Most fitness and training facilities now have stability balls, foam rolls, balance boards and other “fun” toys as part of their conditioning equipment. These are part of a new trend in the strength and conditioning field called “functional training”. Definition Functional training is the action of training “function”, a general term that means “role or … Read more
It’s officially confirmed – proper softball conditioning using the right exercises – functional exercises (aka ”sports-specific” exercises) – increases arm strength and throwing velocity. I’ve known a long time that strength training helped to increase arm strength and throwing velocity. However, I decided that it would be nice to gather some scientific evidence to substantiate this claim. After doing … Read more
I was at the gym today doing interval training on the treadmill (very effective method) and I saw two guys doing the famous “Bench Press”. The bench press is considered by many as one of the two king exercises in weight training with the squat. While the bench press is an excellent upper body strength … Read more
I’ve been designing softball conditioning programs for over 10 years. Let me tell you that softball conditioning can really help improve a player’s game. Yet, a lot of softball players don’t take it seriously know. They know that getting in good shape by doing softball conditioning would help their game but somehow they don’t give it enough importance or focus. My … Read more
I just got my hands on a very interesting article that deals with overuse injures of softball pitchers. It was published in Training and Conditioning Magazine a few weeks ago. This is the official professional magazines of athletic trainers. These are the people that works with sports teams and take care of injured athletes. Colleagues … Read more
If you are serious about building yourself up for next season, your off-season training involve doing skills training (hitting, pitching, fielding, etc.), sports conditioning and maybe some form of mental/vision training. At times, life gets in the way (vacations, exams or homework, bad weather, general fatigue, sickness, family function, etc.) and we may have weeks … Read more
Tonight, while driving back from practice, I was listening to my voice messages on my cool new iPhone. One of the messages was from one of the elite members of my Softball Peak Performance Club. Since I had about 30 minutes of driving to do. I decided to call him back right away. Personal phone … Read more
Today was an interesting experience. I took my entire 16U team to a sports training facility in downtown Montreal to be assessed and screened by certified athletic trainers. It was not your traditional fitness testing. It was what we call a “functional assessment”. They are basically testing and screening the body to see if the … Read more
One of the things I am doing with my new 16U team this fall is put all of my athletes through a functional assessment. I hear you: “What the heck is a functional assessment?” Let me give you an analogy. When you intend to buy a used car, before you pay for it, you take … Read more
One of the many questions that I get from softball players doing dynamic warm-ups for the first time is: “Is it normal that I’m sweating and feel like I am working out?” My answer is always: “Yes and No. Yes, because you aren’t use to the exercises yet and it’s working the muscles that needs … Read more