Sports Then and Now

For any baseball player, there are two important aspects which one should not ignore are body explosive power and body strength. The shoulder integrity is vital for baseball batters and pitchers. Therefore, baseball workout includes building muscles, adding arm strength and gaining speed. In case, if audience finds out that the pitcher is adding speed to the fastball, then they consider that the player is doing only upper body workouts. Whereas, building strength in arms needs more than just upper body workouts.

The most important aspect is mobility as well as stability in shoulders along with hips. Pitching is transferring the power from your legs to your upper body part of your arms. Therefore, to reduce the chances of injuries, one has to work hard not only on shoulders, arms and back but also on hamstrings, legs and hips.

Speed of pitching is directly proportional to arm speed not on the isolated muscle’s strength. It means focusing on pillar strength will increase the rotational power. Thus, the focus is on doing stability exercises of shoulder, strength work of lower body and propulsive exercises.

Exercises 1: Stride Stretch

This one will help the baseball athletes in giving more mobility and flexibility during playing baseball in their shoulders and rotator cuffs. In simpler terms, it is stretching of front as well as back of your hips. Never ignore the importance of mobility in hip as the mobility in hip is equally important to mobility in shoulders for pitchers. In the absence of proper mobility, then the pitchers will do only those actions which their body will allow them to move. It will decrease their leg drive, ultimately reducing the power and strength.

Exercises 2: 90/90 Stretch with Arm Sweep

Next one in the row is stretching the middle along with upper back and torso. It will offer you mobility and flexibility in shoulders. You just have to lie down on your back for doing this exercise and bent your left knee and right leg should be crossed over the left one. Next things is placing the right arm in parallel to leg and then rotating the chest as well as top arm out. During the move, don’t try to separate the knees and exhales during stretching.

It is important because if shoulder joint is tight, then it will let you lose mobility resulting in lack of rotation during cocking phase. Finally, there will be no torque for throwing at high velocity.

Exercises 3: Shoulder External Rotation

It is necessary for increasing the strength and stability of rotator cuff area. In addition, it also reduces your chance of getting injuries. You have to stand in front of the cable pulley machine in which your hip level should be at cable level. Right side of the body should face the machine. With the left hand, you should grab the cable and form a right angle with the body. After that, try to rotate the arm away from the body and returning back to previous position. Smith machines are also used for strength building via baseball athletes.

Apart from exercises, their eating clean eating food list also plays a vital role in building their strength. They require proper blending of agility, strength and speed. Therefore, they have to pay a close attention to their diet. Their eating habit plays an important role in their performance in the field. They should ensure that their diet must include complex carbohydrates, fresh vegetables and fruits and lean proteins. The proteins should be low in fat. Including beans in daily diet will give them protein and fibre. The best way to get the nutritional value of fruits and vegetable is to eat them raw only. However, steamed vegetable are also good in offering nutritional value to baseball athletes. They should highly avoid sugary and greasy food.

In addition to good food habits, there is a direct relationship in between performance of baseball players and healthy sleep. The well rested players are more accurate, quicker, stronger and faster. Sleeping in a good mattress will help the players in getting sound sleep that can supplement the routine exercises. Selecting the right mattress will have great impact on sleeping habits of players.