Training During The Holidays

During the holidays, most of us are forced to change up our training routines, pitching workouts and throwing programs to fit in family activities. Here are a couple of helpful pointers for keeping the training going during the holidays.

1) Don't forget your ball and glove - grab a family member and have a catch. Even 10 minutes, extending it back to 120 feet or so, is better than nothing and will help you keep your touch on the ball.

2) Go early – with a house full of friends and relatives, there is a strong chance you won't make it to the gym for that 5 p.m. workout session. An early dog gets the bone approach might be the answer.

3) Find a gym – the gym near your in-laws house may not have platforms, plyo boxes and flex bands, but you can do alternative exercises instead. If you don't have access to a gym, do some interval running, sit ups, push ups, bridges, body-weight squats, body-weight lunges, etc. Bring along your resistance bands (tubing).

4) Get tough - by all means, if you haven't picked up a copy of my 52 week, year round conditioning program for pitchers, you should consider looking into it. It contains more than 190 exercises and variations of the types of things you can do to get in awesome pitching shape.

No excuses, only gains.  Happy holidays!

Sample 7 Day Throwing / Conditioning Program For Starting Pitchers

Every college baseball program has a different training routines for their pitchers. Here's a sample 7-day throwing/conditioning program that starting pitchers follow at Div. 1 Indiana State University.

Sunday - Game Day Start (80-110 pitches)

Monday - Rest/30-40min run/med-ball abs/rotator-cuff strengthening

Tuesday - Long toss/long sprints

Wednesday - Light throwing/weights/mild flat-ground bullpen to get the touch and feel of pitches/medium sprint work

Thursday - Really light throwing/short sprint work/abs

Friday - 15-25 pitch bullpen (to get touch and feel) at 75-85%

Saturday - Throw to get the arm loose/pregame running (30yd sprints)

Sunday - Game Day Start (80-110 pitches)

Preparing To Throw A Baseball

One of the most difficult disciplines for a pitcher to embrace is the practice of properly preparing his arm to throw. All of us are at least occasionally guilty of not taking enough time to adequately go through our routines before we play catch, and the supposed time we save to work on throwing might not benefit us as much as we think.

The idea of elevating the overall temperature of the body is important when considering the best case scenario for beginning a throwing routine. Researchers have long held the idea of having athletes begin their workouts with a fairly brief period of cardiovascular work, and doing this at a slow pace seems to benefit the overall physiological make-up of a pitcher.

The following are some immediate benefits of a 10-20 pre-workout jog or stationary bike-ride before any flexibility exercises that precede a throwing program. An ounce of prevention...

* Increased heart rate
* Blood and oxygen travel with greater speed throughout the body
* Less friction in the joints because of an increase in synovial fluid
* More oxygen in the blood due to dilated capillaries
* Increased temperature in the muscles
* Decreased viscosity in the blood
* Muscle fibers have more elasticity and extensibility
* Contractions take place more efficiently and faster