Physiology of Baseball Pitching Dictates Specific by MLB Pitching

Physiology of Baseball Pitching Dictates Specific Exercise Intensity for Conditioning David J. Szymanski, PhD, CSCS*D Louisiana Tech University, Ruston, Louisiana

SUMMARY THE PURPOSES OF THIS ARTICLE ARE TO DISCUSS TRADITIONAL BASEBALL PITCHER CONDITIONING, GIVE AN EXPLANATION WHY A PITCHER’S ARM MAY FEEL BETTER AFTER JOGGING THE DAY AFTER PITCHING, INFORM THE READER WHY LACTIC ACID DOES NOT CAUSE THE MUSCLE SORENESS A HEALTHY PITCHER EXPERIENCES AFTER PITCHING, AND GIVE POSSIBLE REASONS FOR UNACCUSTOMED THROWING ARM SORENESS. ADDITIONALLY, THIS ARTICLE DESCRIBES THE ENERGY REQUIREMENTS FOR BASEBALL PITCHERS, DESCRIBES RESEARCH THAT HAS EVALUATED INTENSITY OF HEART RATES WHILE PITCHING AND CONDITIONING, AND PROVIDES READERS WITH A PRACTICAL EXAMPLE OF A 5-DAY STARTING PITCHER’S CONDITIONING SCHEDULE.

INTRODUCTION

he main determinants of success in baseball pitching are skill, knowledge, psychological outlook, and physical strength and conditioning (13). During baseball practices, pitchers usually focus on skill development, motivation, and knowledge, whereas less time is typically

spent on conditioning (13). At the high school level, conditioning may involve all players on the team at one time without consideration for different positions. This may be due to the multiple positions played. For example, a high school team’s best starting pitcher may also be the best short-stop. High school pitchers may also run at a slow to moderate pace for distance or time. At the college level, pitchers have a conditioning program typically designed by the pitching coach or heavily influenced by the pitching coach. At the professional level, a pitcher’s program could be designed by the pitching coach, by the strength and conditioning coach, or by the pitcher himself. The type of conditioning program depends on what has worked best for the professional pitcher over his career. Thus, as a pitcher progresses to the highest level of play, the training program typically becomes more specific to the position played. TRADITIONAL BASEBALL PITCHER CONDITIONING

Traditionally, pitchers have run ‘‘poles’’ (from left field foul pole to right field foul pole), for either a specific number of repetitions or time to improve their cardiovascular endurance and to ‘‘flush’’ the throwing arm of lactic acid. This type of conditioning is called long slow distance (LSD) training. To understand the rationale as to why pitcher’s conditioning programs

incorporate LSD training over the past 70 years, one needs to know the history of the pitcher’s conditioning program. According to Bob Feller (Hall of Fame pitcher), conditioning in the 1940s and 1950s consisted of ‘‘plenty of running’’ (20). According to Nolan Ryan (Hall of Fame pitcher), conditioning in the 1960s and 1970s was thought to be an ‘‘individual matter’’ (20). In 1988, House (6) wrote that aerobic conditioning should be the focus of a pitcher’s conditioning. In 1996, House (7) wrote that both aerobic and anaerobic conditioning should be part of the pitcher’s program. Recently, several authors have recommended that pitchers run endurance and speed power (sprint intervals) on the various days leading to the next pitching performance (2,8,17). Today, pitchers are still running LSD. This is not to indicate that pitchers everywhere are only performing LSD or that it is an inappropriate form of conditioning. It is a general statement that indicates that it is still a major part of a pitcher’s conditioning program. Those who adhere to the concept of sport specificity may ask, ‘‘Why are pitchers still jogging LSD?’’ There

KEY WORDS:

baseball training; conditioning; interval training; percent maximum heart rate; sprint training

