Often times Nate and I get asked what the best pitching workouts are. The fact is that many of them are going to be excellent for you. Fortunately, we live in an age where great workouts are very accessible to you. The problems arise when you try and put it all together and try to find out which workouts are best for you.
Regardless of what workouts you choose you don’t want to go without these basics that will help you handle the workload that pitching requires:
Cardiovascular exercise
Agility exercises
Rotator Cuff work
Balance drills and exercises / Core stability training
Functional strength exercises
Sprint work: Pitchers are sprinters not long distance runner’s
Plyo’s
Throwing program
Warm-up exercises: Given when doing any workout
Cool down exercises : Just as important as warming up
I also get asked several times a week the last year about p90x and insanity workouts. Are they good for pitchers?
That is a great question and the fact is I think the majority of all of the workouts in both programs have a great impact for pitchers because they cover most of the common core workouts any athlete needs.
Some of the best workouts for pitchers from p90x that you should try are:
Disc 2 Plyometrics
Disc 4 Yoga
Disc 6 Kenpo X
Disc 7 X stretch
Disc 8 Core Synergistics
Disc 11 Cardio X
I would mention Disc 12 which is Ab ripper X but I prefer the core work from Insanity much better. I believe it engages the core more and it places less stress on the back.
Great workouts for pitchers from Insanity are:
Disc 2 Plyometric Cardio Circuit
Disc 4 Cardio Power and Resistance
Disc 5 Pure Cardio and Cardio Abs
Disc 6 Core Cardio and Balance : Excellent!
Disc 8 Max Interval Plyo
Now, you may be wondering if I’ve done these workouts myself. The answer is yes, of course! I did 7 weeks of p 90 x. My problem at that time was I started a day after my last daughter was born. It became difficult to wake up after a few hours of sleep and tear into it; it was much easier to go the gym at that time. Right now I’m in the 4th week of Insanity and love every minute of it. Okay, I love every minute of how I feel after those workouts. I’m not going to lie, they are difficult for anyone who pushes as hard as they can throughout the entire workout.
The fact is, as a pitcher you have to try several workouts because you will become board of the same old routines. You need variety and you need to test out which ones work for you. Just remember, as a pitcher you aren’t trying to get bulky. You are trying to find a balance between your functional strength and flexibility. It’s total body strength conditioning that you will find your best results.
Here are some excellent off-season workouts for you to get the results you are looking for to jumpstart your season next year. Kick start it now!
You can also get the whole kibosh here! Warning, for serious pitchers only!