Workout For baseball.. [Forum Archive]

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Workout For baseball..

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Posted by: JCP

First off.. im not sure if this is in the right section.. I would consider it training.. but sorry if its not..

Anyway.. I play baseball and I was wondering what workouts would be good for baseball? Like what muscles and what to do.. at my house I have a bench with butterflys and legs and i have a dumbell set.. And I think I'm going to start going to my school work out room.

Thx..

-JC

Posted by: Double D

Well alot of ab and back work is needed and of course the obvious leg work. Really weight training in general would make you more powerful. I have and do play softball at an amateur level and a pro-level. And I have made great power gains with my game from alot of pilates (as gay as that may sound), but before I started doing those I never really did any core work. On Bodybuilding.com there are some things like that you can search.

Posted by: JCP

Thanks.. It says hips and torso.. Whats a good work out for the torso?

Oh yea.. I'm 14.. I started hitting for power but I haven't recently so I'm trying to get it back.], I am usually a 3, 4, 5 hitter so I need it. Right now my coach is leading me off to see how I do since i get on a lot.

Posted by: Double D

Torso would be your abs. Of course crunches, leg raises, hanging raises, swiss ball crunches. A good strong back would also be helpful. That would be along the lines of some good mornings and some stiff leg deadlifts. Of course these are not just exercises you need to do everyday, you need to get some kind of a program put together.

Posted by: CowPimp

How long have you been resistance training?

Posted by: JCP

Well I've had my bench since last christmas and I started abs in august. I havent done my abs in a while because I havent had time, but now I'm going to start again.

Posted by: CowPimp

Layout your workout as it stands right now. It sounds to me like your program might be lacking and you need to develop a strength base first.

Posted by: SuperFlex

Forearms are very important and the most overlooked. They play a big role in both throwing and hitting...

Do this quick routine twice a week.

3-4 Supersets
a)Barbell wrist curls for 20 reps
b)Barbell reverse wrist curls for 20 reps

Start with just 3 sets and keep the rest between sets to a minimum. Use the same weight for all three sets. If you're using heavy enough weight and keeping your rest low then you should get no more than 15 reps on the last set.

Once you've strengthened your wrist a bit, up the intensity by doing four sets and resting even less. Finally hit each exercise 4x without any rest at all! You won't believe how pumped you'll be.

You'll need two seperate bars due to the fact that your reverse wrist curls will be much weaker than your wrist curls will be.

If you wish to, you could do this routine with DB hammer curls and DB wrist curls as well. Never even take the DB's from your hand. Do your hammers, then go straight to wrist curls, straight back to hammers, etc... Obviously your reps will drop, but your arms will grow...

Posted by: P-funk

^^ don't do that routine. Forearms are not as important as grip! work your grip.

Posted by: SuperFlex

^^ He couldn't hit half as far as I can, so try it. A strong grip isn't even a factor. Fact is, you don't want to grip tightly, you need a comfortable and somewhat relaxed grip... Besides, I promise you that routine will improve your grip a great deal! But that's not for baseball...

Posted by: P-funk

Quote:

Originally Posted by SuperFlex

^^ He couldn't hit half as far as I can, so try it. A strong grip isn't even a factor. Fact is, you don't want to grip tightly, you need a comfortable and somewhat relaxed grip... Besides, I promise you that routine will improve your grip a great deal! But that's not for baseball...

1) you are such an ego maniac. all you talk about is what you can do. how do you know he can't hit as far as you? hitting far isn't even the most important part of baseball, if you have ever played it.

2) thanks for giving me the biomechanics of how to grip the bat. I probably know way more about baseball then you care to know.

3) all this sports specific trainign advice from a guy who paid for a program to increase his 40 time that was all about training isometrics for legs 3x's a week.

Seriously, please stop.

Posted by: SuperFlex

Quote:

Originally Posted by P-funk

I have an ego...riiiiiiiiiiiiiiight... I can hit kid.

Posted by: P-funk

Quote:

Originally Posted by SuperFlex

I have an ego...riiiiiiiiiiiiiiight... I can hit kid.

yea, along with you 600lb squat and your 4.3 40.

if you knew anything about hitting you would know that you have to have a solid grip on the bat at the point of contact. Light grip when in the set up, tight grip as the bat goes through the power zone.

