Who knows how to maintain a jam-packed schedule better than a college athlete? In my opinion, no one does. Not only do college athletes have to give 100% effort in their academic courses, but also, on top of that, they need to go the extra mile to train and compete.
I know first-hand how difficult balancing a course load with athletics can be. Even though Swarthmore, a small liberal arts school in Pennsylvania, is a member of NCAA Division III (and not DI), our team and our league is very competitive. Everyone on the team takes baseball very seriously and expects to rival the best teams in the country. However, in order for our program to be successful, we know we need to put in the time to work out.
In addition to our team practices in the fall and our season in the spring, we have team lifts year-round. The lifting program is an integral piece of our team’s success. Since our season features two months of non-stop baseball, it is vital that all of our players can succeed despite the wear and tear. As a result, our lifts vary depending on the season. Each lift also targets baseball-specific muscles and include baseball-specific movements. On top of that, our trainer, Coach Eric Hoffman, designed the lifts to be completed in 45 minutes to an hour because, at Swarthmore, time is a precious commodity.
This workout was taken directly from our winter lifting program. In the winter, we lift four times a week (Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday) and participate in conditioning workouts on Tuesdays and Thursdays. As the winter progresses, we reduce our reps and add heavier weight. The workout below comes from one of the earlier weeks, so it includes more high rep, lower weight exercises.
Max Kassan is a sophomore pitcher on the Swarthmore College baseball team.
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