Matt's Blog

How To Approach Off-Season Workouts  

With the winter months and off-season workouts in full swing, I thought I would share with you once again how another MASA customer approaches this valuable time. As many of you know, the off-season is just as important, if not more important, than the season. During the season you don’t have the time to commit to speed and conditioning drills that gives you the competitive edge over those that don’t take the off-season seriously.

 

This is how one high school program approaches their off-season workouts to get ready for their upcoming season. They split their workouts into days knowing that the body must have time to recover from the stress that is being put on it. On Mondays and Thursdays they break down 60 or more student athletes into four different groups. The first two groups will come in for two hours, then the second group of two groups come in for their workouts. Once the workout begins, it’s a high-paced workout for the seven stations that must be done. Each group will rotate from station to station after the allotted time has been reached. Here is how the workouts are broken down.

 

 

STRENGTH STATIONS

Station 1: Jump Rope - PowerMax Speed Jump Rope (#05395)
Station 2: Wrist Weight Lifts - Pro Wrist Roller (#05652)
Station 3: Wall Sits (player squats with his back against the wall holding a 10 lb. weight extended in front of him)
Station 4: Sit-Ups (plain old-fashioned sit-ups)
Station 5: Quick Feet Ladder Drills - Fisher Speed Ladder (#04033)
Station 6: Dumbbell Arm Lifts (weight is determined by the player's size)
Station 7: Balance Ball Push-ups - PowerMax Stability Ball (#05406)

 

 

SPEED STATIONS

Station 1: High Knees (around the gym)
Station 2: Butt Kicks (around the gym)
Station 3: Karaoke (around the gym)
Station 4: Duck Walk (around the gym)
Station 5: Sprints - PowerMax Variable Resistance Chute (#05380)
Station 6: Lunges (around the gym)
Station 7: Backwards Run (around the gym)

 

 

After each station has been completed, the groups have 20 seconds to get to the next station before time will start. Your group will rotate back and forth from strength to speed. When the group completes strength station one they will move on to speed station one. This will allow the group to always be working a different set of muscle groups. After all the stations have been completed, the groups will combine for a 15 minute run with the last 2 minutes being a sprint to the finish.

 

Things are done a little differently on Wednesday. Wednesday is dedicated to flexibility and mental relaxation of the players through Yoga. The players seem to like the change of pace and the coaches have noticed that Yoga has helped many of the players with their core muscle groups.

 

I hope this give you some insight to what some of the other programs across the country are doing to prepare their players for the grind of a high school and summer baseball season. Have a great season and we hope to see you at one of our many coaching clinics this off season.