2011年12月30日金曜日

Chapter14 Physical Training and Stretch

Needless to say, various training methods have been proposed already, so in this chapter, I will write about physical training from point of my characteristic view. In addition, I have some doubt and suggestions against today's general training theory. I want to write also about it.


1) My Stance Against Weight Training


In the case of high level baseball, weight training will become necessary for many hitters because a batting demands you to handle a heavy material, that is a bat. But at the same time, weight training has important demerit. That is, in the end, weight training causes muscle hardening and deterioration of quality of muscle memory. Therefore, next two theme becomes important. Firstly, we must reconsider about method of weight training for reducing the demerit of it. Secondly, we must take some kind of "after care" for recovering the flexibility and quality of muscle memory.

a) Method of Weight Training


At the first place, weight training for baseball should be distinguished from weight training for muscle building. Although it seems obvious opinion, many kind of weight trainings are executed based on the point of view of muscle building even today's baseball scene. So then, how to do the weight training for making the baseball-kind-muscles. As for this question, it is important that what theme is regarded as most important theme. That is, to keep the flexibility should be regarded as important theme more than improving the muscle strength. In concretely, you should use the bounding motion like a basket ball and keep a good rhythm. In addition, you should lift a barbell with using whole your body and take an easy way as possible as you can. Because, to use a whole body is basic skills of human body movement and "easy" means that you can use your body efficiently.  For that matter, this "easy"doesn't mean just only muscle relaxation. It means that to use your bone structure efficiently enable you to feel that motion easy. In addition bounding motion causes repeating the cycle of relax-stretch-contraction and it improves blood circulation. As a result, the muscles can be kept a flexibility. This is well known knowledge of exercise physiology. Therefore to keep a good rhythm by using the bounding motion is important. So now, let me give the summary of above article of this section.

1) Use a bounding motion positively.
2) Keep a good rhythm by bounding motion.
3) Use your whole body efficiently in the one event.
4) Use your bone structure efficiently.
5) As a result of (1)~(4), you feel that event easy and it's a proof of good skills.

Probably, above suggestions are objected by almost expert of weight training. But I think that is natural because in many cases, method of weight training is suggested mainly from point of view of improving the muscle strength. Therefore, bounding motion and assistance of another muscle are negated basically. That is, there is a lack of view of improving the sports skills.

2) Method of After Care


In this case, "after care" means that is a work for recovering the muscle flexibility and quality of muscle memory. That is, weight training basically causes somewhat deterioration of these factors. So, after care becomes important and that workload is a lot unexpectedly. For example, that importance is easy to be understood when you imagine that three men become necessary as a second for the one boxer. Namely, an effort of hard work can't be effective without support of after care. So then, what can be said as "after care" concretely.

The most effective after care is to swing quickly with a light weight bat and it recovers your muscle memory that became somewhat rough by weight training. In many cases, after the weight training, swing orbit has been changed somewhat. In general, that change means to become small and outside-in. And the reason is that your muscles lost flexibility by the weight training. In this case, light-bat-sburi is very effective. So you should repeat it until your swing recovers original orbit and it can be regarded as a proof of recovering of your muscle flexibility. Incidentally, in my experience, this recovering requires the repeat of swing and break. And this set of swing and break is made up of 5 to 10 times swing and short time break. In addition, this set should be repeated several times.

By the way, as for weight of bat, I recommend a little league bat and some kind of plastic stick. And as for plastic stick, length of it should be shorter than usual bat slightly or be same length. In addition, to roll some kind of tape around the barrel gives that stick moderate weight. By the way, demerit of weight training is expressed more clearly when you swing an extreme light weight bat like a plastic stick. Namely, plastic stick swing plays a role of litmus paper. Also from point of this view, plastic stick swing is important, and it also has an effect of improving the quality of muscle memory. That is, it has just the opposite meaning against the weight training. Therefore, light bat swing and weight training should be regarded as one set.

In principle, to swing quickly with light weight bat is effective for solving the problem due to demerit of weight training.




2) Theory of Hip Joint Training


Hip joint training is one of the most important training for baseball player. Although many people tend to think that regarding the lower body, muscle strength is important factor compared with upper body's it, in fact, as for rather lower body, flexibility is very important factor. Because muscle hardening means deterioration of muscle-and-skeletal-function, so after all, it makes your muscle difficult to generate a large power. In that case, weight training will come to rather have an opposite effect. So, in this section, I will write about stretching and exercise of hip joint. Although these training menu have not so much effect of muscle strength, these menu will improve your muscle-and-skeletal-function. And in the end, it causes effective power generation in the hitting mechanics. Basically, as for lower body's training, I think that it's just good enough to do the following kind of exercise and short range dash.

