If you are a tall and skinny freak who throws 90+mph then stop reading and have a great career. If you are like most of us, average in size and believe you have the potential to throw a lot harder without causing injury, then you must begin to learn what the strength and conditioning world has discovered.

The strength and conditioning profession has proven that pitching is an anaerobic exercise. An exercise that does not involve oxidation. The systems involved in creating energy for pitching, during the anaerobic exercise, are phosphagen and glycolysis systems. This is the use of creatine phosphate and sugars to make ATP (energy). What this means is, if a pitcher trains these systems in the off season then the muscles will develop more fast twitch muscle fibers to support the anaerobic exercise. More fast twitch muscle fibers means you have a higher capacity and storage of ATP. You also have the ability to recruit more muscle fibers, to add to the intensity of the workload. More muscle fiber recruitment creates more muscle strength during exercise. This increased muscle fiber recruitment during exercise causes more damage in the muscle during fatigue and in return promotes more testosterone to be released in the muscles to heal the damage tissue. This will build more muscle mass for future damage control. These side effects of high intensity anaerobic training, without a doubt, will lead to an increase in velocity. This is why pitchers who get bigger, stronger, faster, throw harder. When I say bigger, I do not exactly mean larger muscles like a body builder. I am talking about muscles that are more dense. A good example would be a light weight Olympic lifter. They look like little kids and can lift like machines.

I have dedicated this website to the secrets of velocity. They are velocity secrets because conventional wisdom doesn’t want you to know. Conventional wisdom sees pitching more as an art, instead of a science. If you have the desire to take it to the next level of pitching, you are going to have to overcome the old school techniques of coaching this position. You must learn the science of strength and conditioning for athletes. You must understand that if you need the most out of your body, you must learn what that is and what does it take. The first step in this process is questioning conventional wisdom and learning the science in everything you do. The next step is training fast twitch muscle fiber in the off season and maintaining the gains into the season. It isn’t an easy task but done correctly, it will mean the difference from a college career to a professional career.

I recommend the Ace Pitcher Handbook as an excellent off-season and in-season program that will promote fast twitch muscle fiber development.

Pitching can have the characteristics of both anaerobic and aerobic conditioning. The issue is conventional wisdom and has been training athletes like long distance runners for years. When I think of a top level pitcher, I see an athlete built more like a sprinter than a cross country runner. When we pitch we do push into aerobic exercise. The problem is this usually means we are pitching to fast and throwing to many pitches. This will effect velocity because after 8-10 seconds of performance without rest, the body uses oxygen to produce ATP. This involves the heart, lungs and blood vessels. This is a slower process and effects the amount of ATP levels in the muscles. This is why the longer we perform a lift in the weight room, the slower our contractions. This is the  same for pitching. The longer we pitch without rest, the slower our bodies are moving, which in return decreases velocity. This is why it is important to pace yourself in between pitches and condition your system to run more anaerobic.

If pitchers train their systems to run more anaerobic than aerobic then they will pitch more anaerobic than aerobic. This means pitching with controlled explosive strength as opposed to pitching more like a batting practice pitcher. To train more anaerobic, do not run long periods of time at a slow pace. This is developing slow twitch muscle fibers and training your system to be conditioned for aerobic performance. Instead perform short explosive sprints and rest a good 2-3 minutes between sprints. This will develop more fast twitch muscle fibers and your system will be conditioned for anaerobic performance.

Purchase the 3X Pitching Velocity Program for an excellent anaerobic training program.

When our heart rate drops to a resting heart rate vasoconstriction occurs.

Vasoconstriction is the narrowing of the blood vessels resulting from contracting of the muscular wall of the vessels. When blood vessels constrict, the flow of blood is restricted or slowed. It is the opposite of vasodialation, the widening of blood vessels.

This means the muscle are not being pumped with enough energy and nutrition or being flushed of waste from performance. At this point it is not a good idea to jump into the heat of battle. For example, if a race car had run out of oil or fluids and it hit the race track at full throttle, this would be a disaster for the car.

The best way to prevent your body from shutting down and cooling off between innings is to watch your heart rate. Keep your heart rate from resting to long. Your body temperature will help you measure this. If your body is cooling off then you need to get up and stay warm with resistance bands or easy short sprints. You do not want to fatigue, only keep warm. Wearing a jacket will also help keep the body warm especially the arm. Notice boxers always wearing warm clothes. Pitchers should do the same. Also take this time to put fluids, electrolytes and glucose back in your system. This with vasodialation from keeping your body warm will help replenish your system. I recommend sports drinks like Vitamin water mixed with regular water as a good source for these supplements.