Coop,

 

I’m a high school pitcher and outfielder, looking for some ways to increase my strength and get faster.  Currently our coach has us run poles and other sprints. I also go to the gym on my own usually twice per week.  I lift weights and run about three times per week, for approximately three miles each time. What else can I add to this to get better?

 

Thanks,

Mike

                                                                             

 

Mike,

 

Thanks for your question.  Tampa, being such a Mecca for baseball, I hear from baseball players all the time.  Baseball players, in general, have some of the worst information when it comes to strength and conditioning.  Many coaches and players alike still believe that lifting is going to make you big, bulky, and slow.  Several years ago a comparative study was done on all sports to see who was the most flexible athlete.  First place clearly went to gymnastics, but interestingly and to the surprise of many, Olympic weightlifting came in second (hmm).  This is because when you strength train with proper technique through full range of motion, you actually improve your flexibility.  Yeah it’s true!  Strength training alone can improve flexibility.

My point is times have changed, and science and practice have shown us what works.  Most of my baseball players, from high school to the pros, train 2 days per week during the season and 3-4 times during the off-season.  During the season the goal is to get in and out as quickly as possible and get as much “bang for your buck” in about 30-40 minutes.

 

Below is a sample workout that one of my top high school baseball players is doing this in-season.

 

Day 1

 

Barbell Reverse Lunge                                                           3 X 5 ea. 1.5 minutes rest between sets

Trap Bar Dead lift                                                                 3 X 5

Physio Ball Rotations                                                              3 X 5

Pull-Downs                                                                           3 X 5

Push-Ups w/weight vest                                                         3 X 5

 

 

Day 2                                      

 

Barbell Step-Up                                                                                 3 X 10 ea. 1minute rest between sets

Glute - Ham                                                                                     3 X 10

Russian Twist                                                                                   3 X 10

Pull-Ups                                                                                                         3 X 10

Triceps Overhead Extension (Cable)                         3 X 10

Start the above workout with a good dynamic warm up and some low intensity shoulder girdle work before and after the lift. This workout is designed to touch on both maximum strength (5 reps) and muscle growth (10 reps) in the same week. Also, we are hitting all muscle groups twice per week in two total body workouts.

Soreness during some games is a necessity. Players put up with a long season and lots of games.  If you are not willing to be a little sore you will find it impossible to maintain your strength.  Soreness is only a mental barrier because physically 24-48 hours after a strenuous workout, your power decreases by less than one percent.  If you choose to not consistently lift throughout the season, strength and power will drop substantially more. Plan your workouts around the important games and allow 60 hours of rest after a lift.

First thing you need to do is to stop distance running.  Distance running will keep you from achieving optimal strength and power levels. Your conditioning should include interval runs and repetitive sprints. This type of training will provide more than sufficient conditioning for baseball games.  A lot of players, especially pitchers, like to use aerobics to expedite recovery.  If you are one of these people, I recommend 10 minutes on a bike or rower instead.

If you want to get faster, you need to train at or near maximal velocity.   This will elicit powerful contractions and develop appropriate neural messages. Training for speed under a fatigued condition, will make an out of shape athlete faster.  On the other hand, a well conditioned athlete needs quality reps at full speed. When you are fatigued you are dipping into the wrong energy systems (such as slow glycolytic) and the nervous system is not learning to work at its’ full potential. Thus, you must have long rest between sprints, 2-5 minutes over short distances of 10-60 yards.                                                       

 

Below is a sample sprint program for speed development (not conditioning):

 

Day 1

 

15 yards X 10 reps / 2 minutes rest

40 yards X 4 reps / 4 minutes rest

 

 

Day 2                                                              

 

60 yards X 5 reps / 5 minutes rest                  

 

 

Day 3

 

10 yards X 5 reps / 1 minute rest

20 yards X 5 reps / 2.5 minutes rest

30 yards X 5 reps / 3.5 minutes rest

 

                                                                             

Good luck with your training.  I hope my response helped to shed some light on the subject.

 

COOP                                                                                                                                                

Coop,

 

I play college basketball, and I am looking to increase my vertical jump.  I have some friends who have trained with you and have mentioned the great results they’ve experienced.  I hope to get in there myself someday, but in the meantime I wanted some tips on improving my vertical.  My vertical is currently at 31 inches and has been the same for about two years.  I have tried everything from jump shoes, plyometrics, and sprints, but I just can’t seem to get my jump higher.  Do you have any drills you recommend?

