Strength Training Alternatives for Baseball and Softball Athletes
The importance of strength in sport cannot be overlooked. With appropriate strength development, athletes improve their chances to perform at a high level. This is easily displayed in all sports on a daily basis.
The ability for an athlete to apply force into the ground leads to the insane abilities athletes possess to jump high, run fast, change directions, and throw hard. The consistent work athletes put in, both in the weight room and on the field, lead to great success. This all stems from the ability to apply force.
On top of the performance enhancements that strength training can bring athletes, the even greater attribute of strength is the ability it has to build tissue resiliency. This attribute is extremely important for injury prevention. When preparing athletes for sport, it should be a top priority to prepare the body for the many stresses it will endure during the sport. If we don’t, the athlete could break.
It is extremely important for all athletes to begin their strength training through the development of multilateral, general strength approaches. For example: hinge, squat, push, pull, and lunge. These general approaches consist of exercises such as the bench press, back squat, deadlift, inverted row, and split squat.
Each of these exercises are great for building a solid foundation. However, as athletes advance, their specialties will begin to vary as they become involved in different sports that are played during different seasons (basketball — winter/spring, football — summer/fall, baseball — spring/summer).
There are some better alternative exercises for strength training that need to be utilized once the athletes start to explore other sports. For example, in the case of overhead athletes such as baseball/softball players, there are some considerations and alterations in the weight room that can better prepare them for their specific sport.
Push Ups vs. Bench Press
In overhead athletes, especially baseball or softball players, the ability of the scapula (shoulder blade) to move appropriately on the ribs is crucial. Without adequate scapulo-humeral rhythm, the interplay between the scapula and the humerus that helps to get the arm overhead in a safe and effective manner, the body will be forced to find movement elsewhere. This can lead to shoulder impingement issues and unwanted stress on the shoulder joint.
Choosing to have the athlete perform push ups over the bench press can be a very beneficial alternative push exercise because of the ability of the scapula to move freely.
When performing the bench press, the athletes are instructed to retract the scapula back and down in order to create a stable base in which to press. While this is perfect when performing the bench press, it is inadequate for baseball/softball players because of the much needed ability for the scapula to upwardly rotate, protract, and posteriorly tilt when throwing.
During the bench press exercise, the shoulders are pulled into internal rotation, which can lead to more shoulder stress as compared to the push up, which allows the scapula to move freely while the hands are made to support the rest of the body. The benefit of utilizing the pushup in this case is that it is easier to cue the athlete on how to create torque to turn on the stabilizer muscles in the shoulder.
Inverted Row vs. Pull-ups
For all around balance in any strength training program, it is important to adequately program pulling exercises. Some examples are pull-ups, batwing rows, and inverted rows.
If athletes focus too much on their pushing exercises their shoulders can be pulled into internal rotation due to muscle tightness. This is an unhealthy position for the shoulder to be in, especially for a baseball or softball player. Programming pulling exercises will counteract the internal rotation caused by excessive pressing. It would even be beneficial to have a 2:1 ratio of pulling to pushing exercises in the program.
One of the most popular pulling exercises implemented in strength training programs is the pull-up. While pull-ups are great for developing back strength, especially in the latissimus dorsi (lats), there are some things to look into before having athletes vertically pull for excessive volumes. One is that the lats can become overly tight with excessive amounts of pull-ups, which can pull athletes into excessive lumbar extension, limit the ability to get the arms overhead as well as pull the shoulders into internal rotation. As stated previously, we are trying to counteract the excessive internal rotation that athletes fall into. For baseball and softball athletes this is something that must be looked at due to the extreme importance of getting their arms overhead and externally rotated.
The good news is that there are other pulling variations that can better suit back development. One of the best variations is the inverted row. Not only is it easy to implement in a program, but having the athlete perform an inverted row, as compared to a pull-up, reduces the chances of the lats tightening up and creating future issues.
Utilizing the inverted row ensures that athletes are getting in proper back training while minimizing the chances of creating dysfunction in the shoulder. Balance is key. Finding a balance between pushing and pulling exercises will allow the athlete to proportionately develop strength.
Front Squat vs. Back Squat
There is a lot of debate in the strength and conditioning world on which squat is better. While both variations have their positives and negatives, when it comes to a baseball/softball player, there is a specific reason as to why you might want to pick one over the other.
During a back squat there is extreme amounts of stress placed on the lower back. Due to the excessive amount of anterior pelvic tilt, many times athletes will complain of lower back pain. If this continues, Pars fractures (which is a stress fracture in the vertebrae caused by excessive extension of the lumbar spine) can quickly become an issue.
With rotational athletes, having adequate hip and thoracic spine mobility is a must due to the accumulation of forces placed on the trunk. This mobility is necessary during swinging and throwing. Without proper mobility in these areas, the body will have to compensate and find the movement elsewhere, most commonly the lumbar spine. On top of mobility, proper develop of the core is crucial for baseball/softball athletes. The core plays a pivotal role in not only stabilizing the spine, but also transferring force from the lower body to the upper body.
With so much stress being placed on the trunk already, it would be beneficial to perform the front squat over the back squat to minimize the stresses on the lower back by reducing the amount of excessive lumbar extension. This is possible because front squats are an anterior loaded exercise, which activates the core and creates stability in the spine, minimizing the amount of movement. By having your baseball/softball athletes perform the front squat as compared to the back squat we can help reduce the chances of lower back injuries.
We have discussed the importance that strength training is with athletic performance. Developing a strong base is extremely important for any athlete. However, when it comes to programming for specific sports, certain things need to be taken into consideration. As far as baseball/softball players go, there are a few alterations that can be made to ensure that they are appropriately prepared for their sport.
While these are just considerations, the most important thing is to make sure that we are taking a look at what qualities are important in a certain sport and what we can do in the weight room to best prepare them. In the case for the baseball/softball athlete, we need to ensure that we are encouraging scapular movement, minimizing lat tightness, and reducing lower back problems.
