It’s finally that time of year again. A time when Texas’ 72-hour long winter is on its way out. A time when guys like me trade in the Cheetos for pork rinds (Hey, they’re high in protein and low in carbs – look it up). A time when it’s appropriate to oil up the glove and get my butt in the gym…
It’s time to get into baseball shape.
Now, the word “shape” is a relative term. I always have grand illusions that come opening day, I will be shredded up like John Rambo in First Blood Part II. But then I usually end up looking more like a banana that’s been put in a microwave.
Mutilated-fruit shape aside, I do have a routine that has helped me stay healthy over the course of my adult pitching career. By no means am I saying I’m some sort of All Star pitcher who’s just oozing with talent, but I can say that I’ve pitched more than 210 innings, earned some okay numbers, and have had minimal arm issues over a 5-year span (4 full seasons). I’m sure it’s not a perfect routine, but so far, it’s worked in keeping me in the game.
Overall, I’d describe it as a Rocky Balboa-esque workout (If you haven’t figured it out yet, I’m a big Stallone fan). Basically, I find a barn in Soviet Russia, pop my shirt off, and do a bunch of crunches while listening to Hearts on Fire. Not really. But I do have to make do with limited resources and facilities to which I have access. I gathered this regimen from stuff I learned all those years ago from camps, coaches, and personal instruction. So take comfort in knowing this isn’t just a bunch of crap I made up.
My general routine can be broken down into three phases: 1) The 4A’s 2) Technique 3) Rehab.
Let’s start with Phase I. This stage requires the most effort and definitely sucks the worst. BUT, it definitely makes a huge difference in keeping a pitcher on the mound. The 4A’s stand for the following: Arm, ass, abs, ‘ardio…cardio. Okay, so really the last one starts with a “c”, but for the sake of me trying to be clever, we will still call it the 4A’s.
Arm:
Gotta keep your arm healthy right? To strengthen my arm, I do a baseball-specific resistance band workout a couple times a week with just my throwing arm. This is on top of the other light weight lifting I do. In fact, leading up to and during the season, I will switch over my regular weight lifting routine from free weights to resistance bands. It’s a little easier on the joints and it still gives you a good workout.
Next, I play as much long toss as I comfortably can. Hell, even when I can’t find someone to throw with, I will take a bucket of balls to an empty field and throw 80 – 100 balls at a target. In my opinion, playing long toss is the most important thing you can do to build up arm strength – even if it means looking like a total nerd and throwing balls all by yourself.
And don’t forget to stretch. If you don’t stretch, you will not be able to maximize your range of motion, and you are also putting yourself at a much greater risk of injury. Some total dumb dumb I used to play with – who claimed he played in college – never stretched before throwing. He hurt himself the first game of the season and never recovered. Anyways, he doesn’t play anymore. And he very well may be dead (just kidding – I’m sure he’s fine).
After doing ANY of these things, I ice my arm and elbow down for 20 minutes.
Ass:
This is where I take the figurative phrase “get your ass in shape” and make it quite literal. Lower body strength is important to pitching, and I’m putting more of an emphasis on it this year. Unfortunately for me, I have a fragile knee thanks to a high school football injury, so I don’t like to do a lot of heavy weight training for this. To build that desired butt muscle (and leg muscle), I’ve taken to doing high resistance minutes on the elliptical machine. To supplement this, I do light resistance band squats.
Abs:
Not gonna lie, this part sucks [insert name of previous category title]. That being said, ever since I’ve stuck to a consistent ab routine, I’ve noticed a difference in my performance. I do a mixture of crunches, sit ups, flutter kicks, and weight ball training. And wouldn’t you know it, I actually build up some pretty impressive abs each season…they just happen to buried under a layer or two of fat.
‘Ardio:
Another very important part of pitching is being in good cardiovascular shape. Not only will this help get all the lactic acid out during the rehab phase (we will get to that), but it’s necessary to build up stamina to last several innings on the bump. If I lift during a workout, I usually aim to do 15-20 minutes of cardio. If cardio is all I am doing that day, I will try to run on the treadmill or hop on the elliptical for 30 minutes.
Later in the season I will employ another tactic that may seem a bit unorthodox. When the weather gets super blazing hot, I start running outside. No, I don’t have a death wish, but this helps me battle the heat and get used to pitching several innings when that beautiful summer temperature flirts with triple digits.
Technique:
Phase II can also be mixed into Phase I, but I like to keep it separate to emphasize its importance.
Pitching is a weird, unnatural, complicated motion. One must master and put together several pieces of a pitching puzzle in order to find the strike zone consistently. You may be able to throw the ball 100 mph, but if you have poor mechanics, you’ll just wind up being a high-powered walking machine. I don’t have a super nasty fastball, but I do dedicate a lot of focus to avoid becoming a low-powered walking machine (which is way less threatening than a high-powered one).
Every single time I pick up a baseball, I am keeping mechanics in mind. Whether it’s throwing long toss, throwing batting practice, or throwing a baseball-shaped stress ball at the wall at work, I am focusing on my footwork, my weight distribution, my arm placement, my follow through, and about a dozen other things.
On top of being conscious of my motion while I’m actually throwing, I use a variety of different “dry” drills to imbed proper technique into my body. While I’m at the gym, I will find a big mirror, break down the different pieces of my pitching motion, and practice them over and over and over. Much like when I am throwing, I will practice drills for balance point, weight distribution, arm placement (don’t let that elbow drop!), follow through, and many more. Most of the time, I get some funny looks from other gym goers who wonder what the hell it is I’m doing.
Rehab:
(It’s okay guys and gals, you’re almost done reading this long-winded explanation of how a 30-year-old amateur baseball player preps for his season. Thanks for sticking with me!)
Last but not least, we move on to my final phase, rehab. Not the “Josh Hamilton” kind, but the “let’s do what we can to keep that overworked arm healthy after doing an unnatural motion 100 or more times in one afternoon” kind.
Really this is a simple – yet very important – repeat of a few steps we’ve already discussed.
Within a few hours after pitching, I will ice down my elbow and shoulder for 20 minutes. Sometimes I will even do this twice that same day depending on how demanding the start was. Later that evening, I will get in my apartment hot tub. If the hot tub is out of order, which it usually is, I shed my man card and take a hot bath fully submerging my arm and shoulder.
The day after pitching, I run for 15-20 minutes to help get that lactic acid out of my body. The longer you can go, the better you will feel afterwards. Often times, I will run two days in a row after a start. Following those runs, I ice again. Ice and running can be your best friends.
I should also note that I try not to lift weights two days before or two days after I start a game. It usually puts too much strain on my arm otherwise.
After my arm finally feels like it’s not going to fall off, I get back after it with long toss.
And then I do it all again.
Phew! Well that’s it guys. Not time consuming or taxing at all right?
I have no doubt I’ve just jinxed the bejesus out of myself and that I will blow my arm out the first pitch of the season, but hopefully I’ve provided some useful knowledge to my fellow baseball brethren.
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to go ice my typing hand.