In pursuing athletic excellence, the quest for greater strength is often prioritized.

However, a potential pitfall arises when body mass gains outpace the development of arm strength, particularly in baseball. 

It becomes evident that an imbalanced equation between lower body, core, pec, and back strength with no change or even reduction of arm strength can spell danger for a pitcher's longevity and performance.

The Kinetic Chain Conundrum

A baseball pitcher's power is intricately woven through the kinetic chain, a synchronized sequence of movements that originates from the lower body, travels through the core and culminates in the throwing arm. 

Joint torques (rotational force) and angular velocities – the speed at which joints move can alter joint-by-joint energy transfer.  

When all segments are significantly larger and stronger than the arm, a mismatch emerges that can quite possibly send too much energy into the arm. 

Increased energy absorption for the throwing arm can overwhelm tissues, especially if the arm increases its range of motion and loses strength, which often happens during off-season training in conjunction with high-intensity weighted ball training.  

Mass = Gas = BEDMAS

Just like you learned the order of operations in math class: (B)rackets – (E) exponents – (D) division – (M) multiplication – (A) addition – (S) subtraction. 

We've created an order of operations formula to ensure your throwing arm can handle your body mass gains.

Here's the order of operations:

• Brackets – You must raise your maximum throwing arm strength across all muscles.
• Exponents – You must balance your shoulder.
• Division – Your total arm strength needs to be at least 70% of your body weight and should not drop more than 7% during weight gain.
• Multiplication – Your strength loss after high-intensity throwing has to be less than 10%
• Addition – Your arm strength relative to your velocity is 1.6 or greater.
• Subtraction - Your arm strength losses between high-intensity throwing bouts are minimal. 

Getting these items dialed in is your best chance to promote high velocity with weight gain while minimizing risks.  

This is especially important for players underweight and throwing under the mean velocities for their leagues and those going through a rapid growth stage, typically between 13 and 16 years old. 

Above all else – work hard to ensure the mass gained is functional, meaning that it adds strength, speed, and power, especially for the throwing arm, and you do not see velocity losses. 

(Above is a slide that will be presented at our upcoming ACE Scrum Webinar. We will discuss determining when an athlete has gained a suitable amount of functional mass. Remember, muscle weighs more than fat, but pound for pound, one puts an additional load on joint movement, and the other accelerates it). 

REAL-WORLD EXAMPLE

Recently, a college athlete came to me struggling to throw 90 mph.  

I went through an inventory of places he had gone to train, the approaches, his strength qualities, and a whole host of information to determine the barriers to reaching this goal.  

Here's what I found:

• He can squat and deadlift over 450 lbs and weighs 170 lbs.
• He has tried every weighted ball training program on the planet with no success.
• He started using the ArmCare device and realized his shoulder balance was skewed toward an external rotation imbalance, which is much weaker than internal rotation.
• His weighted ball training consisted of heavy ball work exclusively.
• He had 100+ on our ArmScore.
• His arm does not fatigue as he is a reliever with high arm strength.

To make a long story short, heavy ball work has to go, maximum weight room strength has been tapped out, and his arm strength is in a great place.  

What is missing is momentum and thorough biomechanical analysis to see where the delivery is lacking in producing high release speeds for the throwing hand.   

The first order of business is I put him with one of my registered dieticians.  

Here's how we have done so far: 

(App images from the beginning of our work together in July to the most recent Fresh Exam. This athlete gained almost 30 lbs of strength for his throwing arm and now has a balanced shoulder. We are waiting for the season to see the fuel coming out of his hand).

The key from the above changes is that body mass gains did not outpace his throwing arm strength.  

In fact, they raised together as he gained 1.76 lbs of arm strength per pound of body weight gain. I don't know the secret recipe for this ratio, but any time you exceed 1.0 must be a good thing. 

Christmas is coming, and don't leave your athletes in the dark. If you or your players need velocity enhancement and the goal is putting on pounds this offseason to achieve it, make sure no one outgrows your arm, or you are tipping the scales in favor of your friendly neighborhood surgeon.  

You are working hard for the season ahead. Make sure you can play every game and make a name for yourself.  

StrengthMas is my favorite holiday – it's the act of giving from our company to your throwing arm so it gets the love it deserves. 

Ryan

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