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Rookie Mistakes in Spring Training

February 19, 2016 by Chad Rodgers Leave a Comment

The time is here. For a baseball fanatic this is the greatest time of the year, and the only month that will be filled only with promise and positivity.

The regular season, by nature is a roller coaster marathon ride that only the resilient survive, both fan and player.

In my eight seasons of professional baseball, I attended seven spring trainings. In each of them, I had just a bit more knowledge from the previous season to use to my advantage. I relied heavily on my failures to fuel how I would approach each new season.

The first taste of spring practice elicits emotion unlike any other. Players are eager as ever to show off their efforts of the offseason and prove themselves alongside the organization’s elite.

With spring training, however, comes a large window for athletes to misstep. This time of year is also the most riddled with injury, and for reasons beyond offseason preparation (although that’s a huge factor).

Below are three of the biggest mistakes baseball players make in spring training and spring practices. I offer solutions to these issues as always.

Mistake #1 – Too many players try to “be the hero” or make the team on day one

For young players in their first spring training or even veterans trying to secure a job, the first few weeks on the field can take a toll on the body if you’re not careful. If you think about it, athletes are going from the comforts of their own gym, own home, and own field, most likely throwing and practicing in comfortable shorts and t -shirts…to then all of a sudden being thrust into one of the most competitive and cutthroat months of training in professional sports.

Usually, for pitchers, a 30-50 pitch bullpen will be thrown in the first couple of days. I don’t care how much training you do in the offseason, the adrenaline won’t compare to throwing in front of your employer and the decision makers of your career. Too many guys will try to impress the instructors, front office, and fellow peers, which is all normal, but it will set you back if you wind up too sore or fatigued.

The same goes for position players. You, like the pitchers, should have busted your ass in the offseason to be capable of handling the physical demands of the spring, but you still need to be careful to not overdo it on the swings, the throwing, and fielding. Keep a good tempo, don’t blow out your arm, and don’t be someone you’re not. You don’t make the team on day one.

Solution – For pitchers, follow these three tips.

#1 – Don’t do anything more than what your off-season throwing program conditioned you for. For instance, if you have worked up to 200 feet in long toss, don’t move it out to 300 just because it looks impressive or you feel good. Have a plan and stick to it.

#2 – In your bullpens, keep your off-season preparation in mind. If you haven’t spun many breaking balls, don’t go out and show off by trying to rip a bunch of breakers off. Take it easy, take your sweet time, and work on one thing. Get a feel for the dirt, the spikes, and being outside. Focus on throwing a bunch of strikes.

#3 – In conditioning and the weight room, stick to a routine that will keep you fresh. Now is not the time to set personal records. It’s a time to stay explosive, refine what you did in the off-season, and continue getting better, not worse. Too many times, testosterone kicks in, and makes it tempting to show off in front of your teammates and buddies. Now’s not the time, guys. Being sore and tight is the worst thing you can be in spring training besides sidelined from injury. If you try to be the hero, you might just end up sitting on the sidelines or even worse, jobless.

Mistake #2 – Players deviate from their plan because of peer pressure, coaching pressure, or added competitive factors

Often times young or inexperienced players fall into different spring training traps. The biggest one comes from their peers and competition. Every other player at your position is your competition.

It’s only natural to try and out do the other guy in drills, conditioning, and other practice, however staying healthy is the absolute most important thing.

If you’re constantly worried about impressing and showing off, injury is bound to happen. Even though there quite possibly is job security on the line, it’s paramount that you are at your best for game time. While the coaches might be pleased to see the ball jump out of your hand in the bullpen or rocket off your bat in the cages, it doesn’t matter until you get in the game and on the field against opponents.

Solution – Focus hard on suppressing the desire to show off or give more effort than is normal for you. In all the drills, conditioning, and other activities, focus on execution. Don’t be temped to do extra work just for the hell of it.

Do what needs to be done, work on your weaknesses, and have a game plan before you get to the field. Ask yourself, “What can I get better at today?”

Also, take inventory on how you feel. If you’re run down a bit, take the necessary measures to warm-up and recover. Make sure you’re getting your rest, and show up to the field ready to perform.

Mistake #3 – The players physical preparation doesn’t match up to off-season

This is without question the biggest cause of injury in spring training or pre-season practices. Obviously, it is optimal to take complete advantage of every day in the off season to improve your body and game. The team expects you to show up in better condition than the previous season, and expects you to be free of injury.

With this being said, the weight training, conditioning, pre-hab, and recovery strategies should NOT do a complete 180 when you get to camp. If you haven’t squatted in the off-season, don’t go and squat just because your buddies are. Be very clear with the coaches and trainers about what you’ve done in the offseason, and be sure not to push it past the ideal volume point. Remember, it’s about feeling good, not showing off.

The same goes for the training room stuff. Don’t make it habit to hang out in there. If you weren’t doing a bunch of shoulder exercises, don’t start crushing those just because everyone else is. Do what make’s YOU perform at high level, and that’s it. More is the enemy in spring training. Optimal for you is the aim.

Solution – Cover all your bases to make sure you aren’t doing anything that will make your body hate you. Keep it a goal to maintain your mobility, strength, and conditioning levels, but don’t shoot to make gains anywhere unless it’s needed.

