All [tag]baseball little league[/tag] coaches know that practice alone cannot make their team strong enough to become a truly successful team, but many coaches do not know how to lead their teams in strengthening exercises that will increase strength in the crucial areas for their sports.
This guide will help [tag]baseball[/tag] [tag]coaches[/tag] target the muscles most important for their sports–the arms, back, chest, and legs. With these exercises, your team will become physically stronger, more heart-healthy, and able to endure more intense practices and games. Over the next couple of weeks I will present exercises from this strength and [tag]conditioning[/tag] program to use with your teams.
The best part about this work-out routine is that it is complete, simple, and it does not require expensive gym machines or personal trainers. These exercises can be done in order, in isolation, or in any combination that you feel will best improve your team. If you feel that your team needs more of a challenge than what you see here, increase the number of repetitions or sets in each exercise. You can also have your athletes increase the resistance of the moves by having them hold inexpensive hand weights or ordinary household objects that have some weight, such as cans of vegetables.
As with all [tag]strengthening[/tag] programs, if your athletes feel any pain, they should stop the exercise immediately. Pain is a sign of over-working a muscle or a tendon, so they should rest the muscle for at least several days before engaging in physical activity again. Also, athletes should go through a short warm-up and stretching period before starting strengthening activities. This will help wake up the muscles and get them ready to work. It will also loosen up the tendons and joints surrounding the muscles and help prevent injury. After each exercise, athletes should stretch the muscles used to reduce soreness and help relax the muscles after a work-out. All stretches should be held for 15-20 seconds to allow time for the body to sink into the stretch and for it to take effect.
With these easy tips and simple [tag]exercises[/tag], your athletes will see an improvement in power, endurance, and overall fitness. You will see faster movements, more powerful throws and swings, and decreased fatigue in your athletes. Try these moves over the next few weeks and watch your team improve!
Next time–Push-Ups