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Arm Care for Pitchers: Bullet Proofing the Shoulder

Arm Care - Part 1 Top Joint Image

Imagine this, a pitcher’s body that throws a baseball at 80-90+ mph achieves that speed from hand break to finish in 1.5-2 seconds.  That’s comparable to some of the fastest Italian sports cars out there.  Given the nature of this explosive movement, arm care for pitchers has to be at the top of list for every athlete.  However, I think a lot of folks don’t totally understand how to go about it. In this article, we are going to give it a try by discussing the shoulder and how we attempt to bullet proof it through our training programs. Continue reading “Arm Care for Pitchers: Bullet Proofing the Shoulder”

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4-Day Full Body Program (w/ equipment) – Phase 2

4-Day Full Body (equipment needed)

PHASE 2

With gyms continuing to be closed all over due to COVID-19, below is Phase 2 of our workouts with equipment that you can perform at home. The exercises have not been progressed in terms of difficulty (from Phase 1) but changed to continue to provide the body with a stimulus and help further create adaptation. Even further, after a few weeks you can alternate between Phase 1 and Phase 2 to continue to provide that stimulus and further help increase gains.

Continue reading “4-Day Full Body Program (w/ equipment) — Phase 2”

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3-Day Full Body Program (minimal equipment) – Phase 2

3-day Full Body Program

PHASE 2

With gyms continuing to be closed all over due to COVID-19, below is Phase 2 of our workouts with minimal equipment that you can perform at home. The exercises have not been progressed in terms of difficulty (from Phase 1) but changed to continue to provide the body with a stimulus and help further create adaptation. Even further, after a few weeks you can alternate between Phase 1 and Phase 2 to continue to provide that stimulus and further help increase gains.

Continue reading “3-Day Full Body Program (minimal equipment) — Phase 2”

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The Best of 2018 – Strength Training Articles

By Nunzio Signore (BA, CSCS, CPT, NASM, FMS)

As we get closer to a new year I would like to look back and get a bit reflective. A few years ago, I started a series in which I posted the most popular blogs of the year. These are the articles that received the most traffic, according to our hosting statistics. It seems to be a favorite of everyone, so here we go again with Part 1, covering the Top 5 most popular strength-related articles of 2018.  Continue reading “The Best of 2018 – Strength Training Articles”

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Weighted Baseball Training, 7 Crucial Considerations

weighted baseball training

Note: This article was published in the November/December 2018 issue of Inside Pitch Magazine (Official Magazine of ABCA).

There is tremendous mis-information in the market place about weighted baseball training and I certainly don’t want to create a frenzy so let me start by saying this.  This article isn’t about the pros and cons of weighted baseball training programs. It’s about the importance and reasons why you should consider (a) including and implementing a thorough assessment, (b) monitoring the dosage and (c) participating in an individualized strength and conditioning program alongside the weighted baseball program. Continue reading “Weighted Baseball Training, 7 Crucial Considerations”

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4 Ways to Improve Pitching Command and Control in the Weight Room

Generally, when players start to struggle with throwing strikes, they’ve been conditioned to modify their mechanics.  Many times, this is completely unnecessary. Anatomy often tells us that in order to fix a pitching command and control issue, strength and stability may need to be addressed before looking any deeper. Continue reading “4 Ways to Improve Pitching Command and Control in the Weight Room”

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Improving Speed and Power from the Stretch

The back leg is the initial power source in pitching and when pitching from the stretch, the ability to load and the unload the back leg gives a pitcher the greater advantage with runners on.

Faster more elastic athletes can stretch their tendons quickly and better harness energy while loading without requiring high levels of strength. But for more “strength-based” athletes who like to load slower in order to maximize power mostly from their muscles contracting, the stretch can be a nemesis, especially you have runners on base. So, training to get more elastic can go a long way in putting another essential tool such as getting quicker in the stretch into their toolbox, which brings us to the concept of Reactive Strength and how you test it. Continue reading “Improving Speed and Power from the Stretch”

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How to Increase Pitching Velocity in the Weight Room

In the pitching world the word velocity has become how most pitchers are initially judged. Unfortunately, there is no single thing I could tell you to do to increase velocity as every pitcher is different. What may work for one pitcher may not work for another. Every pitcher is built differently and trying to get there from a different starting point. This leaves no single way to map out a game plan to increase your. However, in this blog I would like to touch briefly on 10 different topics on how to increase pitching velocity in the weight room.

Continue reading “How to Increase Pitching Velocity in the Weight Room”

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Baseball Strength Training at RPP, Why and How it Works

baseball strength training

Every off-season I see dedicated athletes spinning their wheels and settling for ineffective baseball strength training programs, simply because the location is convenient, or they’re feeling pressure from the travel coach.  The reality is that often they’re experiencing mediocre gains or no gains at all when they should be improving dramatically. Bottom line is if your performance has remained the same year-over-year your training probably SUCKS!  A customized baseball strength training program goes a long way towards improving your level of performance. Continue reading “Baseball Strength Training at RPP, Why and How it Works”

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Training Force- vs. Velocity-Deficient Athletes… Giving Them What They Need

Knowing the adaptation that needs to occur and knowing what adaptation will occur are powerful decision-making tools when designing a program for an athlete. You need to first decide what effect you want the body to produce and then match it with an appropriate stimulus.  This is referred to as the “SAID” principle. It stands for “Specific Adaptation to Imposed Demands” and is the blueprint that we build off of when programming for our athletes here at RPP.

The first question that needs to be answered is “what does the athlete need?”.   Continue reading “Training Force- vs. Velocity-Deficient Athletes… Giving Them What They Need”