Baseball is a sport that involves short, explosive bursts of power, speed and strength. Exercises geared toward improving your baseball performance will center on hip and shoulder actions. Improving your shoulder stabilization and strength is important to avoid overuse injuries commonly experienced by many pitchers. Hip strength is required for a stronger, more powerful swing and for faster and longer pitches and throws.
Squats
Squats train your calves, quads, hamstrings, glutes and abdomen, all of which must be strong for hitting and throwing. To begin a squat, start with a barbell at the base of your neck with your abdominals braced. Flex your hips, knees and ankles to lower your buttocks toward the ground. Once you can no longer lower your buttocks, reverse direction by extending your legs to stand straight up. This exercise should be used to build a strong strength base that more baseball-specific movements can recruit power from.
Cable Torso Rotation
Cable torso rotations are used to strengthen your hips and torso for the throwing and hitting actions. This movement also builds coordination and balance that will better enable you to transfer your strength gains into performance gains. Begin by adjusting the cable stack handle so that it is at your chest height. Stand with your feet hip-width apart so that your feet face perpendicular from the cable. Pivot your foot that is farthest from the cable stack so that your hips rotate to face the cable stack and you feel stretch in your glute closest to the stack. Grasp the handle with both hands and keep your arms positioned straight outward from your body throughout the exercise. Once you feel the stretch in your glutes contract the glutes to rotate your hips in the opposite direction. Be sure to keep your abdomen braced and your torso stacked above your hips throughout the motion with your hands held in front of your sternum. When you can no longer rotate your hips, pause and repeat for reps.
Kettlebell Alternating Swings
Kettlebell swings are a way to strengthen your hips and torso for running and jumping movements. Swings mimic natural running movement when you juggle your kettlebell from hand to hand after each swing. Begin with a light kettlebell held in one hand with your feet placed slightly wider than shoulder width apart. Keep your abdomen braced throughout the movement and your torso fixed above your hips at all times. Squat by bending your ankles, knees and hips and then rotate your hips slightly toward one of your feet. Only rotate your hips enough to position your shoulder between your knees so that your kettlebell dangles between your knees. Once you are in this position swing your kettlebell forward lightly with your shoulder so that it will approach your groin on the backswing. When the kettle moves under your groin forcefully extend your hips, knees and ankles to stand straight and thrust your kettlebell upward. When your kettlebell reaches shoulder height release it and grasp it with your other hand before dropping back into the rotated squat position with your hips now facing the opposite leg. Allow your kettlebell to swing back underneath your groin before repeating the movement to juggle back and forth.
Lat Pulldowns
Lat pulldowns are used to strengthen your lats, traps and triceps, all of which are involved in pitching and throwing motions. These muscles are also placed under large amounts of repetitive strain due to the mechanics of the throwing motion, so strengthening them is essential for injury prevention. Execute a lat pulldown using either an overhand or underhand grip; the underhand grip allows for better strengthening of your shoulder stabilization musculature. Begin the move by pulling the bar downward toward your chest while sinking your shoulders. Ensure your shoulder blades do not shrug at any point during the downward pull before pausing once you cannot lower your bar farther. Your abdomen should remain braced throughout the movement.
External Shoulder Rotation
The repetitive throwing motion used in baseball places a large amount of strain upon the external rotators in your rotator cuff. Performing external rotation exercises to strengthen the supraspinatus, infraspinatus and teres minor on the back of your shoulder blade is beneficial to preventing throwing overuse injuries. To perform external rotation at your shoulder joint, begin by laying on your side with your top elbow bent to 90 degrees holding a dumbbell. Initiate movement by rotating your shoulder to lift your forearm and dumbbell upward while keeping your elbow planted on your side. Once your arm cannot rotate any further without causing your elbow to move from your torso, lower your weight back down and repeat the movement for reps. Generally, this movement will require you use a light dumbbell weighing between 3 and 10 pounds; performing between 10 and 15 repetitions is most often recommended.
Program Variables
When you construct your training program incorporate these exercises at a heavy intensity to build strength during your offseason. Use weights that allow you to perform four to six repetitions to build your maximal strength. As your season moves closer periodization expert Tudor Bompa recommends you incorporate more power movements into your program along with a lower intensity to build endurance. For example, your reps on the cable torso rotation would increase to eight to 12 repetitions to build strength endurance and you would perform torso medicine ball throws to increase your power.
References
- "High Performance Sports Conditioning"; Ed. Bill Foran; 2001
- "Essentials of Strength Training and Conditioning"; Ed. Thomas Baechle, Ph.D. and Roger Earle, PhD.; 2000
- "Sports Power"; David Sandler; 2005
- "Training for Speed, Agility and Quickness"; Lee Brown, PhD., Vance Ferrigno, Juan Carlos Santana; 2000
- "Periodization: Theory and Methodology of Training"; Tudor Bompa, Ph.D. & Gregory Haff, Ph.D.; 2009
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