Baseball athletes need to be strong, agile, and powerful in order to make their best impression at a baseball training center.
This is one of the best ways to hone your skills during the off-season.
I like to create this sort of environment in my own gym, for a group of baseball guys who work with me regularly.
Currently, our focus has been on power training which is essential for developing:
- First-step quickness
- Top end speed
- An explosive hit.
What is it?
Power training should consist of structural development, absolute strength work, and explosiveness (in that order).
I like to think of power as the perfect combination between strength and speed.
A few of my favorite modalities to start training for power during our “baseball training center”, are plyometrics, top-speed and acceleration drills, and powerful concentric lifts.
These work to increase your overall force production, and force absorption which are powerful qualities when hitting. Speed drills also help you, the baseball athlete to take a quicker first step off base, and hit your top-speed with more efficiency.
Lastly, I like to utilize a form of strength training which maximizes muscle fiber recruitment – giving you more gains and power.
When should you “power train” during the season?
Since power training is made up of explosive and advanced movement, I would suggest saving it until the end of pre-season, (you should be peaking).
Power should be one of your off-season’s most-specialized training segments.
I suggest mixing up your workouts during this baseball training center phase, similarly to the one I’m giving you below. The goal here is no longer building muscle, but to stimulate efficient movement and avoid over-exhausting yourself.
The best way to properly progress your training is by checking out a periodized program with specific set and rep ranges to stimulate muscle the right way.
Below is a sample workout I would have a baseball athlete perform during their power phase:
The workout
The focus of today’s workout is lower body power with a lot of medicine ball work and upper body strength.
I’ve included a variety of exercises for power training before you hit your next baseball training center.
Let’s go.
1. Deceleration Box Step Down
This movement teaches you to properly absorb force (landing from an elevated step down). Over time as you progress, feel free to introduce higher boxes to your training.
HOW TO: Begin standing on a plyo box or a bench with your hands overhead. You’re going to step forward, off the box, and land in a controlled squat-hold. This should be the same position from which you’d leave the floor to hit a vertical jump.
These should each be full effort. Perform 4 reps total.
2. Max effort vertical tuck
This movement is a progression from the first…
Max effort jumps are one of the best ways you can train to increase lower body power.
HOW TO: Begin standing. From here, take a step forward and spring off the ground, bringing your knees up and the heels under your butt. You’ll land in the same position you finished exercise #1 in (a squat hold).
These should each be full effort. Perform 4 reps total.
3. OH Soccer Toss
Med ball drills are some of the best kept secrets at any baseball training center… They’re especially useful when training baseball players, as it’s one of the few modalities which allow you to work on rotational power.
HOW TO: Begin kneeling on a pad or a mat in front of a wall. Bring a med ball up overhead, extending the torso slightly. From here, think about snapping down – leading with your belly button and finishing with the arms so you forcefully toss the med ball into the wall.
You should land with your chest on the floor, push yourself back to starting position.
You can also add on a SL variation of these where you rock onto the heel of the front foot with the toss. If doing this, be sure to place the leg, opposite your throwing arm, forward.
These should each be full effort. Perform 4 reps total.
4. Kneeling med ball chest pass
This movement should be powered by the hips. Think about using hip extension rather than the upper body, and explode the med ball forward.
HOW TO: Begin kneeling on a pad or a mat in front of a wall. Holding a med ball at your chest, tuck the elbows in tight against your rib cage. From here, push the hips back before exploding them forward to launch the ball at the wall and land with the chest on the ground.
These should each be full effort. Perform 3 reps total.
5. Kneeling lateral med ball toss
This is one of the best power drills for baseball athletes since it works on rotational power. This is great for developing hitting strength and a strong core.
HOW TO: Kneeling on a mat or a pad, keep both knees on the floor so that you’re perpendicular to the wall. From here, bring the med ball to the opposite hip away from the wall, and then twist before releasing the ball.
Perform 4 reps on each side.
6A. Barbell Floor Press
The press movement works on the push pattern that’s so essential to baseball. Upper body power is essential to start hitting more home runs.
Be sure to pull the shoulder blades back and keep the elbows neutral here.
HOW TO: Set up your barbell rack so that the platforms are set about a foot or so off the ground. Lay down between the two pieces with your barbell overhead. Un-racking the barbell, lower it slowly just to touch just below the nipple line.
Be sure to not land too heavy and smack your elbows, as this could damage the wrist joints.
Perform 4 reps.
6B.Banded Scare crows (low to high)
This movement is working across the posterior shoulder joint. It’s important to always maintain strength and mobility within your shoulders as a baseball player. Check out this baseball mobility routine.
HOW TO: Begin in a half kneeling position with the knee down that’s closest to the band’s attachment point. You should pull the band across your body from low to high (below the hip to above the opposite shoulder).
Perform 8 reps each side.
7. Neutral grip pull ups
Anything neutral grip targets the back, particularly the lats (latissimus dorsi).
HOW TO: Start with your hands on the pull-up bar in a neutral position or with the palms facing one another. Contract the lates to pull yourself up until the chin is over the bar.
Perform as many sets as needed to reach 30 reps.
Baseball Training Center Program
Making sure you include the right power workouts into your peak phase of training, will ensure that you’re ready for a big season.
Whether you’re a rookie heading off to your first baseball training camp, or you’ve spent too many summers to remember in the gym – there’s one thing we all can’t deny:
Doing just one workout isn’t going to get your anywhere.
If you want to make serious progress in your power training and play like a pro this season, look no further than BASEBALL POWER.
This program was designed for any athlete, at every level of baseball to elevate performance.
- Develop immense power and explosiveness
- Become resistant to injury
- Utilize plyometrics to pitch and hit harder than ever
So that you can start every inning, play hard the entire season, and earn points that win championships.
This baseball training center- focused program is the formula to elite-level power.
