Five Tool Baseball Performance Training (FTBPT) is dedicated to sharing its knowledge, ideas and opinions on baseball performance training based upon field tested experiences as player, coach and baseball strength & conditioning coach. Proper exercise technique ( to ensure effective & efficient training programs) and baseball related movement patterns are implemented to maximize on-field performance. Emphasis is placed on movement based training which integrates multiple muscle groups. This approach has a greater transfer to on-field performance and can minimize the incidence and risk of injury. 
 If a game is being played you can be sure Im watching it from home or from the stands. Many of my own workouts involve designing/creating out-of-the-box exercises & programs to enhance performance and movement unique to baseball

Thursday, June 16, 2011

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Sanchez outduels Halladay

Earlier this week, Anibal specifically asked for the Roy Halladay matchup; and he got it...In Philly. Anibal goes on to scatter 4 hits, 2 runs over 7 innings. After going 7 innings strong, and bettering Halladay, he turned over a 4-2 lead to the bullpen only to see the Phillies come back tie the game and win it in the 10th. No win for him (or Marlins) but sure was a nice moral victory. Durability didn't seem to be a factor either for Anibal as he threw a season high 125 pitches.


In season performance happens in the off-season.

Go hard in the yard.

AB

Monday, June 6, 2011

MVP Shuttle





HOW LOW CAN YOU GO?


As it pertains to squats, the question shouldn’t be how low should you go, but rather how low are you capable of going?

From my own observations at the Institute of Human Performance, most individuals barring injury have the ability (thus mobility) to perform a bodyweight (BW) squat (i.e. on a box) to a depth that is parallel or deeper. However, add a vertical load - such as a barbell - dominated by gravity and the previously demonstrated mobility is overshadowed by an individual’s lack of stability. Basically, the vertical load inhibits (shuts down) the body’s range of motion(mobility) because it feels threatened by the body’s lack of stability.

So, if vertical loaded barbell squats can limit mobility due to poor stability, how can we still squat and train to improve range of motion and stability. For me, the answer is the Shuttle MVP (MVP) – an absolute workhorse at the Institute of Human Performance. I take a dual squatting approach. One, continue to squat with vertical loads to improve stability. Two, implement squats on the MVP to maintain depth/mobility of the squat. Because of its horizontal carriage, coupled with the adjustable headrest, the MVP basically minimizes gravity while allowing for a wide range of squat depths to be performed safely. In addition, the MVP is equipped with up to 16 selectorized bands allowing for those varying squat depths to be trained with loads less than, and (in some cases) equal to or even greater than bodyweight. This dual squatting approach has been a balanced combination for mobility, stability and strength.

Train hard. Train Smart.