Given it another shot with all that ive got

[ckleckner10]

Baseball, you loveable heartbreaker. I give you everything i have and you spit in my face. Didnt even get looked at for college ball after high school, most likely cuz 75 MPH fastball arent very appealing =(. But no matter, i wont cry about it anymore, im gonna do something about it! Summer tryouts start in the middle of June and I will make sure i meet them with the best baseball and athletic conditioning i have ever had! Ive basically designed all of the aspects of my weight training and throwing program so far. But i still will most likely design a agility and speed program around the 8 week left marker to begin. I started about four weeks ago, so heres what has happened so far.
I basically started with a get in shape program at first and then my leg/shoulder days and my upper body days split schedules.
First 4 week: 4 days a week M-TH
Monday in weight training
Squat 3x8
Power Cleans 3x4
DB shoulder press 3x6

Tuesday in gym
Bench/BB rows 3x10
DB bench/1 arm DB rows 3x6
Incline bench/Long bar rows 3x8

Wednesday in weight training
Deadlift 3x8
Snatch 3x4
Push Press 3x6

Thursday
Bench/BB rows 3x10
DB bench/1 arm DB rows 3x6
Incline bench/Long bar rows 3x8

After about three weeks i didnt like my upper body routine so i scrapped it and am now doing a different routine which will be in next post

[ckleckner10]

As of today ive done 4 weeks of my Monday and Wednesday leg and shoulders routines and so far heres the progress
Week 1 Week 4
Squats 225 255
Deadlifts 225 255
Push Press 95 125
Power Clean 135 180
Snatch 95 125
DB Press 50 ea 60 ea
i have one more week of this routine and then im going into a more strength based design
Also to update my upper body routine which i started this week it is as follows, I do upper body twice a week alternating strength priority between chest(Tuesday) and back(Thursday) as well as some arm bi/tri work at the end.
Tuesday Week 1
Bench 5x5: 160
DB Bench/DB 1 arm Row 3x6: 70/70
Wide Grip lat pulldowns*/Push Ups3x10/10+: 100/10
Hammer curls/BB skullcrushers: Waited 20 minutes for a bench to open and had to leave to get to school 0/0

Thursday
BB Bent over Rows 5x5:155
DB 1 arm Rows/DB Bench 3x6:70/70
Pec Deck/Lat Stretch 3x10**/15+ sec: 115/15 sec
EZ Bar Curl/EZ Bar Tri Ext: 65/65

*-drop set **-double drop set /-supersetted

My goal 1 RM on the big lifts are as follows
Squat 405
Deadlifts 405
Bench 225
Push Press 165
Power Clean 225
Snatch 165
Bent Over Rows 200

[bkb4]

I just made a journal couple weeks ago with the same goals as you...Are you trying out for your college team in june or another league tryouts?

[ckleckner10]

college, its CC level but the school i go to has a pretty competitive program so i gotta bring my A+ game come June, andd hopefully thats what ill have to bring!

[bkb4]

nice good stuff...my journal is titled "Ya Get What Ya Give: 25 Weeks Til Tryouts" if you wanna follow along there, maybe we can get some ideas from each other

[ckleckner10]

nice good stuff...my journal is titled "Ya Get What Ya Give: 25 Weeks Til Tryouts" if you wanna follow along there, maybe we can get some ideas from each other

followed! so it looks like we have pretty similair physical makeups, cept the fact that youve been in the gym longer and have a much stronger strength base. Whyd you stop playing?

[ckleckner10]

Alright so since im on here ill post a bit about my throwing as well, I began my initial throwing program five weeks ago and it was simple and straight forward.
Fridays
Warm Up
Quick long toss (5 minutes max at about 120-140 feet)
And location practice with all my pitches at about 45 feet

Sunday (I play in a Sunday league)
Either pitch or play first so i go through a full nine innings of throwing and ice when i get home

As of two weeks ago i began my next phase of throwing which initializes the utilization of weighted balls
Twice a week (normally Tuesday Friday) I do as follows
Warm up and stretch my whole body
Resistance band work
12 minute warm up program by steven ellis (simple way to get warm, google thecompletepitcher)
then the weighted balls
6 oz ball for 20 throws
4 oz balls for 20 throws
5 oz ball for 20 throws
If its not too dark at this point ill do a bit of location work at the end
ICE

Then Sunday i play either pitcher or first

After two weeks of this my arm, especially my shoulder feels pretty good, not tight like it normally does. So we shall see what next week holds.

