers because their type of work is longer than
> say that of a Leftfielder who may only throw a ball
> 1-5 times a game.

This is fact I did write myself, I am sorry if you feel so strongly against.

"Again, a weighted ball will pull your arm out of the socket and snap it back in everytime you throw it. Not good."

Ok, fine, you win. You are right, I was wrong. Happy?

[D Ball]

Yes I am Happy, you can't just go out and write a bunch of heresay, people read this stuff and will try it, you are risking injury to people who don't know any better.



If you know people that are affiliated with MLB, and write training articles why don't you go to them for a workout, why didn't you let them read your article before you posted it, you have to understand there are reprecussions to making information available. Get something worth the time and effort and then post it.