HS Workouts vs. Workouts with Personal Trainer

I would talk to the coach/s running the school program, tell them specifically what choices you are weighing and that you want to do everything possible to earn a spot on the team.  Tell them that you will honor their recommendation.  (I know they said they "wouldn't hold it against us" if you worked out elsewhere but this is you dealing with them regarding your specific situation and showing desire to be a team guy.)  See what their feedback is.  They may see that the other program has more value.  They may prefer you be with the team.  They may remain sort of neutral.  If neutral or favoring you go the private gym route, you may consider going the three days at the private gym and then one of the days with the team.  If they feel you should do the team workouts, you may still be able to work out maybe two other days at the private gym.

You should talk to the coaches, but in the end you need a personally tailored baseball workout. That is what you should be doing. If you can get a day in with the high school guys and the personal trainer is okay with it, that is fine. If the personal trainer thinks the high school workout is not good for your development, you need to find a reason not to be there.

I can tell you this, a two day split for one hour is not going to be worth much. They should be elated for you to find something worth doing.

Good luck,

Ted

My kid struggles with this as well.  The school "sponsored" stuff just isn't that good.  It's free and they work as a team which are major plusses.  But the intensity just isn't there.  If you can figure out a way to do both, like 2 days at the private gym and 2 days with the team, that may be best.  "Face time" is always good as a freshman.   

Some Coaches will appreciate the fact that you are looking for high level intense workouts, and they will want what is best for you. Hopefully your HS coach will support your decision to go get bigger, faster, stronger.

BOTH!!! I wouldn't even need to talk to the coaches.

I don't see how this is a big issue. The HS workouts are Friday and Saturday. Then you have 3 days of free workouts. Working out 5 days a week definitely won't hurt you.

If the HS workouts are substantially different from the Eric Cressey stuff there should be no issues. If they're not substantially different than Cressey stuff than that's great, and you can just work out 2 additional days for a 4-workout a week schedule. 

Work hard now and reap the benefits later.

Our 2016 was in a similar situation. He had both a MLB club workout routine as well as a D1 workout routine, and it was his desire to do these routines. HS program worked out together 3x/week, and the coach wanted him to attend.

Resolution: 2016 spoke to Coach, and showed him the programs. Coach implemented the programs for all players.

DEbaseball01 - Good Luck on your upcoming HS baseball journey!

Many of the posters are hitting the nail on the head.

Talk with the coaches....  We spoke with my sons new HC this year, and he was glad that our son is doing baseball specific training, wanted him to come to the school workouts but willing to be flexible so he does not overtrain his body too.

+1 to what Golfman25 said.... One of the better pieces of advice my son received as a freshman was to attend workouts so the coaches can get to know you, your skills, and how you work before 'official' try-outs.

Best of luck to ya!  & keep working hard.

What lifts were considered counter productive for baseball in the workout? Assuming this is considered an offseason workout.

I'd factor in some of the cressy workouts into the days you need to work out with your potential team mates (show your face).  Depending on how  you work out and the intent of the program, you can burn out and it can be counter productive if you work out too much, especially without the proper nutrition and rest.  Strength is a prime example. I doubt your high school will be as structured as you will find in the cressy program, so try and figure a way to work cressy days into the school workout days.  You'd probably find similar exercises.  Don't forget about nutrition and rest.  You will still have results, but they wont be optimal results without both. 

One of the important parts of a workout protocol is recovery. If the trainer thinks the High school stuff doesn't mesh with his workouts, you should avoid them.

Not sure you can say that without knowing the design, or more importantly intent, of the workout for either sport at that particular point of the season/year. That's why I was asking.

We mix our workouts up a lot, and our football program does a pretty good job of more "functional strength" training than just the 4 old-school football lifts. 

At 14, most workouts are going to be beneficial in some capacity. While I admit it's plausible, not sure I've ever seen a 14-year old "overtrain." I wish I had some I had to reign in more. 

Ironhorse - Here's an example that may help with overtraining.  Earlier this fall my son started with 3 days of HS workouts, and 2 days with his private trainer.  After the first two weeks we understood that his body needed time to recover.  Add in fall practice a couple days a week, and we found that it was just too much (on top of his schoolwork).

Don't get me wrong - my son luvs to train and be out on the field but his 15yo body told him he needed to cut back a little to see greater strides in his speed/strength.

It's getting quite late not to have a varsity coach hired.  I am going to bet it will be someone already on staff.  Thus, don't act like you don't have a coach yet and for a freshman "face" time may be important.  Good luck. 

I think at the ages we are talking about, the focus is or should be on general athleticism.  Should not have much different for any sport. The only thing I would watch for is big 300 lb. potential D1 linemen workouts.  Just about everything else should be ok at young ages. 

As a freshmen in high school it really doesn't matter what type of lifting program you are on. Your focus should be on learning the movements correctly and building general strength, speed, and technique. *Understand that these are very general statements and that there are always multiple factors involved when creating a lifting program*

There are many questions that will play in to this decision. How solid is the schools' program? How much will working out with the team benefit you from the coaches' stand point? How much more, if at all, would your results improve with a Cressey program?

You have to look at both situations and determine which has a better return on investment. I am an absolutely huge advocate for Cressey and his work, but in all honesty, unless your schools' lifting program is just trash, it might benefit you more to get immersed with the team and train with them. This is coming from a strength and conditioning coach who runs his own facility, btw.

One last note: An athlete who performs a poorly designed strength and conditioning program with 100% effort every day almost always sees better results than an athlete who performs the best program ever with terrible effort.