Strategic Exercise Prescription for Baseball: Bridging the Gap Between Injury Prevention and Power Production Javair Gillett, CSCS,1 Luke O’Brien, PT,2 Michael Ryan, ATC, CSCS,3 and Joseph Rogowski, MS, ATC4 Detroit Tigers, Detroit, Michigan; 2Howard Head Sports Medicine, Vail, Colorado; 3Champion Sports Medicine and Physiotherapy Associates, Birmingham, Alabama; and 4Orlando Magic, Orlando, Florida
1
SUMMARY RESISTANCE TRAINING AND ANAEROBIC CONDITIONING STILL REMAIN THE FOCAL POINT IN BASEBALL ATHLETIC DEVELOPMENT. WHEN DESIGNING ANY BASEBALL ATHLETIC DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM, SPECIAL ATTENTION NEEDS TO BE PLACED ON ACQUIRING SPECIFIC ADAPTATIONS THROUGH DIVERSE MUSCLE STIMULATION AT MANY ANGLES AND SPEEDS, PERFORMED EFFICIENTLY AND APPLIED REPETITIVELY. CREATING LONG-LASTING DURABILITY FOR A BASEBALL PLAYER REQUIRES ADVANCED, STRATEGIC, AND INDIVIDUALIZED EXERCISE PRESCRIPTION CENTERING ON MOVEMENTS THAT INCORPORATE THE HIPS, SPINE, AND SCAPULA. INTRODUCTION
eriodization is an annual training model that is split into various periods. These periods are preparatory, first transition, competition,
P
and second transition (active rest) (18). More recently, these periods have been described as cycles (macrocycle, mesocycle, microcycle) or seasons (offseason, preseason, in-season, and postseason) (20,22). Within the preparatory period (offseason and preseason training), phases such as hypertrophy/endurance, basic strength, and strength/power can be implemented depending on the desired training adaptation (18). Progression for each phase depends on the total volume and intensity of training. The primary purpose of off-season periodization is to develop a base level of strength and then transition into the preseason where strength and power development is the ultimate goal. This will optimally prepare the athlete for the start of a new season (22). Conditioning professionals often use the off-season and preseason to develop and implement comprehensive programs that focus on making improvements in movement skill and muscular development to enhance baseball performance. The foundation of every performance program should
Copyright Ó National Strength and Conditioning Association
be the evaluation and improvement of joint stability and joint motion. It is upon this foundation that we attempt to reduce the chances for injuries, make further gains in strength, and progress to complex movement patterns where higher intensity training can be implemented (4). A hasty approach in combination with the absence of appropriate progressions may predispose even the most powerful athletes to the development of dysfunctional movement patterns and make them more susceptible to possible injuries. Grappling with old and new concepts and understanding what, why, and when to use and blend perpetually evolving philosophies and techniques are the keys to a well-rounded annual approach when developing successful individualized programs. SPECIFIC ADAPTATION TO IMPOSED DEMANDS
Specific adaptation to imposed demands is the premise for all program design KEY WORDS:
periodization; injury prevention; power; exercise prescription; baseball
Strength and Conditioning Journal | www.nsca-lift.org
81
Strategic Exercise Prescription for Baseball
with central principles being specificity, progression, and overload. If further training adaptations are desired, specific tasks must be made more difficult (22). Reaching peak performance levels through the traditional off-season and preseason strength and conditioning program is more than just a result of increased volume and overload. Consideration into more complex program and exercise design within the traditional periodization model serves useful. Factors important to the strength and conditioning specialist include, but are not limited to age, experience level, genetics, posture, gait, familiarity, cognitive ability, acuity, and gender (22). Although the opportunity exists for discussions on how strength and conditioning specialists and skill coaches can, together, help create a progressive athletic development program on the field, the focus of this article will be on off-season and preseason athletic development without a ball, glove, or bat. B.A.S.E.S. MODEL
Within the periodization model, 5 skills encompass the characteristics of an
athlete: balance, agility, strength, explosiveness, and speed (B.A.S.E.S.). Human movement and muscular development are learned and improved in a basic neurological order. Figure 1 is an updated representation of the fundamental sequence of athletic skill acquisition and how any exercise can be organized and integrated more strategically throughout an entire off-season and preseason program (5,9). Each of the 5 skills can be categorized into 3 training foci and are listed below.