For instance, you might need to get your aerobic capacity up a bit, but don’t do it at a cost for on field performance. If running 20 sprints will get your conditioning level up, but hinder your body on the field, don’t do it. I understand that coaches will be in charge of telling you what to do, but auto regulate your own intensity and effort to keep your body feeling as fresh as possible.

Make sure also that you are eating just as well as the offseason, or at least to the best of your ability. Sometimes you’ll be on the field for hours on end, so the time at the hotel or away from the field is crucial for recovery and keeping the calories at the right level.

One of the worst things you can do is drastically change your body weight set point and lose performance. Wherever you feel best bodyweight wise, do whatever it takes to stay there.

These strategies are so crucial to keep in mind as you enter spring training or practice. I hope that you have prepared hard in the offseason, and continue to refine things in the spring.

This is NOT the time to try and get into shape.

It’s time to ramp slowly into game ready, season form. The only thing that matters is that you are healthy, feeling good, and performing at your best. The rest is eyewash. Cut out all the extra nonsense, and do whatever it takes to feel good everyday. For everyone, it’s completely different.

Remember, you don’t make the team on day one.

Good luck.

If any of you need guidance this spring, or this season, we are available to help. Learn more here

The Biggest Problems With Your Offseason

November 18, 2015 by Chad Rodgers 1 Comment

I’ve got a bone to pick. A few actually..but as a relatively newish retired baseball player, I’ve grown to see my past, the current state of the game, and the future of the sport in a different light.

When playing, I had blinders on. I was totally wrapped up and obsessed in accomplishment and achieving the highest level of my own individual human potential that I could give two shits about anything anyone else was doing.

I was in love with the game and the process.

I’ve ironically been very hesitant getting back into the baseball world post career for a few reasons. The first is that I became psychologically bored and aggravated with the game. Loads of being on the “other side of the fence” so to speak with rehab and being sidelined due to injury has a way of making a player iritable and hungry for something else..anything else besides baseball.

Long road rehabilitation has a way of detaching a competitor from the game or at minimum, inducing reflection on his or her craft.

Thats what the journey back from Tommy John, several shoulder setbacks, and a hamstring tear will teach you. The compilation of the hours alone, not competing, and drooling to get back give you no choice but to reflect and watch the game from a distance. It’s either that or drive yourself nuts worrying and overanalyzing to the point of insanity. It’s like keeping a tiger in it’s cage with all the necessary items to survive but not thrive. Taking competition away from a competitor is frustrating.

Anyways, being away has allowed me to see clearly the mistakes I’ve made, in addition to things I did really, really well which kept me in possession of a job as long as I possibly could have.

This is key because baseball is not a game of perfection. It is not linear. It is abstract, strange, and messy. It will screw the player who thinks it should be perfect. It will reward the player who respects it but doesn’t bow to it.

Unfortunately, I was one of those players who thought it should be perfect. I wanted the work I put in to be directly equal to the outcome I saw on the field. As I said before, the game is messy and doesn’t really mesh well with perfectionists and over achievers at all.

From being away for awhile, I see clearly the gaps that need filled in the game. I see what the underachievers do wrong, and I see where the overachievers screw themselves.

The ones that lie somewhere in the middle are the ones that survive. They are the ones that are rewarded in the game of baseball, and I suspect other sports as well.

Here’s one of those “gaps”..

Enter the offseason…A clean slate…A time to rejuvenate, relax, and recharge….right?….Kinda. The game goes on without you whether you like it or not. It’s a brutal business, and everyone who ever plays has a day when the game says it’s time to hang em up. As a ballplayer you have a pre-sized window in which you can either optimize your potential or spit it out like like a sunflower seed from the dugout on an August afternoon.

There are ceilings.

We haven’t found what they are yet, and YOU certainly haven’t discovered them in your athletic career unless of course you have truly given your soul to discover what the best of the performance world has to offer.

A big step, in my experience, is having a plan for when the season is over that basically outlines how to dominate the next one.

The following is a list of 4 ways many baseball players sabotage their offseason, and give away their potential to the universe along with solutions to mitigate the issues…

Most of your problems are as follows. Listen up baseballers..

1.) You don’t begin your preparation soon enough. – When the season ends, there is no question there are issues to resolve from a fitness standpoint, a movement standpoint, and likely a rehabilitation and arm care standpoint. I know the last thing you want to do the day after the season ends is get back in the gym, but the reality is your window closes on your human potential one day at a time…and it closes faster than you think.

No, this doesn’t mean go squat the world and run 10 miles on day one, but you should already have a plan of action. On day one or very soon their after, you need to get to work on your weaknesses. You must solve your aches and pains, and you must have a plan of action with your nutrition and strength/conditioning.

Action Step – Before your season ends, have a plan for how your offseason will evolve. Some questions that need answered are –

Where will I be training? Is it the best place available for the resources I have and have access to? Where will I throw once my throwing program begins?

On what date will I begin my skill work, my throwing program, and strength & conditioning program? Will this give me plenty of time to be more than prepared?

What are the core issues I need to address with my body and mind to make myself a better player?

What are the issues in my game that need improvement?

What are the nutritional deficiencies and gaps that I have? Do I need to gain muscle mass and weight or lose weight and become more fit?

What weight do I feel best playing at? What are my goals in this game, and how can next season get me closer?

Write these questions down. They all need to be answered before the offseason begins.