[bkb4]

followed! so it looks like we have pretty similair physical makeups, cept the fact that youve been in the gym longer and have a much stronger strength base. Whyd you stop playing?

Yeah when i stopped playing I took up lifting. From what I've read just being stronger doesn't correlate to faster pitches. It's more about power (strength/time) which is why I'm starting to do plyometrics. This will train the fast twitch muscle fibers in the legs and upper body which is what is used when pitching...

As for why I stopped, I never really got the shot I thought i deserved in high school so i stopped out of frustration. Now i wanna get back to playing bc i realize how much i miss it.

[ckleckner10]

Yeah when i stopped playing I took up lifting. From what I've read just being stronger doesn't correlate to faster pitches. It's more about power (strength/time) which is why I'm starting to do plyometrics. This will train the fast twitch muscle fibers in the legs and upper body which is what is used when pitching...

As for why I stopped, I never really got the shot I thought i deserved in high school so i stopped out of frustration. Now i wanna get back to playing bc i realize how much i miss it.

yes this is what ive heard as well, which is why a 5'10 170 lb Tim Lincecum is a 95 mph pitcher. I believe it can help but like you said when its power, not strength.

And weve all been there especially the ones who dont have the velocity or win numbers. I got the same treatment in high school. Happens to alot of potentials like us, but with the work we put into a game we love itll be all worth it

[bkb4]

yes this is what ive heard as well, which is why a 5'10 170 lb Tim Lincecum is a 95 mph pitcher. I believe it can help but like you said when its power, not strength.

And weve all been there especially the ones who dont have the velocity or win numbers. I got the same treatment in high school. Happens to alot of potentials like us, but with the work we put into a game we love itll be all worth it

Amen brother

[ckleckner10]

Okey so two workouts of the week done and i also threw monday, im hoping if my arm feels up to it ill throw monday, wednesday, friday, sunday this week
Felt good on both workouts
Got 265 like i wanted on all three sets of squats and 185 on power cleans, i think im gonna stick with that weight for a week or two to refine my form (i dont get under the bar nearr as deep as i should) to prevent an injury down the road. DB shoulder press was stuck at 55s still.
Today i didnt get to work bis and tris again, but oh well they arent the focus my chest and back are and i worked them great and all my numbers were where i wanted them to be. After this week im gonna change my Monday/Wednesday workouts to focus more on weight on deads and squats and more technique and speed on snatches and cleans. And i think ill change how im working my shoulders a bit too but we shall see then. Tomorrow cant come soon enough. Come at me deadlifts! =D

[ckleckner10]

Phase 1 of my lower body regimen complete! Im right where id hoped to be on all my lifts so far and hopefully it stays that way. Hope i can throw tonight too but we shall see

My next phase will most likely look like this
Monday
Squats 3x5
Power Cleans 3x6,4,2
Shrugs/Rotator Cuff work 2x10^/10 for all moves

Wednesday
Deadlifts 3x5
Snatches 3x6,4,2
Push Press 3x5

Ill start putting a bit more rotator cuff work in, i already use bands prior to throwing but the jobe exercises have always been held highly as great preventative care so ill start utilizing them as well. Ill make sure to be performing an internal and external move for sure, ill probabally use six moves in all. My oly moves really need form to be on point so im gonna focus on form over weight first and foremost for the next few weeks on both. Im trying to stick with the basics still and focus on upping my strength and power so phase two come at me!

[ckleckner10]

Upper body day 2 done
Still hitting the numbers i planned on hitting everytime and its all feeling good, throw tonight or tomorrow, and tomorrow got to blast that core and get some running in. Then game on Sunday =)

[ckleckner10]

So I pitched this weekend for my team, everyone seemed surprised and said that it ooked like i was throwing harder. But it was obvious that any velocity i gained i lost some control. It was wet and muddy early on which didnt help but i definitely cant blame it all on that. Oh well location will be prioritized later, i need to up my velocity as MUCH as possible in the next nine weeks. Did my first day of phase 2 of my leg/shoulder workout and lets just say its alot different than phase 1. Squatting 20 more pounds than last week was alot harder than expected but i managed to get all 3x5 though. My form on cleans is still nowhere close to great but i am trying hard to get under the bar as much as possible. The shrugs were light since its first week and the jobe exercises were as listed below
Jobe exercises
External rotationx10
Internal rotationx10
Front raise to above headx10
Lateral raise above headx10
Bent over lateral raisex10
and Frontwards tip the canx10
felt a burn in the rotator cuff muscles which is what im after so thats a positive. Tomorrow is upper body and throwing so we will see what happens then.