ATHLETIC STRENGTH TRAINING FOCUS
ATHLETIC NEUROMUSCULAR/ PROPRIOCEPTIVE TRAINING FOCUS
Step 5: Speed = rapid force resistance/ production or rapid deceleration/ acceleration accomplished through a combination of balance, agility, strength, and explosiveness applied at maximum velocity.
Step 1: Balance = neuromuscular coordination/static joint stability accomplished through static or isometric contractions. Step 2: Agility = proprioceptive coordination/joint range of motion accomplished through improved communicative patterns between the stimulus and muscle contraction when movement occurs.
Step 3: Strength = external force resistance/deceleration accomplished through added external resistance using multi-joint and single-joint exercises. ATHLETIC EXPLOSIVENESS TRAINING FOCUS
Step 4: Explosiveness = powerful force production/acceleration accomplished through a combination of balance, agility, and strength applied in a linear and multi-planar fashion.
Put in a simple neurological order based on human development, balance must be achieved first, followed by agility. Then, additional gains in strength can be expected using external resistance. These combinations will then aid in improvements in
Figure 1. B.A.S.E.S. Athletic Skill Development Model for Progressive Exercise Integration. This model summarizes 5 essential skills that need to be acquired in strategic fashion in order for the healthy baseball athlete to reach his athletic potential and avoid injury. This model also allows for more progressive formulation, organization, and prescription of exercises based on time of year, experience level, and/or focus of training (Developed by Gillett J, O’Brien L, Szymanski D, and Rogowski J).
82
VOLUME 31 | NUMBER 5 | OCTOBER 2009
explosiveness and speed. It is important to remember that all these skills work in simultaneous fashion on the field so properly incorporating each skill into an athlete’s program is essential to combining injury prevention and power production techniques. STABILITY—CREATING THE FOUNDATION
Isometric training principles using static holds serve a purpose in a progressive program (17). If the athletes are unable to stabilize them in a static position, then advancement to dynamic situations requiring similar patterns of stability may create movement dysfunctions and the potential for subsequent injury (5). Therefore, the initial phase of all baseball programs should include an assessment of isometric stability, with a particular emphasis on pelvic, vertebral, and scapular control. Figure 2 shows how these 3 structures are integrated to make up the ‘‘athlete’s batter’s box.’’ Complex program design supports strategic exercise integration focused on the muscles (hips, spine, and scapula) that support these 3 structures. As baseball requires dynamic movement in all 3 planes (frontal, sagittal, and transverse) of the human body, more advanced adaptations and increases in joint motion and local muscle flexibility are necessary. Figures 3 and 4 show creative combinations of
Figure 2. Athlete’s batter’s box. Strength and conditioning programs for the baseball player can acquire proper joint stability, more efficient movement, and muscular strength by first, focusing on muscles that surround and support the hips, the spine, and the scapula.
exercises that require the athlete to stabilize one joint or body segment while moving another to produce better neuromuscular conditioning while still promoting local strength gains (9). Although common in a rehabilitation setting, training involving
these 3 major structures still remains beneficial to a healthy, advanced athlete during the off-season and preseason as proprioceptive warm-ups or post-workout exercises. Furthermore, these exercises can be modified during the in-season as a variation to aid in
Figure 3. Flamingos. (a) Less advanced athletes can improve strength with static balancing exercises that are quickly made more dynamic by tossing a ball back and forth at different angles without losing balance. (b) More advanced athletes can make this exercise more difficult by following it up with 5–10 single-leg deadlifts.
