Wait, what?

That was an explanation I had been handed after a full winter of promises, dedication, development. A winter I had spent crushing JV pitching, with four home runs in three games.

Hitting has always been something I was good at. It was my first focus, my best quality growing up, and ultimately what helped me break through to professional baseball after a long road of injuries, surgeries, and simple bad luck. In baseball, time gaps in your resume are even worse for you than in the real world. Stop playing for any reason, in any season, and it is a black mark on your name.

I consider myself a flawed player. I admit that I shouldn’t have been drafted out of high school. I shouldn’t have stopped playing college ball because of the competition and talent on a stacked Division I junior college team. I should have transferred to the other school, which was willing to take me as a freshman red shirt, but I was homesick; a long way from Illinois as a student in Arizona.

A Restart From the Bottom

I credit my dad for helping me realize, as a 20-year-old, part-time student, that time and baseball was slipping away. My first attempts to come back were very, very hard. I was raw. While I kept a regular workout regimen during my two years off, the result was that I had outgrown my body. I was still using mechanics at the plate I learned in high school—at about thirty pounds lighter. Yet, I got the golden opportunity to play collegiate ball again, at a small school I had once balked at, as an overconfident and under-informed high school senior.

So began my two-year journey to find the field at the lowest level of college ball. I was naïve. But this time around, I was also relentless. I worked very hard to play. I got much better. Because of my experience in giving up before, my mindset this time around was to stick with it, no matter what.

But that mindset became a liability, when it blinded me to the reality that I was being taken advantage of. I was clearly ready to take the field and be a presence on our team. I finally realized it after a summer playing in a league full of higher-level collegiate players, and returning in the fall to find I had advanced past the pitching I was seeing.

My black mark was still haunting me.

“You need to field better to DH here,” my collegiate coach had told me. It was the final excuse he had to keep me off the field, after promising in the fall a full season of at-bats, and after me proving I was ready. It was his ego, his vendetta against me, and possibly the fact that he didn’t want me to surpass his own playing numbers at college baseball’s lowest level.

I had come to the realization that one man’s ego can become bigger than the success of a program. Sticking with it, no matter what, was hurting me this time around. And the clock of my career continued to run. Fool me once, shame on you. I transferred.

Proving Them All Wrong

Bad luck would wipe out my final season of eligibility in the NCAA. I underwent two surgeries from overuse injuries, a fracture of the hook of the hamate; an injury players get from hitting too much. I was 23, and still hungry. Tried out for team after team in independent minor league professional baseball. Time after time, rejected. I saw the same players over and over, in every state and all of the leagues. My resume just wasn’t something that a manager could stick his neck out for.

But my talent continued to grow. Home runs, power, and now speed. I was always working, and always getting better. When my talent became undeniable, I got a shot playing in Canada. I turned that into two shots at the American Association of Independent Professional Baseball; a place where affiliated talent goes to a farm system. and a place where players like me never get a chance. It pissed a lot of coaches off that I broke through, collegiate and professional alike. It was a hit to their ego to see that they were wrong.

I put up a very respectable spring in 2015 in Grand Prairie, Texas. A former MLB outfielder nicknamed me “The Machine,” because of my hitting. Our shortstop (a former AA player) noticed how quickly I got to second after a line drive to left field, and greeted me “power hitter, and you can run too.” I was 27 years old and I had peaked.

From Player to Coach

That summer, I fell ill. I contracted a rare disease called valley fever, and had to have lung surgery. Just like that, my playing career was toast.

But the following summer, I started messing around again. I had lost a lot of weight, and began to learn more about utilizing my mechanics. I had found more power and more bat speed than ever before. I was a better hitter.

How was this happening? How was I better? I hit everything, even off some professional, experienced pitchers, players like me. It didn’t even feel like I was trying. Last fall, I realized I had to get the word out on these hitting mechanics. If I could do it, I could teach it. I knew how to train for it as a strength coach. I would write a book. It would be affordable. It would help younger players.

I gained experience as a coach while I was still a professional player, having spent two years as an IHSA varsity assistant and full time private hitting instructor in the offseason. I had flaws as a player, but my hitting and speed were better than a lot of people with pro contracts. By experience and experimentation, I had learned to teach these things. I knew the world of coaching was competitive, but I had faith that there were institutions out there more concerned with their program’s success than their coach’s ego.

Inside Ball

When a coach lands a job in high school, college, or pro baseball, they are given the opportunity to either cultivate talent or appease their ego. They are given the choice of humility or braggadocio. They can keep an open mind to better serve their players as a teacher, or be stuck in their ways forever. My open-mindedness allowed me to completely overhaul my hitting mechanics, and to stand up for the right things for the players I coach.

The dark and deceiving favoritism, homerism, and falsities within baseball affect both players and coaches. I once assisted a former professional player and varsity head coach who was relieved of his duties after taking my alma mater to sectionals. The black marks on my resume prevented me from some opportunities as a player and possibly as a coach, but this man had zero of those. He was a record-holding collegiate hitter, professional player, and son of a renowned state high school coach.