Posted by: SuperFlex

Quote:

Originally Posted by P-funk

yea, along with you 600lb squat and your 4.3 40.

Never said I had either one of those bud. Like I said, a tight grip is a horrible idea...

Posted by: SuperFlex

Keep the bat out towards your knuckles as well. You don't want to grip the bat in your palms. It can be confusing to explain, but ask your coach and he'll show you what I mean. Only trying to help...

Posted by: P-funk

Here is an article written by a great Strength Coach, Bob Alejo on batting (he knows a lot on the subject of baseball specific training).

Since Super Flex has a hard time reading and understanding things. I will go ahead and bold the part that is most important to the discussion.

Building Incredible Bat Speed for Baseball and Softball (taken from bodybuilding.com)

By: Bob Alejo

The speed of the bat head through the hitting zone is crucial for making good contact and for hitting the ball as far as possible, two good things for a hitter. There is no question that a slow bat is a bad bat.

To be honest, a quick bat does not ensure a hitter a great average either. We know a good hitter has many more qualities than strength and bat head speed. My point is to remember the other qualities which are important parts of hitting before expecting increased bat head speed to cure your average!

Now that we understand what bat speed can and can not do, here's how to create a quicker, stronger bat.

Abdominal Training

The trunk (abdominals and low back) creates a powerful twisting motion during the swing. Rotational torque provides speed and momentum to the arms and eventually the bat head. Like other muscles, it is necessary to develop strength by using resistance. A common mistake with abdominal training is to perform body weight resisted exercises and expect the abdominals to continually gain strength.

In the beginning you will develop a certain amount of strength. However, after a while the exercises become nothing other than calisthenics or maintenance type movements. To develop strength you must add some sort of resistance the movement-as is the case in all exercises. The good news is that you can use most of the same traditional stomach exercises plus added weight, to get the desired results.

The three areas for you to concentrate on are the lower, upper and oblique abdominals.

Upper Abdominals

Weighted crunches (non-weighted crunches shown) - Lying on your back with legs up in the air, knees bent at 90 degrees, hold a weight of your choice at straightened arms length. Using only your upper abdominals, raise only the upper body, keeping your back flat on the ground. Three sets of 20-40 repetitions.

Lower Abdominals

Hanging leg raises - Hang from an overhead bar, with your feet not touching the ground. Your grip should be about shoulder width. Contracting the lower abdominals, lift the legs together, knees bent at 90 degrees, so the knees are just above waist height. Lower and repeat. Three sets of 10-25 repetitions.

* This a difficult exercise which does not require much weight to increase the difficulty. Use ankle weights for the resistance.

* Do not rock back and forth to make it easier to raise the legs.

* To increase difficulty without adding weights, keep your legs straight while lifting them.

Rotational Abdominals

Standing weighted twists - Put yourself into an athletic stance with your feet spread at a comfortable distance and your knees slightly bent. Hold a weight about six to 12 inches in front of your body. After a slow warm up, begin to twist at the waist (do not twist or bend at the knees) as rapidly as possible. The key to rapid movement is maintain a low, balanced stance and make sure your shoulder reaches the chin on the twist. Three sets of 20-40 repetitions.

Leg Strength

Never underestimate the value of leg strength for good, powerful hitting. The legs do not appear active. And in terms of movement, they really are not. But it is the strength of the legs that enable the abdominals and trunk in general, to promote bat speed.

As the swing begins, the stride is in place and the body begins to rotate. Without a firm base, the body will not be able to generate any strength from the legs into the trunk. Simply, the force is generated from the ground, into the legs, to the trunk and finally the bat.

Without leg strength, the force necessary to start a powerful bat is not produced. To take it a step further, the swing might be flawed due to only upper body generation and nothing to stabilize the legs.

Basic leg strength has been outlined in previous articles. Safe to say, do not expect to have the best swing or the most powerful bat if you are only going to work on the upper body and ignore your legs.

Forearms

Beginning with the grip and finishing with the forearms (the two are connected), the bat head will take the proper path if there is strength in the hands. Notice how I say hands instead of forearms. This is because the grip strength (fingers, hand) is the most important part of forearm strength for baseball.