Strength and Conditioning Journal | www.nsca-lift.org
83
Strategic Exercise Prescription for Baseball
strength maintenance while minimizing muscle tissue damage, typically achieved by decreasing one’s total workload through resistance and/or total muscle contractions (2,22). Hip agility—medicine ball flips with floor touch (Figure 3). Shoulder agility —shuffles or walks over hurdles (Figure 4). There are many scapular exercises that can be modified and adapted to create a foundation of stability, and then later create the demand for improved neuromuscular communication involving joint movement (2,5,21). Figure 5a–f demonstrates the ‘‘six pack’’ sequence focusing on strengthening muscles that stabilize the scapulae. When these 6second isometric holds can be completed in a continuous circuit for 5–6 sets, begin slow movement sets of 15– 20 repetitions (reps) by setting and resetting the scapula and moving through a larger range of motion (15). The goal of this training period
Figure 4. Walking push-ups. Less advanced athletes can improve upper-body strength without doing a push-up by walking their arms back and forth or over an obstacle. More advanced athletes can make this exercise more difficult by adding push-ups.
Figure 5. Six packs for scapular strength and shoulder stability using 6-second isometric contractions in each position. (a) Position 1—shoulder horizontal abduction, palms down. (b). Position 2—shoulder horizontal abduction, thumbs up. (c) Position 3—shoulder horizontal abduction/flexion, palms down. (d) Position 4—shoulder horizontal abduction/flexion, thumbs up. (e) Position 5—shoulder horizontal abduction/external rotation with elbow flexion, thumbs up. (f ) Position 6—shoulder extension, palms down (or externally rotate at shoulder to get thumbs up).
84
VOLUME 31 | NUMBER 5 | OCTOBER 2009
Table 1
Table 2
Athletic neuromuscular/ proprioceptive training (postseason or post-competition)
Athletic strength training (off-season)
Volume per complex: 30–40 total reps or 30–40 s each exercise/drill Total complexes: 3–4 Rest time between circuits: 30 s and 1 min Warm-up: Light cardiovascular conditioning Complex circuit A1 Exercise 1: Balance/core (joint) stability (plank) Exercise 2: Agility/active range of motion (dead bugs) Exercise 3: Strength (1-leg V-up sit-up) Exercise 4: Explosiveness (Russian twists)
Volume per complex: 20–30 total reps or 20–30 s each exercise/drill Total complexes: 3–4 Rest time between circuits: 1 and 1.5 min Warm-up: Balance/core stability (alternate A1, A2, A3) Complex circuit B1 Exercise 1: Strength (performed separately is optional) (back squat) Exercise 2: Core explosiveness (Russian twist with medicine ball toss) Exercise 3: Agility/active range of motion (six packs with movement) Complex circuit B2 Exercise 1: Strength (performed separately is optional) (dumbbell row) Exercise 2: Speed explosiveness (squat jumps) Exercise 3: Agility/active range of motion (arm walks/shuffles) Complex circuit B3 Exercise 1: Strength (performed separately is optional) (dumbbell press on floor) Exercise 2: Speed explosiveness (side throw with medicine ball on knee)
Complex circuit A2 Exercise 3: Agility/active range of motion —multi-planar lunges Exercise 1: Balance/core (joint) stability (six pack holds) Exercise 2: Agility/active range of motion (body weight squats) Exercise 3: Strength (push-ups) Exercise 4: Explosiveness (box jumps) Complex circuit A3 Exercise 1: Balance/core (joint) stability-iron lunge (Figure 6a) or plank (Figure 6b)
Complex circuit B4 Exercise 1: Strength (performed separately is optional) (standing scapular pull-downs) Exercise 2: Core explosiveness (stiff legged deadlift hop with dumbbells) Exercise 3: Agility/active range of motion (shoulder abduction/flexion/extension on table) Cool down: Static stretch Speed: Begin progressive form running interval programs between 200 and 400 yd Rep = repetition.
