Speed Training Secrets

One of the most overlooked areas in the body with regards to exercising are the muscles that make up your midsection, otherwise known as your core. 

Most people and athletes ignore them.  But if you really want to make a difference in your performance, then you will need to get to know these muscles a bit more personally. If you leave them out of your training, expect your performance to suffer.

Every athlete has his or her preferences when it comes to exercising.  Some like weights, some like cardio, some like plyometrics, some like isometrics.  Regardless of how you like to exercise, the one thing that I’ve noticed is that the majority of one’s training involves either the muscles above the waistline, as in the pecs, shoulders, biceps and triceps or the muscles below the waistline, as in the quads, hamstrings and calf muscles.

 And when it comes time to improve upon their athletic performance, such as increasing their running speed, or increasing their bat speed or pitching speed, they tend to simply just do more of the same.  There is nothing wrong with this and I highly recommend it. 

However, one of the most overlooked areas in the body with regards to exercising are the muscles that make up your midsection, otherwise known as your core.  The muscles that make up your core are more than just your abdominal muscles:

1) rectus abdominus, 2) external abdominal obliques, 3) internal abdominal obliques).

They also include your:
 
1) back extensors: 1) iliocostalis 2) spinalis, 3) longissimus, 4) quadratus lumborum
 
2) your thigh flexors: 1) psoas, 2) iliacus, 3) sartorius, 4) pectineus, 5) adductor brevis, 6) adductor longus, and 7) pectineus.
 
3) your lateral rotators of the hips: 1) Gluteus Maximus, 2) Gluteus Minimus, 3) Gluteus Medius, 4) Piriformis, 5) Superior gemellus, 6) Inferior gemellus, 7) Obturator internus, Obturator externus, and 9) quadratus femoris.
 
4) thigh extensors: 1) Gluteus Maximus
 
If these muscles sound unfamiliar to you, don’t worry.  Most people and athletes ignore them. This can be because they tend to feel uncomfortable when they are trained or because people aren’t aware of their importance and function.   But if you really want to make a difference in your performance, then you will need to get to know these muscles a bit more personally.
 
Why are these muscles important for athletic performance?  For starters, these are the muscles that bridge or hinge the upper body with the lower body.  Just about every athletic motion including running, jumping, pitching and swinging a bat involve coordinated motions of speed and strength between both the upper and lower body.  Your core muscles are responsible for this.  If you leave them out of your training, expect your performance to suffer.

However, since many people often ignore these muscles, training them properly can provide athletes with a huge upside in their training.  In other words, if you never trained your superior gemellus muscles or obturator externus muscles for example, you can expect to see huge gains in your pitching/throwing speed and bat speed.  This is because these muscles are primarily responsible for rotating your hips from side to side, and any knowledgeable hitting instructor knows that your hitting power begins in your hips. 

Same goes for pitching and throwing.
 
So, baseball season is just around the corner.  What are you doing that’s new and different to help you with your bat speed and pitching speed?  Let me offer you a suggestion:  The quickest and easiest way to get these muscles in shape and up to speed is by using specific resistance bands with an isometric training strategy.  The muscles used in both the hitting and pitching motions are easily trained with this method and are explained in fine detail in the Swing Faster Throw Harder training program found at www.AthleticQuickness.com.

Don’t worry if you think its too late to implement these strategies into your current routine.  In just minutes a day and within about two weeks or less, you can expect to see improvements.  These routines won’t  take away from what you are already doing and will provide you with new hope as you exercise muscles most people have never heard of before, and probably for the very first time!
 
All the best!
Dr. Larry Van Such

This entry was posted on Thursday, March 15th, 2007 at 1:28 pm and is filed under Baseball. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.