But at this school, he was an outsider. He was ousted for an inside man; a gym teacher who had graduated from my alma mater. The gym teacher had colluded with the athletic director and administration to learn everything he could off of this coach, then take over. I spoke against this to anyone who would listen, explaining how it was a terrible thing to do not only to such a coach, but also to the kids. The kids were getting a bad deal. They were losing an amazing opportunity to learn directly from a professional. They won games under this professional. He was relieved of his duties anyway.

I had only myself to blame for the black marks on my resume, but the firing of this coach struck a nerve because he did it all so perfect as a player and a coach. He was a success. He was removed because he was an outsider, and so was a threat to the institution. It takes a big ego as an athletic administrator to remove such an accomplished and respected coach for no reason. Inside ball, at my own high school. Those kids deserve better, and now they are stuck with a politically installed and less capable coach.

The Price of Threatening the Machine

When I first starting writing about my new hitting mechanics, it gained a lot of interest. I published it for free on my blog. I had so many parents interested that I had to write a book. It was a way to get the message out, and that message was well-received in the communities I was involved in. My goal was to reach people with my story, and help parents and players at a very low cost. I wanted to use my experiences to cut straight to the points. I wanted to speak out on how terribly corrupt baseball coaching and administration can be in the real world. I wanted to be honest.

But when it came to social media, I found that groups have administrators with private motives, and competing businesses. My message was too popular, too contrary to their own, and had too much legitimacy. Worst of all, it came from me, instead of them. So I was banned, my posts were flagged, and my concepts were blasted in my absence, or stolen outright. A few went so far as to file reports against my paid advertising, which got my advertising privileges removed.

If you’ve ever dealt with something like this on Facebook, you know that it is a platform with a lot of automated decisions. There are no ways to contact an actual person, and decisions given on violations are not very specific. A person can pretty much flag whatever they want, and if it happens enough, Facebook automatically removes your privileges and leaves you empty-handed to appeal.

Honest coaches would not even think of doing something like this, but baseball is not a sport filled with honest coaches. As it is, there are many deceptive coaches that routinely do things like this to try and put the competition out of business. There are people out there ripping off parents for hundreds, even thousands of dollars, with the wrong coaching, the wrong product, and they have zero qualifications. It just so happens that they administrate a popular social group.

Baseball’s Dirty Secret

The biggest con in baseball coaching is to keep the ruse going. Sell a false product, or preach an uninformed and ineffective method. And if someone better comes along, they are silenced. At the institutional level, a qualified outsider is removed to keep the established power in control of the program. In college, I found out how far a coach would go to deceive me, because I had taken a better opportunity out of high school.

The common thread in all of these situations is the lack of qualification on the part of those in power. They have very little actual baseball expertise or playing experience. For every good message I try to spread, I am countering one spread by another person. For every qualification I have to teach hitting and fitness, I am exposing someone in a position of power who has none. They kissed the ring of their institution, or simply got lucky enough on social media to be in their positions. They are also very good at silencing the truth. It’s a rough business.

I was an insurgent in pro baseball. I wasn’t supposed to be there. I broke the barriers of egotism and politics in coaching and athletic administration when I legitimized myself as a professional player. People saw the home runs, the extra bases I took, and suddenly people wondered where I was from. That did not reflect well on the places where I had been rejected. Me playing well was an insult to their decision making.

So when my blog exploded, I should have expected the backlash. I should’ve known if I was too successful, and my product was too contrarian and too cheap, it would get some nasty pushback from the political machine that runs the game.

Bring Honesty Back to Baseball

That is why I came to Breaking Muscle. It is a place where the wisdom of qualified coaches is what drives the success of the website and the readers. Here, you can share an honest message. If baseball decisions were made with integrity as they are here, I wouldn’t have this experience to write about. There would be no one to warn if talent and qualifications were the most important factor in making baseball decisions. The message I want to bring to parents, and to their wide-eyed, hopeful, baseball playing sons, is the one you were never supposed to hear.

I can’t go back in time and warn myself, or protect supremely qualified coaches from political horseplay. I can only make people aware of the issues that plague the institution of baseball, in an effort to help you find the honest teams and coaches. They are out there, but they are exclusive because they possess abilities and experiences that are very hard to attain.

Always do your homework on the people you encounter in baseball. When was the last time you met a professional baseball player? Do you know what your college coach did before coaching? Is their motive to be a prophet, or to make a profit? Does your coach have the humility to adjust his ideology for the benefit of his players?

I want to bring integrity back to baseball, for the future, the youth, and the love of the game, at every level. I am truly proud of what I accomplished, but I know it can be done better. I will continue to risk my reputation to spread that message.

Is there life after going pro?

