Of the 30 million young athletes involved in organized sports today, nearly 300,000 suffer an injury each year playing baseball alone.
Today’s baseball and softball players often play year-round on many teams, allowing little time for rest.
This places a strain on the body and makes young athletes more likely to get overuse injuries in key areas, including:
Stretching is a vital part of your conditioning routine. It can help prevent injuries and improve performance.
When stretching, we advise athletes to perform 5 repetitions of each exercise holding the stretch for 30 seconds. Relax between each rep and set of exercises.
It's also important to stretch the muscle at its end range of motion.
For strengthening exercises, we suggest 8 to 15 repetitions per set.
As a general guideline, you should feel:
Strengthening programs are most effective when targeted specifically for the demands of a sport.
Based on positions, baseball and softball strengthening exercises should focus on different areas of the body:
Preventive exercises for baseball and softball players are:
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Check out these how-to videos for each baseball conditioning exercise. Share them with your players or teammates so they can have a productive and successful offseason.
A small amount of muscle soreness and fatigue is normal when starting a baseball or softball workout program. But, if you have lower back or joint pain that persists, stop the exercise program and see a sports medicine specialist.
Follow these preseason conditioning and in-season programs to maximize your performance and minimize baseball-related injuries.
Ideally, begin your preseason conditioning 8 to 12 weeks before your season starts.
Baseball-specific exercises for:
These will help build fatigue-resistant muscle and increase power in the:
Shoulder-specific exercises focusing on the:
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