"Just Do It!" ... With a Purpose

As a clinician and a coach, I am constantly looking for new and more effective ways to improve my athlete's health and performance. It can be extremely easy to get bogged down and lost in the many treatment options and training techniques that exist and continue to appear. All too often, I see programs and treatment plans that are either haphazardly put together or loaded with multiple activities for the same end. There does not seem to be a plan or purpose. I can be just as guilty about losing sight of the method to my madness. To keep focused on the task at hand, I ask myself a couple questions when developing overall general training plans and putting together the more specific daily activities: (1)What is my overall goal? (2) What are the need to do activities? In the treatment and care of injuries, athletic trainers and physical therapists use therapeutic modalities each with a specific reason for its use. Is there still an acute inflammatory reaction? Is there swelling? Are there soft tissue restrictions? Is there weakness? What is the underlying cause of the condition the athlete is in? Answering these questions will help outline the plan to answer the focus questions: "What is my overall goal?" "What are the need to do activities?"; and guide you to a purposeful treatment plan. The same is true with the performance training of athletes. "What is my overall goal?" "What are the need to do activities?" These questions can be answered by knowing other more specific details. What is the developemental stage of the athletes you're working with? What are the sport-specific demands (movement patterns, metabolic needs, strength requirements, etc)? What is the training cycle (in-season, off-season, etc)? Don't just do it. Do it with a purpose! David Yeager, ATC, CSCS Co-Founder BaseballStrengthCoaching.com

Warming-Up: Too Much vs. Not Enough

The pre-game warm-up is one of the more contentious issues in high level athletics. A recently published article in the Journal of Applied Physiology suggested that power performance may be best served by a shorter, lower-intensity warm-up routine (Tomaras & MacIntosh, 2011). The researchers compared sprint cyclists performing two warm-up routines: (1) A 50 minute routine, progressing from 60-95% HRmax and ending with four sprints; and (2) A 15 minute routine, ranging from 60-70% HRmax, and ending with a single sprint. The researchers found that the shorter warm-up resulted in significantly less muscle fatigue and a higher peak power output.

Sprint cyclists and baseball players are different in countless ways. However, the researchers were effective in demonstrating that warm-up efficiency and recovery are important consideration for coaches before a game. Here are a few strategies for warming-up your position players, to prevent injuries, optimize performance, and prevent excessive fatigue.

Keep Players Moving:

Warm-up routines are not to be confused with static stretching routines for improving flexibility. Most of the benefits of a good warm-up (i.e. ↑ contraction speeds, ↑ movement economy, ↑ oxygen utilization, ↑ neuromuscular transmission, and ↑ muscle metabolism), derive from increasing the body’s heart rate, blood flow, and temperature of the muscles. The dynamic, or moving, portion of the warm-up (i.e. jogging, shuffling, carioca, squatting, lunging, arm circles, etc.) should make up the majority of the time allotted.

Keep Players On Their Feet:

Unless you are warming up a wrestling team, transitioning the team from standing, to sitting, to prone, and back to standing again takes up valuable time that players could be performing more sport-specific exercises. Baseball-specific exercises, including running mechanics drills, cross-over starts, torso twisting, and throwing, should be performed to facilitate the motor unit recruitment needed for maximal game performance. With the exception of sliding, baseball is always performed on your feet!

Progress Simple to Complex, Slow to Fast:

Warm-up routines should be progressed from smaller and slower, less taxing, movements, to more complex, faster, movements to ensure the safety of each exercise being performed. After a general warm-up, closed-chain dynamic flexibility exercises are most effective in reducing muscle stiffness while requiring the muscles to remain active in supporting the weight and posture of the body. Plyometric exercises (i.e. skipping, bounding, jumping, throwing, and swinging) should be performed towards the end of the warm-up to ensure that the muscles have been activated properly to sustain the eccentric stresses of decelerating the body.

Begin 30 Minutes Before The Game:

This amount of time allows for a general and dynamic warm-up to be completed with a coach in the first 8-10 minutes, throwing and sprint work in the middle 10-12 minutes, and individual preparation (i.e. extra stretching, mental focusing, etc.) in the 10 minutes leading up to the game. Not all athletes have the same weaknesses and imbalances. Nor do all athletes require the same level of muscle activation to perform optimally or injury free. Allowing a few extra minutes for players to mentally focus on the game ahead, get a drink, or relax is often overlooked when putting together the pre-game schedule.