2.) You don’t get started soon enough on your skill work – Improving your weaknesses in the game can be a humbling experience. It’s like the cold. We avoid it at all costs, and seek the warm comfort. The same goes for sports. If we are good at throwing curveballs, we tend to throw a ton in practice to boost our egos. If we are a good hitter but a horse shit infielder, we find comfort in staying in the cage taking b.p. We stay away from the cold that is our weaknesses. Deliberate effort on the weak parts of our game is a grueling but necessary step during the offseason months.

The season sneaks up on you before you know it, so you better have some of these deficiencies addressed whether it’s hitting to the opposite field, a pickoff move to first base or getting a jump when stealing a base. If you’re not any better than you were at the end of last season, you don’t deserve a spot on the team or a job in your organization. It’s a simple as that. Brutal truth, but it’s the truth nonetheless.

Get to work and progress toward efficiency at these weaknesses as the offseason progresses. The physical issues like mobility restrictions, imbalances, and strength and conditioning improvement should be priority number one at the beginning, however.

3.) Your nutrition doesn’t have performance or even health in mind – Fellow Show Me Strength writer, and resident nutrition expert, Andrew Ferreira has written extensively on this topic as it pertains to performance in the baseball sphere.

5 Strategies For Winning the Minor League Nutrtion Battle on Eric Cressey’s website <– Part one

5 Strategies For Winning the Minor League Nutrition Battle on Eric Cressey’s website <– Part two

10 Nutrition Thoughts For the MLB Offseason

I don’t need to delve further into the subject, as A.F. has written everything that you need to get started and successfully dominate the nutrition aspect of the season and offseason for baseball.

It’s a huge issue, however because you keep showing up to camp looking less than intimidating, and your insides aren’t functioning in a way that promotes performance.

In baseball, we must control the controllables which clearly means that we need to keep eating with on field and in gym performance/recovery in mind. As I said before, the door closes fast on your time to make a mark in the game, so you wouldn’t want to cite poor eating habits as a reason why you never reached your maximum potential.

Give those reads above some thought and start eating like a savage on a mission.

4.) You’re training doesn’t evolve with the spring in mind – There is nothing wrong with training hard and heavy as a baseball player. The timing of going hard and heavy, however, matters quite a bit.

I am guilty as charged with making the mistake of training too slow and too heavy late in a few of my offseason’s. As a result, I had a hard time feeling explosive right out of the gate in spring training. This was my own wrong doing, as I just love to lift heavy, but got caught up in pushing that specific training envelope too far into my winter.

The early winter months (typically Nov, Dec, Jan) long before your first practice is the time to make significant strength improvement. Waiting too long to train hard or continuing to train heavy too close to go time can cause you to be slow and unprepared as an explosive athlete on the field.

Here is a bare bones, simple guide to structuring your offseason training. This is by no means a specific program, but as a baseball player, you need to appreciate the different stages in the off-season process.

Beginning “restorative phase” (First 4-6 weeks) – Restore mobility and soft tissue restrictions. Take care of pain. Dial in nutrition as well as caffeine reliance. Begin strength and conditioning ramping toward the middle phase. Pick a date to get started on a throwing program, and build your body and prepare your arm accordingly. Get on a solid sleep schedule. Starting on day one of your offseason, you need to start the process of resetting your body after a long season that has deteriorated your health. Foam rolling alone might get you sweating, but that’s exactly why you must get started right away.

Middle “gains phase” (The middle chunk of your offseason. At least a month after the restorative phase, and ending around 4-8 weeks weeks before your first official team practice.) Primary focus on strength development, energy systems development, arm strength, and throwing volume. This is where the deposits are made into your performance bank account. This is where you make the biggest changes to your body and your capabilities in terms of resiliency and performance. These winter months will make or break your offseason, and will truly determine if you reach your potential or not. By now you should be getting significantly stronger, more powerful, and more healthy. You should be eating with your goals in mind, and sleeping/recovering like a beast. Leading into the final phase, you should be moving optimally, have plenty of applicable strength for the sport, and be free of nagging pains. This will be huge as you dedicate the next phase to working yourself into game shape.

End or “refinery phase” (Last 8-12 weeks before spring training, tryouts, or first practice) – Primary focus on skill work, explosive/speed work, maintaining strength gains, and increasing arm speed. In my experience, this is the most fun part of the offseason if timed correctly. There were a couple situations where I pushed my strength end of the continuum too hard and got started too late on the refinery phase. Big mistake. On the flip side, when I did time it right, I went into this stage excited and more than prepared for the ensuing skill, speed, and refinery work. This is the time to start ramping up the sprint work to a appropriate level, increase your intensity off the mound, and get your swing dialed in. Strength work should be fast, not get you too sore, and mimic the explosiveness required on the field. Of course we are still hammering the mobility and soft tissue stuff, but more from a maintenance standpoint. Everything you do at this stage should be geared around feeling good, feeling fast, and feeling ready for the demands at your position. You’ve put the plan in place, done the restorative work on your imbalances and restriction. You’ve put on applicable strength. Now’s the time to become the athlete.

Don’t screw up these phases.

Know the time to ramp, train, and refine the animal you intend to be this season.

