Like all sports, baseball requires a unique set of skills. These skills are carried out by specific joints and muscles, so a baseball player needs to train for sport-specific movements. Standard baseball actions are ball throwing, bat swinging and short-burst sprinting. Baseball-oriented strengthening focuses on the gluteals, quadriceps, shoulder stabilizers, internal and external obliques, and arms.
Stability Ball Pushups
Stability ball pushups combine upper-body strengthening and stability. Place a stability ball on the floor, in front of you. Flatten your hands on top of the ball. Position your body with your face looking down on the ball, your legs straight and your weight on your toes. Align your hips, legs and back.
Bend your elbows to lower your body. Slightly pause once your arms are just shy of a right angle. Straighten your arms, and go right into another repetition once your elbows reach full extension. Don't lead with your hips, because this can overarch your lower back. A sustained abdominal contraction keeps your trunk stabilized.
BOSU Squats and Trunk Rotation Chops
BOSU squats increase lower-body strength and power, while medicine ball chops enhance your ability to rotate your trunk, a common baseball action. Set your BOSU ball platform side up. Stand on top of the BOSU platform with your feet shoulder-width apart, and hold a 6- to 8-lb. medicine ball with both hands.
Bend your knees and squat, slightly flexing at your waist. Perform a diagonal upward chopping motion as you hold the squat, bringing the medicine ball from outside your left hip to outside your right shoulder. Elevate your hips to straighten your legs once the medicine ball returns to your midline. Change the direction of the diagonal chop on the following set. Be sure to turn your trunk during the arm action of the diagonal chop.
Split Squat Overhead Press
Stand and place your left foot in front and your right foot behind. Flatten your left foot while standing on your right heel with those toes off the floor. Straighten your legs and back with each hand holding a dumbbell with your palms up and your forearms vertical to the floor.
Bend your knees and lower your hips straight down. Press your dumbbells up as you elevate your hips to straighten both of your legs. Bring the dumbbells down, beginning another split squat when your forearms are vertical to the floor. Switch leg positions on a subsequent set.
Single Leg Hammer Curls
Single leg hammer curls help your one-leg stability and strengthen your biceps and forearms, key muscles in baseball. Stand up with your torso erect and a dumbbell in each hand. Choose a dumbbell weight that is challenging but tolerable. Hang your arms at your sides with your palms facing your body.
Bend your right knee, and balance on your right leg. Bend your elbows to bring the dumbbells upward. Pause momentarily once your elbows are bent as far as they can be. Bring your dumbbells forward and down to straighten your arms. End the exercise once you can no longer maintain your single-leg stance. Change legs and complete another full set.
References
- "Essentials of Strength Training and Conditioning - 3rd Edition"; NSCA; 2008
- "High Performance Sports Conditioning"; Bill Forum; 2001
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