Keep 3 Goals In Mind:

In professional baseball, most players have been active much of the day prior to the game. As long as players (1) Break a sweat by getting their heart rate up, (2) Alleviate any tightness in the hips, torso, and shoulders, and (3) Progress to game speed running, throwing, and swinging, they are likely doing enough to prepare the body.

Quality Not Quantity:

Focusing on dynamic, multi-joint, and baseball-specific movements can improve the quality of a pre-game warm-up. Excessively long or fatiguing warm-up routines should be avoided to promote season-long success.

Cited Source:
Tomaras, E. K. and MacIntosh, B. R. (May 2011). Less is More: Standard Warm-up Causes Fatigue and Less Warm-up Permits Greater Cycling Power Output. Journal of Applied Physiology, Published online ahead of print, link: 10.1152/japplphysiol.00253.2011.


Eric McMahon, M.Ed., CSCS
Minor League Strength and Conditioning Coach
Texas Rangers

Recovery from Baseball Activities

Recovery from a baseball game is easy. Let’s take a look at the facts. How long is the typical baseball game, at the pro level 3 to 3.5 hours, college 3 hours, high school 2 to 2.5 hours, little league 1 to 2 hours. These are just rough estimates but for the most part pretty fair, how much time minus the starting pitcher is there activity? Let’s break that down. Typically a player will get 3 to 4 at bats per game, and let’s say that each player will see on average 7 pitches per at bat. That gives the player 21 pitches to focus, swing and potentially get a hit. If that player gets just one hit in the game they will be batting .333. This player will now only have to run the bases once and the chances the player gets all the way around and scores are slim, considering that most baseball games are in the single digits. The maximum the player will run around the bases is 360 feet or 120 yards, basically the full length of a football field. How about running on defense? In the infield, if the player can cover 5 to 7 yards on either side of the position, the defender is doing good. That means the player covers 40 total feet. In most cases a player will get 7 or fewer balls hit to them per game. So, if they covered the total area just to one side of their position the player may run 140 feet in a game, or about 40 yards. Outfielders, on the other hand, must cover more space so we will go as high as 50 feet either side of the position. Again, if the player makes 7 plays, the player would potentially cover about 350 feet or about 116 yards. Let’s put this in context, on average let’s say the outfielder will be asked to run at 100% 240 yards in a typical game, the infielder will be asked to run 160 yards in a typical game. In most cases not even half of a lap on a track. So is the game really physically grueling, meaning energy expenditure and calories lost from activity high? The truthful answer is no, but why is the game so exhausting.

I’m going to throw something out there that not many coaches that I have been in contact with talk about, mental recovery. What is mental recovery? The ability of the mind to come back to a resting state is the best way I can describe this mechanism. Training a player to calm the mind,rest the thoughts, and allow the body to recover and heal from day to day activities. All the physical recovery is still very, very important. The body needs fuel and hydration and with out them the mind cannot focus. But, there is a lot of information on this type of recovery. I just want to get this concept out in the open and if anyone has been doing any work on this please let me know, we have started to do some work with this concept and so you may be hearing more from us in the future.

Brian Niswender MA, CSCS
Co-Founder
BaseballStrengthCoaching.com

Don't Blow It!

How important is a first impression? As a baseball player it might be the only time you get to show a coach what you are made of. This is not limited to only your skills on the field but also what you are made of as a person. I have seen and heard many stories of how athletes have blown a great opportunity, and in the last 6 months I have witnessed 3 or 4 missed opportunities because the player doesn’t think it will matter. A word of advice, everything you do matters, from what you eat to how you dress. Let me give you a few stories.

I was at a camp watching a few players. This camp was hosted by a very well known coach at a college is Nebraska, which has a husker as a mascot. During a meeting with the players, the coach was explaining how the recruitment process goes and how it’s hard to see all the players out there. During this meeting the coach explained that while traveling to see players many times they are strapped for time and will only be able to stay a few minutes. During this time everything you do as a player can make or break you. If he saw a player during warm-up messing around, he would pack it up and leave and go to the next game. "Ladies and Gentlemen this is warm-up.", as he said. This might be the only time he has to see a player that day. If that first impression is bad, he may never return. Can you afford to make that impression?

Recently I had a player that had set up a try-out with a college coach. This player had 2 months after the summer season to prepare himself for the try-out. But what did he do instead? He decided to play golf. Don’t get me wrong. Golf is a great game. But, he did not touch a baseball for 2 months. When he returns to me before his try-out we had a week to prepare. Now, he failed to inform me 2 months earlier that he had set up this try-out. So, to my surprise we are trying to get some work done before that try-out. This player went to the try out with a minor sore arm and a weak bat. So how did the try-out go? Not so well. His arm was weak and lacked a lot of power. What will this coach do? We don’t know as of yet. But, did he put his best foot forward?

