Commonly Asked Questions about Strength and Conditioning for Baseball

Often times I am asked about training techniques, philosophy and program design for the baseball athlete. Most of the questions are very specific and are difficult to answer without knowing all the important information. However, there are some commonly asked questions:

Q - Will weight training make me too muscle bound to swing or throw?
A - Weight training has never ruined a baseball career. However, a weight training program with poor supervision, design and implementation has ruined many a career. An experienced strength and conditioning professional whose resume includes athletes from high school, college and the professional level is the only reliable source for a comprehensive training program. It is professional experience that will allow for the correct supervision and implementation of a weight training program. A comprehensive sport-specific baseball training program allows for strength gains that can be applied to baseball- increases in the velocity of a thrown ball, increases in bat speed, increases in running speed and increased defensive speed. What more could you want?!

When the correct exercises are performed with a full range of motion and appropriate weight, the athlete will increase flexibility and gain strength no matter what!

Q - If I increase my forearm strength will I become a better hitter?
A - The only true way to become a better hitter is to work on hitting. The truth is that if you do not have the right mechanics to be a good hitter (selectivity, swing, hitting knowledge, vision, etc.), strength will only make you a poor hitter with strength. Strength alone did not make Mark McGwire a good hitter. His power was improved by strength training but Mark was an excellent hitter due to a great swing, patience and a tremendous knowledge of the hitting game. You will find the bigger, muscular elite hitters in the big leagues possess the same qualities. I think you get the picture.

Although forearm strength is important in hitting, there are other areas of equal or greater importance:

1) Grip strength - Many hitters ignore the most important part of forearm strength- the grip! Most programs ignore the strength of the hand and fingers. If the grip is weak, forearm strength can not be used. Exercises that strengthen the grip by working the fingers flexors are very important for maximum forearm strength.
2) Legs - Strong legs will produce force from the ground to the trunk (abdomen, low back, rib cage) and finally to the bat head.
3) Trunk - No use and having strong legs without a strong mid-section to carry the force from the ground. Creating rotational torque and power accounts for up to 20% of the velocity on a thrown implement or in this case bat head speed. Regardless of the exact numbers, the mid-section has a huge role in a strong swing.
4) Total body - A word of advice; if you want to be powerful, work the whole body. The body works as one system in athletic movements, so it makes sense not to ignore any one part.

Q - I have heard that heavy weight and few repetitions will make you tight. Should I go to a lighter weight and higher repetitions to become stronger and more flexible?
A - Both assumptions are exactly the opposite! The heaviest weight possible for 1-5 repetitions is the most effective way to build strength. Whereas a lighter weight performed for 8-12 repetitions is excellent for increasing size. Due to the amount of weight used in high rep programs, strength gains will not be nearly as significant as programs using heavier weights. Good examples for the previously mentioned programs exist in two commonly known areas, 1) Bodybuilding, and 2) Weightlifting.

Bodybuilders rely on increasing muscular size through their training. A closer look at bodybuilding programs finds a generally high repetition format. The objective of the bodybuilder is to exhaust the muscle with high repetition and through this method the muscle will increase in size. In this case the weight is not the objective. Strength without size is of no use up on the posing platform. Matching the weight to a high repetition zone is a set-to-set goal. A weightlifter's number one goal is to lift the heaviest weight possible while maintaining the lowest body weight. As a former weightlifter I can tell you that the repetition zone is commonly between 1-5 with most of the training in the 1-3 repetition zone. The fact that these athletes maintain there body weights for years while continuing to increase their strength is proof that low repetitions with the maximum weight is effective for gaining strength but not size.

As far as tightness and fatigue is concerned, during the season I recommend going to heavier weights and less reps to cut down on fatigue. When I tell people this their eyes roll back in their heads with disbelief. So I give a few examples to illustrate my philosophy. Pick up a weight for a bicep curl that will allow only 15 repetitions with all-out effort. Now pick up a baseball and throw it. Fatigued, tight and "pumped" - throwing the ball anywhere is a difficult task. Next experiment is to perform the same exercise with a heavier weight that will only allow a maximum of five repetitions. Throwing the ball now will have a completely different feeling. Less fatigued, throwing the ball is much easier. Although these examples are extreme one can see firsthand the difference between high and low repetition.

Q - I have heard there are some exercises I should not be doing. Which ones are they?
A - There has been come discussion over what is good or bad. The fact of the matter is, in my experience I have not seen any one exercise that when performed correctly, has been a problem.

Overhead presses for the throwing shoulder has been thought to put the shoulder in an awkward and risky position. However, I know a lot of players who routinely use overhead presses without any problems. Anecdotally, in more than 25 years of coaching- 13 years at the MLB level- I have not heard of or seen one throwing shoulder injury due to overhead pressing. In fact if you are reading this and remember a shoulder injury occurring please email me and describe the incident.

Years ago it was said that squatting with weight was bad for the knees. Again, the reality is there is not one piece of documented evidence that has been proven this to be true. On the contrary, if an athlete has healthy knees, squatting with correct technique and supervision will only make the knees healthier.

Use common sense. What works for some might not work for others. Here are some guidelines for exercise selection:
• Select exercises that will benefit your particular objective. Do not imitate other programs solely because they worked for someone else.
• If you experience pain during or after a movement, delete that exercise from your routine. There are a number of different exercises that will stress the same muscles without causing pain.
• Let pain be your guide. Do not try to work through injury pain. Seek qualified medical help.
• Do not use hearsay as a source for an information base. Go directly to the local strength and conditioning professional for answers to training questions. They will be located at major universities, health clubs and some high schools.

Q - As a pitcher, are there limitations to my weight training so I don't hurt my arm or tighten my throwing motion?
A - Definitely not. To the contrary, strength training aggressively, consistently and comprehensively can only decrease the risk of injury and more than likely increase your throwing velocity. Of course, becoming stronger in no way guarantees the ability to throw strikes, but will increase fitness levels. In my own experience I have been impressed but not surprised that some of today's finest pitchers are experienced, dedicated weight trainers.

Q - Will performing sprinting workouts everyday make me run faster?
A - The answer is no, with a few reasons: 1) Sprinting is 100% effort and 100% speed. Performing these workouts everyday will most certainly result in injury. With no recovery from workout to workout you will also become slower; 2) To increase speed, the body must be taught speed through added strength, power, improved technique or added speed stimulus. Since you have a given speed, running that speed repetitively will not be enough to get faster just as lifting the same weight every workout will not increase strength; 3) From a common sense perspective, people who run for a living (track athletes) do not run hard everyday. Why then would a baseball athlete?

Improving running technique, strength, high intensity endurance (anaerobic) and power is the only way to improve speed.