Baseball Workout

Bigger Stronger Leaner Powerlifting & Strength Sports
1

Regardless of what anyone believes, there are major portions of baseball that require the power and strength for success. However, it isn’t the same kind of power used in football, powerlifting, strongman, or other typical strength sports. Baseball’s S&C methods are also quite primative, almost idiotic. There inlies the problem.

I have looked and looked for baseball programs online, without any good results. Among them are things that look like they were used by Arnie in his prime or something Canseco would do when he stacked Deca and Winny before games. Since I am clean and I know that bodybuilding and baseball workouts are two almost entirely different things, I knew these weren’t good options. Right now I’m doing Starr’s 5x5 for functional mass, and after I finish my cycle in three weeks, I’m going to start a more baseball specific approach with:

  • Weight Lifting
  • Sprints/Conditioning
  • Medicine Ball work
  • Plyometrics
  • Sport Specific Training (hitting fielding, etc.)

Stats:
Height - 5’10
Weight - 155
Max Squat - 240
Max Clean - 150
Max Bench - 150
Velocity - 75 mph from CF to 3B

I think I have some knowledge about lifting, it’s just that I have now idea how to apply it. Key lifts for baseball would be any oly lift that is not an overhead movement (esp. cleans), squats, deadlifts, basically any compound core movement that can be done sometimes using maximal weight with high speed (oly lifts), or maximal speed with a lower weight or vice versa (squats, deads, deadlift variations).

To help develop speed and power, adding high intensity plyos, would then be benefical as well as sprints and medicine ball work. I know a few medicine ball movements that will help, as well as knowing that my training for sprints in baseball should be between 30 and 100 yards, but I have no idea how to apply plyos to a sports routine, so help with that would be greatly appreciated.

Lastly, I know that practice is the best way to improve, so I practice 3x a week. Any help would be appreciated, I am not expecting a full routine and split, just a direction that someone could point me in. Thanks.

2

Forget going up to 100 yds. for sprints. Most of your running will be for 90’. I wouldn’t do anything longer than 60 yds. Spend most of your time working explosiveness (10 and 20yds).

A lot of time is lost getting out of the batter’s box. Core strength is a HUGE demand. Full contact twists (landmines) are great). You might also incorporate some 1 arm snatches or push presses. Front squat immediate push press is also good for explosive power.

Just some ideas to consider.

TNT

3

Thanks man, all I’m asking for is a general direction and this gave me some more ideas.

4

for batting, you may want to look into sledgehammer conditioning. youll strengthen your trunk and the rotaty…thing…and youll have everything you need for a powerful bat swing

just an idea

5

oh, and as far as plyos, i hear complex sets work well. a complex set is a “regular” lift supersetted with the plyometric movement that involves relatively the same working body part.

ie, back squat supersetted with tuck or depth jumps

a pressing movement supersetted with clapping pushups

etc

6

After doing some research, I think I’m going to use a modified westside split. If anyone has any links for westside splits with oly lifts please pm me. My idea:

Sunday: Practice
Monday: ME Lower Body
Tuesday: RE Upper Body, Plyos, Practice
Wednesday: Practice
Thursday: DE Lower Body
Friday: ME Upper Body, Plyos
Saturday: Off

I’d like to point out that baseball practice is very low intensity compared to everything else I do, so it should be ok for me to combine it with other things. Lastly, do cleans count as a DE or ME movement for the lower body?

EDIT: Where can I add sprints?

7

I have created this:

Sunday: Practice

Monday: Max Effort Lower Body Movement

  • Box Squat: Work up to 5RM
  • Romanian Deadlifts: 4x6 (high stress)
  • Reverse Hyper extensions: 3x10 (low stress)
  • Weighted Sit-ups: 4x10
  • 5 Medicine Ball Sets

Tuesday: Repetition Effort Upper Body Movement

  • BW Dips: 3x max reps w/ 90 seconds rest
  • Bent-over DB Rows: 4x8
  • CG BB Shrugs: 4x8
  • Triceps Pulldowns: 3x10
  • Hammer Curls: 4x6
    Rest
  • High Intensity Plyometrics
    -Practice

Thursday: Dynamic Effort Lower Body Movement

  • Power Cleans: 5x5
  • Reverse DB Lunges: 4x12
  • Insert Low Back Movement Here
  • Weighted Incline Sit-ups: 3x10
  • Practice

Friday: Max Effort Upper Body Movement

  • CG Bench Press: Work up to 5RM
  • Rack Lockout: 3x5
  • DB Incline Press: 3x8
  • Weighted CG Chin-ups: 4x5
    Rest
  • Low Intensity Plyometrics

I still need to insert sprints and more medicine ball work, but I’m more concerned with whether or not this is a good program to follow for 6-10 weeks.