My Transition From Professional Baseball to Competitive CrossFit

The post The False Prophets of Baseball appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

As a former professional baseball player, my whole life is centered around fitness, but I am willing to admit I am right there with most of you when I say I have taken time to indulge. But I also take the time to reboot and crack down on my diet and fitness and give my body the attention it deserves, and so can you.

Over the next twelve weeks you are going to detox like you’ve never detoxed before, and in the end you will have built a toned muscular base, eviscerated most of your unwanted body fat, and achieved an emotional state that leaves you energized, pain-free, and happier than ever. Pretty neat, huh?

Being a beach bum was fun, but now it’s time to get back on track.

Detoxing. Isn’t That Some Naturopathic Doctor Gimmick?

While you may find “detox” supplements all the rage on your favorite daytime television programs, this is far from the meaning of detox in relation to this training program. When you think of detox, think of removal of unnecessary toxins and bodily waste and not miracle supplements that simply do not exist.

For example, taking a cranberry supplement may or may not make you urinate more as it is a natural diuretic, but so will drinking more water. What we need to focus on in this detox is promoting optimal hormonal output of testosterone and growth hormone, in both men and women, that may have been hindered by a bad diet and drinking excess amounts of alcohol. Women produce testosterone too, and if you’re looking for the firm glutes that you see on every fitness magazine, you’re going to need your hormones at optimal levels.

What’s the Big Deal About a Few Beers?

Scientifically, alcohol has been proven to inhibit protein synthesis necessary for maintaining muscle and building new muscle in response to both acute and chronic consumption. The muscular degradation from alcohol continues in that it interferes with both male and female hormonal output. In men, acute consumption of alcohol can lower testosterone significantly and further when chronically consumed because it is toxic to the testes.

“This program was designed to remove the bad from your system and give you a well-rounded base of health in the nervous, endocrine, cardiovascular, and musculoskeletal systems.”

In women, acute consumption of alcohol can cause menstrual irregularities by lowering progesterone and chronic consumption can cause infertility and the disappearance of a menstrual cycle altogether by raising levels of prolactin. Furthermore, just a few drinks every night can cause alcohol withdrawals upon cessation of drinking that leads to severe insomnia for a majority of alcohol users.

Disruption of hormonal levels in men and women combined with poor sleep due to alcohol have a terrible effect on the body and muscle tissue quality. Because tissue repair occurs during sleep, alcohol throws a wrench into the amount of quality tissue we can build and maintain. Feeling flabby, weak, and in pain is a direct result of less muscle being built and more fat being stored. In order to overcome this pattern of bad choices and a questionable diet from eating out, barbecues, and the fats and simple carbohydrates that come with it, a detox plan is necessary.

Alcohol consumption can even inhibit the building of strong bones and can lead to osteoporosis, so you’ll be taking shots of compound lifting instead of whiskey to increase the quality of bones throughout your body.

Whiskey led you astray? Exercise is a proven remedy.

Workouts That Boost Liver Function

In order to return your body to an optimal physical state, the function of the liver must be returned to normal. Your liver filters your blood, removing and neutralizing toxins such as alcohol. Higher than normal alcohol intake and consumption of dense fats can stress the liver and elevate levels of enzymes circulating in the blood because a liver cell has died.

“In order to obtain optimal liver function, you must decrease the amount of fat stored in your liver and abstain from further impairment by eliminating alcohol from your diet.”

The good news is that exercise, if performed correctly, can lead to a better functioning liver and, thus, better filtration of toxins. Oxidizing fat by working out will lead to less fat content in the liver and lower liver enzyme levels. The goal of a workout beneficial to the liver should be to oxidize fat, and early on that is the first and foremost objective of this workout. Once a significant amount of fat is oxidized, the liver will function better and lead to a healthier you with lower levels of bodily toxins.

Connective Tissue Is Important, Too

If you have been on a catabolic (muscle wasting) diet of high fats and alcohol consumption, chances are your joints aren’t feeling too good. That’s reduced protein synthesis not only affects your muscle tissue, but also your ligaments, tendons, and cartilage. Decreased protein synthesis affects collagen production, too. Collagen is responsible for healing and repairing your battered joints. A significant amount of joint-mobility and flexibility work is essential to restoring healthy joints.

The Program

By now you’re probably sick of hearing about the damage you have done and want to know what you can do to improve the situation. This program runs in three phases – a liver boosting phase, a general fitness phase, and a strength building phase that will leave you feeling incredible.

Phase One: Liver Boosting Phase (3 Weeks)

In order to obtain optimal liver function, you must decrease the amount of fat stored in your liver and abstain from further impairment by eliminating alcohol from your diet. In this phase, I recommend consuming 20 oz. of water every hour, as you will be losing a lot of water from sweat.

I also recommend that you lower your dietary fat intake to between 10-15% per day with a high percentage of your diet coming from complex carbohydrates you will need for energy and lean proteins you will need for tissue repair. Because the alcohol withdrawal effects may include insomnia, make sure you give yourself enough time to get at least 8-9 hours of sleep per night, not including time in bed awake. If needed and not contraindicated for you, you may want to use an over-the-counter sleep aid during the withdrawal period.

