Spring Sports Start in Winter: Exercises to Add to Your Training

Spring athletes spend plenty of time working on speed, power, and sport-specific skills. Winter is also an opportunity to strengthen areas that can get overlooked.

These are exercises I encourage athletes to incorporate into their winter training to help prevent some of the injuries we see during spring sports.

Consider adding these exercises, generally speaking, 2–3 times per week for 3–4 sets of 6–12 repetitions, depending on the exercise, load progression, and your training knowledge and experience. Start with a manageable amount and build gradually.

Baseball & Softball

Forearm strength deserves a place in your throwing program. Start with wrist curls.

Given the number of UCL (ulnar collateral ligament) injuries and surgeries, like Tommy John surgery, that we see, forearm strengthening is a must to help with protection. The wrist flexors attach to the upper arm and help provide stability at the elbow.

Also consider training the opposite side of your forearm with wrist extension exercises. The UCL experiences stress during ball release as well as layback, and strengthening the wrist extensors may help protect the ligament during that phase of throwing.

Give your posterior rotator cuff attention, too. Try shoulder external rotation in a 90/90 position, with the shoulder and elbow each bent approximately 90 degrees. Sometimes train heavier, and sometimes use a lighter load to get a really good burn for the endurance factor.

Will training the posterior cuff help you throw harder? Not directly. The goal is to build the shoulder’s capacity for throwing and hopefully decrease the cuff irritation we often see when kids start throwing too hard and too much during spring training after not throwing all winter. Strengthening doesn’t replace a gradual throwing progression.

Adding traditional lateral raises to strengthen the superior rotator cuff, particularly the supraspinatus, is also a good idea.

Although UCL injuries aren’t nearly as prominent in softball as they are in baseball, the above exercises still have a place.

As far as softball is concerned, we see a large number of knee injuries associated with sliding, cutting during rundowns, and other demands of the game. Overall leg strengthening is great, and please don’t neglect the quads. A Bulgarian split squat, shown here, and the knee extension machine are two options that target the quads really well.

Track

Resolve saw a lot of hamstring strains last year, particularly in our sprinters and hurdlers.

Spend time on hamstring curls at the gym. Nordic hamstrings would be a great addition. They are demanding, so use assistance or a shorter range of motion as needed and build the volume gradually.

Tennis

We see a lot of elbow and shoulder irritation. The forearm and shoulder exercises listed under baseball and softball can be useful here, too.

Lacrosse

Shoulders, backs, knees, ankles, and more. We see a lot of variation in injuries with our lacrosse players. Take your pick from above based on your needs, with particular attention to your legs.

All Sports: Train Your Calves

Heel raises. Just do them.

They are often neglected as an isolation exercise, yet calf strength and the Achilles tendon’s ability to absorb load and quickly spring back to provide power are severely underappreciated. Sprinting requires your Achilles to absorb forces of 6–12 times your body weight.

Heel pain, Achilles pain, ankle sprains, and more: train your calves. Heavy, slow, fast, depending on your experience and where you are in your training progression.

For younger, growing athletes, I recommend making heel raises a regular part of their strength program. If heel or Achilles pain is already present, get guidance on the cause and the appropriate amount of loading.

Keep It Consistent

Your winter does not have to consist of crazy intense training. But if you aren’t training, you’re missing an opportunity to build strength and prepare for the spring.

Have questions, like where or how to train? We have great resources, gyms, and trainers in our area. Athletes and parents can reach out to their physical therapist for recommendations based on the athlete and what they need. We’ll direct you as best we can.

Contact Resolve Physical Therapy at 845-769-7777.