In-Season Programming for the Professional Baseball Athlete (Part III)

MGM Park, home of the Biloxi Shuckers

Group 2 is the lower body component. For this workout, I focused on uni-lateral movements. This means working one limb separately, as opposed to bi-lateral movements when both limbs work together. The Bulgarian Split squat is my favorite uni-lateral exercise. I feel it give the most bang for your buck. Holding the KBs in a front rack position requires the player to have a more upright torso while placing an added emphasis on their core. The Single Leg RDL should be a staple in any baseball players workout. Ending with slide board puts the player in the frontal plane. A baseball player performs in all planes of motion (frontal, sagital, transverse) so it’s important to make the player train in all the planes.

Group 3 is upper body focused, starting with the KB Push Up plus. This exercise adds more to the standard push up by engaging the core and shoulders. I like my players to go heavy on any horizontal pulling movement, with a focus on the eccentric (lowering) part of the exercise. The Single Arm KB/DB Row is another one of my favorite bang for your buck pulling exercises when preformed right. I end with an anti-flexion/ extension ab wheel rollout plus hollow body rockers to reinforce the core to engage properly. Players will fatigue quickly at first, but will notice improvements very quickly when done consistently.

When the players get to my level, the majority of them are comfortable with these exercises. They have been doing them for a number of years as they’ve been promoted through the system. Some of these exercises would be too complicated to implement with younger players (1st year, newly drafted, straight from High School or Latin America). When the dog days of summer hit, it takes longer for me to think and program workouts for my players. This is when I call upon the KISS principle -Keep It Simple, Stupid!