In-Season Weight Training

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Oct 18, 2009
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Is it a good idea to have players lifting weights during the softball season? My daughter says she feels like things are out of whack right now with her swing as well as with throwing the ball.
 
Jul 26, 2010
3,553
0
How old is your daughter, HS?

Weightlifting during the season is fine, however the nature of the workouts is very different then pre-season weightlifting workouts. In the pre-season the emphasis is on building strength and endurance, and during the season athletes should take on weightlifting to maintain the strength, endurance, and flexibility built up in the pre-season.

Depending on the intensity of the practice before the lifting, lifting afterwords could actually be more damaging to the body then it is helpful, but done correctly and if there is adequate time for your daughter to intake nutrients (not just water) then it should be fine.

If your daughter has already been lifting for some time and she feels soreness after lifting (probably why she's off') then she needs to back down on the weight a bit, it sounds like she's overdoing it. Make sure she has protein and carb intake between practice and weightlifting, and protein again after weightlifting.

-W
 

FastpitchFan

Softball fan
Feb 28, 2008
462
0
Montreal, Canada
The quick answer: yes.

In an ideal world, an athlete should go through 4 phases when training:

Post-Season (right at the end of the season) - Time off for a few weeks. Focus on physical and mental recovery. Rehab any injuries.
Off-Season - Should focus on general conditioning improving strength and building a solid foundation.
Pre-Season - Should be more sport-specific and focus on developing power (explosive strength)
In-Season - Maintains gains acquired in off-season and pre-season.

To get results and improve strength/power , someone should lift at least 2-3 days a week.

To maintain result, you only need to hit the muscles once every 7-10 days. I would recommend lifting at least once a week.Early in the in-season, if possible, lifting a little more is beneficial.

The problem with softball season is that you need to perform well late in the season so if you don't lift to maintain the off-season/pre-season gains, you will lose a lot of what you acquired.

So the goal during the season is not to get stronger but it is to minimize the loss of strength/power. If you don't lift, you are much weaker at the end of the season.

Unfortunately, many athletes just stopped any kind of lifting. As I stated earlier, you don't need to lift a lot to maintain your gains. Just lifting 10-15 minutes (1 set of a couple of exercises) once a week to every 10 days is likely to be enough to maintain a lot of your gains.

Now, if an athlete did not lift prior to the seasn, starting a weight training program in-season is not really recommended. It could be done but there is a certain way it needs to be done. In most cases, it is better to wait in the off-season.

However, if the athlete has been lifting in the off-season and in pre-season, they SHOULD keep lifting in-season.

Coach Marc
 
Jul 26, 2010
3,553
0
Yoga, done right, would absolutely be beneficial. I do just 10 minutes of yoga after my own weightlifting workouts and it seems to speed my recovery immensely, if I miss the yoga because I'm running late, I'm sore the next day. With the yoga, no soreness.

Yoga is good for the mind as well, and as you know, 90% of the game is half mental. I guess that's Yogi Yoga.

-W
 

FastpitchFan

Softball fan
Feb 28, 2008
462
0
Montreal, Canada
As Starsnuffer put it - Absolutely beneficial. Should NOT take away from technical training like hitting or pitching but definitely a worthy add-on to any training regimen!

Coach marc
 

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