If you need more help, we’ll be right here showmestrength.com/coaching

Baseball Physical Preparation : Oxidative Fitness For Baseball by Pat Davidson

October 29, 2015 by Chad Rodgers 3 Comments

Note from Chad and Andrew: We are absolutely fired up that Pat Davidson and Doug Kechijian have decided to come on board at Show Me Strength and address all things physical preparation for the baseball athlete. Pat and Doug are two of the most knowledgable, yet humble professionals we know, while also doubling on the side as savages. We couldn’t be more pumped to have them on board.

For this follow up to Doug’s installment yesterday, Pat thoroughly dissects the science from a series of questions we posed on the topic of oxidative fitness in baseball. What follows are his thoughts on the subject.

The baseball athlete does not appear to be one who would benefit greatly from focused oxidative training. The activities within a baseball game are ones that feature brief bursts of high intensity and high velocity movements interspersed with great rest.

If we examine muscular behavior below surface level observances, a case may be made for benefit coming from possessing oxidative fitness.

The model presented in this article will focus primarily on the benefits of possessing higher levels of mitochondria and capillary density found in the musculature associated with baseball movements, and in an enhanced ability of the athlete to recover post training/competition with a more robust cardiorespiratory system. Possessing more mitochondria and a greater network of capillaries in baseball specific muscles would create a situation where these muscles would be able to alternate between excitation and inhibition from an electrochemical perspective.

Scientists such as Stuart McGill, and coaches such as Charlie Francis have explained that the primary difference between lesser athletes and greater athletes from a neurochemical/neuromuscular perspective is the rate at which muscle is able to inhibit following excitation at a local level. The content of mitochondria found in specific musculature appears to be related to inhibition rates. From a recovery perspective, the ability to replenish the components of the phosphagen system (ATP and Creatine Phosphate (CP)) is accomplished through oxidative energy system capabilities.

The movements performed in baseball are powered through the actions of the phosphagen system. The ability to repeat these movements with the same level of power would be largely based on the capacity to replenish the substrate associated with the phosphagen system, which is driven through oxidative means.

Finally, the recovery and regeneration of the organism is accomplished in the post exercise time period through parasympathetic derived means. The ability to reach a deep parasympathetic state is primarily based on allowing the system to relax fully. Tissues that are operating through oxidative means will have lowered physiological cost associated with their behaviors, and a lower resting heart rate would allow the autonomic nervous system to function in a greater parasympathetic manner.

Baseball is a sport where athletes must be able to demonstrate biomechanical proficiency to perform the sporting movements with fluidity and power. The ability to rotate the lumbo-pelvic-femoral complex, the thoraco-abdominal complex, and the temporo-mandibular-cervico-cranial complex smoothly and gracefully are the hallmarks of a baseball player who can achieve optimal mechanics in throwing, fielding, swinging, and base running.

These movement capabilities are driven through the ability to demonstrate optimal joint positioning, which is highly related to the ability to inhibit chains of musculature.

Inhibition of musculature is a neuro-chemical process. This neurochemical phenomenon is greatly linked to the energy system demands of the tissues. Tissues that are working in a non-oxidative manner for prolonged periods of time (particularly at rest) will largely be unable to relax, and will have reduced ability to achieve electro-chemical inhibition. This reduction in inhibition capacity will reduce the fluidity of movement and will delay the ability of the tissues to recover post training and competition.

Increasing the number of mitochondria found within muscles will allow them to work oxidatively to a greater extent, which will foster an enhanced ability of these tissues to inhibit. Greater inhibition capabilities can then feed into an enhanced ability to smoothly execute the mechanics of the movements associated with the game when the athlete is practicing these movements.

Fitness gains can only be maximized if proper recovery from exercise takes place.

The recovery process is based on anabolic processes. Anabolism is the storage mode of the human body. The human organism cannot go into an anabolic storage mode unless a parasympathetic state is reached. Parasympathetic states are permitted to take place when heart rates decrease substantially, the emotional setting is one of comfort and control, and the organism is safe and relaxed. Reaching a state where the organism is safe and relaxed is based on reducing threat to as great a level as possible. Threats come in both conscious and subconscious forms. The primary physiological threats to the mammal are temperatures and pH levels that go outside of the window of comfort. Therefore, if the internal environment of the organism is not maintained at a level that is very easy for the system to control, threat level goes up and the ability to fall into a deep parasympathetic environment is compromised.

An elevated resting heart rate, inabilities to breathe freely and easily (poor rib cage mobility), having tissues that exist in non-oxidative states at rest (trigger points, diminished afferent signaling from poor joint positioning, etc.), and having internal organs working harder than they need to in order to maintain the system (gut problems from a poor diet) all are potential subconscious threats that will prevent optimal recovery through a highly dominant parasympathetic response.

From a training perspective, if we are interested in increasing the number of mitochondria for the purpose of improving inhibition capacities, we should utilize approaches that foster the physiological phenomenon of mitochondrial biogenesis. The main thing to think about in this area is that we do not want to create local muscular environments that are highly acidic, as this uncouples the mechanisms inside the nucleus of the cell that leads to the making of new mitochondria. Instead, we want to perform exercise that stays short of creating acidic environments.

Another conceptual piece to consider is that mitochondrial biogenesis is an adaptation inside a skeletal muscle fiber.

