01.02.04
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Q: Joe,
Do you feel that the Westside Barbell method is good
for baseball players? If not, what do you do with
your baseball athletes? I train mostly football players
using the Westside method but I just had my first
baseball player ask me to train him and I want to
do the right thing. Your input would
be greatly appreciated.
Tom
A: Tom,
Great question. I’m currently working with many
high-level baseball players myself, including Cleveland
Indians 1st round draft pick, Corey Smith. Although
many aspects of the program that I designed for Corey
are “Westside-based”, I don’t follow
their exact template. I don’t think following
Westside Barbell’s exact program is the best
thing for a baseball player so I tweaked it a little.
For example, the upper body workouts aren’t
geared towards improving Corey’s bench press
(obviously). Primary areas of focus are improving
relative strength of his lats, triceps and forearms
– all of which I feel are of utmost importance
for hitting and throwing power. His external rotator
and abdominal strength have also improved ten-fold
since he started working with me. (We train upper
body twice a week.)
My lower body workouts resemble a
“Westside workout” more than the upper
body workouts. For example, we perform dynamic box
squats with bands and/or chains once a week. We perform
the box squats with a wide stance and focus on “spreading
the floor” with our feet to activate the hip
rotators. Unlike Westside, we always follow squatting
with some form of unilateral movement. Single leg
squats, step-ups, lateral step-ups, reverse lunges
and low-pulley split squats are my favorites. We then
hit the posterior chain hard. I cycle reverse hyperextensions,
pull-throughs and glute-ham raises into the workouts.
Forward, backward and lateral sled drags may finish
off the workout. (We train lower body twice a week.)
Another major difference between
what I’m doing with my baseball guys and what
Westside Barbell does with their powerlifters is the
fact that my baseball guys work on improving their
flexibility EVERYDAY – sometimes multiple times
a day. The musculature surrounding the hip is given
top priority. Dynamic, P.N.F. and static stretching
are all incorporated throughout the day.
Diet, supplementation and anaerobic
conditioning are also a top priority. Alcohol is also
completely omitted from the diet during the weeks
leading up to spring training.
I would also like to make one final
note to all of the baseball players out there: Don’t
be afraid to hit the weights hard! Weight training
is one of the most powerful tools for improving performance.
As long as you’re doing the correct exercises,
implemented at the correct time, weight training WILL
help to improve your performance.
Find yourself a competent strength
coach and start moving some iron!
Joe D.
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Q: Hey
Joe,
Lately I've heard people mention increases in big
lifts (cleans, benches, chins, etc). just by training
their grip. As I'm hearing this, I've also noticed
my grip SUCKS. Do you have a grip workout I can do?
Exercises, sets, reps, rest periods and frequency
per week. My main goal is to grab girls by the wrist
so they can't get away.
Thanks,
Weak Kidnapper
A: Weak Kidnapper,
Although I don’t endorse “grabbing girls
so they can’t get away”, you have inquired
about an interesting topic – grip training.
I will answer your question - even though you’re
a freak who will probably be using your strong grip
to hold onto the bars of your prison cell in the near
future.
First of all, let’s examine
why I feel that training the hands/forearms/grip is
such an important component to an athlete’s
training program. Check out any anatomy or neurology
book and you will notice the tremendous amount of
nerve endings in the hands. When you improve the strength
of your hands, you are strengthening the body part
that is most closely connected to the brain. Hopefully
we all know the importance of the nervous system with
regards to our strength training.
Now, let’s think about all of the exercises
in the weight room where we are required to hold onto
a barbell, dumbbell, machine, etc. We can also examine
all of the skills that are required in all of sports
that require using our hands to hold, throw, catch,
grab, etc. The list is endless. Yet, walk into any
gym and you will find athletes training with straps,
hooks, wrist wraps and gloves. These are also the
same people who have the handshake of a dead fish.
It’s pathetic!
Mark my word: If you improve your
grip/hand strength, you are improving the link between
the mind and your muscles on almost ALL exercises
in the gym, as well as improving your performance
on the athletic field.
