Proper Warmups For Weight Training
Our baseball athletes undergo a rigorous offseason workout schedule that incorporates a ton of heavy weight lifting – mostly done with barbells, but we use dumbbells for single-arm exercises (rows) and pressing (bench press with the neutral grip and the occasional push press) as well. Most of the athletes that I get come into the gym ready to go wearing shorts and a cotton t-shirt and ask “What’s first, coach?” Assuming that they’ve already passed their initial assessment that all my clients undergo, we talk to them about proper warmup procedures and ask them what they typically do to get ready for lifting some serious weight.
The responses are varied and interesting. Most include basic static stretching, maybe a little bit of running or elliptical trainer work, a few minutes on the Airdyne, and in some exceptional cases, yoga poses and actual dynamic range of motion work. However, no one has come to me and discussed soft tissue quality and/or foam rolling as part of their warmup techniques!
Soft tissue quality is extremely important when maintaining and gaining flexibility/mobility and plays a huge role in “prehab” and rehab operations equally. This topic is worth studying and dedicating a few posts to later on, but for now I’ll just talk about proper warmups that we use at Driveline Baseball to get ready to move heavy weight (which are similar to the warmups we do before batting practice or throwing a bullpen).
First: Foam Rolling / Self-Myofascial Release (SMR)
To me, foam rolling is a no-brainer. Eric Cressey and Mike Robertson wrote a groundbreaking article titled “Feel Better for 10 Bucks” on T-Nation that changed the way I trained athletes (and myself). Here’s a quick excerpt from said article:
It’s also fairly well accepted that muscles need to not only be strong, but pliable as well. Regardless of whether you’re a bodybuilder, strength athlete, or ordinary weekend warrior, it’s important to have strength and optimal function through a full range of motion. While stretching will improve the length of the muscle, SMR and massage work to adjust the tone of the muscle.
I’m going to plagiarize Eric Cressey again and show you a video that he taped that discusses the foam rolling progressions he has his athletes go through. They are very similar and nearly identical to the foam rolling patterns our athletes go through:
Second: Dynamic Stretching / Mobility Work
For many athletes – and especially baseball players - this involves pounding away at hip mobility. Stronglifts.com has a great article on this topic along with companion videos. Basic stuff like simple leg swings can make a huge difference over the long run:
We also work on ankle mobility and stabilization (a topic I wrote about last month), as this is huge in any squatting pattern. You’ll also find that soccer players and baseball athletes (both pitchers and hitters) will have deficits between their “plant” leg and their free leg. Don’t just work on one ankle – work them both to bring them up equally!
There’s also a bit of static stretching involved prior to our lifts – I know, I know. Static stretching before lifting or power-based movements has gotten a bad reputation. However, like many controversial topics, it has been vastly overblown. Static stretching of the hip flexors prior to squatting or jumping has been shown to improve performance and working the agonist/antagonist relationships (hanging from the chin-up bar prior to bench press, for example) tends to help a lot as well.
One of our favorite static stretches - the "Ichiro" stretch
Third: Band Work
We use resistance bands quite a bit between sets and prior to lifting to get the blood flowing throughout the body and to increase mobility in important areas. We’ll often do some facepulls and general scapular mobility work, X-band walks and other glute activation work, and simple internal/external ROM work for the shoulder.
I hope that this article helps you to think about warming up for weight training – and sports in general – a little differently, and perhaps more seriously. You can pick up resistance bands or mobility/flexibility products from our respective Products pages. Give them a shot – I bet you’ll notice a big difference next time you’re in the gym!
My Recent Reading List
Over the past four years I’ve probably spent hundreds of hours reading research papers (full ones, not just abstracts), medical journals, and derivative materials to gain a better understanding of biomechanics, applied anatomy, and kinesiology as it relates to baseball and exercise science in general.
I’m currently doing a lot of research on how to convert 3d biomechanical models of pitchers (which we will be able to construct soon using software and four high-speed cameras that are being ordered for delivery in March) into usable data that includes things like joint loads and torques. This is a rather difficult task given the estimates that go into the methods, but what’s even more difficult to figure out are the methods themselves! Stuff like this isn’t exactly published for the layman and is typically only read by other professionals in academia, not coaches like myself.
Regardless, I continue on, seeking help on the ASMI message boards and asking multiple people in the industry and academia who are very gracious with their time.
Right now I’m focused on the following two papers and their derivative works (both are freely available):
- Biomechanics of Pitching with Emphasis upon Shoulder Kinematics (Dillman, Fleisig, Andrews)
- Dynamics of the Shoulder and Elbow Joints of the Throwing Arm During a Baseball Pitch (Feltner, Dapena)
Some of the research papers that I’ve loved in the past and continue to read over and over again are:
- Humeral Torque in Professional Baseball Pitchers (Sabick et. al.)
- Kinetic Comparison Among the Fastball, Curveball, Change-up, and Slider in Collegiate Baseball Pitchers (Fleisig et. al.)