The only way that muscle fibers are capable of going through adaptation is if they are recruited and fatigued during an exercise bout. Muscles are recruited based on the size principle, wherein slow twitch fibers are recruited first, and as force increases, faster fibers are called into action in a gradated fashion. Fatigue of fibers is a nebulous topic that is based on a point at which a fiber shows a demonstrable decrease in the mechanical work output. Baseball movements are typically explosive in nature, and because of that, fast twitch fibers must be targeted for mitochondrial biogenesis.

While increasing the oxidative capacities of fast twitch fibers may sound like an oxymoron type statement, it is a physiologically valid approach. One of the primary training methods used to increase oxidative capabilities of fast twitch fibers is high intensity continuous training (HICT).

High intensity continuous training involves repeated high force movements done at a pace that keeps the heart rate from going over the point of lactate threshold. An example of a HICT protocol for the lower body would be 2 to 3 sets of 20 minutes of step ups where all the step ups are high force (wear a heavy weight vest, and drive really hard on the effort), and the heart rate never spikes above the threshold point at which the athlete would enter a non-oxidative dominant state. The athlete may have to intersperse each step up with a 5 to 6 second break to keep the HR below the anaerobic threshold to avoid accumulation of acid.

The purpose of this article is to discuss the theoretical rationale for why developing an oxidative system is important for baseball players, and it is not intended to be a detailed training prescription; however, some thoughts will be provided in this paragraph.

Creating a specific training approach that increases the oxidative capacities of the baseball specific muscles is not the easiest task to accomplish, and may be largely a fool’s errand from a strength and conditioning perspective. From the perspective of increasing the mitochondrial density of fast twitch fibers of the body, pick a few good methods for the lower body and a few for the upper body and stick to them rather than trying to mimic the exact movements of baseball in a training environment. Fast twitch fibers are not the only fibers needed for targeting in baseball players. Slow twitch fibers, particularly those of the pelvis, abdomen, and thorax need to be developed so that many of the static and slow speed positions and movements associated with the game (the leg raise of the pitching wind-up, the stride of the batter, cocking positions of throwing, etc.) can be improved with specific training protocols that recruit and fatigue these fibers. Baseball players still need to do traditional strength and conditioning protocols aimed at strength and power parameters as well as the hormonal system.

In closing, it should be stated that there is a physiological cost associated with every piece of mechanical, cellular, electrical, and transport work that the organism performs. The organism has many strategies that can be used to perform work; however, there is always an easiest possible physiological strategy that involves the least amount of cost. If you are tight, you can still power through movements; however, it takes more effort compared to someone with less internal resistance doing the same movement. If you are using the glycolytic energy system to power the performance of your sport movements (or the recovery in between bouts of repeated efforts); however, you will experience fatigue faster than an athlete using oxidative means to accomplish the same task (even if that task is recovery).

The greater the cost you have to pay over your athletic career to accomplish the things you do in your sport, the sooner your career will burn out. Those who find the most energy efficient way possible to move, train, recover, and exist are those who will last the longest, be able to have more repeat great performances, and who will have longer, happier lives after their playing days are done. The oxidative energy system is our efficient system, and it is the one that requires the least physiological cost for utilization. Develop your aerobic capabilities for easy power, easy recovery, and the long haul of your athletic career.

Now read: Nutritionally Controlling the Autonomic Nervous System

About the Author :

Pat Davidson is the current Director of Training Methodology at Peak Performance in New York City. He has a PhD in Exercise Physiology and is a competitive strongman in the 175 pound class who has finished in the top 10 at the North American Strongman (NAS) National Championships and has competed for the Amateur World Championships at the Arnold Classic in previous years. Pat has coached many strongman athletes, including multiple NAS National Champions in the 2014 calendar year. Pat bases his training methodology on his interpretation of block program design, and he relies on information from the Postural Restoration Institute (PRI) to guide him in his understanding of biomechanics and the strategies he utilizes to keep athletes feeling healthy and happy. You can contact Pat at pdpdavidson@gmail.com, as well as check out his awesome strength and conditioning program, MASS by clicking the link or picture here.

5 Reasons your Baseball Team is Full of “Dad Bods”

May 21, 2015 by Chad Rodgers Leave a Comment

If there is one sport that totally encapsulates the “dad bod” phenomenon, it is baseball. It’s just one of those activities that doesn’t take tremendous fitness prowess to be great at. In fact, while it might seem like baseball players look fit (uniforms hide a lot), for the most part they are just skilled at specific activities.

Baseball is an equal mix fine motor skill, years of accumulated development and learning, and decent athleticism. The leanest, strongest, buffest, and most athletic looking guys are not generally the best baseball players. There are exceptions, of course, but for the most part, I would estimate that an average body fat percentage for a typical professional baseball team is somewhere in the 15-17% range. That’s your average Joe walking the street.

If you haven’t come to hear of “dad bod” phenomenon, some brilliantly average college girl wrote about the advantages of dating this type of guy. First, to give credit where credit is due, she defined this type of guy perfectly. Her definition is as follows…

The dad bod is defined as the type of physique that shows…“I go to the gym occasionally, but I also drink heavily on the weekends and enjoy eating eight slices of pizza at a time.”

She hit the nail on the head with that one. I’ll give her that. We’ve been trying to find the perfect definition here in modern society for a while now.

The article goes further into defending this type of soft-bodied male, sparking several shake my head in disappointment comments that I will let you read here. –>http://theodysseyonline.com/clemson/dad-bod/97484 If you’re a guy, and you want to be successful with the opposite sex, you’ll be fine if you do exactly the opposite of what she claims is attractive. Trust me.