Take a look at a swing and follow through. The movement is not about forearm flexors or extensors. There is really no point in the swing where these movements are dominant. However, the hand and hand strength are involved the entire time.

You can have strong forearms, but not necessarily a strong grip. This is why you must work grip specific exercises into your routine, such as squeezing tennis balls, racquet balls and softballs. This will strengthen the fingers, hand and overall grip. When you add these exercises to the already common wrist curls and reverse wrist curls, you’ll have excellent results.

Total Body

When you are looking for running speed, a powerful swing or miles per hour on your fastball, you don’t just work the specific muscles involved. Take the approach that the entire body is a system and when all the parts are working together and efficiently, the outcome will be much more positive than singling out certain muscles. Train your whole body if you want optimal results, not to mention reducing the risk for injuring yourself.

Other Tools For Bat Speed

There are a few gadgets and machines that are advertised to increase bat speed. My advice is to stick with the basics, because there so many variables that affect bat head speed which cannot be directly trained such as pitch recognition or reaction time. Factors such as strength and hitting mechanics are variables that can be improved by some legitimate means, or rather, means which have been tried over the years and have worked.

One thing that has been used often, but incorrectly, is the weighted bat. When you are using this tool as a way to become stronger, it is important to maintain your game swing. What I mean by this, is that your swing should not change even though the weight of the bat is increased.

Most of the time the weight of the bat is far more than is needed to increase power in a swing. How many times have you seen a hitter work with a weighted bat in a slow, awkward motion that looks nothing like his swing? The fact is, more often than you should!

One thing that has been discussed in the development of power, is the need for speed. Speed of movement must be present if power is to be increased. Speed can be slightly reduced if a weight is being used, only because power increases when using the correct weight.

Movement is also important when training for power. For the swing to increase in power, the weighted swing has to be similar to the regular swing or there is no transfer of power. The same situation exists when you are running with a weighted vest or ankle weights. If you run differently with the weights, then it does not have a very positive effect on your normal running style.

My suggestion is to use a bat that is only a few ounces heavier than your regular bat. Try to use the same length as well. This way the swing will be the same, but because of the added weight, you will be increasing power with your normal swing.

Be careful not to use the weighted bat in normal game or batting practice situations. Your reaction time will be the same, but your bat will be slower at game speed. I recommend hitting off of the tee or using soft toss to work on your weighted game.

About The Author

Bob Alejo is currently, Strength and Conditioning Coach for Jason Giambi with the New York Yankees and the former Strength and Conditioning Coach, Oakland Athletics, 1993-2001

Posted by: P-funk

since we need to make sure that we are giving the members the best advice, I will delete that last comment because, you are just not helping. You clearly have a lack of understanding of the biomechanics and your advice is not sound and is not beneficial to anyone. Sorry.

Posted by: SuperFlex

I can still hit twice as far as you...

http://www.qcbaseball.com/skills/hitting_grip1.aspx
http://www.ehow.com/how_10084_grip-baseball-bat.html
http://www.webball.com/skill/batgrip.html

Posted by: P-funk

Quote:

Originally Posted by SuperFlex

I can still hit twice as far as you...

all the guys on the the A's and Giambi can hit farther then Alejo, but, he is still their strength coach so that should tell you something.

how would you know? you have never seen me hit.

I like how you are a self proclaimed elite athlete. So elite that every college recuiter looked you over. Seriously, just shut up. Your posts just show that you lack knowledge.

Posted by: SuperFlex

Quote:

Originally Posted by P-funk

And you claim to know everything about every type of training... Maybe we're both right, but I know I am...

Posted by: P-funk

Quote:

Originally Posted by SuperFlex

And you claim to know everything about every type of training... Maybe we're both right, but I know I am...

actually, if you read my posts, I typically claim to know nothing.

Like I have said before, so many times....I know what I know, and what I don't know, I shut the fuck up and listen and learn. You need to do more of the latter, especially after seeing some of the threads you have started.

Posted by: IainDaniel

Funny how some wanna be beer league slopitch player thinks he is an elite batting coach

Posted by: CowPimp

You're wrong P. Poorly written bodybuilding programs are superior for results in all sports!

