WebBall.com - Energy Systems

Baseball is Unique.

The body runs on 3 distinct energy resource systems and it can tap into all of them at various times for athletic performance. Proper training should focus on the energy system(s) most important to baseball.

Baseball demands concentration, anticipation, then sudden, short bursts of high speed movement.

The Energy Systems

Aerobic (or respiration) system for prolonged efforts)
Anaerobic Lactic (or glycogen-lactic acid) system for bursts of activity lasting 10-90 seconds, and
Anaerobic Alactic (or phosphagen) system, for bursts of high-speed movement in less than 10 seconds).

Except for legging out a triple, baseball relies mostly on the anaerobic alactic - the start-up system that centers around ATP (adenosine triphosphate) and burns chemical-energy stores of CP (creatine phosphate).
[The aerobic system burns fat and carbohydrate from outside the muscles.]
[The anaerobic lactic system runs entirely on muscle carbohydrate/glycogen, the lactate producing/dissipating cycle.]

So baseball practice and nutrition must focus on training the anaerobic-alactic (aka phosphagen) system on top of an aerobic base.

Training Within the System.

All work/pause training must tap the right system.
Interval training should be baseball specific.
Intensity should exceed normal demands.
Keep work time per rep under 10 seconds (otherwise the longer-time energy systems benefit more).
A set or reps should be 60 seconds at most (i.e. 10 reps of 5 seconds each) then rest for 5 times as long - a work/pause ratio of 1:5 - to let the ATP and CP recover.
Maximum training is 3 times a week, for 8-12 weeks.

Overloading produces positive physical change,
but overtraining produces burned-out athletes.

Two examples

Here's how "Training Within the System" applies...

In the two examples on the right (from our Team Drills section), consider the time each player is in motion, and the number of reps before he should rest at the end of the line.

Now look at all Team Drills in that context...

In the Double Play drill, it's cover-catch-throw, 2-4 seconds and a short rest, so you could have each player take 2 or 3 quick reps then a short rest.

In 'Round the Bags', it's catch-throw-run, 5-7 seconds each, and a set of reps around the bases (x5) then rest at the end of the line. That pushes the endurance factor which is why you need a lot of players involved - each needs more recovery time.

Overloading produces positive physical change, but overtraining produces burned-out athletes.

Overloading produces positive physical change,
but overtraining produces burned-out athletes.