Back to baseball…

Our lifestyle as baseball players is extremely conducive to becoming soft bodied. It’s happened to me, and I’m not here to hate, just point out facts. Some of the best baseball players who ever lived look like they never touched a weight or consumed a vegetable. Some don’t appear healthy in the slightest, but they manage to stay on the field and crush it.

The vast majority, however, epitomize the dad bod because of a few big external factors. They are..

1.) Pathetic Eating and Food Choices – If someone doesn’t have to do something to survive, it is unlikely that one will consistently do that certain thing. What do I mean? It isn’t completely necessary to becoming a great baseball player, and survive and thrive as a professional to eat superbly healthy all the time, so most just don’t do it. They do whats convenient and affordable. Do I think eating optimally would improve a player’s health and wellness? Absolutely. Do I think it will help a player throw more strikes or hit for a higher average? Not so much. In my experience, the players who are the least neurotic about working out and eating tend to do the best. It’s probably because their mind is more free of clutter and worry than those of us who sweat even the smallest of details.

Anyways, baseball players, especially minor leaguers, are put in positions all day every day to make less than desirable nutrition choices at each meal. Fast food is often your only option, and uber processed turkey after batting practice every day just can’t be good for that half fat, half abs midsection on a typical ball player. Even more, being ravenous after a game at 11pm with 20 boxes of pizza waiting for the team will crush even the most disciplined athlete. Believe me.

2.) Piss Poor Sleep Schedule and Oversleeping – If it’s you’re job to be at your best physically and mentally between the hours of 7:00-10:00 P.M. then you can imagine a professional baseball player won’t have your “typical” and normal circadian rhythm patterns. Combine this with trying to force sleep on busses, planes, and hotels at atypical hours, and you have a recipe for compensation with too much afternoon sleep and caffeine from absurd amounts of energy drinks and coffee. My off-seasons were as if I was a totally different person with totally different demands and surroundings. I trained hard, ate well, and slept normally, then once the season started it was like everything in the baseball world’s power pulls you away from doing those three things.

3.) Lack of Quality Movement – I admire and love to death the strength and conditioning coaches, trainers, and physical therapists in professional baseball. They accept jobs to work long hours helping kids who are prized investments of very large companies. They accept this job with the understanding that they will be paid like shit for an opportunity to work with some of the world’s most skilled athletes. Baseball, unfortunately, is still a sport spinning its rear wheels in the old school ways of approaching health and fitness. Young players are still getting hurt at a high percentage, and millions are still being wasted on guys chilling in the locker room slouched over chic-fila breakfast biscuits wiping crumbs off their crappy moving and looking body. Some of my best friends have been made in the weight room and at the training table, and many are on the other end, fighting the good fight against baseball “norms” that promote stagnation and deterioration of athleticism. Things like standing around, sitting around, laying around, and riding around for hours and hours, then being expected to go perform tasks on the baseball field that simply wreck a healthy body is too overwhelming of a task for even the best trainers and strength coaches.

4.) Alcohol – One of the greatest things in the world is having a beer at the bar with teammates after a hard-earned victory. Nothing brings a team closer than the camaraderie of post game shenanigans. Checking out girls, slugging down a few cold ones, raising hell, it’s the best, it really is. There’s a saying that is so true about baseball players…”All we do when we are playing is talk about last night out after the game. All we do when we are out is talk about that day at the field.” The friendships created and the “fraternity” type environment cultivated on successful teams almost always involves alcohol on some level. I’d argue that without the bond of going out with the boys and reminiscing over the day’s baseball activities that a team would fail, every time. Is it good for the body? Not a chance. Is it good for recovery? Hell to the no. Is it good for winning as a team? I’d argue, yes. The body suffers from alcohol. We know this. Hormones get bent over and screwed. Fat loss get halted and diverted in it’s tracks. Recovery becomes delayed like a flight out of Boston in January. Crushing beers after a game, and on a belly full of post game mystery meat and pasta is a recipe for an optimal, glowing “dad bod.”

5.) Lack of Optimal In-Season and Even Off-Season Programming – A decent amount great players work their fucking tail off in the offseason. They heal from the previous season’s wear and tear, and train at a high level during the winter months. The best players seek out great coaches like Eric Cressey to program for them outside of what an organization will hand out to every player at the end of the season. It’s all about the edge, and resources delivered to strength coaches within organizations simply aren’t enough for minor leaguers looking to get to the big leagues. You would think otherwise, but if it weren’t for guys like Cressey, most players would fail to take advantage of offseason opportunities for improvement. In season workout programs are a totally different animal. I was fortunate enough throughout my career to receive programs from the most sought after baseball strength coach in the world. I would visit the northeast every winter to make the most out of my off-seasons. Eric Cressey would also program for me despite my in-season hectic, weak, injury provoking, dad bod conducive situation that is the minor leagues. Teams do a really awful job of monitoring their investments in the offseason. That must be noted. When the season comes, strength coaches and trainers have no clue about what a player did for the previous 5-6 months. They just “expect” that the kid is in shape and didn’t fuck around for 5 months like most 20 somethings do. When spring training begins, even the best strength coaches and trainers are caught in a shit storm of rigid scheduling and agenda. Players sneak by with little to no real work on their bodies or health. They get on the field and they get off, and I feel that almost everyone who doesn’t take it upon themselves to go against the grain, loses a step in their true potential.

