Relationship Between Strength, Power, Lean Body

Relationship Between Strength, Power, Lean Body Mass, And Baseball-Specific Skills Jessica Szymanski, David J. Szymanski, Andrew T. Britt, Hannah E. Lowe, Hung-Sheng Hsu, Shane T. Gilliam, and Jeff D. Potts.

The ability to maintain strength, power, speed, agility, and baseball-specific skills throughout a season is vital to the success of a baseball team.

PURPOSE: To investigate the physiological and anthropometric characteristics of collegiate baseball players over an entire year and to determine when and if changes occurred. METHODS: Twenty-three members of an NCAA Division I baseball team (age = 20.0 ± 1.2 yr, height = 185.4 ± 7.3 cm, body mass = 87.1 ± 11.2 kg) volunteered to be evaluated. Subjects were evaluated for measurements of standard anthropometry (percent body fat and lean body mass) using a TanitaTM bioelectrical impedance device, strength (1RM parallel squat, 1-arm dumbbell row, bench press, and grip strength) using standard Olympic plates and a JamarTM hand dynamometer, power (vertical jump and standing long jump) using a VertecTM and measuring tape, speed (10, 30, 60 yd sprint) using hand-held stop watches, agility (5-10-5 pro agility) using a hand-held stop watch, and baseball-specific skills (bat swing, batted-ball, and throwing velocities) using a SETPRO SPRT5ATM chronograph, Speed TracTM radar gun, and JugsTM radar gun in September before team practice began (pre-training), in December after off-season training ended (preseason), in March (mid-season), and in May (post-season). A 3-day per week periodized complex, undulating training (CUT) program was performed during the off-season to preseason (September to December). Training loads and volume progressively increased during this stage of the training year.

Volume declined during the in-season (February to May) when the team attempted to train twice per week. Repeated measures MANOVAs were run on all dependent variables. Significant main effects from the MANOVAs were followed up with repeated measures ANOVAs across seasons and pairwise comparisons were then computed on any significant main effects. Alpha level was adjusted to p = 0.017 to control for Type I error. RESULTS: Vertical jump, strength (1RM parallel squat, 1-arm dumbbell row, and bench press), speed, and batted-ball velocity significantly improved from pre-training to preseason. All other variable’s values were maintained. At mid-season a significant decrease was observed in batted-ball velocity, while significant improvements were observed in 60 yd sprint and agility times compared to preseason values. All other variable’s values were maintained. Post-season results revealed that batted-ball velocity and speed significantly decreased, while percent body fat, lean body mass, and standing long jump significantly improved from preseason values. All other variable’s values were maintained. CONCLUSION: These data suggest that a preseason periodized CUT program can improve performance values for college baseball players. Additionally, a 2-day per week in-season CUT program can maintain most preseason performance and baseball-specific skill values over a collegiate baseball season. PRACTICAL APPLICATION: It is recommended to keep highly skilled baseball players strong, powerful, and healthy. This will keep them on the field, and allow them an opportunity to perform their baseball-specific skills optimally throughout the entire playing season.