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Physiology of Baseball Pitching

could be several reasons. One may be that it has traditionally been done to develop cardiovascular endurance and it has been effective. Another may be that LSD is a simple form of low to moderate intensity exercise that can be performed almost anywhere. Yet another may be if a coach wants a player to lose body fat, LSD jogs are one method that can be beneficial regarding this matter if performed for 45 minutes or longer (1). Potteiger et al. (12) found that pitchers who completed a 40-minute per day aerobic dance conditioning program at 60–90% of heart rate reserve 4 days per week for 10 weeks had a significant decrease in percent body fat. However, if body composition is not an issue, there are other training methods that may be more appropriate for baseball pitchers. Results from Potteiger et al. (12) support this statement. Pitchers who completed the aerobic dance program had no change in throwing velocity or anaerobic power (vertical jump), whereas the pitchers in the weight/sprint training group had a significant improvement in throwing velocity (3.0%) and anaerobic power (4.2%). This demonstrated that pitchers should perform anaerobic activities, such as short sprints, at high intensities as part of their training program. Most recently, Rhea et al. (15) investigated the effects of performing aerobic or anaerobic conditioning over an 18-week college baseball season. Resistance and plyometric training exercises, sets, and reps were the same for all players. The only difference was the type of conditioning completed. One group of players performed moderate- to highintense cardiovascular endurance training, while the other group participated in speed/speed endurance training (15–60 m repeated maximal sprints) 3–4 days per week. The results demonstrated that the players that performed speed/speed endurance training significantly improved lower body power (vertical jump) by 15.3%, while the aerobically trained group had a decrease (22.6%) in lower body power. Rhea et al. (15)

stated that the aerobic training during the in-season was not compatible for baseball players, and suggested that baseball players train anaerobically since they largely rely on speed and power to be successful. This study also indicates that baseball players should complete anaerobic interval conditioning drills for enhanced performance. Specific training programs for college starting, middle relief, and closing pitchers have been written by Coleman (2), Kritz et al. (8), Odgers and Gambetta (10), Potteiger et al. (12), Potteiger and Wilson (13), and Szymanski (17). SO WHY DOES RUNNING LONG AND SLOW RELIEVE STIFFNESS AND SORENESS?

Before this question is specifically addressed, a basic distinction between chronic and acute pain and soreness needs to be discussed. The cause of a pitcher’s chronic arm pain and soreness could result from various reasons, such as impingement, tendinitis, or partial tears (3). Running LSD is not going to relieve chronic arm pain. For a healthy pitcher, the occasional or brief arm soreness that might be experienced after pitching is likely due to microtrauma (minute tears) to the musculature involved in throwing. Microtrauma is often caused by overuse injuries and results from repetitive overloading or incorrect mechanics associated with continuous competition (14). Baseball pitching causes such overuse injuries (3). A secondary injury is essentially the inflammatory response that occurs with the microtrauma to the damaged muscles involved in the throwing action. Jogging for 30–45 minutes the day after pitching makes the pitchers throwing arm feel better because it increases oxygenated blood flow and muscle temperature to stimulate pain relief (14). The increased blood flow will increase the number of white blood cells (leukocytes) and antibodies to the area of microtrauma and clear unwanted metabolites. The increased muscle temperature will produce a relaxation effect. This is accomplished by relieving pain, lessening hypertonicity

of muscles, and decreasing tenderness and tightness (14). Thus, the muscles and connective tissue of the throwing arm will have an increase in the elasticity and decrease in the viscosity. Simply put, the arm will feel looser and better because of the additional blood and heat delivered to the stiff arm. Therefore, running LSD, or any other form of exercise that increases blood and heats up the pitching arm, will help the healing process by acting as thermotherapy. WHY LACTIC ACID IS NOT THE CAUSE OF A PITCHER’S MUSCLE SORENESS