These are just a few examples and I could go on. But I think I have made the point. Please, if you get nothing else out of this blog this week, know that coaches are always watching. Take the time to prepare. That first impression could be your last impression.

Brian Niswender
Co-Founder Baseball Strength Coaching.com

Athletic Destinies Determined By Age 10

I recently came across this article. This is something that I really try to preach to young athletes. I'd be interested to hear some other opinions.

David Yeager, ATC, CSCS
Co-Founder, BaseballStrengthCoaching.com


LeBron James was 10 years old once. By that age, he was on his way to becoming the LeBron James we know today, and he was helped by playing football, according to expert trainers who agree that a range of play activities between age six and 10 helps build a broad base of athletic motor and coordination abilities.

Each year hundreds of kids come through Scott Moody’s AthleteFit facility outside Kansas City, and dozens of them finish high school with collegiate sports scholarships.

“If [kids] don’t develop those manipulative motor skills at that age, that 6-10 window, then they don’t have the confidence necessary to participate,” said Moody. As a result, their overall fitness goes down, further dropping confidence. “It’s this downward spiral that most people never come out of.”

Moody joined more than 100 trainers from across the U.S. and Canada at a recent National Strength and Conditioning Association Youth Training Symposium in Chicago (see him presenting on TRX Suspension Training in the photo above). They discussed how in an overweight yet sports-obsessed culture, trainers are making a difference in how kids get started in athletics.

Patrick McHenry, a high school strength coach in Castle Rock, Colorado, talked about a tall, strong basketball player who could shoot and who looked like he might be great, but as a senior he lacked footwork.

“Was it too late? Yes, for him.” McHenry said. “If we had had him during his sophmore or junior year we could have helped him, but would he have been the best? No.”

Rick Howard, director of athletics for the School District of Philadelphia, gets requests from teachers and coaches for lowest-common-denominator training programs to meet the needs of, say, a third-grade physical education class or a girls’ softball team.

“It’s not that easy,” he tells them. “You really have to know everybody on that team, what they’re good at, what they’re not good at.” Mostly he sees sports instruction and training for kids that winds up reinforcing what they’re already good at, “Kids that are fast, keep them running.”

Reinforcement has run amok in cases where young athletes are opting to specialize in one sport at a young age. In the worst cases, according to McHenry, they run the risk of overuse injuries.

“We find they’re missing their window to all of those motor skills that are going to help them athletically later in the game,” said Moody.

“Girls’ soccer players have trouble tracking the ball in the air,” he pointed out, “because they never played volleyball growing up, they never played softball growing up. They didn’t get used to tracking objects out of the air.”

Mike Nitka is an editor for the trainers’ association journal and a Wisconsin high school wrestling coach. Motor skills in older people, he said, “can be developed, but not at the highest level possible because Mother Nature is trying to give us the biggest assist possible, and these are the windows” for that.

“I have a sign in my office,” Nitka said, “Volleyball players play volleyball. Athletes play anything they want.”

Article taken from news.medill.northwestern.edu.

The Importance of Hydration

With August temperatures soaring into the high 80’s and 90’s around most of the country, staying well hydrated is a full time job for athletes and fitness enthusiasts alike. Fluid consumption is especially important if you play sports outside in these hot, humid and sultry dog days of summer.

Being at fall ball tryouts last weekend when the temps hit 98 degrees made me realize how critical daily hydration, as well as rehydration, is to baseball players. Watching preadolescent players wilt as tryouts progressed, brought up a dangerous scenario that parents, coaches and trainers should all be aware of when working with young athletes. Lowered sweating capacity, poorly developed thirst mechanism and a limited ability to transfer heat from their muscles to their skin make this age group particularly vulnerable to dehydration and heat exhaustion. Core temperature rises in children at a faster rate than adults because they produce more metabolic heat than adults and it can cause serious heat-related illnesses. Adolescents also are still developing their body temperature control and are susceptible to these same issues. Special attention should be paid to drink adequate fluids before and during active play, as well as rehydrating properly afterwards, to reduce the risks of dehydration.