My colleague, trusted friend, and fellow Showmestrength.com writer/consultant, Andrew Ferreira will be back soon with a follow up to this article via an action plan..Stay tuned.

Hacking Your Offseason Volume 2: The Lesson From a Grinder.

October 4, 2013 by showmestrength 1 Comment

“The enemy of the best is the good. If you’re always settling with the good, you’ll never be the best.” Jerry Rice

Ok. So you played a ton of games this season. That’s cool. You’re mentally and physically spent. I get it. You are probably even a bit banged up and maybe even injured. Alrighty then..

So what? These are simply truths for the athlete that lays it all out on the line, shows up everyday ready to play, hurt or not. It is a truth for the player every baseball manager drools to have 9 of out on the field.

I personally love to observe how these guys get the job done and how they go about their business on and off the field. Many times they are they guy that’s been looked past their entire career. It’s seemingly always the guy who doesn’t have many physical tools or smooth natural ability. It’s the little things they do right. The things that are simply a choice to be good at or not.

What keeps guys like this in the game for so long is their ability to turn off the pain switch, turn off the tired switch and just grind out whatever it takes to be ready every night…for every damn game. It’s truly a pleasure to watch the wheels turn inside these players’ heads. I can see the pain inside their eyes, but they will never dare express it. I know for certain it will take a mack truck running over them to see their name on the disabled list.

As I’ve played long seasons, and had the honor to call men like this my teammate, I’ve also seen a correlation in how they approach their offseason compared with the season.

The player who is a true grinder finishes out the season broken, beaten up, and sometimes a bit injured, but healthy in the eyes of his team. He has shown up and used whatever fuel he had to give on that particular day. He will be dying inside for the offseason to come, but NOT to rest and put his feet up on the couch. Rather, he see’s this time as an immediate opportunity to get to work on becoming healthy through proper training.

The work never ends for guys like this. It only changes. It takes a different form. The grinder never stops hustling.

On the flipside, far to many players have only thin skin. A ball off the foot, and they are out for 2 weeks. A broken fingernail, and they can’t swing a bat. A few rough outings, and all of a sudden their shoulder hurts out of the blue. And then when it comes time for the offseason, they feel the need to take a month off.

For these players, the work never began in the first place. They are just soft, simply put. Soft in season, soft offseason. Simple as that.

The grinder has a plan for his offseason before it even begins. He can’t wait to get to work, and fix the things that wore him out during the season. The things that wore him out, but didn’t kill him. I absolutely love having conversations with these players, because they already are looking forward to going out the following spring and kicking ass and showcasing the countless hours of work they put in during the winter. They have a plan. An aggressive one.

The softie wants to take off because they think doing nothing will “heal them.” They want to party and vacation for awhile. For them, awhile turns into a month, two months. By then the grinder has already logged some serious work. He hasn’t yet hit full throttle, but he has healed through smart training, eating, and resting properly. Let me tell you something…..Let this stick with you….

As soon as you put on a jersey, the people who make decisions are already looking for your replacement. They are figuring out who’s going to fill your shoes when you don’t quite cut it.

Are you going to be the player who finishes his season and stays content with resting for a couple months once its over? Or are you going to take the lesson of the grinder? As soon as that hourglass turns over, and your offseason begins, you best have a plan, a direction, and you better get moving sooner than you think you should. Here are 2 things to remember as you begin the grind this winter.

1. Your idea of rest is overrated- Taking completely off with no training activity isn’t resting, its only being lazy. Take the first month to get some of your mobility back, gain some strength and get back into working shape. Construct an awesome diet to optimize your hormones. Get on a regular sleep schedule, and do your resting once you get out of the gym feeling refreshed and one step closer to the guy you want to be in the spring.

2. You aren’t working as hard as you think. If you start training smart early in the offseason, you will be amazed at the things you will be capable of around January. If you let these precious first month to months go by because you are “resting”, you’ll never find out what real progress feels like.

So, get on it. Someone out there is working hard while you are horsing around, resting…….resting for what? Remember they are looking for your replacement. Don’t let it happen. Get to work.

5 Keys to a Productive Bullpen Session

January 31, 2013 by showmestrength 5 Comments

“We can’t get good at something solely by reading about it. And we’ll never make giant leaps in any endeavor by treating it like a snack food that we munch on whenever we’re getting bored. You get good at something by doing it repeatedly. And by listening to specific criticism from people who are already good at what you do. And by a dedication to getting better, even when it’s inconvenient and may not involve a handy bulleted list.” Merlin Mann

It’s getting to be that time of year again. The report date for pitchers and catchers is rapidly approaching. Pro guys are tightening things up to go and compete for jobs, college players are getting game ready to start their seasons, and high school/youth players are transitioning from their winter sports to get ready for their spring baseball schedule.

For pitchers, now is about the time when you’ll see a bunch of work on the mound, or in baseball terms, a “bullpen session.” As a pitcher myself, it’s always so exciting to get back up on the hill where I belong, and see my work from the previous months of throwing and training pay off.

Looking back at all the bullpen sessions I’ve thrown and seen in my career as a professional baseball player, there are a couple of things I can point out that jump to my mind.

