Originally Posted by Back foot slider:
I'll bite. Welcome Austin!
Questions:
1. As it relates to pitchers, what is your opinion on off season training. Weights, cardio (long distance running), anaerobic vs. aerobic? What kind of core work?
2. I briefly looked at your website. You indicate for leg work you do NOT recommend back squats. Why and what type of leg squats do you prefer?
Training pitchers or better said "conditioning" pitchers is always a hot topic, and philosophies vary greatly. Challenges include acceleration / deceleration, one side dominant strength, learning movement patterns that support fast movements through the body's center of mass, and leg stability (normally after initial leg lift, you are working "one legged" the rest of the way.
Appreciate your input.
1) I actually made a video about this topic last week. You can check it out here: http://www.austinwomack.com/bl...nergy-systems-part-i Basically in the video I talk about the different energy systems and which one we use when we pitch, therefore, which one we should use in conditioning. (hint: it's not long distance). For core work I recommend a variety of anti-extension, anti-rotation, and anti-lateral flexion exercises. Wheel rollouts, landmine twists, and single arm farmers walks are my favorite exercises for each of these. The ability to resist external forces and increase stability is huge, especially for a pitcher. I would also throw in med ball work into my core work with pitchers. Power is very plane specific so doing nothing but olympic lifts, broad jumps, and vertical jumps is only going to help so much. That's why med balls are great because we can train lateral and rotational power.
2) Here is the post and video I made about the topic of back squat vs front squat for pitchers(so others can get an idea of what we're talking about): http://www.austinwomack.com/bl...-shouldnt-back-squat I will say this however, if you're a pitcher and you back squat you're not automatically going to injure yourself, and the world is most certainly not going to end. I recommend front squat, goblet squat, and kettlebell racked squat variations because they simply aren't as stressful to the shoulders. In training we should be looking to minimize the risk of injury as much as possible. In my opinion we can still gain a ton from doing the different squat variations (same movement pattern) but while keeping in mind the importance of our shoulder health.
Final note: I program a lot of unilateral work with my baseball players. This would include lunges, split squats, single leg RDLs, single arm rows, etc. These unilateral exercises increase the amount of work the core does to stabilize. This can be a great way to sneak in some extra core work into a program.