Here’s a sample workout that
I have used with great success. It’s incredibly
simple and it won’t interfere with any training
program that you’re currently on. You’re
simply going to perform one grip exercise Monday-Friday
and you will take the weekends off. On workout days,
simple perform the one grip exercise immediately after
your workout. If you don’t have a workout scheduled
one day – that’s fine. You would just
perform the one required grip exercise at some point
during the course of the day. Even though this may
look simple, your hands and forearms will be sore
for the first week or two. It may take some time for
your body to become accustomed to training your grip
everyday. ONLY DO ONE EXERCISE PER DAY – DON’T
COMBINE DAYS! It’s very easy to overtrain your
grip. Here’s your workout:
MONDAY:
Thick bar holds, overhand grip
– 4 sets of 45 seconds.
Rest 90 seconds between sets.
 |
| Thick
bar hold, overhand grip
Steve Lhotak – 1st team All-Ivy League
linebacker, University of Pennsylvania |
TUESDAY:
Thick bar wrist roller –
3 sets of 2 reps (up/down, up/down is 2 reps).
Rest 90 seconds between sets.
 |
| Thick
bar wrist roller
Corey Smith – Cleveland Indians 1st round
draft pick, 3rd baseman
|
WEDNESDAY:
Poor man’s pinch-gripping
(no special pinch-gripping equipment required)
– Pinch grip 2-3 10lb. plates in each hand (smooth
sides of the plates on the outside) for as long as
possible. Repeat 3 times.
Rest 90 seconds between attempts.
 |
| Poor
man’s pinch gripping
Jim Burt – University of Miami baseball
captain, 1st baseman
|
THURSDAY:
Plate-loaded grip machine
– 5 sets of 5 reps, holding last rep together
for
10 seconds. Rest 2 minutes between sets.
 |
| Plate-loaded
grip machine
Joe DeFranco -
Owner, DeFranco’s Training Systems
|
FRIDAY:
Hammer curls – 4 sets
of 6 reps each arm. Rest 90-120 seconds between sets.
 |
| Hammer
Curls
George DeFranco – 3rd ranked arm wrestler
in the world, 1977
|
Improving your grip strength on this
program won’t only increase your strength in
the weight room; it will also help you improve upon
the following areas in athletics, just to name a few:
FOOTBALL PLAYERS
– catching a football, decrease your potential
to fumble, increase throwing power, increase grabbing/tackling
strength, increase offensive lineman blocking /
“holding” power
BASEBALL PLAYERS
– increased bat speed, increased throwing
power
WRESTLERS/MIXED MARTIAL
ARTISTS – increased ability to control
your opponent, increased choking power/submissions
HOCKEY PLAYERS
– stronger slapshots, more powerful checks
BASKETBALL PLAYERS
– grabbing rebounds, dunking
Don’t forget to eat your spinach!
Joe D.
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Q: Joe,
Great website! If you were
training a baseball player to run a faster
60-yard dash, would you include any overspeed training
into your program? What are your thoughts on overspeed
training?
Thanks for your help.
Brad
A: : Brad,
I’ve trained many baseball players to improve
their 60-yard dash times and I’ve never used
overspeed running. I feel that overspeed training
can be useful if implemented properly, but it just
never seems to be practical in the “real world”.
A one to three-degree declined surface
has been found to be optimal for overspeed running.
The problem is how many 60-yard slopes are you aware
of that are exactly between 1 and 3-degrees downhill
the entire distance? I don’t know of any where
I’m from.
What usually happens is that athlete’s
end up running down hills that are way too steep or
they end up having a partner pull them using surgical
tubing (towing). If the athlete runs down a hill that
is too steep or they are pulled too forcefully with
the tubing, it can actually make them slower! This
is because improper overspeed training causes overstriding.
This overstriding creates “breaking forces”(foot
landing in front of the hip in a heel-to-toe fashion)
which causes a LONGER ground-contact time than flat
surface running! I’ve also seen people fall
flat on their face performing this type of training!
I’ve gotten the best results
with my athletes by teaching them proper crossover
step acceleration mechanics, strength training, flexibility
training, bodyfat reduction and practicing running
60’s.
Hope this helps.
Joe D.
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