- Biomechanics of the Shoulder in Youth Baseball Pitchers (Sabick et. al.)
- Correlation of Range of Motion and Glenohumeral Translation in Professional Baseball Pitchers (Borsa et. al.)
And one of the best papers that shapes the most of my training:
- Differences in Scapular Upward Rotation Between Baseball Pitchers and Position Players (Laudner et. al.)
There are many others that I enjoy, but those are my favorite. Give them a shot if you’re got some time and inclination to read source material. A warning, though – it gets addicting to those with inquisitive minds!
Is Resistance Band Work Overrated?
Resistance band work (also known as “tubing”) seemingly makes up the core component of any pitcher’s exercise routine – from the high school athlete right up to the professional big league hurler. Programs like ASMI’s Thrower’s Ten get tons of praise for preventing and rehabbing throwing-related injuries to the shoulder and elbow. It’s often called a “strengthening” program to help your rotator cuff withstand the high forces involved in throwing a baseball, and more importantly, decelerating the pitching arm muscles in a safe manner.
But is resistance band work overrated? That’s a really scary question to ask, and many people (perhaps including you) will have the same kneejerk response: Heck no! I want to make it clear that I believe that resistance band work makes up a lot of what we do at Driveline Baseball – especially with regards to scapular stabilization and mobilization work. An exercise that every athlete does on my program are band pull-aparts:
Eric Cressey recently posted a very interesting article that served as the catalyst for my post – Clearing up the Rotator Cuff Controversy. In it, he said:
1. The true function of the rotator cuff is to stabilize the humeral head on the glenoid (shoulder socket). While external rotation is important for deceleration of the crazy internal rotation velocity seen with throwing, it’s stabilization that we’re really after. As you can see, the humeral head is too large to allow for great surface area contact with the glenoid.
My feeling is that the bigger muscles – particularly scapular stabilizers, the core, and the lower half - will decelerate the crazy velocities we see as long as mechanics are effective and the deceleration arc is long enough.
2. The shoulder internally rotates at over 7,000°/s during acceleration; that’s the fastest motion in all of sports. There’s no way that the rotator cuff muscles alone with their small cross-sectional area can decelerate it. And, to take it a step further, there isn’t much that some rubber tubing is going to do to help the cause…
(emphasis mine)
I absolutely agree with Eric, especially the bolded parts. The rotator cuff is very important, but it’s only one piece of the puzzle. That’s why it astounds me when my clients come to me saying that they do a lot of light dumbbell work and pull tons of resistance bands every day, but haven’t done a squat or deadlift in their entire life! Pitchers need to build maximum strength in their lower half and their back; while they can skimp out on pressing movements (and likely should avoid straight bar pressing or overhead presses of any kind during the season), they need to prioritize squats, deadlifts, rows, and pulling variants to develop musculature that will help support the deceleration phase of pitching in addition to adding a few miles per hour onto that fastball!
So, in short, yes, I do think that resistance band / rotator cuff work is overrated. While baseball is coming around to the idea that maximum strength training (with appropriate modifications, of course) is useful, youth athletes typically suffer from their high school coaches’ ignorance of the benefits of training for strength and power. Too many HS athletes go into the season with instructions to pull tubes, throw light medicine balls, and run long distances, and when they break down in-season or even get injured, the coaches just say that they didn’t work hard enough on conditioning!
I’ll say it again: Maximum strength training MUST be prioritized in the months leading up to the baseball season, and pitchers should seek to maintain strength levels as best as possible in-season while switching over to a more injury-preventative program to reduce stress and load during competition.
News: WPtouch Theme Installed
We’ve installed the WPtouch iPhone Theme for iPhone users on our site – this way, when you go to our website, you get something like this:
Our site becomes a bit more usable and compact for our mobile iPhone viewers. Let me know if you’re having problems with the theme. Thanks!
Link: Unstable Surface Training
My friend and colleague Cameron at SFB Fitness has written a great piece on personal trainers and how they implement crazy techniques that impress the average gym-goer but don’t get actual results. The first target of his investigation? Unstable surface training.
While I have no doubt that Cameron’s whole series will be good, this article in particular is great. Occasionally I’ll go to the local LA Fitness to swim, row on the Concept2 (hey, they cost ~$5000 new!), throw medicine balls in their racquetball courts (that one gets some glares), or shoot hoops with some buddies. I always – and I do mean always – see personal trainers with their clients using the BOSU ball for some ridiculous exercise.
Yeah, I bet this is useful.
Anyway, I don’t want to steal the spotlight. Read Cameron’s article about it, and stay tuned to his website for further additions in the series!
News: Products Page Completed
At Driveline Baseball, we use a variety of tools and products to help our clients achieve their goals – be it a faster 40 yard dash time, higher fastball velocities, better break on their curveballs, more batspeed, even a higher vertical leap! – and I’ve finally put together a page on our site that lists many of the products that we use on a daily basis to help clients meet these goals. You can find this page above on the bar labeled Products and navigate the various categories by using the drop-down or by simply going to the Products page and seeing a list of what we have on our site. Most of the products have free shipping from Amazon.com, so check them out!
