Training Archives - Diamond Advantage

19May 2023 by Eric

How Should Baseball Players Condition?

Fitness, Training

Baseball conditioning has change drastically within the past 10 years or so. Even when I was in high school, we used to run poles for conditioning, usually around 10 reps or so. Poles would fall in to the long distance high intensity category. Which is great for a marathon runners training but not a baseball player, and it doesn’t do much for your arm recovery. And here is why: There are two terms with cardio training: Aerobic (exercise with oxygen) vs. Anaerobic (exercise without oxygen). An aerobic base is extremely important to help you recover acutely and chronically throughout the season and in life. So, yes cardio is extremely healthy for a baseball player and anybody in general. But developing an aerobic base needs to be done at very low…

24May 2021 by Eric

What foods are best before, during, and after exercise to keep you energized?

Nutrition, Training

What foods are best before, during, and after exercise to keep you energized? [caption id="attachment_360" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Typically, tropical fruits contain a high glycemic index.[/caption] I get asked a lot of questions from my players what types of foods should they be eating and when. Most often then not I try to keep it simple and tell them to stay away from fast food, make their own breakfast, lunch, and dinner at home, drink plenty of water, and reduce their sugar intake. Recently, I had a player ask me "what are the best types of food to eat before, during, and after a game or workout?" this post will go into detail on a great way to fuel your body to work at peak performance. Carbohydrates (CHO) are one of…

31Mar 2021 by Eric

Simple Recovery Strategies

Recovery, Training

Recovery: the time it takes takes to get the body back to homeostasis. Research of the effects of recovery in terms of performance is still advancing, but it has not looked into the underlying mechanisms of the various recovery strategies list below and why they work. Research has typically looked at the type of exercise performed and the amount of fatigued induced. In the body, researchers look at biomarkers of muscle damage and inflammation: creatine kinase and myoglobin. They also look at changes in blood flow, fatigue, soreness, and perceptual measures of recovery. Recovery strategies typically target areas of muscle soreness, body and muscle temperature, inflammation, blood flow, and mental fatigue. Your recovery process should start immediately after completion of exercise, practice, or the game and should be built…

24Feb 2021 by Eric

Arm Care 101

Fitness, Throwing, Training

Arm Care 101: It is time to rethink how we do arm care. Gone are the days of banded external rotations and wrist curls, now is the time for a holistic scientific approach. Taking a holistic approach should include banded external rotations and wrist curls but it should also look at your posture, scapula movement, rotator cuff strength, strong and flexible lats, and adequate overhead range of motion. Baseball players, your arm can be your golden ticket, here is how you can keep it healthy: 1. Posture Our posture can greatly affect the way we throw. Posture is simply the alignment of our body in which there are two types: static posture and dynamic posture… Static posture: how an individual physically presents themselves in stance, is the base from which…

15Feb 2021 by Eric

Outside the Box Baseball Development

Fitness, Training

Tips to Develop into an Elite Athlete: If you really want to develop into a great baseball player to be able to play, compete, and even be a star on the field, it is time to take your training to the next level. Every elite high school, college, and professional baseball player spends a lot of their time working out in the weight room, working on hitting or pitching mechanics, but what else are they doing to become an elite athlete? Those are the two most important areas to focus on, but what else can you do? Here is how you can take your development to the next level: 6 areas of focus: 1.) Weight Room 2.) Speed 3.) Baseball specific drills 4.) Athleticism 5.) Recovery and health 6.) Mental…

08Feb 2021 by Eric

Mobility Exercises to Keep You Healthy Throughout the Season

Fitness, Recovery, Training

Baseball Mobility: [caption id="attachment_193" align="aligncenter" width="393"] A look at Joint by joint approach of which joints need to be stable vs mobile[/caption] I am going to come out and say it. Baseball is terrible for your body. It is very repetitive and nearly one sided, which creates muscle imbalances in the body. Think about how many repetitions of throws and swings we take over the course of a season. Every single rep we take is just consistently working muscles on the same side over and over again and not working the other antagonistic side. Over time, our body adapts to the demands placed on it and will make changes to allow you to throw or rotate. These changes can have some long lasting effects that could possibly lead to overuse…

08Feb 2021 by Eric

Attention Coaches and Players, This Is How You Should Warm Up:

Fitness, Training

Attention Coaches and Players, This Is How You Should Warm Up: Whether you are working out or preparing for a practice or a game one thing you should never skip out on is a proper warm up. A proper warm up should be anywhere from 10-15 minutes and should be mainly dynamic. First you need to think about the purpose as to why we warm up... Increase core temperature to increase enzymatic activity, increase range of motion, activate our muscles, and positive neural effects. I am a main believer that everything you do in life needs to have a purpose. So whats the purpose of warming up for baseball? Purpose: Make decisions based on improvement area (posture, lifestyle, movements to come for baseball). Posture and lifestyle: Sitting all day weakens…

04Feb 2021 by Eric

The Powers of Tart Cherry Juice

Nutrition, Recovery, Training

Tart Cherry Juice is a powerful tool to aid in your recovery Tired of taking traditional pain relievers and non-steroidal anti- inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs)? Many Pain relievers and NSAIDs work to block the pain signal at the sight of injury but aren’t helping fix the problem. There are well known risks and side effects with traditional pain relievers and anti-inflammatory drugs used by the general population. Tart cherry juice is a natural, food based alternative that certainly appears to represent a safer potential alternative than taking ibuprofen every single day. Tart cherry juice has become a popular health alternative and dietitians around pro sports in the MLB, NFL, NBA are giving cherry juice to their athletes to help their bodies recover from the daily grind of the season. Plus, there…

01Feb 2021 by Eric

Understanding Swing Plane

Hitting, Training

Learn to swing on plane and you will become a good hitter The swing plane is one of THE most important pieces of hitting to understand. If you learn how to get your bat into the swing plane early and stay in the plane long through your follow through... you will be a good hitter. First it is important to change the way we think. Long gone are the days where we chop down on the ball because that was what we thought was the quickest ways to get our bat head to the ball. Not only does swinging down create improper mechanics, it does not allow our bat head to get on the plane of the pitch that is coming in. [caption id="attachment_164" align="aligncenter" width="275"] Swinging down teaches improper…

01Feb 2021 by Eric

Understanding Blast Motion Hitting Metrics

Hitting, Training

Blast Motion Metrics Defined: Blast motion can be a great tool to use for you or your players, but if you do not understand what the metrics mean and how to train to get better, then it is just an expensive piece of equipment. Here are some of the metrics that Blast captures and their definitions. Swing Metrics: 1.) On plane efficiency Measures the percentage of your swing where the bat is on the swing plane. Your vertical bat angle at contact establishes the plane for that swing. Plane is a great indicator for making more consistent contact on the barrel of the bat. 2.) Rotational Acceleration Rotation measures how quickly your bat accelerates into the swing plane. Rotation is a good indicator of how you build bat speed by…

Category: Training