weightlifting guidelines relating to throwing velocity

It is a good question. In general bench, chest and arm workouts do nothing for a baseball player. (forearms are good) However pushups are recommended, why not sure, but I guess they strengthen the back and core. Overhead lifts are also generally not good as you can get shoulder impingements/strains. However shoulder work with bands or pulleys are done. I know my son’s work out has bench once every week or two, I guess for keeping balance in the body structure. Legs (front squats), core, cleans, hang cleans, deadlifts, are the core of his workout mixed in with explosive jumps, & med ball stuff. They do more heavy stuff in the summer to build mass and then in the fall focus more on explosive stuff with increasing sprints of various lengths. They do all kinds of specific small medicine ball stuff (Wolforth like) once they get closer to season, but he has not started this part yet.

It varies from player to player. Trevor Bauer does little or no traditional weightlifting. In the recent SI article he gives kudos to Marcus Elliot for their "non-weight" workouts, however Marcus does use weights, primarily for squats and does use weights as part of explosive drills.

Some people do believe that bench pressing helps with velocity, some believe that it hurts velocity.

My experience in the long distant past in another sport, tennis, was that the weights hurt my flexibility and speed. On the other hand, I saw players that it most definitely helped. I don't think that there is one correct answer to this question.

JMO, but added bulk can help some players gain velocity if it is a matter of getting more momentum feeding an arm that is capable of moving faster. If the player has reached their genetic "limit" as far as ability to move fast then it may not help with peak velocity. It may help with maintaining velocity though.

I saw this 'Insanity' workout infomercial last night. No weights, just using your body. Looked like a good idea. (I kept my credit card in my wallet )

thanks for the replies guys

Honestly I doubt that there are ANY lifts that hurt velocity specifically. I can see the military and overhead being a no no due to the fact it can lead to injury which can lead to a loss in velocity.

I think those who lose velocity from lifting lose it because they do not stretch and lose the flexibility / looseness needed for throwing. The tightness is what kills velocity and not the actual gain in weight and muscle mass IMO.

Things like bench, chest, arms and others don't help baseball strength specifically but need to be done just for sheer strength and symmetry for the body.

That's my two cents anyway.

Little Timmy weighed 138 pounds in HS and was throwing 90+, so I wonder what the real secret is.

quote:

Originally posted by SultanofSwat:
Little Timmy weighed 138 pounds in HS and was throwing 90+, so I wonder what the real secret is.

Be a freak!

coach2709- I completely agree. Certain workouts are obviously more beneficial for baseball specific muscle building because they focus in baseball specific muscles. However, one cannot completely negate an aspect of your body. That would probably have a higher chance of resulting in injury than the actual workout itself, if done properly.

Coach and JH,
Thanks for the added perspective.

quote:

Originally posted by SultanofSwat:
Little Timmy weighed 138 pounds in HS and was throwing 90+, so I wonder what the real secret is.

He pushes off the rubber.

quote:

Originally posted by TPM:

quote:

Originally posted by SultanofSwat:
Little Timmy weighed 138 pounds in HS and was throwing 90+, so I wonder what the real secret is.

He pushes off the rubber.

Nice.