January 24 2018

4 Exercises All Baseball Players Should Be Doing But Probably Aren’t!!!

Engineered Athlete Where Knowledge is Turned into Power

Are you doing the right exercises this off season to make yourself the best possible player and more importantly, prevent injury? With baseball season quickly approaching, players are no doubt preparing both physically and mentally. This may include self guided or professionally guided strength training programs. As players continue to become bigger and throw faster, there is also a growing number of shoulder and elbow injuries. These injuries are increasing from the professional level all the way down to Little League. With the overwhelming increases in knowledge and technology having to do with sports science, injuries should be decreasing with increasing athletic performance. However this is not the case. This begs the questions… 1. WHY? 2. HOW do we PREVENT these injuries? 3. Is it possible to prevent injury while increasing athletic performance?

From my experience as a physical therapist, one issue that is always present with throwing injuries is muscle imbalance. There is a very common pattern to these imbalances, which is also supported in the published scientific journals. These imbalances are primarily due to players are not training all of the proper muscles in the off season. Most training programs focus on core, legs, and upper body. Some advanced programs will include sport specific training and plyometrics. Most, if not all, of these programs miss or under utilize some very important muscles. In order to understand how to prevent throwing injuries, it is important to first understand why they occur. The two most commonly injured joints injured, with throwing, are the shoulder and the elbow.

Shoulder Injury

The Shoulder is a ball and socket joint with the potential for the largest ranges of motion in the body. As a result, it is also the least stable joint in the body. Because one of the rotator cuff muscles (Supraspinatus) runs directly through the joint, if there is any imbalance, the muscle can be torn or injured by the force of the two bones. (see video). In order to prevent this from happening, the muscles in the shoulder have to work in unison and be completely balanced. The exercises below will strengthen the most common weak muscles of baseball players.

Injury Due To Muscle Imbalance

Valgus Stress at Elbow

Elbow Injury

The elbow is injured with excessive valgus forces. The most common injuries occur at the medial or inside part of the elbow. The most recognizable result of these injuries is “Tommy John” surgery. There are several studies that have pointed to certain weaknesses demonstrated by a large number of players with these injuries. See below for exercises to help reduce risk of these elbow injuries.

1.) Balancing Shoulder Chops

There is a scientifically documented correlation between decreased balance and increased UCL tears at the elbow. Unfortunately, balance is often skipped in training programs. The exercise pictured will also strengthen important muscles in shoulder stabilization which are very vital in maintaining a healthy shoulder while throwing.

2.) Hallelujahs

This exercise will strengthen the serratus anterior muscle and the inferior trapezius. The serratus anterior muscle connects from the Scapula to the front of the ribs (near the sternum). This muscle is a scapular stabilizer and is used as a coupler to maintain correct scapular position when throwing. This will help limit shoulder impingement. The inferior trapezius is the most neglected portion of the trapezius muscle. This muscle will also keep the scapula in the proper position while throwing and minimize risk for impingement and ultimately tear of the rotator cuff.

3.) Thrower's Plank

This exercise may be the most efficient of the bunch, as it strengthens a ton of key components for baseball players. First and foremost, it will strengthen the infamous “core.” Core stability is important for balance and stability of the spine. There is also a direct correlation between decreased core stability and a number of sports related injuries. Adding the two variables to this plank: Shoulder external rotation and protraction of the shoulders, will target strengthening the rotator cuff, serratus anterior, and scapular stabilizing muscles. Combining three exercises into one will help to train the body to contract different muscles at once, which is necessary for high level sport activities.

4.) Eccentric Internal Rotation

This exercise should have already been introduced to every baseball player. However, the focus of this particular exercise should be on the eccentric motion. An eccentric contraction is the motion of an active muscle while it is lengthening under load. (think of a bicep curl; the concentric contraction is on the way up, eccentric on the way down) Eccentric contractions have many proven benefits versus concentric contractions. Some include: increasing neuromuscular control, increasing tissue growth, and adaptability, increase muscle recruitment, increase efficiency of exercise. Bottom Line: The eccentric contraction is much more efficient. During a throwing motion, most injuries occur during the deceleration or eccentric phase. Logically strengthening muscles in this way will allow for lower incidence of injury. BONUS: This exercise will add velocity.

5.) BONUS: Sleeper Stretch

The sleeper stretch is something that should already be in all baseball player’s routines. Whether it is warm up, cool down, off days, or in between sets, it does not matter. This stretch is important to increase shoulder internal rotation. All throwers have increased external rotation and decreased internal rotation at the shoulder. This stretch will decrease the likelihood of a rotator cuff injury and also take tension off of the elbow when throwing (allowing for normal arm slot).

Michael DiLella, PT, MSPT

Michael graduated from Thomas Jefferson University in 2005, where he received the Dean’s scholarship. He has been practicing physical therapy for over ten years, specializing in orthopedic and sports physical therapy. Michael is proficient in several adjunctive PT skills such as kinesiotaping, instrument assisted soft tissue scraping, and trigger point dry needling.

4 Exercises All Baseball Players Should Be Doing But Probably Aren’t!!!

January 10 2018

Engineered Athlete

homebasept@gmail.com Engineered Athlete 07960, Athletic Performance, Morristown, personal training, physical therapy, sport specific PT, Sport Specific Training, Training

The Engineered Athlete program is a system designed by Physical Therapist, Michael DiLella, MSPT, FMS, CSCS. It incorporates scientifically proven methods in order to allow athletes achieve their maximum potential. More importantly it will allow for longevity and staying in the game. After all, an athlete who cannot compete cannot be the best.

As is the case with most everything in life…balance is key. Most athletes (if not all) develop muscle imbalances throughout their careers and as they mature. There are several reasons for this, some of which include, sport specialization, limited time to cross train, training wrong muscle groups in the off season, and sport specific strength imbalances.

In the current landscape of athletics, athletes are specializing in one sport earlier and earlier. They are focusing on that one sport and sometimes playing or competing all four seasons. Each sport utilizes specific muscle groupings with emphasis on different groups for different sports. Athletes often have very limited off seasons (if at all). During these down times, more often than not, they are participating in training programs that are not designed with their specific sport in mind. These programs often designed and administered by under qualified personal trainers.
All of the aforementioned factors will lead to an athlete never reaching their full potential, increased risk for injury and possibly even surgery.

The Engineered Athlete program is designed for each specific sport and geared toward correcting the imbalances of muscles leading to common injuries. Along with corrections of the most common imbalances, each athlete will be evaluated individually to determine any other areas of focus.