As stated above, LSD conditioning will increase blood flow throughout the body, which can make the pitcher feel less stiffness in their throwing arm. This type of conditioning, however, has nothing to do with ‘‘flushing’’ lactic acid out of the pitcher’s arm. In fact, lactic acid levels will not become high enough to limit performance of a pitcher. There is the possibility that a pitcher could have higher lactate levels than normal if they threw a high number of pitches during an inning (.35 pitches) with very short rest times (,3 seconds) between pitches. However, this is very unlikely to occur during a baseball game because the average time between pitches thrown by a college pitcher is 15–20 seconds (2,11). Furthermore, if a pitcher was fatigued and had high lactate levels, he could slow the game down by intentionally taking more time between pitches. If that did not work, once the pitcher’s half inning was completed, blood lactate levels would most likely return to normal levels while sitting on the bench when his team is batting. Finally, high levels of lactic acid accumulation (.12 mmol/L), which do not occur while pitching, will return to baseline levels within 40– 60 minutes after high-intensity exercise depending on whether one does active _ 2max) or passive (no exercise) (35% VO post-exercise recovery (18). Potteiger et al. (11) indicated that there were no differences between pre-pitching (0.76 mmol/L) and post-pitching (0.94

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mmol/L) blood lactate levels of 6 college baseball pitchers after throwing a 7-inning simulated game. Therefore, there is no lactic acid to ‘‘flush’’ out the pitcher’s arm 24 hours or longer after pitching. POSSIBLE REASONS FOR UNACCUSTOMED SORENESS

There are times when a healthy pitcher experiences more soreness than normal that is possibly caused by more than the inflammatory response. Research explains what physiologically happens when someone experiences unaccustomed or high-intensity exercise that has a large eccentric component (18). The greater soreness and stiffness that a pitcher occasionally experiences could be partially related to delayed-onset muscle soreness (DOMS). DOMS is the pain and stiffness typically felt after unfamiliar physical activity or increased intensity. The pain and discomfort usually peak 24–48 hours after an exercise bout and subside within 96 hours (18). This theory is based on anecdotal experience by the current author, both as a former player and as a current coach. This is not to say that all soreness is related to DOMS, just the times when a pitcher throws more pitches than they are used to (the average number of pitches thrown per inning in college baseball is 16) or throws more innings than they are accustomed to pitching. Because of the high eccentric forces placed on the throwing arm during the arm deceleration phase (arm slowing down after ball release) combined with a greater number of pitches thrown per inning or number of innings thrown, this author believes that this will increase the damage to the musculature of the throwing arm (latissimus dorsi, posterior deltoid, rotator cuff muscles, rhomboids, teres major, and trapezius) (3). Where physically in the body the pitcher experiences the soreness and stiffness will depend on his throwing mechanics and release point. The body’s adaptation to the DOMS that it is experiencing provides a protective mechanism so that if a pitcher has another performance in

the future similar to the one that caused the DOMS, the body will protect itself from further damage. Currently, there is no one effective way to decrease DOMS. Our body needs to go through the 2–3 days of DOMS to physiologically adapt before it feels better. ENERGY SYSTEMS FOR BASEBALL PITCHING

To determine how to design an appropriate conditioning program for pitchers, one must have a basic understanding of the bioenergetic systems. Aerobic metabolism basically deals with a series of chemical reactions that require oxygen to produce adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and water. From an athletic standpoint, this system predominates while our body performs work at ‘‘light’’ to ‘‘moderate’’ intensities (50–76% maximal heart rate) (1). On the other hand, anaerobic metabolism is a series of reactions that do not require oxygen to produce ATP. Anaerobic metabolism (creatine phosphate and glycolysis) predominates during high-intensity activities (77–94% maximal heart rate) and short-duration activities that are of maximum intensity. Because pitching is a short-duration maximum-intensity movement, its predominant energy system is anaerobic (12). According to Mathews and Fox (9), energy delivery systems while pitching are 95% ATP-PC (creatine phosphate system) and 5% is glycolysis (break down of glucose). According to Fox (4), pitching is 90% anaerobic and 10% aerobic. Either way, this implies that the repetitive activities involved in pitching are of short duration and maximum intensity. It has been suggested that the shorter the performance time of the activity, the greater the power output required. Pitching is no exception. Pitching is a ‘‘series of short-duration and maximum-intensity efforts followed by extended periods of rest’’ (13). When designing a conditioning program for a pitcher, one must consider the anaerobic energy systems, exercises that train those energy systems, and

appropriate exercise intensity (percent heart rate maximum). Percent of agepredicted heart rate maximum (% HRmax) is probably a variable that most coaches have not considered for baseball pitchers. HEART RATE RESEARCH CONDUCTED ON BASEBALL PITCHERS