“The post-exercise boost in endorphins will leave you feeling happy, and you will notice in this phase that you find that feeling becoming more prevalent throughout your days.”

The workouts are performed in high-intensity circuit style, with a mix of resistance training for muscular endurance and calorie burning and anaerobic/aerobic exercise. Limiting rest periods coupled with high-intensity bouts will produce optimal levels of growth hormone, which is ideal for muscle tissue growth and fat oxidation.

The post-exercise boost in endorphins will leave you feeling happy, and you will notice in this phase that you find that feeling becoming more prevalent throughout your days.

Restoring joint flexibility and range of motion is also of critical importance so that you not only feel better but as an injury preventative measure. Mobility work will be done pre- and post-exercise.

Regular mobility work will help restore lost flexibility and range of motion.

Warmup and Mobility – Performed Every Day Before Training

Choose One Warm Up:

• C2 rower (2km for varied times) Do not use the C2 on Wednesday due to overlap.
• Stair Master (10 minutes, moderate intensity)
• Elliptical (10 minutes, moderate intensity).

Mobility:

• Leg Swing Forward and Back
• Leg Swing Side to Side
• Walking Straight Leg Kick (5 on each side)
• Walking Quad Stretch (5 on each side)
• Yoga Plex (5 on both sides of the body)

Workouts (Monday, Wednesday, Friday)

Monday

A1. Barbell back squat – 3 sets of 12 reps, 3/0/1/1 tempo, 15s rest

*use light weight or 50% of your 1 Rep Max (1RM)

A2. Cable lat pulldown – 3 sets, of 10 reps, 2/0/x/0 tempo, 30s rest

*use light to moderate weight or 60% of your 1RM

A3. Suitcase Squat (heels elevated) – 3 sets of 10 reps, 2/0/x/1 tempo, 15s rest

*use light weight or 50% of your 1RM

A4. Inverted Row – 3 sets of as many reps as possible (AMRAP), 1/0/x/0 tempo, 60-90s rest

*use only your bodyweight

B1. Lateral lunge – 4 sets of 5 reps to the left, 5 reps to the right, 1/0/x/1 tempo, 15s rest

*use only your body weight or a light kettlebell held against your chest

B2. Neutral-grip bench press – 4 sets of 10 reps, 2/0/1/1 tempo, 60s rest

*use light to moderate weight or 60% of your 1RM

Note: A1-A4 means perform all exercises in sequence as a compound set. Do one set of back squats, rest 15s, one set of lat pulldowns, rest 30s, one set of suitcase squats, rest 15s, then as many reps as you can complete of inverted rows. After that, rest 60-90s before performing the same sequence twice more.

Make sure you follow tempo requirements to make the workout more challenging and effective. For example, the back squat tempo “3/0/1/1” means to start the exercise by lowering the weight (eccentric) for three seconds, pausing at the bottom for zero seconds (no pause), pushing the weight up (concentric) in one second, and then holding the weight at the top for one second before doing your next rep. If you see an “x” that stands for explode on the concentric portion of the lift – lift the weight as fast as you can.

Not all exercises begin with weight lowering (eccentric), like the back squat, so if your lift starts with the weight pushing/pulling (concentric), like the inverted row and lat pull, start with the concentric part of the tempo (third dash mark). Once you have performed all of the “A” exercises, proceed to the exercises in part “B”, which are also performed in the same sequence as A1-A4 (one after the other, repeat two times).

Wednesday

A1. C2 rower 500 meters, as fast as possible, no rest

A2. 10 burpees, no rest

A3. 30 second front plank hold, 60s rest

B1. Dumbbell push press, 3 sets of 8 reps, 1/0/x/0 tempo, rest. 30s

*use light weight or 40-50% of your 1RM

B2. Lateral Raise, 3 sets of 12 reps, 2/1/2/0 tempo, rest 30s

*use light weight and squeeze deltoid at top of each rep

B3. Rear delt fly 3 sets of 12 reps, 2/1/2/0 tempo, rest 60s

*use light weight and squeeze deltoid at top of each rep

C. Seated russian twist 3 sets of 20-30 reps, rotate in a controlled manner but at a quick pace from side to side, rest 60s

*use 10-25 lb. plate, perform on a pilates mat

Note: Wednesday is conditioning day. You will start on the C2 rower which will tax your cardiovascular system, then perform burpees with a maximal heart rate, then do an isometric contraction of the abs for time while you are very fatigued. Use your willpower to push through this hard complex as fast as possible and you will burn a maximal amount of fat.

Shoulder maintenance work is performed for the health of the shoulders in complex “B” after the complex “A” conditioning circuit. Finally, some working of the oblique and transverse abdominus are performed with seated Russian twists which should be performed on its own, after complex B.