~ Two primary points of hip joint exercise ~


There are two important point for improving the function of hip joint. Firstly, hip-joint-open and hip-joint-close, namely, oblique-rotation of hip joint is an important theme. And it is easy to imagine that regardless of whether batting or pitching, hip-joint-oblique-rotation is used in baseball motion frequently. So proficiency of hip-joint-oblique-rotation has important effect on the quality of hitting mechanics. Secondly, as for pelvis-tilt-forward, it is an important issue that is concerned with african people's ability for almost kind of sports. Also in the case of today's MLB, african people have been majority of star players, and from point of my view, this situation is brought by their superiority of muscle-and-skeletal-function. And that superiority is due to the pelvis-tilt-foward.


1) Hip-Joint-Open and Hip-Joint-Close


As mentioned in chapter 5, Hip joint has oblique line and ball-and-socket structure, so oblique rotation can be said as the most natural movement of hip joint. And oblique rotation is classified into two patterns, that is, one is upward rotation, and the other is downward rotation. Moreover, upward rotation consists of flexion, abduction, external rotation. And downward rotation consists of extension, adduction, internal rotation. In addition, upward rotation is expressed as hip-joint-open. And downward rotation is expressed as hip-joint-close. By the way, main function of the leg is flexion and extension because the leg is used mainly for walk and run. Namely, hip-joint-open is a natural form of flexion. And hip-joint-close is a natural form of extension. That's oblique rotation theory of hip joint.


So then, as for in the hitting mechanics, what behavior does hip joint show from point of view of oblique rotation theory? Now, let me write about it simply. Firstly, as for back leg, in the batting stance, back leg makes hip-joint-open by receiving upper body's weight, and next, in the swing, back leg makes hip-joint-close by reducing the load of weight. That is, back leg had received the weight by extension power and in the condition of this state, weight shift to the front leg has an effect of releasing the power for extension of back leg. In this way, back leg makes hip-joint-close by weight shift to the front leg and this motion leads the hip rotation. Needless to say, that's an automatic motion. Secondly, also as for front leg, hip-joint-oblique-rotation plays a important role in the hitting mechanics. That is, when the front leg lands on the ground, front leg makes hip-joint-open by receiving upper body's weight. And next, front leg makes hip-joint-close by stretch reflex of muscles around the hip joint. This is simple mechanism, that is, it's an extension as a rebound of a flexion. And this motion also leads the hip rotation because hip-joint-close consists the internal rotation of hip joint. For that matter, in the condition of fixing a leg on the ground, internal rotation of hip joint means horizontal rotation of pelvis. And it is easy to understand that in the condition of fixing a leg on the ground, hip joint flexion means tilting forward of vertebral column. On the other hand, on the condition of setting the leg free, hip joint flexion means lifting the knee. In this way, front-leg-hip-joint-close leads the hip rotation, and needless to say, that's an automatic motion.

As mentioned above, hip-joint-oblique-rotation is concerned with core of hitting mechanics directly, so it's one of the most important theme of physical training for baseball players. Of course, I will show you some training menus in this chapter. Incidentally those trainings are so easy that you can do it while watching TV. However, it can be understood if you do it, that is, it's a little bit hard work unexpectedly. Probably, you can understand it in 30 to 40 minutes.




2) Pelvis-Tilt-Forward by Iliopsoas Muscle


As mentioned in chapter 5, african people tend to have well developed iliopsoas muscle, and it causes the pelvis-tilt-foward. And pelvis-tilt-forward causes the hamstrings to stretch. As a result, they can use the power of hamstrings efficiently. And for that matter, hamstrings is used for hip joint extension, and hip joint extension is the most important factor for running motion because it is used for pushing the ground. Therefore, african people have superiority in almost kind of sports.

In addition, pelvis-tilt-forward has important effect also from point of view of skeletal alignment. That is, pelvis-tilt-forward causes lumbar-spine-lordosis. And lumbar-spine-lordosis causes thoracic-spine-kyphosis. Because in the condition of lumbar-spine-lordosis, head's and upper body's weight causes emphasizing of thoracic-spine-kyphosis. In this way, pelvis-tilt-forward is an important factor for the forming of "S" curve of vertebral column. So, african people tend to have sharp and emphasized "S" curve of vertebral column. Incidentally, this tendency is seen strikingly in order of black > white >>> yellow. And this is one of the most important reason of why japanese player can't produce the big power, compared with black men and white men. Therefore I have been emphasizing this importance in my baseball gym and my website. That is, it can be improved by training. So, I will wrote about that method in this chapter.


