How to Avoid Losing Power During the Baseball Season

In 2008, researchers in Arizona divided collegiate baseball pitchers into two groups, tested their power capabilities, and then followed them throughout their season.

Group 1 used cardiovascular endurance training as their conditioning.

Group 2 used less time-consuming sprint drills for their conditioning.

After the season, the pitchers were retested. The cardiovascular endurance group lost power by the end of the season, while the sprinting group actually increased their ability to produce power.

This is enormously important in a sport like baseball where pitchers are rarely huffing and puffing (a situation where cardiovascular endurance would be important). However, this is not to say that a few foul poles after throwing is the worst thing in the world – a light run of no more than 10 minutes at a slow pace has shown in research to speed recovery while avoiding power losses.

In summary: choose sprinting over long jogs for your baseball conditioning if your goal is to maintain power during the season.

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