Friday

A1. Barbell deadlift – 3 sets of 12 reps, 3/0/1/1 tempo, 15s rest

*use light weight or 50% of your 1RM

A2. Dumbbell incline bench press – 3 sets of 10 reps, 2/0/1/1 tempo, 30s rest

*use light to moderate weight or 60% of your 1RM

A3. Dumbbell Romanian deadlift – 3 sets of 10 reps, 2/0/1/1 tempo, 15s rest

*use light weight or 50% of your 1RM

A4. Decline push ups (feet elevated 12”) – 3 sets of as many reps as possible, 1/0/x/0 tempo, 60-90s rest

*use only your bodyweight, put your feet on a bench, your hands on ground

B1. Box step-ups – 4 sets of 5 reps to the left, 5 reps to the right, 1/0/x/1 tempo, 15s rest

*use only your body weight, alternate reps between left and right

B2. Neutral grip dumbbell row – 4 sets of 10 reps, 2/0/1/0 tempo, 60s rest

*use light to moderate weight or 60% of your 1RM

Post-Exercise Mobility – Performed After Every Training Session

• Iron cross – 5 per leg
• Kneeling hip flexor stretch (left and right, hold 30 seconds, squeeze glutes)
• Split-stance kneeling adductor mobs (left and right, 8 reps each, hold for 3 seconds)
• Child’s pose – hold for 30 seconds, repeat

The General Fitness Phase (5 Weeks)

Your body should be well on its road to purification now and will continue to purify over the course of this next phase. You will now force it to adapt to increased stressors (resistance) in order to promote hypertrophy, or growth, of the muscle tissue itself. Growth of lean mass will lead to a firmer and more toned appearance and will also decrease the amount of fat present in the body.

Men and women will increase muscle cross-sectional area size, but women need not worry as the hormones present in the female body are not sufficient to give them the bulky look of a man. Men can expect more bulk due to increased testosterone output and women can expect better muscle tone. Greater muscle cross-sectional area will give both men and women the capability to develop more strength and feel better as a result. Combining strength training with high-intensity interval training (H.I.T.T.) finishers will produce greater results than either of these techniques produce alone. The use of supersets will cause even more muscle growth as well as provide a different stimulus for the body to adapt to, helping to avoid plateaus in this phase.

Warm Up and Mobility – Performed Every Day Before Training

Warm Up:

Bike, Stair Master or elliptical for 10 minutes at moderate intensity

Mobility:

• Leg swings forward and back
• Leg swings side to side
• Walking straight leg kicks (5 on each side)
• Walking quad stretch (5 on each side)
• Yoga plex (5 on both sides of the body)
• Arm circles (forward, backward, and cross-body until you feel loose)

Workouts (Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday)

Monday

A. Barbell back squat – 4 sets of 8 reps, 3/0/1/1 tempo, 60-90s rest

*use moderate weight or 65-75% of your 1RM

B1. Chest dip – 4 sets of 8 reps, 2/0/x/1 tempo, 30s rest

*use your bodyweight only

B2. Wide-grip pull-up – 4 sets of 8 reps, 2/0/x/0 tempo, 60s rest

*use your bodyweight only

C1. Dumbbell hammer curl – 3 sets of 10 reps, 2/0/1/0 tempo, 30s rest

*use moderate weight, squeeze bicep at peak contraction

C2. Cable rope tricep extension – 3 sets of 10 reps, 2/0/1/0 tempo, 60s rest

*use moderate weight, squeeze tricep at peak contraction

D. Hanging pike – 3 sets of 10 reps, 2/0/1/0 tempo, 60s rest

*use your body weight only

Tuesday

A. Barbell seated military press – 4 sets of 8 reps, 2/0/1/1 tempo, 60-90s rest

*use moderate weight or 65-75% of your 1RM

B1. Dumbbell alternating lunge – 4 sets of 8 reps per leg, 1/0/x/1 tempo, 30s rest

*use light to moderate weight

B2. Dumbbell iso-lateral Romanian deadlift – 4 sets of 8 reps per side, 2/0/1/0 tempo, 60s rest

*use light to moderate weight

C. Lateral lunge with kettlebell held to chest – 2 sets of 5 reps to the left then 5 reps to the right, 1/0/x/1 tempo, 30s rest

*use light to moderate weight

D. Alternating dead bug – 3 sets of 20 reps total (left and right combined), 1/0/1/0 tempo, 60s rest

*use your body weight only

E. High-Intensity Interval Training (H.I.I.T.) – 6 sets of 20 second sprint/40 second slow peddling, moderate resistance level

*Use the bike set to a middle level resistance (so for a bike that has level 1 to level 20, select 10) and do a 2 minute warm up of moderate paced cycling. After the 2-minute warm up, perform six “sets” of 20s pedaling as fast as possible followed by 40s of light pedaling to recover. Repeat five more times, then finish with a moderate to easy cool down for 2-3 minutes.

