Stress is Stress

By Jonathan Massey – 

Wow—there have been an incredible number of arm injuries this year in Major League Baseball. Unless you’ve been living under a rock, I’m not really saying anything you don’t already know.

There’s also been a lot of blame being passed around as to the cause(s)—from inefficient deliveries to a quick ramp up. Rightfully so, these two do deserve a lot of the blame but not all of it. I think one of the biggest factors most people are forgetting about (or just not talking about) is there is also a pandemic going on.

Stress is stress. It doesn’t matter if the stress comes from a physical activity like lifting weights or playing baseball, or from an emotional or psychological source, the body reacts the same. When a body experiences an increase in stress, it releases a hormone called cortisol. Without going into a lot of scientific details here, when the body has a lot of cortisol in the blood, it is in a constant state of trying to survive. One of the first things that the body shuts down when it is in this state is muscle regeneration. If muscle tissue doesn’t fully recover from a previous outing, it’s only a matter of time before an injury occurs.

As much as we want to believe Major League Baseball players are machines, they simply are not. They are human beings just like you and me, and they don’t get excluded from experiencing the same kind of psychological stress that you and I experience because they’re a Major League Baseball player.

My point here is that stress is stress, no matter if it’s psychological or physical, and this needs to be accounted for in your training. If you are getting ready for a big final at school, it’s probably not the best idea to do a radar session or go do your one rep max on deadlift that same week (or even the week after). You might break a record, but you are putting yourself at a significant risk of getting injured. Always keep your stress level in mind when you are training—whether it be psychological or physical.

Important TBR Updates

• Our 2nd Annual Elite CATCHERS Bootcamp is December 11-13th.  Early Bird $500 savings ends Monday, October 12th.  Click here for all the details!

• Our Fall/Winter Elite Pitcher’s Boot Camp dates are filling up fast. Those dates include November 21-23, December 28-30 and January 16-18. For more information or to register go to www. TexasBaseballRanch.com/events.

•  Only 2 spots remain in our Youth Pitchers Camp (October 17-18) so don’t delay in registering if you want to attend. For more information on this camp, please visit www.TexasBaseballRanch.com/events 

• Our 21st Annual “Ultimate Pitching Coaches Bootcamp” is December 4-6 with bonus night on December 3rd. Coach Wolforth has put together another great lineup. Details at  www.coachesbootcamp.com.  A virtual, streaming option is available.

• Response to our “Ranch Remote” training option has been exciting. It’s a program for people that would still like to get access to, and ongoing instruction from, the TBR staff but prefer to avoid travel due to the virus. Click here to get more information on this NEW, hyper-personalized training option.  Space is limited in this program and we only have a few spots still left so if you’re interested, don’t delay.