1.) When I was an amateur, I had the arm strength, talent and pitch quality to throw a pro level bullpen, but I didn’t have the knowledge, feel of my mechanics, or idea about where to dedicate my efforts for the duration of a particular session.

2.) I quickly learned and observed that high level professional pitchers, big leaguers in particular, for the most part, have a precise idea of what they want to accomplish each time they get on the mound to practice. Throwing is something they did in their backyard with their dad. Pitching and executing was what they did to feed their families.

After spending tons of time studying theses guys, asking them questions, and implementing some of their ideas into my own game, I began to see a much steadier increase in development. It wasn’t until I used this precious time on the mound for dedicated focus on my weaknesses, and not to just get an arm workout, that I finally realized what separated the amateurs from the professionals and the professionals from the great ones.

Here are 5 things I’ve picked up that will help you have a productive practice session on the mound each and every time.

1.) BE COMPLETELY AND PROPERLY WARMED UP EVERY TIME YOU GET ON THE MOUND, NO EXCUSES- This one is near and dear to my heart, because I’ve not only injured myself on a couple occasions from being improperly warmed up, I’ve seen other pitchers get injured or perform poorly due to sucky warmups or no warmups at all. It doesn’t take much, just get the right muscles firing and woken up, get a sweat going, and you’re all set. Here are a couple of variations that I’ve used and had success with. They are both quick, to the point, and able to be performed anywhere.

a.) 5 Moves To Get Ready In A Hurry

b.) Warmup in a hurry by Roger Lawson

2. HAVE ONE WEAKNESS TO WORK ON AND A CERTAIN NUMBER OF PITCHES TO DO IT IN It’s very easy to fall into the trap of pitching to your strengths in practice, because it gives us confidence. The great ones, however, know what their good at, but also know that bullpens are times to dedicate their efforts into something they might not be comfortable with. They won’t throw their signature pitch, because they know in order to develop another one, it takes time and precise focus on weakness. It is also easy to get caught up and lose track of how many pitches you’ve thrown. Set a number based on where you are at in your offseason or seasonal throwing program and stick to it give or take 2 or 3 pitches.

3. GET LONG AND BRING IT BACK IN HARD- I’ve always had success with long tossing before a bullpen session or even a game if I’m starting. I feel myself not only getting physically loose, but when I long toss correctly and stay on top and through the baseball, it will normally translate to faster hand speed when I bring it back in to 60 feet. Once I get to a distance where I feel I’m giving close to full effort WITHOUT compromising my mechanics, I’ll start bringing the catcher back in slowly to 60 feet. (For me, it’s usually right around 200 feet. Sometimes I’ll go longer or shorter based on how I’m feeling. My main goal is not to see how far I can throw it, it’s to get my effort level, hand speed, and mechanics to sync up to get ready for my mound session.)

Once my catcher comes back to about the 90 feet mark, I do two things. 1.) I really start to let it rip. 2.) I throw my change-up at full speed to make sure I’m staying on top and keeping the same arm speed. Staying ontop and through the baseball to create that hard tight backspin is my goal here at 90ft.

Now, my catcher comes in to 60 feet. I’ll get him down and simulate a few of each of my pitches before we take the mound.

4. ALWAYS ESTABLISH YOUR FASTBALL ABOVE ANYTHING ELSE. THE ONLY EXCEPTION IS IF YOU ARE A KNUCKLEBALLER. If you get nothing more out of your bullpen other than gaining a solid command of your fastball, I can always count that as a productive session. This is the number one pitch in baseball. A good one can get players to make their high school team, get into and play in college, get drafted, and even make it to the major leagues, so it must be our number one priority. Without a fastball, you’re nothing….Unless your name is R.A. Dickey, Tim Wakefield, or Phil Niekro!

My suggestion would be to throw about 5 fastballs for strikes in the middle of the plate to start you bullpen off. This will calibrate your release point, give you some confidence that you are driving down the right line, and set you up for moving the ball in and out. After you’ve got a grip on the middle of the plate, move the catcher to the glove half of the plate. <<Notice I said half. Many pitchers make the mistake of trying to be too fine and precise, too early. Throwing the ball to your glove side for consistent strikes ensures you are getting through the baseball correctly. If you are flying open with that front hip, shoulder, and glove, there’s no chance that you establish this part of the plate as your own. Drive the ball with your lower half to that side, don’t try and rip it open to get there.

GLOVE SIDE (GREEN) ARM SIDE (PINK)

5.) FINSH WITH ONE OR TWO SIMULATED HITTERS- This is at the end of your bullpen session. At this point you should at minimum have made progress on your weaknesses and established your fastball down in the strike zone to both sides of the plate. It’s a bonus if we have full command of everything, and we should strive to do so, but it just won’t always happen.

Ideally, now you have a hitter step in and take a few pitches, but if not, have your catcher call a sequence of pitches to simulate a lefty and a righty batter. Throw all your pitches. Execute your pitches. Call it a day.

In closing, remember that every time you pick up a ball it’s to become a better baseball player. Have a plan about what weaknesses to attack in that particular session. If you just go out and sling it around without a purpose, I promise you wont be in the game very long. Everytime you take the mound whether it be in practice or a game… it is a privilege. So be warmed up properly, have an idea about what you want to work on, long toss a bit before, gain command of your fastball first thing, and end with a hitter or two to simulate a game situation.

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