Training Athletes is awesome, they rarely complain and are driven in ways most people can not understand. However over the years many people train athletes the wrong way. I was a pitcher back in the day at a semi high level. My weight training consisted of squatting and leg work. Bench pressing and overhead pressing was a sin in most trainers books for pitchers. Also they made me run long distance for my conditioning which is also all wrong. For purposes of this blog I will use baseball as an example but explain how to train for other sports.
Energy Systems
When you train an athlete you need to train them to excel in the energy system they use. Baseball is an explosive sport. Throwing a ball takes less than a second. Swinging a bat takes less than a second. So basically it is a power sport (using the ATP-CP system). This is why steroids kicked ass for baseball. It makes no sense for a baseball player to run long distance. They should be sprinting and doing explosive conditioning. Same goes with soccer. How many coaches make their players jog 5-10 miles. Soccer is a sprint sport and should be trained as such with intervals.
No Defined Seasons
Sport needs to be trained with an off season for growth and strength, pre-season for more skill specific exercises, and in season for maintaining and rehabbing from the rigors of the sport. In most sports it is impossible to gain strength and size during the season. This is why the off season is very important. Off season training should include heavy compound movements to get stronger and bigger. Pre-season should include more skill specific exercises (swinging a heavy bat against a tire, plyometrics, sprinting, what ever exercises benefit the sport). Pre-season should also concentrate on injury proofing the body with ankle, rotator cuff, shoulder, elbow, and other joint strengthening exercises. In season should be whatever the athlete needs to keep their strength and prevent injury.
Common Weaknesses
There are 2 or 3 weaknesses that most athletes posses and I think it can be linked to training what you see in the mirror vs. training the functional muscles. Hamstring weakness is very common. The hamstring is what accelerates you forward when you run and perform explosive movements. A lying leg curl just wont develop this muscle. A Glute Ham Raise is the perfect choice for developing this muscle. Stiff leg deadlift, Romainian deadlift and Box squats will also develop this muscle. Next is hips / hip mobility. Squatting to correct depth will cure this as well as deadlifting. Also learn hip mobility exercises to keep your mobility in the hips which helps an athlete change directions and rotate quicker. The final weakness is the upper back. Rowing, face pulls, scarecrows, scap retractions, etc.. will cure this. A strong upper back will protect against a lot of upper body injury during a season. Especially baseball where the upper back decelerates the arm during throwing.
Putting it Together
If I were training a pitcher in the off season I would concentrate on a powerlifting type program with extra shoulder rehab work. Abdominal work is a must to transfer power. Grappler, sledge hammer work, and med ball work is a staple to build rotational strength.
Pre Season I would limit the volume with the weights and pull the percentage down to 60-80% of max for weight work. A concentration on Plyos and Mobility is important. Sprinting and Throwing during this period is a must.
In season I would have the athlete lift based on weather or not they were a starter or every other day pitcher. Mostly training muscle groups and getting blood into the muscle so recovery can speed up.
This is just a sample and athletic training is complicated. If I knew the what I know now I may still be playing. I had major upper back weakness causing injury in my sub scap which put me out of the game. Had I known how important attacking these specific weaknesses were I could have prevented injury.
Thanks for reading!
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