Conditioning and Maintenance Workouts for Baseball Players
Follow these preseason conditioning and in-season maintenance programs to maximize your performance and minimize baseball-related injuries.
Preseason Baseball Conditioning
Ideally, begin your preseason conditioning 8 to 12 weeks before your season starts.
| Flexibility |
Baseball-specific exercises for:
- Rotator cuff
- Shoulder girdle
- Forearm
|
Daily |
| Speed and Agility |
|
2 to 3 times per week |
| Strength |
Exercises to build fatigue-resistant muscle and increase power in the rotator cuff, shoulder, girdle, and forearm; the core; and the lower extremity
- Start with high reps, low intensity
- Progress to low reps, high intensity
- Vary reps and intensity, from exercise to exercise, to address endurance and power within the same workout
|
3 to 4 times per week |
| Recovery |
- Begin with a good cool down after each workout
- For a more active recovery, institute cross-training or pool workouts 1-2 times per week
|
1 full recovery day (complete rest) per week |
In-season Maintenance Training
Flexibility |
Shoulder-specific exercises focusing on the:
- Rotator cuff, all planes, especially internal and external rotation (with arm at side and at shoulder level)
- Forearm and shoulder girdle (around shoulder blade)
- Flexibility of internal rotation
|
2 times per week, but not before games or heavy practices |
| Strength |
- Exercises for the core and lower extremity
- Maintenance strengthening of Rotator cuff, all planes, especially internal and external rotation (with arm at side and at shoulder level)
|
1 to 2 times per week, but not before games or heavy practices |
For more information on baseball performance training, please contact UPMC Sports Performance at 724-444-8850.
For injury-related questions, call UPMC Sports Medicine at 412-432-3600.