[bkb4]

congrats on the higher velocity man, keep it up im sure the control will come

[ckleckner10]

Thanks brah, nine weeks of practice on it should get me the control i need though, let me know how the throwing goes good luck

[ckleckner10]

This weeks lifting is pretty much all wrapped up, cant say im up or down about it just meh. Squats were at 285 monday and it was tough as hell to move that and im not sure if my ROM suffered in the latter parts of the sets but i did get through it all. Tuesday was good im still moving in the direction i aimed at for my lifts yay. Wednesday...wow i was so excited about deads i dumbassed it and went 10 lbs lighter than planned. Still up from 265 to 275 from last week but not i wanted 285, i guess im gonna have to tweak to fix that. The oly moves are a work in progress satches are looking better than cleans, i just have to get DOWN under that damn bar. Shoulders are getting stronger cuff wise and deltoid wise too which is good. Today was good too went where it was supposed to be and tomorrow work that core and ill probabally throw saturday since no game Sunday.

[ckleckner10]

Spring break is definitely becoming a killer for my baseball aspirations, gained three pounds in a week....wow. Luckily weight loss isnt the focus here. I started my lifting this week a day late so today was leg and shoulders. Got 295 up for all reps on squats but im having that knees bending in on up portion of movement thing going on. Cleans were again focusing on form, a little bit of improvement and i think ill start increasing weight again next week. Shrugs and rotator cuff work went well too. I threw as well today, it wasnt great, my shoulder is going through alot of strain during this stuff, no pain just soreness and fatigue though. I need to eat and call it a day.

[bkb4]

Spring break is definitely becoming a killer for my baseball aspirations, gained three pounds in a week....wow. Luckily weight loss isnt the focus here. I started my lifting this week a day late so today was leg and shoulders. Got 295 up for all reps on squats but im having that knees bending in on up portion of movement thing going on. Cleans were again focusing on form, a little bit of improvement and i think ill start increasing weight again next week. Shrugs and rotator cuff work went well too. I threw as well today, it wasnt great, my shoulder is going through alot of strain during this stuff, no pain just soreness and fatigue though. I need to eat and call it a day.

I used to have the same problem with my knees when squatting heavy, its actually extremely dangerous for the knees with a big load like that. A trainer at my gym told me to spread legs out wider and point toes outward and it worked.

[ckleckner10]

I used to have the same problem with my knees when squatting heavy, its actually extremely dangerous for the knees with a big load like that. A trainer at my gym told me to spread legs out wider and point toes outward and it worked.

youre definitely right with the dangers of this , this isnt the first time this has happened to me i fixed it last time by doing the same advice your trainers gave, it's pretty much the best cure i guess my legs have been creeping back too narrow for some reason ill just have to get them out wide again.

[ckleckner10]

Upper body day 1 for the week is done, man i miss having a training partner that could spot me haha bench press can be scary. I got all 5 reps of 180 for 3 sets, only 4 for 4 and 5 though. For some reason everyone and their mother wanted to use the lat pulldown today, two guys were probabally on it for about 45-50 minutes. Oh well i got some extra cardio in and im satisfied with today, legs tomorrow woohoo!!!

[ckleckner10]

Sheez today kinda sucked, my workout took so long. My energy was low and had no desire to lift that damn bar off the ground. I said eff it and went for 295 on deads, it was heavy as ***k and my hands were crazy sweaty. I had to switch to alt grip to get through each set. I got it though, snatches sucked cuz i have no desire to do them w/o rubber weights and no platform in a rec gym. I want to go back to school just for the weight room next week. Push/Press was wutevs too. And on a side note, i mentioned my shoulder being extra sore and more fatigued is possibly because of a loss of flexibility. I have been working my body, especially my rotator cuff pretty hard and i havent been giving enough stretching time to my rotator cuff. I couldnt stretch as far as normal yesterday so i need to make up a cuff stretch program to perform 3 or so days a week to keep up with the rest of the program.

[ckleckner10]

So yesterday was upper body day 2. I felt hells alot better yesterday than thursday. Rows got 170, that ****s gettin heavy real quick haha, i think im about a week or so out from hitting the 80s on 1 arm rows and DB bench which would be sweet! And i tried to get 30 on each side of the ez bar and only got 2 sets but its cool. Im glad i got through spring break while keeping up with my workouts and now i keep on running toward the goal!