We’ll be posting free videos and articles that shows these products in action soon. Keep an eye out for them!
A Few Scapular Exercises and Stretches…
A few people have been asking me for good “scapular” exercises and stretches that will help to increase scapular upwards rotation as well as just strengthening the upper back and muscles that attach to the scapula in general. There’s an excellent paper titled “Differences in Scapular Upwards Rotation Between Baseball Pitchers and Position Players” that is well worth reading. For those who want the short version, here’s what the excerpt says:
Conclusion: Baseball pitchers have less scapular upward rotation than do position players, specifically at humeral elevation angles of 60° and 90°.
Clinical Relevance: This decrease in scapular upward rotation may compromise the integrity of the glenohumeral joint and place pitchers at an increased risk of developing shoulder injuries compared with position players. As such, pitchers may benefit from periscapular stretching and strengthening exercises to assist with increasing scapular upward rotation.
The periscapular muscles are:
- Trapezius
- Serratus Anterior
- Pectoralis Minor
- Levator Scapulae
- Rhomboids (minor/major)
Here are some examples of stretches and band-assisted exercises that we have our clients do to strengthen and increase the flexibility/mobility of the “scapula”:
Band Pull-Aparts (SPRI Xertube Resistance Bands are perfect for these)
Levator Scapulae and Upper Trapezius Stretch
Face Pulls (do these with SPRI resistance bands, too)
Scapula Push-Ups (the Perfect Pushup is useful for this exercise)
News: Our New Coaching Facility
I’m happy to announce that Driveline Baseball will be coaching out of the NSBA facility located at 8512 20th Ave NE, just off Lake City Way! We’ll be offering our hitting and pitching instruction out of this facility and soon hope to move our strength and conditioning equipment into the building as well.
You can check out the NSBA’s facility homepage at nsbabaseball.org. Google Maps information is provided below. If you wish to book instruction, please still do this at our website by filling out one of the contact forms – either on our Training page or our general Contact page.
Thanks for all your support, and we’ll be sure to update you on progress (with pictures, of course) of the facility buildout!
Video: Ankle Mobility Work
This video is an excellent example of how to stretch the ankle and improve mobility in that joint. Ankle mobility is extremely important in both baseball position players and pitchers. Since baseball is such a unilateral sport, players will often have deficits in one ankle but not the other – this is even more pronounced in pitchers. Be sure to keep your heel on the ground, and add this stretch into your routine before and after your workouts, games, and practices.
Kinematic Analysis: Wrist to Elbow Relationship
Posted by Kyle in motion analysis on January 17, 2010
We talk a lot on this blog about training for baseball, but not much about mechanics or the actual pitching motion in general. Today I’d like to take a quick look at one part of pitching mechanics that we study: The relationship between the pitching arm wrist and the pitching arm elbow during the late-cocking phase of the pitching delivery.
Late-Cocking Phase (click for large image)
In the late-cocking phase of the pitching delivery, there are very high forces placed on the shoulder and arm segments as they rotate upwards of 937 degrees/second and 1160 degrees/second, respectively. Part of what can cause the serious forces on the elbow in particular is how the arm lays back in Maximum Shoulder External Rotation (MER).
Billy Wagner at MER
How the arm reaches MER is vitally important – in pitchers with timing flaws, the forearm violently lays back behind the elbow in rapid succession, causing significant torque on the elbow. However, this can be minimized with training and slight mechanical changes, both of which are beyond the scope of this introductory article.
One way we study the relationship between the pitching arm wrist and elbow is to perform a trajectory analysis on a pitcher, measuring the path of the pitcher’s driveline and the rate of change of various arm segments. While I can’t show you any video from my current clients (privacy reasons and all), I can show you some anonymous data from a first-time client that I have handy. This pitcher is a youth pitcher who had his recent entry evaluation with high-speed footage taken within the past month. The chart below details the relationship between the pitching elbow (blue) and the pitching wrist (red). Also shown in the chart are the rates of change (delta) between each time interval (0.00476 seconds, if you were wondering!) as well as the delta between each delta! (Absolute values were used in measuring the rate of change of the deltas.)
Trajectory Chart - Relationship Between Wrist and Elbow
What does this chart tell us? Well, the red and blue numbers are measured in pixels and detail the wrist and elbow’s paths, respectively. In this student’s case, the pitching elbow rapidly outpaces the pitching wrist, causing the forearm to lay back fairly rapidly in MER. The sum of all the deltas in the right-hand column expresses the absolute difference in rates of change between the two segments of the arm and tells us something about timing flaws. While not every pitcher should be within a given range, this is but one more variable that we use to analyze a pitcher’s mechanics and can tell us a lot about how the arm is used.
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