In 1968, Stockholm and Morris (16) conducted a baseball pitching study that examined the influence of physical exertion and emotional stress on the heart rate while pitching in a game. The subject was a freshman collegiate baseball pitcher. The methods consisted of 2 electrodes attached to the pitcher’s body and a transmitter placed in a belt pocket located at the subject’s lower back. A receiver and recorder were inside the pitcher’s team dugout. Pitch count was not reported. The pitcher threw a 9-inning game that lasted 3 hours 10 minutes. The results of the study indicated that immediately after pre-game warm-up, peak heart rate was 151 beats per minute (bpm). At the end of the 1st inning warm-up peak heart rate was 174 bpm. At the end of the 1st inning peak heart rate was 181 bpm. By the third inning, peak heart rate was 193 bpm. During the fourth and through the 9th innings peak heart rate ranged between 158– 186 bpm. What does this study tell us? A combination of physical and emotional stress caused the pitcher’s heart rate to reach as high as 95.5% of his age-predicted HRmax. The game mean heart rate was 175.8 bpm, which was 87% of his age-predicted HRmax. The pitcher’s resting heart rate recorded while sitting in the dugout never went below 100 bpm during the game. When compared to other, more recent baseball pitching research (11,19), mean heart rates while pitching were similar even though this freshman pitcher was probably not performing resistance training or conditioning similar to what is advocated by current researchers and conditioning coaches (2,8,13,17). There was simply no information provided by the authors regarding this topic.

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Physiology of Baseball Pitching

In 1992, Potteiger et al. (11) conducted a baseball pitching study that had 6 male college baseball pitchers as subjects. The methods consisted of a pitched simulated single game that lasted 7 innings. Each pitcher threw 14 pitches per inning for a total of 98 pitches over the 7 innings. Pitchers also threw 5 warm-up pitches at the beginning of each inning. Twenty seconds of rest were given between each pitch. Numerous physiological variables were measured, such as heart rate, lactic acid, serum glucose, free fatty acids, oxygen consumption (V_ O2), creatine kinase, and lactate dehydrogenase (anaerobic enzymes thought to be markers of muscle damage). The results of the study that relate to this article are that pitching intensity for the 6 pitchers during the 7-inning simulated game was 45% V_ O2max (maximal volume of oxygen consumed while exercising), the mean heart rate was 140 bpm, and the mean HRmax was 147 bpm. This was approximately 70% of age-predicted HRmax. The practical applications that can be drawn from this study are that anaerobic capacity and V_ O2max are not limiting to pitching performance. Potteiger et al. (11) recommended that training should focus on the ATP-PC system of energy production, and pitchers should train exclusively for improvement of power. This can be accomplished by having baseball pitchers perform sprints and interval training for their conditioning. Although not the topic of this article, power can also be improved by resistance and plyometric training. Szymanski and Myers (19) conducted a pilot study that was designed to compare heart rates during warm-up bullpen pitching to selected anaerobic activities. The subjects were 33 Division I Southeastern Conference college baseball pitchers (mean age = 19.9 6 1.1 years). Pitcher’s heart rates were monitored every 15 seconds while throwing a pitched ball in the bullpen before fall intrasquad games played during team practice. The mean

Figure 1. Conditioning drills performed on a baseball field. 9 inning run: jog from ‘‘a’’ to cone 1, then sprint from cone 1 to cone 2, jog from cone 2 to ‘‘c’’ on the outfield warning track. 200 yd sprint: sprint from ‘‘a’’ to ‘‘c’’ on outfield warning track. 100 yd sprint: sprint from ‘‘a’’ to ‘‘b’’ on outfield warning track. 60 yd sprint: sprint from left field line to cone placed 60 yd away on outfield grass. 30 yd sprint: sprint from left field line to cone placed 30 yd away on outfield grass. Jump rope: perform in left field corner on the outfield warning track.