Dehydration has many negative, and possibly dangerous, effects on health and performance. Dehydration—even as little as 1-2 percent weight loss from sweating--is enough to diminish energy, accelerate fatigue and impair performance. A 2 percent weight loss is only 3 pounds for a 150 pound athlete. Sweat losses vary between individuals and with different exercise intensity, however, this amount of weight/sweat loss is not uncommon in hot, humid climates with several hours of practice and/or games. Some signs of dehydration include nausea, headache, fatigue, muscle cramps, lightheadedness and lack of urination and sweating.

Players will benefit from weighing before and after practices and games to determine their sweat losses so that rehydration is adequate to replace fluid losses. For every pound lost, replace with 24 oz (3 cups) of fluids, like sports drinks, 100% fruit juices or chocolate milk. Because your body also needs to replace the electrolytes sodium and potassium that you lose along with sweat, these fluid choices that contain electrolytes help to do that. Both fluid and electrolytes need to be taken in to restore a positive water balance in the body after exercising over one hour or in extreme heat, humidity or high altitude. Sports drinks are the preferred drink, over water, during exercise because they provide energy in the form of carbohydrates and electrolytes that provide rapid fluid absorption.

How much should you drink? To make sure you are fully hydrated follow these hydration recommendations:

Pre-practice/Pre-game
• At least 2 hours before drink 16-24 oz of fluids (all fluids count!)
• Follow with an additional 8-12 oz. of fluids 1 hour before (water or sports drinks)

During practice/games
• Drink 6-8oz. of fluids every 15 minutes (Best choice: sports drinks)
• Adolescents need to drink more: 8-12 oz every 15 minutes
• Consume at least 24 oz in one hour

Post game
• Drink 24 oz. of fluid
• Calculate fluids needed to replace those lost in sweat (1 pound =24 oz. of fluid) and continue drinking to meet those needs.

How do you know if you are drinking enough? The easiest, quickest way to know is to check the color of your urine. It should be the color of light lemonade, not apple juice. Monitor daily and adjust your drinking schedule accordingly to get the most out of your training and practices!

Winning Hydration Strategies

Every day drink at least half your body weight in ounces (For example:
A 160 pound athlete should drink 80 fluid ounces per day)

Drink before you are thirsty & keep drinking when you no longer feel thirsty!

Drink early and drink often throughout the day

Plan your fluids and carry a water bottle with you wherever you go

Do regular urine checks

Eat foods high in water, like fruit (at least 2 cups a day) & soups

Drink sports drinks that taste good to you to help you drink more during exercise

Avoid beverages like energy drinks, pop and fruit juice during exercise (they are too high in sugar and will delay gastric emptying & hydration)

Coaches: Develop Hydration Protocols for your teams and implement periodic drink stops every 15 minutes for adequate hydration that supports good performance!


By Kim Larson, RD, CD
Regular Contributor
BaseballStrengthCoaching.com

Protein - A Little Goes a Long Way

The subject of protein for the athlete--- from how much is needed to what kinds are best, is the source of many hot debates. In many athletic circles, its function in building muscle has been extolled as almost magical. True, protein is an important nutrient. It’s found in a wide variety of foods coming from both animals and plants. Protein plays a vital role in repairing and rebuilding muscles, is an essential part of hormones, enzymes and antibodies that support our immune system. It’s not an energy source unless our bodies don’t have enough carbohydrates—the preferred fuel for all sports activities. Let’s explore the physiological basis for how much and what kinds of protein an athlete needs to help put this subject into a practical perspective for baseball.

Is protein more important than fats or carbohydrates?

No. All three of these nutrients, in the right balance and at the right time, provide the nutrition athlete’s need for the best training and performance.
How much protein does an athlete need?
The short answer is: more than a sedentary person who doesn’t play sports. Protein needs in athletes are higher, but exactly how much higher? Protein needs are calculated by weight, what type of athlete you are (endurance or strength & power) your training goals and by where you are in your sports season. See the table below for examples.

Average Protein Requirements for a 70 Kg athlete ( Divide your weight by 2.2 to find kilograms)

Type of athlete Protein Requirements (grams)

Sedentary .9 grms/kg 56 grms/day
Regular exerciser 1.0 grms/kg 70 grms/day
Endurance 1.2-1.4 grms/kg 105 grms/day
Resistance 1.4-1.7 grms/kg 112 grms/day

Protein needs for baseball (in season) are about 15-20% of the total day’s calories and are equal to about 1.2 grams/kg of body weight. To get an idea of what you might need daily take a minute and do the math. In the off season, if training goals change, protein requirements may change as well. We will address that topic (and protein for muscle building) when we discuss nutrition for the off season in September’s sports nutrition journal article.

