Spring Baseball Season Warm-Ups

MLB teams go to the warm climates of Arizona and Florida for spring training warm-up for the regular season. Of the 30 teams in MLB, 15 spend spring training in Florida in the Grapefruit League, while the other 15 have spring training in Arizona in the Cactus League. “The warm weather simulates typical summertime conditions across the country so you can train and acclimate to the typical conditions you’ll have all year,” AccuWeather Meteorologist Brian Edwards said.   Warm-ups before games and before baseball season train the body and acclimatize players for competition. Baseball involves twisting, jumping, and running forwards, backwards, and laterally. Static warm-up exercises are stretching and holding. Dynamic warm-up exercises are in motion, priming the body for the movement of the game.  

Dynamic Warm-up Exercises

• Sprints: 5 to 10 sprints from one base to another
• Forward bends: Wide stance with arms out, bending forward from right hand to left foot and left hand to right foot, six times
• Rotations: Wide stance with arms out, rotating to the right and to the left, six times
• High knee lifts: Lift right knee up to the chest and left knee up to the chest, alternating while standing or walking, six times
• Squats: With feet shoulder width apart, bend knees and lower body until thighs are parallel to the grand and stand, repeating six times
• Walking lunges: Step forward and bend down until the front knee is 90 degrees and the back knee is close to the ground, alternating legs, six times
• Arm circles: Extend arms out to the sides and make small circles in both directions six times. Enlarge circles and repeat

Dynamic warm-up exercises move joints through full ranges of motion to move players from a passive to an active state, finding the sweet spot between getting warmed up vs. getting worn out.   Baseball players need to warm-up for practices and games for clutch performance on the field! If injured while going the distance, DOC orthopedic surgeons and PAs are sports medicine specialists. The DOC team will rally around any musculoskeletal injury or overuse condition to get you diagnosed, treated and back in the ball game.   For more information on baseball injuries, visit No Catch Baseball Finger and Pitch about Little Leaguer’s Elbow.  

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Sources:

5 ways weather is pivotal in a baseball game | AccuWeather Baseball Warmup Exercises | LIVESTRONG How can you consistently perform at your best every day? It all starts in the Preparation. | Very Well Fit