Baseball Fitness Training

Baseball Description

Baseball is a team sport in which participants hit a ball with a bat to advance their team's players around a course of four bases to score runs. Enthusiasts find baseball to be a stimulating, enjoyable way to deal with everyday stress and tension. Baseball is a team sport that offers little in the way of measurable fitness improvement. Intermittent bouts of sudden activity are mixed with long periods of standing or sitting still. Thus, cold muscles are at a greater risk to be injured when such activity does occur. At the competitive level, baseball requires a high degree of conditioning to successfully compete throughout the long season of play.

Baseball Warnings

• People experiencing chronic lower back, shoulder, elbow, wrist, ankle, knee, or hip pain or injury should consult their physician prior to engaging in this activity.
• To ensure greater safety, Fitness Expert recommends light activity and frequent stretching between innings and while in the dugout to keep the muscles warm and more resistant to injury.

Baseball Sport-specific applications

• Pulled muscles are common, due to idle time mixed with intense and sudden activity; examples are groin, hamstring and calf
• Ankle sprains due to sudden running bursts and sharp base running patterns
• Bruising from baseball striking the body
• Finger injuries: incorrect catching/hitting technique; sliding accidents
• Pitching injuries: shoulder impingement/rotator cuff, elbow and biceps tendinitis
• Catching injuries: possibility of knee problems
• Environmental hazards: heat illness, heat stroke, dehydration, cramps, sun poisoning, sun stroke, eye damage from sun

Baseball Equipment required

• Bat and ball
• Fielding gloves: leather pocketed gloves, varying by position
• Footwear: cleats (other shoe types are recommended for Astroturf)
• Helmet for protection while batting and running the base paths
• Batting glove used for grip and for protection when sliding
• Catcher's gear: protective mask, chest and throat protector and shin guards
• Baseball hat provides protection from the sun while out in the field

Baseball Applicable substitutions

• Softball

Baseball Reference sources, organizations and publications

• NCAA: 6201 College Blvd., Overland Park, KS 66211­2422, (913) 339­1906
• U.S. Olympic Committee: 1750 E. Boulder St., Colorado Springs, CO 80909­5760, (719) 632-5551
• U.S. Baseball Federation (USBF): 2160 Greenwood Avenue, Trenton, NJ 08609, (609) 586­2381

Mode

Recreational: Anaerobic/Interval

Fitness Benefits

• Cardiorespiratory 1
• Flexibility 1
• Muscular Strength 1
• Muscular Endurance 1
• Body Fat Recution 0

Fitness Requirements

• Cardiorespiratory 1
• Flexibility 1
• Muscular Strength 1
• Muscular Endurance 1
• Coordination/Skill 4

Muscle groups used

Primary muscles: quadriceps, hamstrings, hip adductors, hip abductors, obliques, erector spinae, abdominals, shoulders, triceps and rotator cuff muscles Assistance muscles: calves, chest, latissimus dorsi, biceps, trapezius, gluteals, serratus anterior and hip flexors

Energy expenditure

Approximately 0.026 Calories per minute per pound of body weight