Thursday

A. Barbell deadlift – 4 sets of 8 reps, 3/0/1/1 tempo, 60-90s rest

*use moderate weight or 65-75% of your 1RM

B1. Cable lat pulldown – 4 sets of 8 reps, 2/0/1/0 tempo, 30s rest

*use moderate weight

B2. Cable crossover (chest fly) – 4 sets of 8 reps, 2/0/1/1 tempo, 60s rest

*use your bodyweight only, squeeze chest at peak contraction

C1. Dumbbell seated Arnold press – 3 sets of 10 reps, 2/0/1/0 tempo, 30s rest

*use moderate weight

C2. Cable seated supinated grip row – 3 sets of 10 reps, 2/0/1/0 tempo, 60s rest

*use moderate weight

D. Seated Russian twist 3 sets of 30 reps, rotate in a controlled manner but at a quick pace, rest 60s

*use 10-25 lb. plate, perform on a pilates mat

Friday

A. Dumbbell neutral-grip bench press – 4 sets of 8 reps, 2/0/1/1 tempo, 60-90s rest

*use moderate weight or 65-75% of your 1RM

B1. Machine leg press – 4 sets of 8 reps, 2/0/1/0 tempo, 30s rest

*use moderate weight

B2. Barbell Romanian deadlift – 4 sets of 8 reps, 2/0/x/0 tempo, 60s rest

*use moderate weight

C. Lateral lunge with kettlebell held to chest – 2 sets of 5 reps to the left then 5 reps to the right, 1/0/x/1 tempo, 30s rest

*use light to moderate weight

D. Leg lifts – 3 sets of 20 reps total (left and right combined), 2/0/1/3 tempo, 60s rest

*perform lying on a mat. Squeeze abs for 3 seconds and the lower slowly.

E. High-Intensity Interval Training (H.I.I.T.) – 6 sets of 20 second sprint/40 second slow rowing, moderate resistance level.

*Use the C2 Rower – Do a 2-minute warm-up of moderate paced rowing. After the 2 minute warmup perform six “sets” of 20 seconds rowing as fast as possible followed by 40 seconds of light rowing to recover. Repeat five more times after the first “set” and then finish with a moderate to easy cool down for 2-3 minutes.

Post-Exercise Mobility – Performed After Every Training Session

• Iron cross – 5 per leg
• Kneeling hip flexor stretch – left and right, hold 30 seconds, squeeze glutes
• Split-stance kneeling adductor mobs – left and right, 8 reps each, hold for 3 seconds
• Child’s pose – hold for 30 seconds, repeat

The Strength Building Phase (4 Weeks)

By now, you have oxidized a large amount of fat and boosted your liver function and cardiovascular system health. In the strength building phase, you will increase hormonal output, improve bone density, and feel your strongest and most confident.

Tissue may not change much in size during this phase, but it will become harder, firmer, and as a result you will appear healthier and stronger. After this four week phase I recommend that you take a week off of lifting and participate in active recovery. Active recovery can be playing recreational sports, going for bike rides outdoors, walking leisurely about town, anything so long as you’re not sitting in a chair all day.

“[R]emember to try new programs after your week off, such as a sprint program combined with lighter loaded strength work.”

This phase will push your limits, so your joints will appreciate a week off at the end of this program to catch up to the awesome strength and muscle you have built. Plyometrics are introduced in supersets with compound core lifts to build maximal strength and power. Due to the amount of weight being lifted, it is wise to do only three workouts a week in this phase to allow maximum recovery of both muscle and joint.

Congratulations for making it this far, and remember to try new programs after your week off, such as a sprint program combined with lighter loaded strength work. Or, go back to the general fitness phase and repeat for more muscle growth and added strength.

Warmup and Mobility – Performed Every Day Before Training

Choose One Warm Up:

• C2 rower (2km for varied times) Do not use the C2 on Wednesday due to overlap.
• Stair Master (10 minutes, moderate intensity)
• Elliptical (10 minutes, moderate intensity).

Mobility:

• Leg Swing Forward and Back
• Leg Swing Side to Side
• Walking Straight Leg Kick (5 on each side)
• Walking Quad Stretch (5 on each side)
• Yoga Plex (5 on both sides of the body)

Workouts (Monday, Wednesday, Friday)

Monday

A1. Barbell back squat – 3 sets of 4-6 reps, 2/0/1/1 tempo, 30s rest

*use heavy weight or 80-85% of your 1RM

A2. 30” box jump – 3 sets of 5 reps, 1/0/x/0 tempo, 90-120s rest

*use only your bodyweight

B. Push press – 4 sets of 5 reps, 1/0/x/0 tempo, 90-120s rest

*use moderate to heavy weight or 75-80% of your 1RM

C. Wide-grip pull-up – 4 sets of as many reps as possible, 2/0/x/0 tempo, 90-120s rest

*use only your bodyweight

D. Dead bug with plate – 3 sets of 10 reps, 2/0/1/1 tempo, 60s rest

Wednesday

A1. Dumbbell bench press – 3 sets of 4-6 reps, 2/0/x/0 tempo, 30s rest

*use heavy weight or 80-85% of your 1RM

A2. Clapping push-ups or medicine ball chest pass – 3 sets of 5 reps, 1/0/x/0 tempo, 90-120s rest

