Weights Aren’t Just For the Guys - Softball and Strength Training
Keeping In Shape Throughout The Season
Whether playing baseball or softball, maintaining fitness is a great way to ensure an effective season. Core muscles in these sports include the stomach and back. This means bench presses, bicep curls, lateral pulldowns--these are the kind of exercises which, believe it or not, are not going to be practiced by the best major league baseball players trying to remain at the height of their physical excellence. But there are some exercises which will be routinely used, and can help you be in the best shape for this year's softball season.
One-Arm Dumbbell Chest Press
Think of it like half of a bench press. Properly doing this exercise requires laying flat on a bench with a dumbbell in one hand resting atop your thigh. Use that thigh as a means of helping get the dumbbell at shoulder width in front of you. You can use the hand which isn't lifting to ensure this weight is properly positioned before you begin the exercise. Once you've got it in the right spot, ensure that the wrist has been rotated such that your palm is not facing you. At that point the weight is brought slowly to your side while you inhale. Ensure full control over the weight is maintained at all times. When you breathe out, use pectoral muscles to push the dumbbell. Lock your arm in the right spot, squeeze your chest, hold that for a second, then bring the weight down slowly. As an aside, coming down should take twice as long as going up. When you've finished a set, switch arms.
The Hitter's Put
You've seen someone take that large, heavy ball in the Olympics and hurl it as far as possible, yes? Well, the Hitter's Put is like the Shot Put, but not quite the same. Instead of using a metal sphere, use a medicine ball. To get yourself in the right position for maximum effectiveness, start by swinging a bat (provided you've attained the proper method). Once you've mastered the feel, then try the same swing but with the aforementioned medicine ball. The more weight you can handle, the more muscle you can build. If you've already got some mass in this area, you can start heavy; but you may have to build up to the heavier balls. In any event, load that back leg up and hurl the ball toward your target in similitude to the shot put. Continue doing this for the reps prescribed by your athletic trainer, and soon you'll have mastered the Hitter's Put.
Inverted Romanian Deadlift, Single-Leg
You may have heard of the Nordic Curl, but this isn't the only exercise which comes from international influence and is regularly practiced in the Dodgers' regimen. The Single-Leg Inverted Romanian Deadlift is performed when one foot is held off the floor while a weight is balanced in one hand. The weight hinges forward from the hips, and is designed to work the hamstring muscles as well as the pelvis.
