Regardless of your position, building up your strength and flexibility can go along way in keeping you on the field – whether that’s through
avoiding injury, or by beating the ball to the base. And while strength in your arms in chest may be more obvious to the eye, the most important places for a baserunner are the core and the legs.
Pillars
The first of the core strengthening exercises that I recommend are pillars. Have your players lay down on the ground with their core tight, elevating themselves off the ground on their forearms.
To start off, limit your athletes to 30 second sets. With three sets per workout – but once that becomes easy, move up to 40, 50, and one minute sets. Eventually your ahtletes’ cores will be so strong they’ll be able to hold a pillar for two minutes at a time!
Side Pillars
This is very similar to the original pillar, but instead use just one arm, rotating your body sideways, and remembering to fire your obliques and quads. Make sure to work both sides evenly, going three sets on each side.
Partner Let Gos
To teach your body how to explode out into a full sprint, one the most effective exercises is the partner let go. Simply fit the runner with a belt around the waist, and a partner behind, with their hands in the belt.
The runner will then let their body go free, leaning forward as far as they can. When
they start to feel their partner pulling to keep them up, they should start churning their legs, exploding into a full sprint.
As the runner begins their sprint, the partner should provide a little bit of resistance, before releasing the runner, allowing them to get going at full speed.
If you need more help preparing your body for the rigors of baseball, check out these baseball conditioning articles!