Exercise 2: Agility/active range of motion (hip external/internal rotation) Exercise 3: Strength (stiff 1-leg deadlifts/floor touches) Exercise 4: Explosiveness (chest pass) Cool down: Static stretch Speed: Focus on movement technique and foot stepping quickness (ladder drills). Rep = repetition.
is to build the necessary stamina and to be able to maintain the proper joint position over many reps. As the offseason continues, the athlete should be ready to begin further strength building through a complete range of motion with light weights (2–5 lb dumbbells) and less reps (10–15 reps). Adapting to external loads that progressively become faster and more dynamic creates more powerful movement necessary for the baseball athlete.
PROPRIOCEPTION VERSUS EXPLOSIVENESS
Provided that a sound foundation of isometric stability is built, proprioception or joint stabilization with movement coordinates quicker more efficient responses when movement is necessary (6). Improved proprioception can prevent the underutilization or overcompensation of joints and their supporting structures. Biomechanical efficiency will not only serve to prevent injury but also serves as an essential
Strength and Conditioning Journal | www.nsca-lift.org
85
Strategic Exercise Prescription for Baseball
precursor to maximizing strength gains, power output, and speed production (8,9,17).
hip strengthening techniques will reinforce and build upon the isometric strength gains.
Stanton et al. (31) demonstrated that exercises involving the stability ball can improve core stability but may not directly result in improved physical performance. When performed in isolation, the various exercises performed with a stability ball will not serve an athlete’s desire to improve running speed to first base. However, hip extension exercises stimulating the gluteal muscles may serve in communicating the correct muscle firing patterns in the back of the leg, aiding in the prevention of hamstring strains (16,17).
The resultant improvement in pelvic positioning and stabilization offers protection to the joints and soft tissues surrounding the area. Although ‘‘prehabilitation’’ (common rehabilitative
Properly progressing and coupling core stability exercises with efficient movement technique and proven strength and power production exercises, like a squat and squat jump, combine injury prevention methods with maximizing performance methods (9,14,20). An advanced athlete can transfer proprioceptive conditioning into pre-workout warm-ups or couple them with intense strength building and plyometric sessions to facilitate desired anaerobic training effects.
Table 3 Athletic explosiveness training (preseason or pre-competition) Volume per complex: 10–20 total reps or 10–20 seconds each exercise/drill Total complexes: 3–4 Rest time between circuits: 1.5 and 2 min Warm-up: Balance/core stability (alternate A1, A2, A3) Complex circuit C1 Exercise 1: Speed explosiveness (performed separately is optional) (skaters) Exercise 2: Core explosiveness (back squat) Exercise 3: Strength (six packs with weight) Complex circuit C2 Exercise 1: Speed explosiveness (performed separately is optional) (split jumps with medicine ball toss) Exercise 2: Core explosiveness (1-legged squats with dumbbells) Exercise 3: Strength (seated row) Complex circuit C3 Exercise 1: Speed explosiveness (performed separately is optional) (bounding matrix)
SUPERFICIAL STRENGTH VERSUS DEEP STRENGTH
Several hip-related injuries, including low back pain and hip flexor, hamstring, and groin strains, and abdominal hernias are often associated with pelvic instability and associated muscle imbalances (9,14,20). A common pattern seen in athletes is one where strong but tight hip flexors and lumbar extensors are paired with lengthened but weak abdominals and hip extensors. These imbalances and strength deficiencies are best corrected with a combination of stretching and mobilization of the shortened structures and using isometric contractions to re-educate and strengthen the hip extensors and abdominals (transverse abdominis and multifidus) (7,14,18). With the core foundation established, the addition of general abdominal and
86
exercises incorporated into a routine before injury) exercise progressions may not have an immediate effect on power production, it may increase the efficiency of load transfer, thus leading to increased power production and/or speed improvement (1,3,10–13).
Exercise 2: Core explosiveness—medicine ball throw downs Exercise 3: Strength (dumbbell bench press) Complex circuit C4 Exercise 1: Speed explosiveness (performed separately is optional) (floor touch jumps) Exercise 2: Core explosiveness (manual resistance/band shoulder exercises) Exercise 3: Strength (standing scapular pull-downs) Cool down: Static stretch Speed: Begin progressive first step explosiveness drills and sprint routines Incorporate sport-specific skill training Use agility/active range of motion drills as warm-ups into these practices
VOLUME 31 | NUMBER 5 | OCTOBER 2009
Rep = repetition.