*use bodyweight for push-ups or 10-20lbs for med ball

B. Suitcase deadlift – 4 sets of 5 reps, 2/0/x/0 tempo, 90-120s rest

*use moderate to heavy weight or 75-80% of your 1RM

C. Dumbbell alternating lunge – 4 sets of 5 reps (10 total reps per set left and right leg combined), 1/0/x/1 tempo, 90-120s rest

*use moderate to heavy weight or 75-80% of your 1RM

D. Landmine oblique twist – 3 sets of 10 reps (5 to the left, 5 to the right, alternating side to side), 1/0/1/0 tempo, 60s rest

*use 25 to 45lbs

Friday

A1. Barbell Deadlift- 3 sets of 4-6 reps, 3/0/x/1 tempo, 30s rest

*use heavy weight or 80-85% of your 1RM

A2. Broad Jump– 3 sets of 5 reps, 1/0/x/0 tempo, 90-120s rest

*use only your bodyweight

B. Barbell bent-over row – 4 sets of 5 reps, 1/0/x/0 tempo, 90-120s rest

*use moderate to heavy weight or 75-80% of your 1RM

C. Chest dip – 4 sets of as many reps as possible, 2/0/x/0 tempo, 90-120s rest

*use only your bodyweight

D. Front plank holds – 3 sets of 60s, squeeze abs until time is up, 90s rest

Post-Exercise Mobility – Performed After Every Training Session

• Iron cross – 5 per leg
• Kneeling hip flexor stretch – left and right, hold 30 seconds, squeeze glutes
• Split-stance kneeling adductor mobs – left and right, 8 reps each, hold for 3 seconds
• Child’s pose – hold for 30 seconds, repeat

Closing Thoughts

After completing this program you have restored liver function through oxidization of fats, improved gas exchange and oxygen uptake/waste removal in the cardiovascular system, built strong connective tissue, muscle, and bone, and even improved your hormonal output.

Your body has been purified of questionable summer health choices and is ready to take on any physical task you choose to progress too. You have built a sound base of fitness and strength. This program was designed to remove the bad from your system and give you a well-rounded base of health in the nervous, endocrine, cardiovascular, and musculoskeletal systems.

Remember, progress can only be made in the program with proper nutrition and a healthy balance of complex carbs, lean fats, and lean proteins. Do not be afraid to have a cheat meal or even a drink or two along the way, but remember that you started this program because you know those foods and alcohol are bad for you.

You will feel your best if you optimize your nutrition over the course of this workout, and I promise you this: it always gets easier as you go along. Make this your lifestyle and reap the everyday rewards of optimal fitness and health. I think you will be happy that you did.

-Dan

More Like This:

• Body and Mind Detox: 3 Simple Tips to Spring Clean the Body
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• 6 Ways to Detox Without Fasting
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Photos 1-3 courtesy of Shutterstock.

The post Detoxify, Reset & Restore – 12 Weeks to Return to Peak Function and Strength appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

My name is Dan Treccia and I have signed contracts in America’s top independent league, the American Association of Independent Professional Baseball. I’ve also had the honor of playing in the Intercounty Baseball League in Ontario, Canada, joining the likes of former MLB players Fergie Jenkins and Scott Thorman, among others.

Me back in my baseball days.

After my release from the Grand Prairie Airhogs this spring at the age of 27, I decided to switch my competitive focus to CrossFit. I made my baseball career with a foundation of fitness. I spent as much time working out to get stronger and faster as I did hitting, throwing, and practicing baseball. To hit home runs and run fast, I put in hard winters pushing and pulling weight in the gym, so it seemed like a good idea to transition to a sport that required working out.

I had previously seen CrossFit on television and wondered to myself, “Do people really want to watch people workout?” My guess was no. I couldn’t have been more wrong. And that wasn’t the only thing I was wrong about when it came to transitioning from pro ball to (hopefully) pro CrossFit.

Why CrossFit?

CrossFit and baseball are both sports, but that is where the similarities end. My baseball training was centered around becoming explosive on my feet and hitting the ball as hard as possible. That framed my training around heavy lifts, which I worked up to over the course of the off-season. My focus was on the powerlifts (squat, deadlift, dumbbells for bench pressing) and maximizing my peak strength sometime around February.

“As a baseball player, I had to have a ground-up training approach and maintaining flexibility was of ultimate importance. I didn’t do some upper-body exercises like the bench press and the military press, not to mention the Olympic lifts, because the risk for injury was too great.”

After I had maxed out, my training would switch to pushing and pulling sleds, a lot of sprinting, and rate-of-force-development workouts consisting of plyometrics performed as fast as possible with minimal weight. I worked a lot on acceleration, and the maximum time I spent sprinting, performing sled sprints, and doing hill runs was no longer than ten seconds at a shot. This was so I would develop peak speed, while maintaining peak power and strength.

