By Matt Acevedo

                 One of the common themes with young athletes today is that everyone wants to be the best at their sport but not all are willing to put the time in the weight room.  A lot of athletes work so hard on their skills particular to their sport but do not take very good care of their bodies.  There are a few things that need to be done as an athlete to take you to the next level. Read the rest of this entry »

There is one thing that is consistent with all athletes, in all sports, and that is we all need to work out.  One problem is that young athletes have is that they do not know the proper way to work out.  More often than not the guidance they have been given usually doesn’t come from a strength coach or a trainer, more like a dad or an uncle. 

Most kids today are big on the beach muscle weight lifting because they want to get “BIG”!  If you walked into a high school or college weight room and asked the athletes in there what their purpose is for being in there you would hear this……..” I wanna get big bro!”  This is when you find an athlete who runs a greater risk of getting hurt because they don’t know what they’re doing and they’re lifting heavy amounts of weight . 

As a young athlete in high school or college there are a couple things you should do to make sure that you’re on the right track as far as lifting weights for whatever sport it is your playing.  First make sure you talk to you trainer or one of the trainers here at Athletic Edge and let them teach you proper weight lifting form.  Second if you plan to work alone meet with a trainer about a sports specific regiment that will work the proper muscles for your sport while preventing injury as well.  And finally speak to your coach and see where his goals for you and your goals match up and how you can achieve them.

Come see us at Athletic Edge in The Batt Academy for more information on how to become a better athlete or give us a call at 410.590.2288.

Our student Matt is a young baseball player who has been working out with us for the last 7 weeks. His hard work is paying off as you can see him here doing a set of high knees with 3 resistance chords attached to his belt and hand straps. The Veritmax challenges our athletes to maintain good running form with the stress of added resistance. Training on the Vertimax is a unique opportunity that allows athletes to add resistance to their sport specific movements. It is a safe and effective way for athletes to build strength and balance in one training session.

Thank you Matt for working so hard. For more information about Vertimax training or our other training services contact us at 410-590-BATT.

While there is still much debate about baseball players performing bench press and dumbbell bench press exercises, it is widely accepted that push ups are something that every athlete should be doing a few days each week. Here at Athletic Edge we were curious as to how our baseball players and other athletes measured up to some push up testing. However we found only our training staff were savage enough to test themselves. The test was simple. How  many QUALITY push ups can you do in one minute?

This post will mark the beginning of several challenges coming from out training staff to anyone willing to accept. Any noteworthy performances will be proudly displayed on our webpage. Let us know how you did!

If you’re curveball isn’t up to par, try this drill – it will definitely help you develop that tight rotation and consistent release.

Just grab a bucket of balls, place a (mostly) empty bucket 20-30 feet away, and toss them in on a nice arc, working on proper spin, release point and follow through.  Don’t expect the ball to break, just work on getting the technique consistent.  For more drills and baseball knowledge, talk to our instructors and check out Dan Blewett’s personal website.

Meet the “Quad Lunge,” one of the best hip flexor and quadricep stretches around. This stretch is especially beneficial to catchers, who have chronically short and tight hip flexors and quads due to squatting all game, every game.

The above video is pretty self-explanatory, but one thing you want to make sure of is that your back knee is behind your back hip.  You’ll find, in addition, that this stretch demands good balance, and using something on which to steady yourself is a good idea. Flexibility is crucial to moving effectively as an athlete, so don’t neglect to stretch regularly!

At Athletic Edge we are pioneers in sport-specific exercises, and we relish the chance to show off some of our work.

Conditioning can be generic and boring, or it can serve multiple purposes and make you better conditioned and better at your sport.  The following is a conditioning drill done with an 8lb medicine ball; It builds strength while preparing one for the rigors of basketball.

I want to pose a question to all of you who are dedicated to getting better at your sport: Do you know what you need to improve?

If you don’t or you have tried different things with mixed results, then it is time get one of our Movement Assessments, and let our trainers tell you what you should be doing to add those mphs, get faster, or get stronger.  Personal, customized training is the number one way to get you to your goals!

Our personal training hours go beyond that of the academy, and for you parents also interested in getting in the best shape of your life, we start as early as 6am!

Read more about our trainers and what we offer in the training page

Strong shoulder external rotators are crucial to arm health, as they are responsible for stabilizing and rapidly decelerating the arm after a throw.

There are numerous ways to perform band external rotations, but the way shown above is excellent because it isolates the muscles well by preventing erroneous movement and keeping the shoulders and back in proper alignment.

For more information on the importance of shoulder strength and stabilization, read Prehab: A Pitcher’s Mandatory Best Friend

-Coach Dan