 

Thank you,

Anthony

 

 

Anthony,

 

Most athletes want to increase their vertical jump, they just don’t know how.  If you look up “Vertical Jump” on the internet, all kinds of gimmicks and plyo programs pop up, including your jump shoes.  Now I must admit that at one time I owned my own pair of jump shoes, known as strength shoes.  I bought them when I was in high school.  I wore the shoes everywhere.  After all they guaranteed an additional 4 inches on your vertical.  In retrospect, I was sucked in by some enticing advertising and the lure of becoming a super athlete.  In reality all I was doing was walking around on my toes in some funny looking shoes and developing Achilles tendinitis at the same time.  My point is that there are a lot of gimmicks and false claims out there so you must be careful since most of these programs can lead to injuries.

The one thing research has shown that will truly increase you vertical jump is increased strength in your lower body. Your hamstrings, glutes, quads, and gastroc all play a large roll in your jump.  You need to try and maximize the amount of strength these muscles can generate using exercises like squats, front squats, RDL’s, step-ups, reverse lunges, and glute-hams.  When you can squat 2 times your body weight, you have developed a good amount of strength. It usually takes several years of training to gain this type of strength.

The second thing you need to do is develop your “Rate of Force Development” (RFD).  RFD is one’s ability to activate strength quickly.  Exercises like clean, snatch, and squat jumps, for reps of 5 or less with intensities of 70-90% of your max, will do the trick.  Also, when you are performing your strength exercises, like squats, don’t let the weight dictate the amount of force you generate. Push as hard as you can regardless of the weight on the concentric phase.

Lastly, you should focus on developing a myotatic stretch reflex within the muscles used in vertical jump.  This is commonly known as plyometrics or jump training, but most people are not doing it correctly.  In order to get the most benefit from your plyometric training you must spend less than 0.25 seconds on the ground with every jump.  This is what separates simple jumping from training the myotatic stretch reflex.

For example, choose a box height that you can jump on and jump off every time you hit the ground in 0.25 seconds.  Spend too much time on the ground and the training effect is diminished.  Try box jumps with a 12 inch box to start (10 sets @ 5 ea.), then move up as long as you are off the ground quickly.     

 

Coop

Mr. Cooper

 

I am a local high school football coach in the Tampa area.  Several of our players have come to your facility over the past few years and have seen great results!  I have two questions.  First, can you give me some recommendations on a speed training program for our players? Currently we do about 20 minutes of plyo’s, 20 minutes of stairs, and 20 minutes of sprints two times per week on Tuesday’s and Thursday’s.  We lift three times per week on Monday’s, Wednesday’s and Friday’s.  Second, would you or your staff be able to come out to practice and work with our players?            

 

Coach

 

 

 

Coach,

 

Thanks for your interest in our program.  I appreciate your willingness to learn and adapt new ideas into your program.  To answer your first question about speed training, let’s take a look at what you are currently doing.  The most important thing to do when analyzing any exercise or training program is to look at the adaptation that the program will elicit.  If you are running through all of these drills with a short rest or no rest for 60 minutes, power production will go down.  Your athletes will be developing conditioning of their slow-glycolytic and aerobic energy systems which is not conducive to developing speed and power.  Without finer details of your program it is difficult for me to give specific recommendations but here are some general ideas.

Regarding your current program, let’s talk about the plyo training first.  Make sure during the plyo section of your program that you allow for full recovery between sets.  Also be sure that the intensity is appropriate for high school athletes.  It is difficult to train large groups of players with different ability levels.  For example, there is a huge difference between a freshman who’s off season strength program consists of playing video games, from a junior who has three years of weightlifting under his belt.  Thus, I recommend modifying the intensity for different ability levels.

Twenty minutes of stair running is definitely conditioning and that’s ok if you are looking to get them ready for spring ball. Instead, let’s make it more specific for football.  Try sprinting up the stairs as fast as you can and then utilizing a 1:3 work/rest ratio before the next set.  Be sure to perform your stair running after your sprints.  It is imperative, that your sprint training is performed first before your stair running, since you want the athletes to be fresh and to use good running form at near maximal speeds.  Your stair running will take care of your conditioning so use your 20 minutes of sprints to work on improving speed, not conditioning.  To do this, use short distances between 15-40 yards with a 1:5 work/rest ratio. 

Your current lifting schedule of 3 days a week is slightly insufficient.  I typically recommend 4 times a week for my athletes.  This training schedule consists of Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday workouts.  The benefit to this type of split is that each muscle group is able to be trained twice a week with adequate rest for full recovery.