PERFORMANCE RECOVERY- AN OXYMORON OR NEW AGE THOUGHT?

One of the most underemphasized performance training strategies (right up there with performance nutrition) is RECOVERY. Many of the strategies listed below are from a lecture that Dr. Michael Tyman presented to our team last week. The full video is available at the link below if you want get introduced to some easy to implement concepts. It is important to note that we consider these strategies beneficial to our adult clients as well as our athletes. Emotional stress and physical stress have many of the same impacts on our bodies, these strategies will work well for all stressors placed on the body. For our student athletes, these tips will be super important for those of you going in-season. For our adult corporate athletes, we have no off-season, so these tips are immensely important to incorporate year-round.

A very important equation: Stress + Rest = Growth. Keep this in mind and we will return to this thought.

1. SLEEP– we American’s have forgotten how important sleep is to aid in our recovery from workouts and to improve our health. We use technology in bed, exposing us to blue light which will delay the release of an important hormone- melatonin. What to do:
   1. Limit exposure to blue light 2-3 hours before bedtime.
   2. Do not allow technology in your bedroom.
   3. If you must keep your phone or tablet nearby for work- change your screen settings to sunset to sunrise and turn your screen coloring to warm (more yellow and less blue)
      1. Settings; display and brightness; night shift, sunset to sunrise and color temperature to warmer.
   4. Teenagers need between 10-12 hours of sleep. Adults 7 to 8 hours of sleep.
   5. Sleep in cool, dark bedrooms.
   6. The best athletes in the world prioritize their sleep as much as their training. There should be no guilt associated with prioritizing recovery- treat it as important as a workout.
   7. Our youth should be limited to no more than 2 hours of screen time per day.
2. RECOVERY DAYS–  a day off each week is warranted from training and practice, especially in-season. Recovery is also required from work. How do you know what is the best day to use for recovery? Stack heavy bouts of exercise or stress followed by a day of recovery.   Recovery doesn’t mean lie on the couch all day- you can do something active that you enjoy in a relaxing manner. No training, no practice. Do something else that you enjoy and laugh while you do it. Watch the video below to learn about heart rate variability– a developing science which can tell us if the day should be a hard or easy workout day, or if it needs to be a full recovery day. Too many of us are muscling through extremely challenging workouts when our bodies haven’t recovered from the last one.
3. LEARN TO BREATH CORRECTLY– with a meditative mindset (clear, relaxed, non-cluttered mind) find a comfortable, quiet place to sit. Inhale through your nose, hold for a four count, and exhale through your mouth. Do this for 5-10 breathes. You can use this breathing technique to set your mind, calm your nerves (before a meeting or on the mound between pitches).
4. PERFORMANCE NUTRITION- nutrition and sleep are probably the two most underrated recovery and growth strategies. Without both, hard training is basically wasted, or at the very least, it isn’t realized to its fullest potential. For in-season athletes, maintaining your weight is critical and fueling every day is key. Do not skip breakfast- ever, even if you have an a.m. meeting or early tournament game. The best strategy here is to get a plan. Meet with a registered dietitian to lay out a nutrition fueling strategy that you like, can adhere to and fits your bodies unique needs. Hydration during the upcoming spring and summer will also impact your performance and recovery. Learn the signs of dehydration and avoid this pitfall. Thirst is a poor indicator of hydration status- it is a delayed response.
5. TRAIN SMART– in-season training should be short bouts after practices- 30-40 minute total body workouts. Do not incorporate new exercises, exercises that induce soreness (such as negatives) and we’d prefer that you do not go to failure stopping 1-2 reps shy of this phenomenon when your muscles can no longer move the load. Failure is very taxing on the central nervous system and will further stress an athlete during a high-volume time of year. Going to failure is unnecessary to maintain strength and will only push us toward being overtrained which makes recovery more and more difficult. For our corporate athletes during heavy periods of stress, take a 20-minute walk outside when you get home- it will destress your body in unfathomable ways.
6. CONDITION SPECIFIC TO YOUR GOAL– if you are a triathlete don’t expend your energy doing metabolic workouts- focus on your baseline strength and corrective exercises to prevent injury and spend the rest of your time training in your sports. Overtraining is common in marathoners and triathletes because they simply do too much and often eliciting the incorrect training response for their given activity. Our power-based athletes, such as baseball, do not need to run 5 miles, in fact, they shouldn’t- we aren’t training the right systems to benefit our sport and are just layering on more stress.

In our world stress is stress- whether physical or mental and everybody is an athlete. So, we pull strategies that work for our adults and teach them to our student athletes and visa versa. These tips are inspired by a book titled Peak Performance by Brad Stulberg ad Steve Magness and summarize some of Dr. Michael Tyman’s thoughts from the lecture below.

https://youtu.be/sfSBM-1ttwU

We look forward to introducing more recovery strategies and quick solutions in upcoming blog articles. In closing, rethink the following equation: STRESS + REST = GROWTH.                   Are you balancing stress and rest enough to achieve growth? If not, what can you do today to get starting improving your recovery?

Yours in Health, Dale

In a follow up to last weeks Blog Post, Developing Velocity Part 1 ,  we thought the following article by TreadAthletics, supported our ideologies well.  Yes, some pitchers are “genetic freaks”, and just throw hard.  Many hard throwers however are developed through hard work at gaining functional strength, size, mobility, stability, movement patterns, mechanics, and Yes Arm Strength.

3 Mechanical Hacks I learned from Fernando Rodney

We are proud of all our athletes who are working hard at enhancing their game.  Regardless of the actual measurable gains made, the sense of accomplishment from sacrifices and hard work are unmeasurable, but provide life long useful traits.  We hope you enjoy the read, and let us know if we can be of help in developing you, or your young athlete!

