Weight Lifting Warm Up Before The Game

[omg]

Okay, so everybody pretty much does the dynamic warmup pre-game/pre-practice with the hops, skips, shuffles, lunges, twists....Pitchers and sometimes other players do band work.
But is this enough for hitters? What are your thoughts on a full body weight lifting circuit warm up where the player got a "pump" in all of their muscles: biceps, tri, quad-everything?

Do you think that has merit and would be productive or would it be counterproductive? The weight workout would not include "failure" but would still be pretty vigorous.

[bman52]

I haven't seen anything with position players really blowing it out before the game, but if you follow any of Wes Johnson's pitchers in college or ever saw them, they were pushing sleds, flipping tractor tires and other high intensity exercises, pre-game. I know he was a big proponent of it. Now that he is working in the MLB it will be interesting to see if those guys adopt his methods or if they get tempered.

If you see it catch on in the pitching ranks, it will come along in the hitting/position player game also.

[Bobm34]

My initial thought is that it would be counterproductive to athletic performance. The level of fatigue a muscle experiences during weightlifting, the tearing of fibers etc, would cause the muscle to fatigue more quickly in the ensuing athletic movements. Also I think it would take away some strength (initial burst) the player would have , if he hadn't expended it on the weight training. Just my thoughts, I'm definitely not an excercise physiologist.

[WailukuHeights]

My initial thought is that it would be counterproductive to athletic performance. The level of fatigue a muscle experiences during weightlifting, the tearing of fibers etc, would cause the muscle to fatigue more quickly in the ensuing athletic movements. Also I think it would take away some strength (initial burst) the player would have , if he hadn't expended it on the weight training. Just my thoughts, I'm definitely not an excercise physiologist.

That was my thought too. Thinking anecdotally back to college, we'd work out at the school's rec center and then immediately afterwards play basketball for cardio. You pretty much lose all feeling in your jumpshot for the first 30mins to an hour as you recover.

[bluedawg]

my older son has weight lifting as his last class and goes to the cages afterwards some days. he's mentioned a number of times how light the bat feels. not sure if there is a performance jump but he's mentioned doing something like this pre-game next season. Could be worth investigating.

[omg]

my older son has weight lifting as his last class and goes to the cages afterwards some days. he's mentioned a number of times how light the bat feels. not sure if there is a performance jump but he's mentioned doing something like this pre-game next season. Could be worth investigating.

Right. My interest is experiential and anecdotal:

1. I listened to two recent big league hitters on a podcast (can't remember which one) who were told by their mlb hitting coach to lift before bp
2. A big league pitcher told me that he loved to do biceps curls right before he went into a game to pitch- said it made him throw harder
3. i was watching Sean Doolittle (Nats) lifting and slamming a weighted sand bag before he went into pitch the other day

Obviously, if there is merit to this then it would have to be detailed and individualized. Timing, amount, etc.

I know this is an imperfect analogy but if someone is bench pressing they pyramid up. That's not just a safety thing. There is no way one could do their max of five reps without a substantial buildup. True, it's comparing lifting heavy weight to swinging a relatively light bat but it's also comparing two highly explosive movements.

[Dirtberry]

omg,

“But is this enough for hitters?”

Batters need “sport specific” dynamic compounded warm ups that general training covers poorly.

I have found nominally forced one arm swings, both sides on deck where emphasis on where the current pitcher is putting it consistently is the best immediate warm up.

“What are your thoughts on a full body weight lifting circuit warm up where the player got a "pump" in all of their muscles: biceps, tri, quad-everything?”

If the circuit was a warm up where only one set with ½ the weight and reps of his regular in season maintenance program will help stimulate the juices fast, I would immediately move to field aggilities then throw.

Wondering how were gonna get that weight set to the field? If you do it at home he's more frozen by the time you get there, then if you had started cold.

“Do you think that has merit and would be productive or would it be counterproductive?”

Merritt done correctly!

Dr. Mike Marshall recommends we use our Wrist weights to warm up “sport specifically” with half the weight of the our out of season weight (16 to 19 byo's) of 10 lb's, Holds. This is their off season overload program with lead ball releases. Game warm up 5 lb's. We perform 3 drills then throw.

This is so fast and specific it nullifies bad coaching warm up decision mistakes for relievers at all levels.

We would use our lead balls (adult weight 4 to 14lb's, 16 & up) for release warm up but it would destroy playing fields that were not logistically ready for that type ball but youth players can use the much lighter dead blow balls (plyo) even if they only last as long as bands.

[omg]

omg,



Batters need “sport specific” dynamic compounded warm ups that general training covers poorly.

I have found nominally forced one arm swings, both sides on deck where emphasis on where the current pitcher is putting it consistently is the best immediate warm up.

If the circuit was a warm up where only one set with ½ the weight and reps of his regular in season maintenance program will help stimulate the juices fast, I would immediately move to field aggilities then throw.

Wondering how were gonna get that weight set to the field? If you do it at home he's more frozen by the time you get there, then if you had started cold.

Merritt done correctly!

Dr. Mike Marshall recommends we use our Wrist weights to warm up “sport specifically” with half the weight of the our out of season weight (16 to 19 byo's) of 10 lb's, Holds. This is their off season overload program with lead ball releases. Game warm up 5 lb's. We perform 3 drills then throw.

This is so fast and specific it nullifies bad coaching warm up decision mistakes for relievers at all levels.

We would use our lead balls (adult weight 4 to 14lb's, 16 & up) for release warm up but it would destroy playing fields that were not logistically ready for that type ball but youth players can use the much lighter dead blow balls (plyo) even if they only last as long as bands.

So we are on the same wavelength, somewhat. I don't agree about the "sport specific" part, necessarily. I think, actually, this should lean towards "non-sport specific" i.e., it shouldn't be weighted ball throws with perfect pitching form or weighted bat swings with perfect batting form. I think that may actually be counterproductive.

Bringing up the "on field" aspect is spot on because logistics are everything. So bands, gravity straps, handled med balls and such would probably be the way to go.

Watching the Astros-Yanks last night I saw a lot of guys (most) swinging out of their shoes (not being critical). In order to do that I think the body needs to be primed and pumped to the max.

[omg]

That was my thought too. Thinking anecdotally back to college, we'd work out at the school's rec center and then immediately afterwards play basketball for cardio. You pretty much lose all feeling in your jumpshot for the first 30mins to an hour as you recover.

Yes, that is a sensation many have undeniably experienced. So the question would be about degree, i.e., how much. A hitter would swing a bat, roughly, say 10 times in a game. There is requisite rest between swings and, of course, between at bats. So the question is how much, what type, and when.

[omg]

I haven't seen anything with position players really blowing it out before the game, but if you follow any of Wes Johnson's pitchers in college or ever saw them, they were pushing sleds, flipping tractor tires and other high intensity exercises, pre-game. I know he was a big proponent of it. Now that he is working in the MLB it will be interesting to see if those guys adopt his methods or if they get tempered.

If you see it catch on in the pitching ranks, it will come along in the hitting/position player game also.

That's interesting stuff, I haven't found anything like that related to Wes Johnson (pre-game). But I like the full body aspect of the exercises you mentioned as well as the non-specific sport aspect.

[Modal94]

Just had a guy do warm ups before the game by weight lifting.

Proceeds to come out the first inning after pitching to the first batter with rotator cuff tightness. Now, I don't know what the player was doing or what kind of exercise, but my philosophy is, if one's going to be doing a lot of throwing, stay away from the upper body as much as possible. Just take it easy the day of and the day before. Give the body a chance to rest.