For players, coaches, and parents of serious youth, high school, and college baseball players

Today’s baseball world, and honestly the sports world in general, is consumed by endless data and information coming at us from every direction imaginable. We are incredibly lucky to have access to social media, state of the art baseball facilities, performance gyms, new tech, and so much more. With this recent boom in accessible information we need to help guide the next generation of athletes by asking the questions: How do we consume all this information? Who do we trust? How do we know what’s effective versus ineffective? What will help you as the athlete by addressing your specific needs the best? My name is Bryan Adames, I have been working with professional baseball athletes for the past 5 years from rookie ball to the Major Leagues and in this guide I aim to provide you with 5 actionable exercises that we use in the pros to elevate your performance and also keep you healthy year round so that you can show out when it matters most!

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How to Use This Guide

These exercises are not meant to all be done at once. Select 1–3 movements based on your training day (pre-throw, post-throw, or strength day). Focus on quality, control, and intent over load.

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#1 – Shoulder Dumbbell D2s

Target: Shoulder / Scapula / Rotator cuff strengthening & dynamic stability

Use Cases: Pre-throw warm up / Post-throw arm care / Non-baseball activity training day

https://vimeo.com/1162278473/253ecc7e48?fl=tl&fe=ec

https://vimeo.com/1162278516/da8bcfb066?fl=tl&fe=ec

Key Coaching Points:

• For this exercise begin by raising the dumbbell into a Y direction with your thumb up.
• Once the top of the range is reached begin to lower the arm along the same diagonal path while simultaneously rotating both the dumbbell and thumb downward.
• This will resemble the throwing motion as shown in both videos by having the shoulder strengthen in a external rotation pattern on the way up (think wind up and cocking phase of the throwing motion) and then strengthening into internal rotation on the way down (think ball release and follow through of the throwing motion).
• This one exercise attacks various planes of motion and gives a lot of bang for your buck.
• Additional Thoughts & Progressions (click the arrow):

Programming: 1–3 sets of 10–15 reps. Start with 1–5 lbs and progress only as control improves.

#2 Shoulder End Range Lift-Off

Target: Shoulder / Rotator cuff external rotators / Increased end-range stability / increased shoulder mobility

Use Cases: Pre-throw warm up / non-baseball activity training day