Thank you!

The MACH 1 Baseball Team

Can velocity be developed? Or is it simple something you are born with, genetics? While some people may come out of the womb throwing 90mph, most take what they are born with naturally and then develop the arm strength, body mass, joint integrity, and throwing mechanics over time to allow them to maximize what their body has in it.

At MACH 1 we are helping young athletes in several developmental areas, including Velocity. The Hard Work of our athletes at following the plan of our Dr’s White and Winchester, our Trainers at Athletic Republic, and our Pitching Coaches at All-Starperformance, have measured gains of 4.5MPH with our 12-14 year old pitchers, and 5.2MPH with our 15 and up age pitchers over the last 4 months. These Velocity gains are not by chance, but from a committed effort in the gym, arm care stations, mechanical adjustments, and recovery, by the players.

If you would like us to help you formulate a plan that will help develop you, or your athletes body and arm let us know.

Thank you,

MACH 1 Team

As the season approaches, one tool that we have started to implement is our Rapsodo pitching monitor. Rapsodo is a pitch-tracking device that gives immediate feedback that allows us and the athlete to optimize every pitch. After each pitch, we are able to see the velocity, spin rate, spin axis, true spin and spin efficiency. Rapsodo also provides us with vertical and horizontal movement, a view of when the pitch actually starts to move, and and strike zone view of where each pitch ends up. This data has allowed us to get a better idea of how each player spins the ball, find ways to make each pitch better, and even add new pitches based on what we find.

Let’s start with spin rate. Spin Rate is defined as ‘The Velocity rate at which the ball spins from the time it leaves the pitchers hand, measured in rotations per minute (rpm).’ One thing that is not yet known is how to create more spin rate on the ball. What we do know is the higher the spin rate, the less gravity will come in to play and the ball will stay on its same plane and almost have a rising effect to the hitters eyes. The lower the spin, the ball will have more of a sinking action. So guys with higher spin should pitch up in the zone and guys with lower spin should try to attack the bottom half.

The part of the Rapsodo we have been utilizing the most is the true spin and spin efficiency. True spin is the spin that is directly creating movement on a pitch, and spin efficiency takes the ratio of true spin and divides it by the total spin. True spin takes out the side spin of the ball, which does not impact the movement on the baseball. From that information, we are able to look at a kids curveball or slider for instance, see the break on the pitch, and change their grip or their release to design a better pitch. For example, we had a pitcher who was trying to create more downward action on his curveball, and noticed he had a spin efficiency that was around 30%, meaning he was getting too much side spin, and not enough top spin which is what you want on a curveball. By being able to access the data immediately from Rapsodo we were able to change his grip and raise his release point, and within minutes he was near 80% spin efficiency with a better downward breaking curveball.

The ability to see immediate feedback on how a pitch is moving is a great tool that leaves no second guessing on its effectiveness. We are able to see from a sky view, and a catchers view of when the pitch started to move, and how many inches it moved horizontally and vertically. There is also a feature that shows a dotted line of the pitch’s trajectory if there were going to be no spin on the ball, and a solid line showing where the pitch ended up after the spin impacted it. Rapsodo has helped our players make their pitch’s even better, and even helped a lot of them start throwing new pitch’s that they have never tried before.

If you think the MACH 1 team can help you with your development of pitches and your pitching repertoire let us know. We’d be glad to help!

Andy Marks

MACH 1 Pitching Coach

How would Mach 1 have benefited you as a high school athlete?

Dale H

I️ think Mach 1 would have been big for me in terms of potential injury prevention. I️ don’t think I️ took the best care of my arm growing up, and when I️ started to really gain velocity I️ wasn’t ready to handle the stress. I️ would have loved the ability to get in the weight room whenever I️ wanted as well as a good weighted ball program.

How much do you workout?

Adam M

I’m on a four day a week lifting and shoulder care plan. Plus as much pick up basketball as I can find.

What do you like to eat post workout?

Eric F

Post workout I️ usually snack on Fairlife chocolate milk and Siggi’s yogurt. Depending on the timeframe post workout I️ will also try to get a big meal (chipotle).

Do you track meals or have a specific plan when you eat?

Ryan I

I️ try to keep a good log in my head of thing I️ eat in my head but I️ don’t write anything down for the most part. I try to eat 500 plus calories every few hours, which requires a plan when you are not at home all day. I’m down about 15 pounds since my surgery so I’m just trying to maintain what I️ think is a good weight as throwing gets closer and closer.

What does the day after you pitch consist of?

Ricky D

The day after throwing always has a heavy total or lower body lift. I’ll do some sort of longer sprint work and hit the Marc Pro for an hour or so. I️ usually get my hips realigned as well as some sort of soft tissue work on my shoulder/back. Probably a three hour process at minimum after each start.

How do you throw hard?

Al E

Besides being the most asked question from the 14-15 age group, you throw hard because you practice throwing hard. It may sound dumb, but no one wanted to play catch with my buddy and I️ because we would finish each day throwing flat grounds to each other at 95-100 percent effort. Even before you start tweaking your mechanics, trying to throw the ball hard is a must.

Did you play any other sports?

Pete F

I️ played and still play basketball as much as I️ can. If you have the time and the ability to play more than one sport at a high level, do it. All of the best baseball players I️ know are good at multiple sports. I️ don’t know all the science (is there science behind it?) behind it, but learning how to move your body and do it well is a big part of becoming a good pitcher.

Big thanks to Matt for letting me hop on the blog for this week and for giving me the opportunity to be part of the Mach 1 Program. It’s been an eye opening experience learning how to coach and help out during this offseason and I️ am grateful for that.

Pete