Baseball: Optimized

Topics to cover

• Recovery – What is it?• Nutrition – Building blocks for success• Overall Training – Balance yourself

– Spectrum– Pyramid– Periodization

• Arm care/Body Care– What to do and what not to do

What is recovery?

• Act of bringing back to a normal position or condition – Working out 7 days a week provides zero to minimal

chance recovery– Working out once a week may be wasting time (you

may be “too well rested”• You could’ve worked harder

Recovery Continued

– passive – resting (sitting, sleeping, day off)– active - purposeful rest (hiking, mobility drills, light

weight exercise, etc)

• Which is best?– It depends– Playing 7 games in 7 days and attending classes will

lean more toward passive.– Playing 2 games, with 4 practices and classes,

pushes us a bit toward active.– Listen to your body!

Recovery Notes

• You need to think about what you do every day, every week!– Hitting balls after practice may help you “tune up”, but

you risk fatigue• Can burn you out/ break you down• Actually cause your form to deteriorate

• Always ask the following:– Is one more (rep, swing, pitch, etc.) worth the risk?

Active Options

• Hiking• Playing another sport (not all out for 4 hours)• Sprints• Clean your room• Cut the grass, etc

Nutrition – Building Blocks for Success

• Overall Strategy – Avoid garbage in garbage out– Would you put 87 octane in a racecar!?!?!?

• Stay in outside aisles at grocery store!!!– 90% of the time– Mostly processed junk in middle– Meats, fruits, veggies, etc outside

Macronutrients

• Protein – ~1 gram/pound of body weight– See what works for you

• Carbs – Really depends (listen to your body)– Double header and a weight room session on the

same day calls for more carbs than a day off• Easy day – 1g/pound• Medium – 1.5g/pound• Hard – 2+g/pound

• Fats – Next page

Macros continued

• Fats – You need fats!!!– Just make them quality fats (outside aisles)– Avocado - Guacamole– Fish (Omega 3 bonus!!!)– Eggs– Olive oil

Nutrition Tips

• Avoid fad diets (goodbye muscles)• Avoid beach body mindset• Avoid low-(x) diets• Avoid Fast food

– Have your parents pack your food for tournaments/ road trips

• Think about what you eat (every day, every week), just like working out

Overall Training – Balance Yourself

• Pyramid– Movement/Power/Sport Specific

• Power/Speed Spectrum

• Periodization• Cycles

Movement

Power

Sport Specific

Power Speed

Pyramid

• We must refine proper human movement (range of motion, mobility, stability)– Efficiency is key!

• Then we train power within that ROM (buffer zone)

• Then we add sport specific skills onto that level• Each level creates a base for the next

Movement

Power

Sport Specific

PowerSpeed

• If you throw a ball all day (speed), what would best suit your development?– You are using a sport specific skill (increasing the size

of that step)– If you go too far, you become unstable

• It’s best to work on the other side of the spectrum– Proper movement and weight training translates onto

the field!!!

Movement

Power

Sport Specific

Periodization

• Monthly Cycles are part of Seasonal Cycles, are part of Annual cycles

• Each phase/cycle has it’s own focus• The entire program is designed around the

goal/peak (playoffs)• You will most likely do things differently in each

phase– Adding AND SUBTRACTING!!!

Training Tips

• Train movements, not muscles• Build your pyramid properly

– Move, get stronger, play ball

• Hit the weights!– correctly

Arm/Care Body Care

• What to do:– Eliminate left/right imbalances– Develop proper movement patterns

• Be athletic first!!!

– Develop power within those ranges of motion– Develop sports specific skills on top – Eat, sleep, and rest appropriately– Add soft tissue manipulation– Warm-up appropriately for your sport

Covering the new topics

• Soft tissue manipulation– Fascia – in and around muscles (and other places)– Repetitive motion can irritate body tissues/fascia– The body adds more tissue to support the area

• This tissue is not always of the highest quality– Soft tissue manipulation helps increase the tissue

quality in an area.

• Foam rolling can be done at home!– Graston/ART/Massage, etc cannot

Covering more new topics

• Proper warm-up– Stretching and jogging were used in the past– Dynamic warm-up is much more efficient, if not safer

• After soft tissue manipulation/foam rolling

– Perform movements (pyramid base) within a controlled ROM (do not go too far to start)

• This is where you work on your weak movements!!!• Lunge, Squat, Skips, Hip mobilizations, etc

– And you build you pyramid base!!

Warm up continued

• This warm-up also applies to the weight room– Warm up for your task

• If you are going to attempt a 1RM squat, what is a jog on the treadmill doing for you?

• Relate that to baseball (an explosive sport with adequate rest)

• Why do we run so much long distance?– Don’t sprints make much more sense?!?!

• Work on your movement, build your power, and only then think sport specific

Rotator Cuff

• Part of shoulder complex• Volunteer – What is a great rotator cuff

exercise?

• External rotations (band, weight, etc)– Light – really for blood flow only

• Shake weight, Body blade• Perturbations (one knee, all fours, med ball)

Core

• Your core is designed to be a stable base for extremity movement– Why sit-ups ever seemed like a good idea is a valid

question.

• These days, core training involves keeping the spine still, and challenging the core to stay still, while resisting rotation, or other motions

“Functional” Exercise

• Is not standing on a ball• Is tailored to the athlete

– The athlete makes an exercise functional, the exercise does not

• What does standing on a ball have to do with baseball? Nothing – avoid it

Pressing Conundrum

• Overhead pressing has always been a hot topic– I say no

• Pitchers usually demonstrate decreased upward rotation of their scapula– Pushups would be better than bench press.– Pushups are also great for the core (2 for 1)

• Military presses decrease subacromial space– Supraspinatus lives here

• Why risk it?

Conclusion

• Eat, rest, and sleep appropriately• Pair your resting and nutrition with your workload• Strive to be an athlete first, and a baseball player second• Lift weights (with proper training!)

– Train movements, not muscles

• Get regular soft tissue treatments• Eliminate Left/Right imbalances• Read:

– Athletic Body in Balance: Gray Cook– Starting Strength: Mark Rippetoe

• Ask Questions

Where to find me

• Blog: http://mreppertdc.wordpress.com/• Website:http://mreppert2418.wix.com/mattreppertdc#!

home/mainPage (search “reppert wix”)• Twitter: @MReppertDC• Facebook: Matthew C. Reppert DC @ Quakertown

Chiropractic Clinic, LLC• LinkedIn:

http://www.linkedin.com/pub/matthew-reppert/3a/4b6/270