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 intensity, i.e. riding a bike for 20 minutes a day around 35-69% of Max Heart Rate which is low to moderate intensity. Running poles would most likely exceed that moderate intensity threshold.
I was asked by a player “is blood flow the best thing for recovery?” and in short the answer is yes but also no.
Yes because our heart pumps blood throughout the body and attached with it is oxygen and vital nutrients that help keep our tissues healthy and strong. A strong aerobic base is important to pump enough blood per minute throughout our body without taxing the heart (high resting heart rate vs a low resting heart rate) to delivery the oxygen and nutrients to our tissues to keep them alive.
No, because it is not THE only factor in recovery, especially from pitching.
Other things to help with recovery:
1.) Reduce inflammation with rest, diet/hydration and sleep.
2.) Reestablish range of motion lost from repetitive throwing.
Doing mobility exercises in the ankles, hips, t-spine, and shoulders. Stretching the pectoral muscles, lats, biceps and triceps.
3.) Lastly, maintain strength.
Getting at least 2-3 lifts in during season with low volume, and doing band work for the arms.
Previously thought by many coaches was that pitching builds up Lactic Acid in the arm and running was the only way to flush it out quickly after a start.
Lactic acid or more known as lactate inside the body, is a byproduct of exercise that gets cycled through the body within minutes after an exercise. So, you technically can’t flush it out with a run. You’re more likely to build up more lactate by running.
The burning sensation you’re feeling whether you’re running, lifting, or doing anything strenuous is the accumulation of H+ ions inside a cell… but no need to go into the science.
The soreness you feel after strenuous throwing or lifting session are micro-tears in the muscle tissue that will take 2-4 days to recovery depending on the intensity. This is called Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS for short).
The Best way to speed up the recovery process is what I mentioned above.
Now the reason for the shift from long distance running to more sprint work within baseball.
Two things to keep in mind fast twitch muscle fibers and slow twitch muscle fibers.
Fast twitch is power and every movement in baseball is explosive power in nature. So let’s train like we play!
Long distance running will affect lower body power (by developing more slow twitch muscle fibers) and has no carry over to help a pitcher on the mound throw hard, or help our runners steal a base, or our hitters to increase bat speed. Sprinting will increase lower body power, it is the highest level of plyometric power in sports. Not only will it have more carry over to our game play, it is also more engaging and can be fun.
Our high school kids need to development more muscle strength and size and sprinting can help with that. Look are Usain Bolt and all the runners he ran against, they have more developed muscle than a marathon running who has very little power output.
Doing several sets of sprint work will also help build that aerobic base like I was talking about. Players will also build an aerobic base doing certain drill work in practice if they are constantly moving.
Be creative in conditioning- have guys kick around a soccer ball between starts, some guys like to run football routes, sprint, change directions, add agility, make it a competition.
My favorite drill is to have one kid took ground balls from one bucket continuously until the balls ran out. Then the next kid went. It’s great because it incorporates baseball specific skill work and it is exhausting!
After my playing days, I decided I wanted to focus on my academics and learn about the human body, get experience coaching, and eventually help other athletes reach their goals. I have my Bachelors of Science in Health and Exercise Science; i’m also a Certified Personal Trainer, Corrective Exercise Specialist, and have worked in a Sports Science Role in Professional Baseball.