It’s easy to meet your dietary protein needs through basic, nutritious foods eaten in a well balanced diet. If you eat cereal with milk for breakfast, yogurt and fruit for a snack, followed by a turkey sandwich for lunch, peanut butter & jelly sandwich or chocolate milk after your workout and dinner of a beef vegetable stir fry…. you’ve eaten about 95 grams of protein! You also get extra protein in your between meal snacks. Foods like whole grains and even certain vegetables have a little bit of protein, too, so it all adds up. If you eat enough food to support your training and performance, chances are that you are getting plenty of protein. There is no need to take extra protein in the form of pills or powders—food works! Save your money, choose well and enjoy all the satisfaction and flavor eating good food offers.

Protein from animals (lean meats, fish, eggs, poultry) is the most concentrated source and contains all of the essential amino acids. High quality plant sources include soy products, like tofu and soy milk, nuts and dried beans peas and lentils. Low fat dairy products are also an excellent source of essential amino acids.

Is more protein better?

No. Research confirms that anything over 2 grams/kg of body weight is excessive and does not benefit the athlete in any way. In fact, it might be harmful. Higher amounts of protein stress the kidneys because they have to excrete the nitrogen that is produced from protein breakdown (notice those body builders at the gym with gallons of water in tow?) Also, extra protein that isn’t used is stored as fat in your body. Only small amounts are used to repair and rebuild muscles so keep that in mind when choosing your recovery snack, after workouts and games. Anything more than 20 grams of protein is wasted.

By Kim Larson, RD, CD
Regular Contributor
BaseballStrengthCoaching.com

To Supplement or Not to Supplement?

Last week Consumer Reports magazine issued a press release on a product review they did on protein powders and drinks that included sports nutrition products, like recovery drinks. Because this report received a lot of media attention I thought it might be a good topic of discussion for my first blog. The report indicated that several popular products, like Muscle Milk, had levels of heavy metal contaminants (arsenic, lead and cadmium) that could be potentially dangerous if products were used 2-3 times per day. Using these products once daily in their usual amounts is deemed safe, but the concern was that those using the products could suffer serious health affects if they used them more than once per day, which many individuals do. If you would like to read this report it is in the July issue of Consumer Reports magazine. The companies making the products in question have published remarks refuting these test results and, as usual, this leaves the consumer in a quandary of who and what to believe.

Dietary supplements are a huge industry today and sales top 23 billion dollars annually. Why is this important to you? First, dietary supplements are not regulated at all by the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) nor are the claims the supplements make on the label or advertising regulated or monitored. This essentially means that anyone can say anything about a product—and they do. Manufacturers are not required to prove a supplement is safe, contains the ingredients it says it has in the amounts it states on the label, or that it even works before selling it. Only after a product has been shown to be unsafe and in many cases, dangerous to health, can the FDA remove it from the market.

There are several organizations that do random testing of supplements for safety, potency and effectiveness. These companies include Consumer Lab (CL) , the National Sanitation Foundation (NSF), and United States Pharmacopeia (USP). Look for their seals of approval on the supplement before taking it to ensure you are getting what they say they deliver. There are many cases of supplements that have been tested and found to contain ingredients not on the label, ingredients in reduced amounts than they are said to have and also contaminants.
Many supplements promise athletes more energy, more muscle, enhanced performance, weight loss, etc. and these claims can be tempting for someone who is trying to achieve their best performance. Buyer beware! Don’t believe the hype these products advertise. How to spot a fraud? Look for these types of claims:

• Quick, easy and works for every athlete!
• Testimonials that it worked for Joe and it will work for you!
• States it has a secret about how to enhance performance
• Claims it uses ingredients that have been proven to work
• Belittles established concepts about nutrition or diet

As a consumer interested in sports performance, it’s critical to ask yourself these questions before considering taking any dietary supplement:

Am I eating a well balanced sports diet?
What improvements can I make in my daily nutrition?
Am I eating the right kinds of nutrient rich foods?
How can I change the timing of my food to enhance my performance and energy level?
Am I practicing consistent recovery to keep energy high and assist with muscle recovery (reduce soreness, and inflammation)
Are my recovery foods and fluids adequate to replace glycogen stores and rebuild muscle tissue damage?
Am I getting enough rest?

Real food works for the athlete in almost every situation and is satisfying and tastes great, too. Wholesome food is always safe, effective and a budget friendly source of nutrients, like protein. Compare low fat chocolate milk with any commercial recovery drink that contains protein and you will see what I mean. For most athletes, especially in the sport of baseball, supplements are not needed unless your diet is deficient.