number of warm-up pitches thrown by all pitchers in the bullpen was 23.7 6 6.6. Polar Vantage XL Heart Rate Monitors were used to measure heart rate. Heart rates were recorded over 8 total weeks, two 4-week team practice sessions over 2 years. A total of 2,460 pitches were recorded and heart rates were recorded over 104 bullpen sessions. Heart rates were also recorded while pitchers completed conditioning exercises on the days after pitching performance. Specific conditioning drills that were performed on the days after each pitcher’s performance were a 9-inning run in 45 seconds (1:1 work to rest ratio), 200-yd sprint in 30 seconds (1:2), 100-yd sprint in 15 seconds (1:3), 60-yd sprint in 8 seconds (1:8), 30-yd sprint in 4 seconds (1:12), and various jump rope exercises. Figure 1 displays conditioning drills performed on a baseball field. A 9-inning run requires the pitcher to jog from the left field foul pole to left-center field (first cone in Figure 1). Then, he sprints from there to right-center field (second cone in Figure 1). Once the sprint

phase is completed, the pitcher jogs to the right field foul pole to recover. Once the rest time is completed, the pitcher repeats this sequence 8 more times. Mean age-predicted HRmax for the 33 pitchers was 200.1 bpm. The mean heart rate of the 33 pitchers throwing in the bullpen was 151.2 bpm. This equated to 75.6% of

Table 1 Mean heart rate (6SD) and % HRmax while performing various activities (19) Activity

Heart rate

% HRmax

Bullpen pitching

151.2 (15.2)

75.6

9-inning run

170.3 (5.6)

85.1

200-yd sprint 171.8 (4.8)

85.8

100-yd sprint 168.6 (1.8)

84.2

60-yd sprint

156.3 (7.5)

78.1

30-yd sprint

151.6 (10.2)

75.8

Jump rope exercises

158.7 (14.0)

79.3

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age-predicted HRmax. The mean heart rate results while pitching in the bullpen and performing various conditioning exercises are displayed in Table 1. In summary, the mean heart rate while pitching ranged from 140.0 to 172.9 bpm. The pitching intensity ranged from 69.9 to 86.4% of age predicted HRmax. The mean heart rate while conditioning ranged from 151.6 to 171.8 bpm. The anaerobic conditioning intensity ranged from 75.8 to 85.8% of age-predicted HRmax. These data indicate that the baseball pitcher’s relative intensity (% age-predicted HRmax) while throwing in the bullpen is categorized as ‘‘moderate to hard’’ (1). However, as mentioned earlier, heart rate may be elevated due to both physical and emotional stress. One must remember that the primary energy system used to pitch is the ATP-PC system (4, 9). Therefore, the majority of conditioning should be sprint training, interval training, or anaerobic in nature at or above the mean heart rate or % age-predicted HRmax while pitching to produce a training effect. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS

By understanding heart rates of pitchers while they throw and condition, strength and conditioning professionals can develop specific conditioning programs for the different type of pitchers with short rest times that train both the anaerobic and the aerobic energy systems. The conditioning programs, incorporating a majority of interval and sprint training, should be based off of a target heart rate zone (70–90% age-predicted HRmax) for pitchers, which has been demonstrated in previous research (19). This will allow the strength and conditioning professional to know whether or not the pitcher is training effectively. Because various exercises described by Szymanski and Myers (19) demonstrated what the mean heart rates were while conditioning, one could put heart rate monitors on their pitchers or simply use the time from a stopwatch to complete the drill and the prescribed rest periods to know if the pitcher is in his target heart zone and

