Arm Care: From the Eyes & Mind of a Professional Ballplayer

If you’ve been playing baseball for any amount of time, with any type of seriousness, you have surely come across a wide assortment of opinions and options for taking care of your throwing arm. With all this information readily available, it can be a bit overwhelming at times but there is a good reason for all of it….IT’S IMPORTANT. The overhead motion of throwing a baseball is an unnatural movement for the human body as per our biomechanics. This is why baseball pitchers need considerable rest in between appearances, whereas softball pitchers can throw every day and sometimes multiple times within one day. From this standpoint alone, you should be able to grasp the importance of helping your body withstand this unnatural movement you’ve down thousands of times and will do thousands of more times in the immediate future. Now that we are on the same page about the importance of arm care, I will lay out for you the specific exercises I have come across and found success in using, during my 20+ years of throwing a baseball. I can’t tell you this combination of movements are THE magical solution to arm problems that we’ve all been waiting for; I can tell you, these movements will help your throwing arm become stronger and more resilient to the wear and tear of throwing a baseball. Personally, I’m a fan of using circuits in my arm care training. Therefore, the exercises I’m going to lay out for you will be grouped together in a circuit fashion. However, feel free to mix and match the following exercises to your liking. I’d recommend selecting 6 to 10 movements, performing each for 6 to 10 reps with little to no rest in between each (30 seconds of rest at the most). Repeat the circuit 1 to 3 times, depending on how you’re feeling and/or time you have to train. 1 to 3 minute rests in between each circuit. Please keep in mind that these circuits are performed using lightweight and low rep counts for a reason. The movements you’ll be performing specifically target the same muscles you use when throwing a baseball. Meaning an excess in weight or reps, in addition to actually throwing, can lead to doing more harm than good. With all that said, let’s get to what brought you here - a favorite arm care routine of professional baseball players. You will find this routine in the PDF attached to this email. Then, to make sure you’re staying on top your shit, you will receive a series of additional arm care routines. All aimed to help the serious ballplayer maintain a peak level of play. Baseball Brilliance respect’s the grind, the grind of a Serious Ballplayer, and is here to help you dominate.

So Let’s Get After It.

6-way Shoulder Series

For this circuit, you can use either lightweight dumbbells or plates (start at 2.5lbs and work up to no more than 10lbs). I prefer plates for the lateral raises, front raises, bent over Y’s, and bent over reverse flies - dumbbells for the rest. Perform 10 reps of each movement only once; unless you enjoy the torture, then repeat the circuit just one more time.

Lateral Raise

Stand tall with a slight bend in your knees. With your arms hanging straight down from your shoulders at your sides, brace your core, and raise your arms out to the side until your hands are even with your shoulders. Pause for a moment, then return to the starting position. That’s one rep, repeat for a prescribed or desired amount of reps.

Front Raise

Stand tall with a slight bend in your knees. With your arms hanging straight down from your shoulders at your sides, brace your core, and raise your arms out in front of your body until your hands are even with your shoulders. Pause for a moment, then return to starting position. That’s one rep, repeat for a prescribed or desired amount of reps.

Bent over Reverse Flies

Stand tall with a slight bend in your knees. Hinge forward from your hips until your body is almost parallel to the floor and allow your arms to hang straight down from your shoulders. Brace your core and lift your arms out to the side, towards the ceiling, until your hands are even with your shoulders. Pause for a moment, then return to the starting position. That’s one rep, repeat for the prescribed or desired amount of reps.

Bent over Y Raise

Stand tall with a slight bend in your knees. Hinge forward from your hips until your body is almost parallel to the floor and allow your arms to hang straight down from your shoulders. Brace your core, and with thumbs pointed up, raise your arms towards the ceiling until weights are parallel to the floor. Pause for a moment, then return to the starting position. That’s one rep, repeat for a prescribed or desired amount of reps.

Supine Flies

Lay down on the ground with your knees bent. Raise the dumbbells straight up from your shoulders with a slight bend in your arms. Keeping your lower back in contact with the ground and your chin tucked, lower the weights out to your sides until they touch the ground. Pause for a moment, then return to starting the position. That’s one rep, repeat for the prescribed or desired amount of reps.

Supine Pullovers

Lay down on the ground with your knees bent. Raise the dumbbells straight up from your shoulders with a slight bend in your arms. Keeping your lower back in contact with the ground and your chin tucked, bring the weights straight overhead until they touch the ground. Pause for a moment, then return to the starting position. That’s one rep, repeat for prescribed or desired amount of reps.

How Else Can Take Care Of Your Arm Like A Pro?

There's more you can do for your throwing arm beside training like a pro. A big role in recovery and support for a throwing arm that goes through the grind of a pro ballplayer is compression. Compression is a great way to support your arm and combat the extra stress created by throwing. Unfortunately, most of the compression arm sleeves in today’s market are focused solely on looking good with no mind towards feeling good. While being produced and distributed by sellers who care more about their profit margins than providing you with quality compression. Baseball Brilliance Pro Style Arm Sleeves breaks that mold. Not only do our sleeves look good, but they are also actually designed to provide the quality support needed for a throwing arm going through the grind of a professional baseball player.rnIn fact, Baseball Brilliance Pro Style Arm Sleeves are verified by a medical professional to promote healing and decrease elbow pain with consistent use. “Excessive valgus stress is a common and known predisposing factor to elbow injuries in overhead throwers, and especially in those with a history of pitching in baseball. From a biomechanical perspective, use of the Baseball Brilliance compression sleeve will provide increased support across the elbow joint, decreasing valgus stress. Compression is also beneficial for decreasing inflammation which is an important factor promoting healing and decreasing pain after injury when combined with rest.” - Dr. Matthew Brill, Sports Medicine Trained PhysicianrnFor the very reasons stated by Dr. Brill, compression arm sleeves of the same exact same design as Baseball Brilliance Pro Style Arm Sleeves are trusted and distributed by trainers to their players throughout the MLB and MiLB.rnEven if you decide to not purchase a sleeve, Baseball Brilliance still respects the grind of a Serious Ballplayer. So either we’ll be providing you with more free info to keep you grinning like a pro and dominating the diamond. So, Let's Get After It.