8

As a baseball coach I don’t see you doing anything wrong here. I would rather see you do some rear delt work, face pulls, YTWL’s, than the shrugs.
Here is a link to check out what Joe DeFranco has his baseball players do.
http://asp.elitefts.com/qa/default.asp?qid=36656&tid=4

[quote]WildcatBaseball wrote:
I have created this:

Sunday: Practice

Monday: Max Effort Lower Body Movement

  • Box Squat: Work up to 5RM
  • Romanian Deadlifts: 4x6 (high stress)
  • Reverse Hyper extensions: 3x10 (low stress)
  • Weighted Sit-ups: 4x10
  • 5 Medicine Ball Sets

Tuesday: Repetition Effort Upper Body Movement

  • BW Dips: 3x max reps w/ 90 seconds rest
  • Bent-over DB Rows: 4x8
  • CG BB Shrugs: 4x8
  • Triceps Pulldowns: 3x10
  • Hammer Curls: 4x6
    Rest
  • High Intensity Plyometrics
    -Practice

Thursday: Dynamic Effort Lower Body Movement

  • Power Cleans: 5x5
  • Reverse DB Lunges: 4x12
  • Insert Low Back Movement Here
  • Weighted Incline Sit-ups: 3x10
  • Practice

Friday: Max Effort Upper Body Movement

  • CG Bench Press: Work up to 5RM
  • Rack Lockout: 3x5
  • DB Incline Press: 3x8
  • Weighted CG Chin-ups: 4x5
    Rest
  • Low Intensity Plyometrics

I still need to insert sprints and more medicine ball work, but I’m more concerned with whether or not this is a good program to follow for 6-10 weeks.[/quote]

9

New Creation:

Sunday: Practice

Monday: Max Effort Lower Body Movement

  • Box Squat: Work up to 5RM
  • Romanian Deadlifts: 4x6
  • Reverse Hyper extensions: 3x10
  • Weighted Sit-ups: 4x10
  • 5 Medicine Ball Sets

Tuesday: Repetition Effort Upper Body Movement

  • BW Dips: 3x max reps w/ 90 seconds rest
  • Bent-over DB Rows: 4x8
  • Face Pulls: 3x12
  • Triceps Pulldowns: 3x10
  • Hammer Curls: 4x6
    Rest
  • High Intensity Plyometrics
    -Practice

Thursday: Dynamic Effort Lower Body Movement

  • Power Cleans: 5x5
  • Reverse DB Lunges: 4x12
  • Weighted Supermans: 2x10
  • Weighted Incline Sit-ups: 3x10
  • Practice

Friday: Max Effort Upper Body Movement

  • CG Bench Press: Work up to 5RM
  • Rack Lockout: 3x5
  • DB Incline Press: 3x8
  • Weighted CG Chin-ups: 4x5
    Rest
  • Low Intensity Plyometrics

Thinking about adding sprints on Wednesday’s and Saturday’s, and the low intensity plyos will involve medicine ball work. Thanks for the help nhiron.

10

Your workout looks pretty good. I used CT’s athletic pendulum training, it was awesome for my bat speed and running speed, and I got real strong and explosive. YOu might wanna check that out as well.

11

Your workout looks “okay,” but why such a focus on ME as a baseball player? You don’t need to develop a big squat or bench. Maximal strength is merely a means to an end as an athlete.

I’d focus much more on shoulder girdle health and balance (as was mentioned), abdominal strength and low back health, knee and ankle stability, explosive lifts (I’d use power snatch and one-arm DB snatch as the main ones), pliometrics (in small doses), multi-directional leg movements, agility drills (if not done in practice), and sprints.

This is for the baseball specific portion, once you’ve completed the general strength cycle that should probably last about 2 months - when does your season start?

A great book to read would be The Science and Practice of Strength Training. It explains what an athlete needs pretty well, you’ll just need to apply the principles to baseball.

-Dan

12

Dan, after this phase of lifting, spring training begins in upstate NY so this is the last offseason phase. Next year I will be better prepared because I won’t be playing football, I didn’t like training on such short notice for baseball.

