Pitching Conditioning

By Conditioning Coach Ryan Smith for PitchingTips.com

Not all baseball pitching conditioning programs are created equal.

In order to condition the pitcher for more strength and power while reducing the risk of injury, your workout and throwing program needs to be functional, it needs to target the core and it must allow you to maintain and even improve your flexibility while adding that strength.

A quality baseball pitcher conditioning program will blast the legs. The stronger your legs are, the harder you can throw.

At the professional level, baseball pitchers condition themselves by doing a lot of running and weight training. You won't lose flexibility if you stretch before and after your conditioning. Running, however, is the most common exercise. Another good one is jumping rope!

Here's a sample baseball conditioning program for pitching that can be used for conditioning during the off-season:

Pitcher's upper body conditioning

Warm up

• 5 minute run
• 5 minutes of stretching

Shoulders

• Dumbbell lateral raises - 10 reps, 3sets
• Dumbbell front raises - 10 reps, 3sets
• Dumbbell rear delt raises - 10 reps, 3sets
• Dumbbell military press - 10 reps, 3sets

Back

• Seated row - 10 reps 3sets
• Lat pulldown - 10 reps 3sets

Tricep

• Tricep pushdown - 10 reps, 3sets

Bicep

• Alternating dumbbell curls - 10 reps, 3sets

Wrist and forearms

• T-bar supination - 10 reps, 3sets
• T-bar pronation - 10 reps, 3sets
• T-bar chop - 10 reps, 3sets
• Wrist roller - 10 reps, 3sets

Core

• Crunches - 10 reps, 3sets
• Medicine ball sit up & toss - 10 reps, 3sets
• Medicine ball russian twist - 10 reps, 3sets
• Seated kick tuck - 10 reps, 3sets
• Horizontal swing - 10 reps, 3sets

Pitcher's lower body conditioning

Warm up

• 5 minute run
• 5 minutes of stretching

Legs

• Squat - 10 reps, 3sets
• Leg extension - 10 reps, 3sets
• Leg curl - 10 reps, 3sets
• Calf raises - 10 reps, 3sets

Core

• Crunches - 10 reps, 3sets
• Medicine ball sit up & toss - 10 reps, 3sets
• Medicine ball russian twist - 10 reps, 3sets
• Seated kick tuck - 10 reps, 3sets
• Horizontal swing - 10 reps, 3sets

Medicine ball

• Wood chop jump - 10reps, 3sets
• Leg separation with lunge - 10reps, 3sets
• Lunge with twist - 10reps, 3sets

Plyometrics

• rapid box jumps- 10 reps, 3sets

Running and sprinting

• 20 minute run
• Sprint work

For more information on baseball pitching conditioning or for help on designing a personal pitching program for your specific goals, please visit PitchingConditioning.com.

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