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

Monday, October 19, 2015

Greatly appreciated Testimonial

I was greatly appreciative when I checked my e-mail this evening and was greeted by these words from Juan Carlos Santana, Founder of the Institute of Human Performance. 

"I have traveled the world ten times over.  I have had to the opportunity
to Chair the NSCA sports specific conference for 3 years.  I believe it
would be a safe thing to say that I have been around some of the best
strength and conditioning coaches on the planet.  When it comes to
baseball, I believe few strength coaches I have ever met have the
multi-dimensional perspective to the strength development of baseball
players as Adam Brush."

"Adam has played and coach baseball, giving him a practical knowledge of
the game, coaches like me will never have.  He has also dedicated the last
10 years to studying the functional biomechanics of baseball, as well as
the application of functional training methods to specifically deal with
baseball related performance.  When you look at the players Adam has
trained, and the impact he has had on their performance, his capabilities
become blatantly obvious.  This is why I had complete confidence in making
Adam the director of IHP baseball."
  

- Juan Carlos Santana

Sunday, October 4, 2015

Core Strength Training


There's tons of perspective out there regarding the core and core training. So, in keeping it brief, what's one more...

First, the core has been identified as the musculature of the trunk anywhere from the shoulders down to the knees (front and back) or the sternum to the hips (front and back). Either way, the function of the core is two fold: (1) to protect the spine and (2) to generate and transfer forces. Both relying heavily on core stability - aka - CORE STIFFNESS.

According to Juan Carlos Santana, in his recently published book Functional Training,  a majority of the major muscles of the core are oriented in a diagonal or horizontal fashion. This machine, the body, was built to rotate. But we need to possess core stability to handle this rotation whether in sport or daily tasks.

When it comes to baseball performance training, core strength is vital for rotational movements such as running, throwing and hitting. Core strength can be achieved by training for core stiffness as Ive written here anti-rotation, here anti-extension,  here anti-flexion, and here anti-lateral flexion). In turn, core strength is not only utilized but is needed during our various, medicine ball (MB), core explosive exercises - which requires a whole lot of core stiffness in order to generate and transfer the necessary forces to throw the MB. All in all core stiffness, which bridges the transfer of forces between upper & lower body, becomes critically important to maximize baseball’s on-field performance demands.


Enhance your core stiffness (stability) to enhance your on-field performance.

Out Train The Game.