Whitman College Speed, Strength and Conditioning
Whitman Baseball speed strength & conditioning is designed to assist Whitman Baseball players in achieving success in athletic performance on the baseball field and maintaining an injury free environment.
Philosophy
1. Developing a mentally and physically challenging training environment that will allow athletes to maximize their ability
2. Increase performance on the baseball field.
3. Decrease the risk of injury through teaching and progressive strength and power development exercises.
4. Identify dysfunctional movement patterns and correct the pattern.
Fundamentals of an Athlete:
1. Lower body strength
2. Lower body power
3. Core strength
4. Ability to accelerate and decelerate
5. Mobility
6. Balanced upper body (posterior/ anterior)
Core Development Exercises: Core is defined as the musculature of the abdomen, lower back and hip girdle region. Core strength development is based on the “straw vs. steel rod” theory. “Straw vs. Steel Rod” theory is when applying force through a wall with a steel rod and a straw, the straw will break down first due to a lack of strength and stability in the center. The steel rod will not break down die to its density and strength in the center of the rod. We must develop a “steel rod” core with our baseball players to help improve their ability to apply force through the ground more efficiently and decrease the risk of injury.
On the baseball field the body is put in many different positions in which strength is needed to perform efficiently. Our core exercises consist of a variety of movements that mimic the positions that are performed in sport.
-Stabilization
- Lateral Flexion
- Flexion
- Rotation
Daily warm up routines include a variety of exercises from these four areas throughout the year.
Mobility Drills: Mobility drills are implemented into our workouts in a joint by joint approach for both the upper and lower body. Baseball is comprised of multidirectional and multidimensional movements that require various levels of flexibility and stability. The installation of dynamic flexibility and static stretching exercises into the workout will decrease of risk of injury and prepare the player for competition.
Dynamic flexibility exercises: Actively increase the range of motion in muscles and joints.
Static flexibility exercises: Hold a specific position to increase range of motion in the muscles and joints.
Ground Based Movements: The majority of baseball movements involve an athlete through the ground and the application of force through the ground is necessary in order to move. Exercises that are performed on a machine without the feet contact with the ground are not as beneficial to the development of the baseball player. The greater amount of force that the player can produce through the ground in an efficient manner, the faster and more powerful they will be. When a player performs an exercise with his feet on the ground he will be forced to stabilize more than one joint at a time that helps in strengthening total body awareness and decrease the risk of injury.
Three Dimensional Movements: Movements in baseball are performed in 3 ways: left to right, forward to backward, and up and down. The success of an athlete will be determined by strength in these three movements. Training with free weights, allows an athlete to train these movement patterns and strengthen the body as one functioning unit. Exercises that are performed on machines are primarily comprised of isolated movements that do not require activation of stabilizing muscle. Free weight movements will strengthen the stabilizing muscles and aid in the decrease of injury.
Explosive Movements: Baseball is comprised of quick and explosive movements. Explosive movements develop fast twitch muscle fibers. Fast-twitch muscle fibers allow the player to produce power. Lifting, plyo metric, and medicine ball exercises are the methods we use in order to train power. Power is critical in baseball due to the rate in which a player can produce it. A baseball player maybe strong, but cannot produce any power due to training at slow speeds. Powerful athletes can produce a large amount of force in a short period of time. Power, not strength is the key component in winning championships.
Single Leg Exercises: Due to human nature, one leg will be stronger than the other. In baseball when athletes are accelerating and decelerating they are pushing off of one leg at a time. It is critical that we implement single leg exercises into our program to balance the strength of both legs. Performing unilateral exercises will focus on each leg independently and concentrate on strengthening the weak points. Single leg exercises improve both balance and proprioceptive capabilities of the player in order to perform at an optimal level on the field.
Posterior Chain Exercises: The posterior chain is made up of the hamstrings, glutes, and spinal erecturs. The posterior chain is critical in athletic performance, speed development, and injury prevention. The hamstring plays a critical role in the sprinting motion due to the multiple actions that it performs. During a spring, the hamstring extends the hip and then flexes the knee. The implementation of the posterior chain movements will include a higher volume of hip extension movements compared to knee flexion movements to mimic the sprinting motion and prevent injury.
Program Development & Progressive Overload: Over a 4 – 5 year period, change needs to occur in both the body and on the field. In order for the change to occur, the program must apply a progressive overload. Programs are designed to meet the needs of the player and push them beyond their limits, but within an injury free environment.
Periodization training is the format in which we install progressive overload. Periodization is a variation in training of repetitions, sets, and loads. Our yearly cycle is broken up into: Preseason, in season, postseason, and off season. The implementation of variation in a program is needed to prevent overtraining, injury, and a decrease in performance.
Linear and Lateral Speed Development: Speed is made up of two components: stride length and stride frequency. Stride length is the distance between each step and stride frequency is the number of steps per second. When one of our players is sprinting we will concentrate on increasing both stride length and stride frequency simultaneously. As the player becomes stronger, he will increase the stride length due to the enhanced ability to produce force through the ground. Stride frequency will be improved through P.A.L. mechanic drills. Speed development is divided into Linear P.A.L. and Lateral P.A.L. mechanics.
Linear P.A.L. is: P= Posture, A= Arm Action, L= Leg Action
Lateral P.A.L. is: P= Push to move, A= Athletic Base, L= Low Center of Gravity
Acceleration: Acceleration is the ability to reach maximum speed in the shortest amount of time. Acceleration is more important than top speed in sports due to the requirement of acceleration and deceleration in a given play and never reaching top speed. The implementation of lower body strength and power exercises will enhance the players’ ability to accelerate.
Agility: Agility is the ability to change direction without a decrease in maximum speed. A player must possess a tremendous amount of eccentric strength, which is the ability to control your body while changing directions. We will utilize two forms of agility:
Programmed Agility: The player has a mapped out course
Reactive Agility: The player must change direction due to another player or visual cue.
Conditioning: There are three different energy systems that are used in athletic performance: ATP, Lactic Acid, and Oxygen. In baseball we predominantly use the ATP & Lactic Acid Energy systems. The ATP energy system lasts up to 10 seconds of work. The ATP energy system training is comprised of explosive, speed, and agility exercises. The Lactic Acid system goes from 10 seconds to 1.5 minutes. The Lactic Acid system is trained using long shuttle runs and interval exercises. The Oxygen system would be any constant activity that lasts for longer than 1.5 minutes.
Nutrition
“Garbage in = Garbage out”: The recovery from workouts is key to improving performance both on and off the field. Nutrition and sleep play a major role in recovery efforts from one workout to the next. We recommend that players receive 8-9 hours of sleep per night and consume 7 small meals per day. Here are the daily nutritional recommendations:
1st Choice foods:
