While the spectators are on the cusp of baseball watching season, the players have been hard at work getting ready for the season. Strength training is extremely important in baseball, because a variety of muscle groups are used to play. Each position requires slightly different motions; for instance, a pitcher uses his arm more than a catcher, who uses his legs for squatting at home plate. Baseball is broken up into four different parts of the year, and each includes a slightly different workout focus.
Early Pre-Season (January-February)
The early pre-season is used for more general workouts, such as running. These workouts will gradually shift into more intense workouts - the key here is to not start off too intensely, because that will add stress and strain to rested muscles, increasing the chance for injury. You want to get your body back in shape after the off-season before you start pushing it too hard. You want to start building your foundational strength, which basically your overall strength. The core muscles are most important to a baseball player; they facilitate movements such as turning, jumping, and twisting. Body weight exercises are great when used in a circuit because they lower the risk of injury by depending only on body weight.
Late Pre-Season (March-April)
Late pre-season is where your workouts should get more intense. You should be working on developing your maximum strength, or basically the amount of strength in one repetition. This is where a lot of baseball players go wrong - they try too hard to bench press a lot of weight and wind up with an injury. The goal is to peak with your explosiveness and power during in-season. Medicine ball exercises are great for late pre-season, and there are a variety of exercises you can do with a medicine ball. The medicine ball will help build explosiveness, which leads to more power.
In-Season (May-September)
In-season is all about maintenance. You've already worked hard, developed your explosiveness and power, and now you just want to maintain everything that was gained during pre-season. There should be no strenuous or intense exercise performed, because, again, pushing yourself too hard can lead to injuries. This is also the time to focus on balancing out your muscles. Most baseball players only hit from one side and throw from one side, which means that the other side is not getting as much of a workout. Having unevenness among muscles can also lead to injury - definitely something to prevent.
Off-Season (October-December)
Off-season is the time to take a break from your workout and let your muscles rest. A 3-4 week break is good - too much longer and you risk losing a lot of the muscle that you gained. Towards the end of the off-season, you should start focusing on your foundational strength, and that will guide you back into the early pre-season.
Baseball strength training is all about preventing and avoiding injury by doing a workout that includes a variety of options - weight training, body weight exercises, and medicine ball exercises. Certain exercises should be avoided; for example, you should never press with heavy weights, as it adds too much stress on your shoulders. Rotator cuff injuries can be prevented by using 3-5 pound weights instead of larger weights.