The risks that come with using sports nutrition supplements on a regular basis are simply put, not worth the money. Grocery store-bought food and fluids can provide all the nutrition a baseball player needs for high performance and good health, if chosen wisely, using sports nutrition guidelines. Going to health food stores or nutrition supplement stores does not guarantee safety or effectiveness when you buy a sports nutrition product. In fact, sales people at these types of stores do not have any background, training or formal education in nutrition that requires them to learn the physiology behind how food and nutrients are used in the body. Remember: First and foremost their goal is to sell you their product!

For information on food and nutrition that you can trust, find a Sports Dietitian in your area by going to www.scandpg.org and follow the links to input your location. A Sports Dietitian, (CSSD) trained, educated and credentialed in sports nutrition, can help you evaluate your diet and any supplements you are considering taking. For more information on sports nutrition go to www.eatright.org and look for that link (sports nutrition) under nutrition for consumers.

Stay tuned for more on protein needs of athletes, what types of protein are best for athletes, when you should eat protein, how protein affects performance, and other facts about this important nutrient for good health and performance.

By Kim Larson, RD, CD
Regular Contributor
BaseballStrengthCoaching.com

The Energy Balance Equation

As a Performance Enhancement Coach, I am frequently fielding questions from athletes who are trying to gain weight. What kind of workout should I do? What supplements should I buy? How much protein should I take? What kind of protein should I take? All of these questions can and should be addressed. But, there is one question that should be asked before all others…How many calories do I need?

The concept of weight management through Energy Balance is not a difficult one to convey. First, if an athlete’s goal is to maintain his weight, then the amount of energy (calories) that he expends through activity and exercise must equal the amount of energy he consumes (food). If his goal is to lose weight, then he must expend more energy than he consumes. And finally, if the athlete’s goal is to gain weight, then he must consume more energy than he burns. This is the most important issue in weight management – even before I begin discussing protein, carbohydrates, supplements, etc. Gater et al. (1992) demonstrated that athletes who participate in a strength training program and consume more calories than they expend show higher muscle mass gains than athletes with a neutral calorie balance.

(+) Energy Balance = Weight Gain
(-) Energy Balance = Weight Loss
(0) Energy Balance = Weight Maintenance

Even though this is not a difficult concept to convey, it definitely is not as easy to put into practice. For me, the first thing that I ask the player to do when dealing with weight management goals is to keep a weekly diary of what he is eating and drinking, so that I have an idea of how many calories that he is consuming. From there, we discuss the player’s daily calorie expense based on his daily practice, training, and performance activities. The biggest thing that I’ve found over the years is that most players do not have a good grasp on how many calories they need during the day or how many calories they actually take in.

23yo Male / 6ft Tall / 200lbs  3,114 Calories

The average professional baseball player requires 3,114 calories just to fuel his normal bodily functions at rest and maintain his current body weight. The need increases to between 3,600 and 4,100 calories per day to fuel the body for the addition of daily baseball activities. It is important to also understand that a player’s calorie needs will change based on the time of year (off-season, pre-season, or in-season), within a given week (5-day Starting Pitcher Rotation), or according to his role on the team (Starter vs. Reliever, or Everyday Player vs. Bench Player). Consuming up to 100-500 more calories per day than you are expending will provide you with the energy needed to gain strength and increase your lean muscle mass.

How do you gain weight? Above all else, make sure that you have a positive calorie balance.


David Yeager, ATC, CSCS
Co-Founder, BaseballStrengthCoaching.com

Burn The Ships!

This week I wanted to give you guys a story I came across, one that I hope impacts you as much as it has impacted me.

There was a great warrior that had to make a decision to ensure his success on the battlefield. He was about to send his armies against a powerful foe, whose men outnumbered his own. He loaded his soldiers into boats, sailed to the enemy’s country, unloaded soldiers and equipment, then gave the order to burn the ships that had carried them. Addressing his men before the first battle, he said “You see the boats going up in smoke. That means that we cannot leave these shores alive unless we win! We now have no choice---we win or we perish!” They won. Every person who wins in any undertaking must be willing to burn his ships and cut all sources of retreat. Only by so doing can one be sure of maintaining that state of mind known as "a burning desire to win", essential to success.

As a coach or a player, have you left yourself no way to retreat? Have you made the decision to make whatever your doing a success. Whatever you want, go get it. Cortez used this strategy when he came to the new world.

Brian Niswender, MA, CSCS
Co-Founder, BaseballStrengthCoaching.com
Owner, Warrior Sports Training