Is Nutrition Your Limiting Factor?
We are known for our biomechanics training, but the biggest secret to our athletes success is our strength & conditioning and nutrition. Bodyweight, body composition and performance measurements have a direct correlation to baseball success. Elite level players are generally bigger, faster, stronger than their competition and we have the data to prove it. The only two ways to improve in these areas is through strength and conditioning and nutrition. It is a very unelaborate process. Lift weights to stress the body and eat food to give the body the building blocks to grow. However, baseball has yet to come around entirely to this process, but it is my belief that this approach yields the best increases in throwing velocity, hitting velocity and sprint speed. Most of the athletes we work with need to add some serious horsepower to their bodies. Oftentimes, their biggest limiting factor is their nutrition.
Professional Players: Bigger, Faster, Stronger
We can get an understanding of professional baseball players size and power production from this study. Most of the athletes we test want to play at this level, but don’t test anywhere near the Rookie Ball level, let alone MLB level, in size, strength and speed. ANTHROPOMETRIC AND PERFORMANCE COMPARISONS IN PROFESSIONAL BASEBALL PLAYERS by Jay Hoffman.
Most athletes goals is to play at the highest level possible. Great, the first step for you is understanding how professional baseball players became professional baseball players. For pitchers it is no secret that pitching velocity is what catches scouts attention. Yes, you still need to be able to pitch, but it is a fact that lighting up the radar gun gets you noticed. For position players, hitting for average/power, speed and throwing velocity gets you attention. So, what allows players to do that better than other players. The answer lies in measurements. Measurements tell the story of the athlete. Performance measurements, mobility measurements, anthropometrics, biometrics and force plate data allow us to see how an athlete moves and produces force. When you collect a big enough database of these measurements of elite level players you begin to see the averages of these metrics. If you want to play at the highest level, but your measurements are nowhere near the elite level players what does that tell you? It should tell you, “I’ve got a horsepower problem. I have work to do in the weightroom and with my nutrition!”
Bodyweight A Huge Limiting Factor
You can see the explosion in size in professional baseball. Baseball rewards power. Bigger, faster, stronger athletes rise to the top.
Visualization: Carleton Hall
Raw Data Source: The Sean Lahman Baseball Archive
One of the biggest deficiencies we see is bodyweight not being where it needs to be. Above is the average bodyweight of professional baseball players by position. Bodyweight has a high correlation to pitching velocity, hitting performance and sprint speed. This is why nutrition can be such a limiting factor to a baseball athlete. Elite level players are bigger and move faster than you! Lets take a look at some studies and science about how athleticism and body mass translate to better performance. We will start with Isaac Newton’s second law of motion:
Force = Mass x Acceleration
In its simplest form, our goal is to increase our mass and our acceleration to put as much force as possible into the ball, bat or ground. We can increase our mass (bodyweight) and our acceleration (vertical jump, broad jump, 10 yd sprint etc.) with proper training and nutrition. This is how you develop the horsepower in your body that allows you to throw harder, run faster and hit the ball farther. If you increase your mass (bodyweight) and improve your acceleration (vertical jump, broad jump, 10 yd sprint etc.) what did you just do? Built more force production in your body, which will potentially lead to more throwing velocity, sprint speed, and hitting velocity.
Case Study: Jeremy Wei 85-96 MPH
Jeremy Wei came in at 6’6” 199 LBS. His athleticism was mediocre at best. Vertical jump 28 inches, broad jump 8 ft, 10 yd dash 1.87 and his fastball velocity was 85 mph. We explained that he would need to crush his offseason training and use the nutrition manual to add significant muscle mass to his frame. 6 months later he had added 40 LBS to his frame! Not only did he add significant weight, but his weight room numbers exploded. His vertical jump went to 31 inches, broad jump 9 + ft and his 10 yard down to a 1.7. He significantly improved his mass (bodyweight) and acceleration (vertical jump, broad jump, 10 yd). The result, his velocity jumped from 85 to 93-96 mph! Was it easy? I believe Jeremy says it best in the video, “if you want to change your body, you got to do things that other people aren’t willing to do. Pretty much nobody around me was training or eating like I was.” What a beast.
How Nutrition Is A Key Component
Nutrition and weight training are completely dependent on one another to build the bigger, faster, stronger athlete. You can’t have one without the other. If you neglect one over the other you will cut your progress in half. Guaranteed. Depending on your goals you need to understand your caloric intake, macronutrient splits. micronutrient intake, meal spacing and nutrient timing. If you want to increase your athleticism, gain muscle mass, burn fat, recover faster or perform at the highest level in this game, nutrition is vital to your success. The advances in strength & conditioning and nutrition have made it possible to develop yourself to your full potential. It is not easy! It is extremely hard work to train and eat your way from an average athlete to good athlete and good athlete to great athlete. However, if you are consistent and disciplined with your training it will yield great results.
Never Guess, Measure & Assess
Remember, never guess, always assess and measure your progress. Overtime you will see your numbers creeping towards the elite level. Don’t wait either! If you are 13-14 years old reading this you have a tremendous advantage over the 24 year old reading this because of TIME. Start now! If you need help with your nutrition check out the 5 Tool Nutrition Manual. If you want to learn more please follow us on social media (Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Youtube) @stevenguadagni and feel free to send in video of your pitching or hitting mechanics for a free analysis. If you want to train with us we have several options. Come down for Long Term Training at our facility or Remote 1 On 1 Online Training from home. Learn how to optimize your mechanics and perform at the highest level possible! Hope you guys enjoyed the article. Please don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any questions.