Baseball is a game that is much more than America's pastime. The game can be enjoyed by people of all ages, whether in the stands or out on the field. While baseball is easy to learn, performing at the highest levels takes a lot of hard work. A well-designed workout can help you be your best.
Upper-Body Workout
Both offense and defense in baseball require a high level of upper-body strength. You can add speed and distance to your hits and throws through chest and arm exercises. In his article, "Strength Training For Baseball," fitness expert Jeremy Lapro recommends exercises such as the bench press, incline press, barbell curls, seated rows, and military press for building upper-body strength. He recommends performing a low number of repetitions with heavy weight to build power.
Lower-Body Workout
Developing the muscles in your legs can help you gain speed and endurance while running. But as professional strength and conditioning coach Bob Alejo points out, leg strength also helps put more power into your hitting and can help increase your bat speed. According to former major league pitcher Dick Mills, leg strength can also benefit pitchers by providing a stronger push off of the mound. For this reason, he recommends exercises such as the squat and deadlift.
Other lower body exercises to include in your workout are the leg press, leg curls, lunges and leg extensions.
Abdominal Workout
Coach Alejo also recommends spending time developing your abdominals. According to Alejo, the abdominals create power through their twisting motion during your swing. This power is transferred to the bat and can help you hit the ball farther. Alejo recommends exercises such as the hanging leg raise and weighted crunches. You may also want to try planks, lying leg raises and bicycle crunches.
Body Weight Workout
Sometimes, hitting the gym isn't an option. However, even if you're traveling for a tournament or snowed in during winter, you can still get a great strength-building workout at home. A full-body strength-building workout that doesn't require any addition weight could include push-ups, pull-ups, squats, lunges, toe raises, crunches, planks and lying leg raises. If you don't have a pull-up bar, you can use a door frame or ceiling beam.
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