Softball workouts

The weight room is a great place to prepare for sports. Training muscles several times a week while being extremely sore and tired builds mental and physical strength. Typically, we will follow the same workout plan for three-four weeks at a time. We will lift two days a week and have conditioning on the third day.

Throughout the fall and early spring we have been doing mostly the same types of exercises.

On Tuesdays, we have two big lifts. We will do hang cleans ranging from four sets of four to six sets of three. Currently we super-set this lift with foam roller body saw (Super-set means doing both workouts at the same time. One partner will do one lift while the other does the other lift/ body movement/ stretch). After that circuit is complete we move immediately into the next. Both days we will do four circuits. There is a couple stretches thrown into our super-sets and a couple mobility exercises.

On Wednesdays our big lift is trap bar dead lifts. In another circuit we will do lunges with dumbbells.

There are a lot of small exercises that are very important to incorporate into our workouts. Every movement is important and can greatly impact our performance on the field. While in season, our third day of weights/conditioning is spent doing a recovery workout. This workout includes rolling out our bodies with foam rollers and lacrosse balls. We will also use bands to work on stretching out sore muscles. Recently, one of our weight lifting coaches added a barbell quad and hamstring roll to our recovery day. This is extremely painful will it is happening, but it helps. We put a large 25 pound plate on one side and two small 10 pound plates on the other side. The side with the 10 pounds plates goes on your muscle. With the help of a partner, they roll the bar up and down your hamstring/ quad to really get in there and loosen up the muscle.

Getting up for 7 a.m. is a struggle most days, but it turns out to be very rewarding. On heavy lift days it is exciting to see my teammates lift beastly amount of weight and destroy their PR's. An hour later we have already cranked out a good workout for the day. 8 a.m. the day is already started off great and there is time to get things done before class for some of us.

The training I have received while being a student athlete will always be useful in my life. There are definitely some workouts I may have to force myself to do, but I know it is good for my body. I now know the proper way to do many lifts and the muscles they target. When I go to the gym on my own time and do not have weight lifting coach, I am confident I will be able to get the same quality workout in because I have been coached over the last 4 years. Weight lifting is a great aspect of the game that some athletes may over look. I encourage all athletes to take the weight room seriously.