13

One other thing, get some grip work in there once a week, use a fat bar or wrist roller. Check out dieselcrew for grip tips

14

[quote]ZachDelDesert wrote:
for batting, you may want to look into sledgehammer conditioning. youll strengthen your trunk and the rotaty…thing…and youll have everything you need for a powerful bat swing

just an idea[/quote]

Sorry, but swinging a sledgehammer will not give you a powerful swing. It can actually hurt your mechanics as well as your back. You need to watch who you get advice from. Stick with reputable programs, ie, CT Athletic Pendulum or his Black Book. You can also ask the many, many professionals on this site or better yet do some research and read through the articles and blogs. You will find everything you could ever want on how to correctly design your own program for what you want to achieve.

15

[quote]WildcatBaseball wrote:
Dan, after this phase of lifting, spring training begins in upstate NY so this is the last offseason phase. Next year I will be better prepared because I won’t be playing football, I didn’t like training on such short notice for baseball.[/quote]

Ah, I see. So you’ve only got about 3 months of training you can get in beforehand… you may be better off keeping with focusing on maximal strength. I’d keep the rep choices for ME days around 5 or 6 though, since pure limit strength isn’t a priority.

Best of luck,

-Dan

16

Just a quick thing to add. The primary movers in the throwing motion come from the back. I’m not sure about the swing but I also imagine that is more from the back as well. You might want to add weighted chins/pull-ups as an ME exercise in a rotation instead of pressing exercises every now and then.

17

Correct me if I’m wrong, but a mechanically sound pitcher will get his power from his core, not his upper back.

18

Mack, I’m using a pretty reputable template by using a modified westside program with oly lifts, so I think it should work.

19

Oly lifts/Ballistics is where you’ll gain a lot of explosive power for hitting and throwing. Not to mention they are very addicting, just becareful not to overwork the CNS because that’s the most important factor in training for power and speed. Good luck.

20

[quote]WildcatBaseball wrote:
New Creation:

Sunday: Practice

Monday: Max Effort Lower Body Movement

  • Box Squat: Work up to 5RM
  • Romanian Deadlifts: 4x6
  • Reverse Hyper extensions: 3x10
  • Weighted Sit-ups: 4x10
  • 5 Medicine Ball Sets

Tuesday: Repetition Effort Upper Body Movement

  • BW Dips: 3x max reps w/ 90 seconds rest
  • Bent-over DB Rows: 4x8
  • Face Pulls: 3x12
  • Triceps Pulldowns: 3x10
  • Hammer Curls: 4x6
    Rest
  • High Intensity Plyometrics
    -Practice

Thursday: Dynamic Effort Lower Body Movement

  • Power Cleans: 5x5
  • Reverse DB Lunges: 4x12
  • Weighted Supermans: 2x10
  • Weighted Incline Sit-ups: 3x10
  • Practice

Friday: Max Effort Upper Body Movement

  • CG Bench Press: Work up to 5RM
  • Rack Lockout: 3x5
  • DB Incline Press: 3x8
  • Weighted CG Chin-ups: 4x5
    Rest
  • Low Intensity Plyometrics

Thinking about adding sprints on Wednesday’s and Saturday’s, and the low intensity plyos will involve medicine ball work. Thanks for the help nhiron.[/quote]

There are some changes that can be made to your program (of course nothing over the internet will replace the watchful eye of a skilled coach to determine what you need individually).

That being said…I would dump the bodyweight dips, they are shoulder fuckers and put to much stress on the anterior capsule…not good for a baseball player.

I also have some concern with the power cleans.
The full lifts can be very hard on a throwing athletes shoulders (both the full clean as well as the snatch). Focus on the triple extention aspect and can the catch portion, or better yet us a jump squat or DE Squat.

You mention plyo’s but haven’t outlined the program. This is important and has to be progressed properly. Plyo’s are not toys, especially the high intensity variations.

Also, what does your cuff program look like…i see no mention of that and for a baseball player (what position do you play?) this is of utmost importance. As well, make sure you’re balanced with reguards not only to horizontal pushing and pulling, but with the muscles that internally rotate and externaly rotate the humerous.

You have a whole bunch of of movements that internally rotate the humerous on your max effort upper body day and there isnt much need to have a ball player to max effort pushing movements…use your chin/pullup variations as your 5RM ME movement.