Posted by: JCP

Well I'll work out my forearms and my torso, Dan Uggla has huge forearms, and he is a great player. Also I know about grip from my hitting coach. Anyway.. I was going to start working out my forearms and I still will.. and ill work on my back and abs..

Posted by: CowPimp

What's the workout routine that you've been following?

Posted by: JCP

I dont really have a routine yet.. I've stopped working out becauseof school and I've been really busy but its starting to slow down so I want to start again.

Posted by: CowPimp

Quote:

Originally Posted by JCP

I dont really have a routine yet.. I've stopped working out becauseof school and I've been really busy but its starting to slow down so I want to start again.

Then you just need to start out by doing your basic anatomical adaptation phase (Pretend you are a beginner for a little bit): stick with lower intensity weights, adopt a high frequency of training to re-establish neural adaptations quickly, and stick to basic structural compound exercises using bodyweight resistance where applicable. Check out the stickies for more information.

Posted by: JCP

Ok thanks.

Posted by: Double D

Quote:

Originally Posted by IainDaniel

Funny how some wanna be beer league slopitch player thinks he is an elite batting coach

Funny you say that because thats where I started. Now I play softball at a pro level. Haha. The beer drinking was pretty awesome at first, but whenever I got so smashed that I struck out in slow pitch softball it was time to give it up.

Posted by: SuperFlex

Quote:

Originally Posted by Double D

At the plate I'm already there as well. I've had bad days, but so has everyone. Bad for me anyway...

I fall short at having AA calibur defense however. Easily learned, but nobody ever wants to practice defense around here. Did you play any baseball growing up Double D?

I quit baseball at 15 years old. Didn't even start until 13. My coach was named Bob Pretty and used to pitch in the pros for the Pirates. After our season was over he pulled me aside and gave me the highest praise. He said whatever I did, never stop playing ball. That was my last year playing too. BIG mistake... I didn't play the next year due to moving and the following year because our football coach told us no other sports. My thoughts were, "If I'm ok after playing every down in football, then why can't I play baseball as well?

" That was bs...but I chose to listen. The year after that, I discovered foolishness and never played anything again. Possibly the biggest mistake of my life.

Softball is a blast. It's for us coulda been, woulda been, and never coulda beens...who still enjoy the sport. I need to start playing again. I was offered a chance to play with Team Nelly but passed on that. I didn't feel I was ready, and I'm not. At the plate, I drop bombs, but like said, in the field I don't shine quite at that level imo.

Best of luck to you. If you're ever in Indiana lmk and we can hit some bp if you want to and have the time. I'm more than willing to come to the park you're playing at if it's within reasonable distance from me. Midwest is definitely cool...

Posted by: Double D

Quote:

Originally Posted by SuperFlex

At the plate I'm already there as well. I've had bad days, but so has everyone. Bad for me anyway...

Softball is nothing but serious for us. We play in a class B ASA which is pretty much the highest possible for ASA softball and our ISA is B also. Things get pretty crazy whenever we venture out of our relm and go into unlimited leagues where there arent a limit on homers and there isnt a limit on kinds of balls or bats. Last game we played like that the final was something like 70-80. There was well over 50 homers hit that game. But of course keep in mind the bats are juiced along with the balls. But fences are like 375 feet.

Posted by: Double D

Oh and as for baseball. I started varsity all 4 years in high school, but hooked right onto softball my junior year and loved it. I played a year of college baseball.

Posted by: SuperFlex

Quote:

Originally Posted by Double D

70-80...

Hell yeah, in league we get 3. Usually all mine. People apologize for hitting one.

How far can you sting one? With a legal bat and blue dots...

Posted by: Double D

Not real sure. I think this thread has kinda been hijacked. I apologize to the thread starter.

We never hit blue dots. Simply 44 cor 375 balls.

Posted by: SuperFlex

Quote:

Originally Posted by Double D

Not real sure. I think this thread has kinda been hijacked. I apologize to the thread starter.

We never hit blue dots. Simply 44 cor 375 balls.

I sure you guys don't, but 525's are a blast in bp...

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