The focus on basic proprioceptive techniques enables the athlete to effectively position body structures at different angles, under control, and often at high speeds. With the foundations established, the strength and conditioning specialist may add more explosive (plyometric) components producing the same movements under higher resistances at higher speeds. BASEBALL-SPECIFIC ADAPTATION: A PURPOSE FOR EVERYTHING
Multiplanar rotations, particularly at the shoulder, torso, and hip, mostly associated with baseball require coordination and the ability of the muscles and joint structures to recall and repeat these movements in both continual and sporadic situations. Along with these specific movements, the call for quick stints of explosive, linear, and lateral ground coverage offers additional external challenges to the baseball player. For the healthy baseball player, it is not beneficial or efficient to concentrate on only 1 athletic skill at a time. Hence, exercise organization and purposeful program design (Tables 1–3) allows for all skills to be acquired simultaneously in a most efficient manner. Sample circuits with sample exercises are shown in Tables 1–3.
Create progressions with similar movement patterns that work not only to achieve the goal of that particular training phase but also to prepare for easy transitions into more advanced phases. The exercises given in Tables 1–3 can be used as a reference to structuring a more complex off-season and preseason program. However, you are encouraged to design your own program with exercises that will best fit your athlete’s needs and goals. Here are some tips to help organize your exercises more strategically: Create a difficulty rating or step-bystep progression for each exercise you have in your own exercise library. Determine where each exercise fits within balance, agility, strength, explosiveness, or speed. Based on progression and overload principles, determine the training level of each of your athletes and develop their goals for that particular off-season and preseason. Use your library of information and exercises to help you develop progressive complex circuits, and design a multi-pronged attack to continually develop all principles of athleticism safely and effectively. Continue to research, grow, and reorganize your library of exercises based on individual improvement and performance.
CONCLUSIONS
Although specific skill practice and participation in multiple activities and sports will enhance athleticism, athletic development training will further enhance all the skills that are necessary for an athlete to maximize baseball performance. Development of the core is accomplished first through isometric stability with progression to multi-joint movements involving the hip, torso, and the scapular region. It is upon this foundation that further improvements can occur cyclically in the most efficient manner. The challenge is to create progressive and sportspecific training routines aimed to teach and train proper core function while simultaneously improving and maximizing each individual athlete’s strength, explosiveness, and speed through traditional resistance and explosive training. Along with volume and overload, strategic exercise integration is necessary. Further evaluation on the B.A.S.E.S. integration is encouraged. A similar approach could be used in developing safer, more individualized throwing and swinging programs. Learning how to properly address all athletic development principles over the course of an annual cycle is the key to making progressive improvements in health and physical performance.
Figure 6. Balance/static core stabilization exercises for any level. (a) Iron lunge—with partner pushing and pulling in different directions. (b) Prone plank—without partner stay on 2 ft or add difficulty by lifting leg off ground.
Strength and Conditioning Journal | www.nsca-lift.org
87
Strategic Exercise Prescription for Baseball
Javair Gillett is the head strength and conditioning coach for the Detroit Tigers.
2. Hackney RG. Advances in the understanding of throwing injuries of the shoulder. Br J Sports Med 30: 282–288, 1996. 3. Harris NK, Cronin JB, Hopkins WG, and Hansen KT. Squat jump training at maximal power loads vs. heavy loads: Effect on sprint ability. J Strength Cond Res 22: 1742–1749, 2008.
Luke O’Brien is the director of Rehabilitation for Dr. Richard Steadman, Howard Head Sports Medicine.
4. Hodges PW and Richardson CA. Inefficient muscular stabilization of the lumbar spine associated with low back pain: A motor control eval of transverse abdominis. Spine 21: 2640–2650, 1996.