predominantly using his anaerobic energy systems (ATP-PC and glycolysis). This will increase anaerobic enzymes necessary for optimal power output and improve the muscle’s recovery ability from anaerobic metabolism (develop his cardiovascular system) (21). Additionally, the majority of a baseball pitcher’s conditioning should focus on exercises that last #10 seconds (ATP-PC system) and occur outside in the external environment. Training outside will allow the pitcher to acclimatize to the heat and

humidity where he will perform. If he does not train outside, the pitcher may find pitching in the heat and humidity to increase the physiological stress placed on his thermoregulatory (cooling) system. This could adversely affect the pitcher’s performance due to possible heat stress and dehydration. Starting pitchers usually have 5 days before their next pitching performance. To keep training simple, but appropriate, strength and conditioning coaches should have a pitcher perform a majority of anaerobic activities (#10

Table 2 Five-day starting pitcher’s conditioning schedule (does not include resistance training) Day 1 & 6: pitch

Day 2: hard (#30 s) Option 1 Jog 25–30 min @ moderate intensity (65–75% HRmax) 4 3 200 yd sprint (30 s with 45–60 s recovery) 4 3 100 yd sprint (15 s with 30–45 s recovery) Option 2 9-inning run (45 sec with 45 sec recovery): see Figure 1 Day 3: moderate (#10 s) 6 3 60 yd sprint (8 s with 30–45 s rest) Lower-body plyometric exercises (low to moderate intensity) Squat jumps: 2 3 10 Standing long jumps: 2 3 6 Ice skaters: 2 3 10 Split squat jumps: 2 3 5 each 2 3 10 fetch and catch (Figure 2) Day 4: easy (#6 s) 5 3 30 yd forward sprint (5 s with 30–45 s rest) 5 3 30 yd backward sprint (6 s with 30–45 s rest) Jump Rope 8 3 50 reps (various jumps) Day 5: light (#6 s) 30 yd forward strides (6 s with 45 s rest) Ladder drills (various drills) Perform active, dynamic warm-up (10–15 min) prior to workout each day: see Fredrick and Szymanski (5)

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Physiology of Baseball Pitching

seconds) that incorporate the entire body and taper on the days, leading to the next outing. Although not discussed specifically in this article, plyometric exercises are listed in Table 2, Day 3 as a form of anaerobic, power training for the pitcher. These are not conditioning drills designed to fatigue someone or develop cardiovascular endurance. These exercises are executed to maintain or further enhance power development. Additionally, resistance training, rotator cuff exercises, and torso exercises are not mentioned in this article. The reader needs to know that these variables must also be

incorporated into a pitcher’s program designed by the strength and conditioning professional. One can get specific exercises and programs on these topics by reading other references in this article (2,8,10,12,13,17). If one wants an exercise to be position specific, then incorporate drills that involve a baseball and glove. An example would be a drill called ‘‘fetch and catch’’ performed for 2 sets of 10 repetitions within 5 yd (Table 2, Day 3). It is essentially ball ‘‘pickups’’ but is more demanding and pitcher specific (Figure 2). If a starting pitcher has more than 5 days, then other anaerobic activities

could be added to the program because there will be more training days before the next pitching performance. An example could be ‘‘Option 2: 9 inning run’’ on day 2 in Table 2. Use it as ‘‘day 3’’ training and move the other days to days 4, 5, and 6. It is not necessary to have 7 days at the NCAA Division I level because athletes are required to have 1 day off during the week. Table 2 is an example of a 5-day training schedule. Middle relief and closing pitcher’s training schedules are different from those of the starting pitcher since

Figure 2. Fetch and catch: (a) starting position; (b) sprint forward and hand coach the ball; (c) backpedal and look for rolled ball within 3 yd radius; (d) pick-up ball; (e) get into throwing position to any of the 4 bases (do not perform throwing action with ball in hand); (f ) sprint to coach and hand him the ball; then repeat c-f.

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they do not have a set schedule. Because they have fewer days between performances, the volume should be less, but the intensity should be the same because they are still performing the same action of pitching a baseball.

David J. Szymanski is an assistant professor and the baseball strength and conditioning coach at Louisiana Tech University.

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