[ckleckner10]

**** today sucks, on Mondays and Wednesdays i have a weight training class for school where i work legs and shoulders. Well the coach who instructs (is a baseball coach which is why i took class haha) decided during the winter session to alter how the class is ran and begin every class with full body interval training. So when we do finish 15 minutes of interval training i have to do heavy squats and deadlifts in an exhausted state. Well lets just say today i hit the wall...I went for 305, got it up twice and third one when i started to go up i collapsed. I went for 295 next and only got 1 before collapsing, ****tt. I had to back down to 225 and just go for reps and that was still exhausting. After i got 195 up on cleans and shrugged 225...wtf? ugh sukk day =/

[ckleckner10]

so im going to revive this journal. first off im going to say my hard work didnt pay off, im no closer now to playing college ball than i was a year ago. Thats fine im finally over it, unfortunately all my gains are over too. I took a baseball class for the summer because i was told that was what to do to get a shot at playing for the school, i was with the rest of the walk ons and most didnt look like they had played baseball in a few years at least. So after six weeks of "learning the basics and fundamentals of baseball" it was asked how we officially try out for the team, and we were told to transfer if we wanted a shot at playing baseball. This really brake me down and i slacked off of everything for awhile and i lost all my gains and all my velocity (again) My elbow was f*cked up anyway so i guess it allowed me to recooperate to say the least. Anyway fast forward to now, still playing sunday league ball and ive decided to not give up because im a stubborn muth****a. Ill wait til i transfer after this year and tryout again to wherever i go, im going to be more active and vocal to schools im interested in going to to see if they would be interested in me as well for athletics. So im building up myself again and making sure i regret nothing. So im reviving this thread to give myself another another shot =)

[ckleckner10]

so the first stage of my weight training is just a kick your ass into shape workout plan, its 9 weeks long and ive split it up into 3 "mini phases". Each phase is three weeks long and all use the same exercises, just rep ranges become lower and rest periods become longer to prioritize strength more and more.
The exercises being used are: Squats, Deadlifts(only doing 3x5 on these), BB Bench Press, Back Row Machine, DB Shoulder Press, Wide Grip Lat Pulldowns, and a superset of EZ bar curls and standing EZ bar tricep extensions. Phase 1 consisted of 3x10 with 60 seconds of rest between each set, this was murder on squats but it felt great and i saw solid gains so far.
After phase 1 my lifts are as follows
Day1 End of phase 1
Squats 175 215
Deads 155 195
Bench 115 135
Back 90 115 (per arm)
shoulder 30 40 (per arm)
Lat 100 110
EZ bar 55 65
Beginning today i lower the reps to 3x8 and increase rest to 90 seconds, the last phase will be 3x6 at 120 seconds of rest between sets.
Also beginning this week, i have one field training day and 1 game a week. Starting slow but ill be seeing results in no time.

[ckleckner10]

Phase 2 is so much less exhausting, 30 seconds more on rest periods is more than youd imagine. Ive got one week down and lifts are still improving, still gaining weight steadily as well, im up about 3 pounds from the start, so im averaging around .7 ish pounds a week. Cant say its a clean bulk but i definitely am trying to eat good foods. Im only at about 2100-2200 calories a day but i realized before i really was only eating about 1600 calories, and most food was high fat or high processed carbs. I didnt get to do my field training day last week because my brother was sick, so im starting this week instead. Hope all goes well this week

[ckleckner10]

on a side note, im trying to squat a few inches deeper and thats not fun, my whole body was exhausted from that. And deadlifts suck since theyre always after squats but im hoping to keep steady progress until the end.

[ckleckner10]

im a fat ****, i have never been so heavy in my life! ive also never seen solid results like this so meh get over it i guess. Phase 2 was successful, im hitting size goals already and the ones i havent yet are in line to be hit by the end of phase 3. Phase 3 is easy, plain and simple no exhaustion since my rest times are 2 minutes and im only hitting 6 reps. Phase on was successful, i am soo tempted to start putting on more weight to my lifts than planned but i dont want to speed myself too much and stall. I hope everything goes well for the next two weeks and then are start doing some real bad ass workouts =) Getting stronger, faster, and bigger until around January and then gonna work on raw pitching speed from then on.

[ckleckner10]

i guess i should also point out what im doing specifically baseball wise too huh?
currently im taking it pretty lightly im playing just about every sunday and i try to get in some pitching those days, i shut myself down after 6 innings regardless of how i feel if i get that far. Thursdays i stretch and work on some resistance band stuff to get my cuff in better condition (i realize my scapula in particular is a weak spot for me) then i throw just to work on locations and mechanical areas i normally have problems with. Thats the jist of it for now, after this phase ill amp up the intensity a notch for more baseball specificity