Michael Ryan is the director of Sports Medicine and Athletic Development for Champion Sports Medicine and Physiotherapy Associates in Birmingham, AL.
6. Kovacs MS, Roetert EP, and Ellenbecker TS. Efficient deceleration: The forgotten factor in tennis-specific training. Strength Cond J 30: 58–68, 2008.
Joe Rogowski is the head strength and conditioning coach for the Orlando Magic.
REFERENCES 1. Chimera NJ, Swanik KA, Swanik CB, and Straub SJ. Effects of plyometric training on muscle-activation strategies and performance in female athletes. J Athl Train 39: 24–31, 2004.
88
5. Jantzen KJ, Oullier O, and Scott Kelso JA. Neuroimaging coordination dynamics in the sport sciences. Methods 45: 325–335, 2008.
7. Lehman GJ, Hoda W, and Oliver S. Trunk muscle activity during bridging exercises on and off a Swiss ball. Chiropr Osteopat 13: 14, 2005. 8. Maher CG, Latimer J, Hodges PW, Regshauge KM, Moseley GL, Herbert RD, Costa L, and McAuley J. The effect of motor control exercise versus placebo in patients with chronic low back pain. BMC Musculoskelet Disord 6: 54, 2005.
for prehabilitation and early rehabilitation after surgery of the lumber spine. BMC Health Serv Res 8: 209, 2008. 13. O’Sullivan PB, Twomey L, Allison G, Sinclair J, Miller K, and Knox J. Altered patterns of abdominal muscle activation in patients with chronic low back pain. Aust J Physiother 43: 91–98, 1997. 14. Rantanen J, Hurme M, Falck B, Alaranta H, Nykvist F, Lehto M, Einola S, and Kalimo H. The lumbar multifidus muscle five years after surgery for a lumbar intervertebral disc herniation. Spine 235: 1–7, 1993. 15. Reinold MM, Macrina LC, Wilk KE, Fleisig GS, Dun S, Barrentine SW, Ellerbusch MT, and Andrews JR. Electromyographic analysis of the supraspinatus and deltoid muscles during 3 common rehabilitation exercises. J Athl Train 42: 464–469, 2007. 16. Sherry MA and Best TM. A comparison of 2 rehabilitation programs in the treatment of acute hamstring strains. J Orthop Sports Phys Ther 34: 116–125, 2004. 17. Stanton R, Reaburn PR, and Humpries B. The effect of short-term Swiss ball raining on core stability and running economy. J Strength Cond Res 18: 522–528, 2004. 18. Stone MH and O’Bryant HS. Weight Training: A Scientific Approach. Minneapolis, MN: Burgess, 1987. p. 124.
9. McMullen J and Uhl TL. A kinetic chain approach for shoulder rehabilitation. J Athl Train 35: 329–337, 2000.
19. Szymanski DJ. Collegiate baseball inseason training. Strength Cond J 9: 68– 80, 2007.
10. Myers JB, Pasquale MR, Laudner KG, Sell TC, Bradley JP, and Lephart SM. On-thefield resistance-tubing exercises for throwers: An electromyographic analysis. J Athl Train 40: 15–22, 2005.
20. Tamborra S. Complete Conditioning for Baseball. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics, 2007. pp. 169–170.
11. Nesser TW, Husel KC, Tincher JL, and Okada T. The relationship between core stability and performance in Division I football players. J Strength Cond Res 22: 1750–1754, 2008. 12. Nielsen PR, Andreasen J, Asmussen M, and Tonnesen H. Costs and quality of life
VOLUME 31 | NUMBER 5 | OCTOBER 2009
21. Voight ML and Thomson BC. The role of the scapula in the rehabilitation of shoulder injuries. J Athl Train. 35: 364–372, 2000. 22. Wathen D, Baechle TR, and Earle RW. Periodization. In: Essentials of Strength Training and Conditioning (3rd ed.). Baechle TR and Earle RW, eds. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics, 2008. pp. 507–522.