In contrast, CrossFit requires me to mix in endurance, which is a challenge after years of focusing only on peak speed, power, and strength. For example, I am used to squatting in sets of 3-5 reps with 80-95% of my 1RM. Going to strength-endurance sets of 10 reps at 70% of my 1RM has not only been taxing on the muscle, but on my cardiovascular system, as well.

These days, I have a strength-endurance squat day where I do 5 sets of 10 reps and a max-strength day where I do 4 sets of 3 reps at 90-95% of my 1RM. The day where I do strength-endurance is always much harder. My muscle feels like it just turns off by the time I get two or three sets in. At that point I am thankful for the safety pins on the power rack!

The Easiest Part

The easiest part of this transition has been my attitude. I can take a challenging workout and grind through the misery loving every bit of it. I have not hit a wall yet and I attribute that both to smart programming (not diving into elite CrossFit right away) and a sound fitness base I attained while training for professional baseball over the years.

Right now I consider myself to be quite strong at 6’2” 230lbs with a 555lb deadlift, 455lb squat, and 325lb bench. I can run a sixty-yard dash in 6.5 seconds and metabolic conditioning is nothing new to me. Having a solid base of fitness and strength can only benefit me in starting each lift or CrossFit WOD. Sometimes I get off to a 1:25 pace on the C2 rower for my first 300 meters, and while this intensity obviously fades the longer I row, it is nice to know I can pick up a great pace when I need it.

CrossFit requires a mix of endurance, strength, and power.

The Hardest Part

I just did my first handstand two weeks ago. I was pleasantly surprised I could support my weight, but now I have to get better at handstand push ups as well as walking on my hands. When that day comes, I’ll feel pretty good about approaching competition, but that day is a few months off for me.

“Now that I’ve removed the baseball portion of my training, I am starting upper-body strength work, as well as Olympic lifts and gymnastics.”

The reason is, I never trained upper-body strength nearly as hard as my lower body and core. As a baseball player, I had to have a ground-up training approach and maintaining flexibility was of ultimate importance. I didn’t do some upper-body exercises like the bench press and the military press, not to mention the Olympic lifts, because the risk for injury was too great.

Now that I’ve removed the baseball portion of my training, I am starting upper-body strength work, as well as Olympic lifts and gymnastics. All three are essential to CrossFit, so a majority of my work is on addressing these weaknesses. At the moment I am pushing the weight on my push press and clean and jerk, but I have yet to address the snatch with anything besides technique work. It will be interesting to see if I can put it all together in time for next year’s Open.

Training Strategy

One specific training strategy I’ve adopted is to center my upper-body work on the shoulders. I get my push presses done in max-strength sets of three reps while I also mix in push presses and thrusters for endurance on specific metcons. I also do dumbbell Arnold presses to assist in shoulder development and endurance by using them in my assistance work once a week.

“[F]at weight is dead weight. Fat cannot move the body in motion. As long as the weight I have is muscle, it should be able to move itself.”

I’ve keyed in on shoulders not only because I am weaker there, but also because they are featured heavily in competitions in the form of the clean and jerk, thruster, handstand walk, handstand push-up, and even wall ball throws. I think of gymnasts and how they have lighter lower bodies and strong upper bodies so they can propel themselves around more easily. But then, I also think about Olympic lifters and how they have strong lower bodies to move large weights from the floor to overhead. There is an ideal CrossFit body somewhere in between.

At 6’2” and 230lbs, I may be a little heavy, but if my weight is mostly lean mass, I should be able to perform adequately. After all, body fat is dead weight. Fat cannot move the body in motion. As long as the weight I have is muscle, it should be able to move itself.

CrossFit’s focus on gymnastics requires upper body strength.

The Future

I have my eyes set on the CrossFit Open in 2016 with intent to qualify for Regionals. There are many reps of strength-endurance, Olympic lifts, and handstand push ups ahead of me. I will have to train rigorously to be ready for the Open. I will have to run a continuous mile for the first time since high school and complete programming in an undulating structure unlike anything I have ever experienced before.

So far, I have enjoyed confronting the weaknesses that CrossFit exposes. I have potentially found a sport besides baseball that I enjoy competing in. While I may have hit my last professional home run, I look forward to my first professional CrossFit competition. The most rewarding feeling is that I’m accomplishing something for a sport that I find both interesting and challenging. It fuels my competitive fire and I am just so happy I found CrossFit when I did.

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• What Baseball Players Know About Life (Why 0-For-20 Isn’t a Bad Thing)
• Join Our New In-Season Baseball Program
• How to Simultaneously Succeed in Competitive Sport and CrossFit
• New on Breaking Muscle Today

Photo 1 courtesy of Dan Treccia.

Photos 2 and 3 courtesy of CrossFit Empirical.

The post My Transition From Professional Baseball to Competitive CrossFit appeared first on Breaking Muscle.