Gaining Quality Muscle
High School Baseball Players

The purpose of this report is to educate high school baseball players in the area of building quality muscle over the summer break. The information provided, concerning building muscle, is a science and not opinion. Baseball usually demands it players to have a strong arms, good speed and most important have power at the plate.

Strength building training for baseball players should consist of the basic training movements such as bench press, squats, pull-ups, power cleans, clean and jerks, etc. The proper techniques and safety precautions are first and far most important aspect a free-weight training program. In light of your safety and well-being, it is highly advised that heavy weight training should be under supervision of a professional sport specific personal trainer.

Free-weight training to gain muscle helps improve the throwing velocity, explosive running speed and definitely builds power with the bat. Players wanting to build hitting power must train with free-weights during off-season to build strength in both upper and lower body. The legs, chest, arms and hips are all fast twitch muscles involved in motion of swinging a bat, which helps increase the reactive strength speed.

Players wanting to improve the strength of their arms can only expect 5-8 % improvement in throwing from upper body training. Although free-weight training will build muscle of upper-body, it will not build the throwing muscle of the shoulders, which are the rotator-cuff muscles. Building the strength of those muscles depends upon another training system; a Low-resistant system. This low resistant system is not a free-weight training system; it is generally a machine or therapeutic rehabilitation band system.

On the other hand, players can expect greater levels of improvements with lower body training. The stronger the legs, hips and abdomens, the less torque and stress on the rotator cuffs. Pitchers with stronger legs get more velocity on their throws by using their legs as oppose to throwing with all arms. While on the other hand pitchers throwing with all arms, over time, will inevitably destroy a player’s arm.

1st Factor
Free-Weight Training

Muscle Breakdown
The science of building muscle applies to all athletes. Regardless to the sport, the muscular response to weight training is the same. The muscle response to heavy weight training is muscle tissue breakdown of that muscle as well the breakdown of energy (ATP) properties of the muscle. In order to do so, athletes must train with workloads that demands intense outputs of ATP and high intensity effort levels.

Weight vs. Rep Range
Building muscle requires high weight low rep range training preferably with free-weights. Left weight of an athlete is not challenged to left is does not and will not produce the wanted gains. Reaping out lightweight machine exercises will not get the job done either.

Rest between Sets
The rest between sets normally range from1-3 minutes depending on the level of exertion and the workout administered. In the event an athlete has low levels of endurance, training heavy is out of the equation and they must first improve their endurance through high rep and low weight training before moving on to heavy training.

Number of exercises Per Muscle Group
The number of sets per muscle group range from 12-16 sets and the number of exercises range from 3-4. The number sets can be modified to players game schedule as well as the number exercises.

High school baseball players are limited to only training heavy during the summer and fall seasons. These periods of training is best because of players having ample time to recover, which is the 3rd factor in building muscle. There are 3 key factors in gaining muscle, all of which depends greatly upon one another in order to induce success. In other words, performing 1-2 of factors and omitting the 3rd does not work.

2nd Factor
Diet

Proper nutrition is the second factor of building muscle. In order for muscle to perform a optimal peaks levels, the glycogen levels must be greater than are equal to the levels.. Glycogen is the ATP (energy) storage within the muscle; it is the gasoline of muscle and without it sufficient glycogen storage, muscle cannot function. The process from which the body makes glycogen involves the conversion of glucose (sugar) into glycogen. Glucose derived from the conversion of complex carbohydrates (starches) and simple carbohydrates (fruit sugars), into glucose.

Complex Carbohydrates:
Rice Brown Rice Potatoes Yams Pastas
Oatmeal Grits Bread Malto-Meal Angel Hair
Corn Bread Spaghetti Beans Lintels Cereals
Tortillas Macaroni

Simple Carbohydrates: Simple carbohydrates are quick energy, high fibrous and quick hydration food; they generally consist of vegetable of colors and practically all fruit. Normally, simple carbs are sugar sources. High levels of sugar typically one the leading causes of obesity. Although simple carbs should be a major part of daily nutrition, it is completely erroneous to eat simple carbs as a full meal.

Corn Red Peppers Green Peppers Squash Carrots
Yellow Pepper Cauliflower Plums Apples Oranges
Bananas Grapes Grape Fruit Pineapple Mango
Tangerine Cherries Strawberries Lemons Limes
Tomatoes

Fibrous Carbohydrates: Fibrous vegetables serve as protein transport system and digestive track hydration system. Live plant food enzymes from green vegetables shuttles protein into the blood stream. The roughage from vegetables carries water to the upper and lower colon as well as attaching itself to waste particles as a internal sewer system.

Spinach Green Beans Roman Lettuce Broccoli Brussels Spouts
Asparagus Zucchini Snap Peas Green Peas

In order for muscle to grow and maintain it size, the protein levels must be equal to or greater than the amount of lean muscle mass. For every one pound of muscle, athletes need a minimum 1-3 grams of protein daily. An athlete weighing 190 lbs. wishing maintain must take in daily a minimum of 190-210 grams of protein. The same athlete wishing to gain 10-15 more lbs. must take 210-350 grams daily.

The eating habits of athletes play a major role how well their muscles perform during workouts and competition. Balance nutrition is combination of sufficient consumptions of the four food groups on a daily basis: protein, complex carbohydrates, simple carbohydrates and fatty acids.

Protein is the biggest concern for athletes training to gain strength or put on weight. Protein is nourishment for the muscle, thereby making it very important that athletes are consuming sufficient amounts in order to maintain and or build more muscle.

3rd Factor
Ample Recovery

In order stimulate reactive muscle growth; athletes must have ample recovery time. Muscle recovery and sleep are 2 elements of ample recovery time.

a. Muscle recovery involves a rest period allowing the broken down muscle to rebuild, normally over the course of 3-4 days. During this rest period, athletes should not train or administrate heavy workloads of torque on that muscle group. Doing so will eventually lead to injury either during competition or during workout sessions.
b. The body needs sleep to repair broken down cells, broken down muscle and rejuvenate the nervous system. Athletes on a strength-building program need a minimum of 8 hours of sleep per night and one to two 20-minute power naps during the day. Without sleep is impossible to stimulate healthy muscle growth. Unhealthy sleep habits such as waking up early and retiring late, promotes loss of strength, loss of mental sharpness and it increases high risk of injury.

Weight training is obviously the beginning of any weight-training program.