By the way, primary factor that decides one's body function is classified into three: a factor that what kind of DNA he has, a factor that of quality and quantity of training in the growing period, and a factor that of quality and quantity of training after the growing period. And it is fortunately that, factor of after the growing period has an important effect unexpectedly. That is, african players can't always use their superiority enough. And as for in this theme, there are many trainings that you should not do. Because "training" is basically an unnatural motion that is created by human with using a some kind of logic. And unnatural matter basically can not have a good effect in regard to human body as a natural matter. In short, almost all training has some kind of demerit. And for passing a judgement about that training is good or bad, your sense becomes important factor, because "sense" is a natural matter. For example, a training that gives you a good feeling or a training that is accompanied with good rhythm can be said as a good training. So then, before taking up the detailed training method, I will show some important matters to be attended to in doing those trainings actually.

※) Important Point of Hip Joint Training

#1 Don't emphasize the pelvis-tilt-forward in actual hitting motion.


The pelvis-tilt-forward as a characteristics of african people does not mean conscious pelvis-tilt-forward, that is, their pelvis tends to more tilt forward as their original skeletal alignment than other races. And if you make the pelvis-tilt-forward consciously, your spine will make a warp like a fishing rod. Because in the case of conscious pelvis-tilt-forward, erector-spine-muscles is used for making the pelvis-tilt-forward. And the erector-spine-muscles are attached through from neck to low back, so that contraction of erector-spine-muscles causes warp of overall spine. In this case, thoracic-spine-kyphosis can't be formed. And of course, "S" curve of spine also can't be formed. Namely, it means wrong skeletal alignment. Therefore, I always have been emphasizing that don't make the pelvis-tilt-forward consciously in the batting stance and various posture for sports. On the other hand, the original pelvis-tilt-forward rather causes thoracic-spine-kyphosis clearly, and this posture never can be formed by conscious pelvis-tilt-forward. However and of course, as for in the training, there often is a case that of making a warp of spine consciously for some sort of aim.

#2 Weight training of hamstrings and iliopsoas often have an opposite effect.


As mentioned in chapter 5, in many cases, weight training of hamstrings and iliopsoas muscle have an opposite effect. Firstly, basically weight training causes hardening and shortening of muscles. And if hamstrings get short by the weight training like a leg carl, pelvis will tilt rather toward back. Therefore, in many cases, weight training of hamstrings have an opposite effect from point of view of muscle-and-skeletal-function. Because, as a result of pelvis-tilt-back, hamstrings get loose and it makes you difficult to use a power of the hamstrings. Secondly, as for iliopsoas muscle, this muscle folds our body like scissors, so in general, training of iliopsoas muscle is classified into two types: high knee type and sit up type. So as for high knee exercise, it is a training of quadriceps-femoris-muscle. that is, it has a result of developing an antagonist muscle of hamstrings. At the first place, aim of training of illiopsoas is improving the body function for using the hamstrings efficiently. Namely, it's just an opposite effect. Next, as for sit up exercise, if abdominal muscle get short by sit up, pelvis will tilt back by tension of abdominal muscle. Therefore, it has an opposite effect too. Thus, although hamstrings and iliopsoas muscle are important, training of those muscles is not always effective. Or rather, it often brings an opposite effect. Therefore, it is important to pay attention about muscle shortening and muscle hardening, especially in the weight training.

#3 Don't build up the quadriceps-femoris-muscle.


Basically, there is no "good muscle" or "bad muscle". However, in many cases, weight training tends to use a quadriceps-femoris-muscle too much. And as mentioned above, quadriceps-femoris-muscle tends to antagonize against hamstrings. Therefore, many kind of lower body trainings like a lunge or squat should be paid attention for avoiding the building up of quadriceps-femoris-muscle. But that's not all. In fact, strain of quadriceps-femoris-muscle tends to cause a knee injury. Because strained muscle and tendon press a patella against thigh bone (femur). Although we don't have a "bad muscle", quadriceps-femoris-muscle is the kind of muscle that is hard to deal with athletes.

#4 Short range dash is the best strengthen training. 


Although it is primitive training, I think that it is the most effective training because it doesn't have any demerit basically. And the reason why it doesn't have demerit is that the running is an absolutely natural motion different from almost all other exercises. In particular, I recommends up-hill dash because it has less impact and large load at the same time. And as for up-hill dash, keeping an axis vertically is very important because to make an axis orthogonally against a slope means backward tilting against gravitational line. And for that matter, you should not run on the down-hill because it has large impact and less load. In addition, it required you to use the quadriceps-femoris-muscle positively because this muscle has function as the brake of a car. Be that as it may, as for up hill dash, I want to write about it more fully in some other time.

By the way, "training" has two directions. One is increasing the load, and the other is increasing the power production. And "increasing the power production" basically means "in creasing the speed". For example, dash, throwing, and batting are categorized in it. That is, "direction of increasing the power production" is very important for baseball players, especially as for pitchers. Incidentally, as for batters, they need to handle a heavy material, so that they tend to do the weight training more positively than pitchers. Any way, short range dash is one of the most clear case of the "direction of increasing the power production". Therefore, it is very important and it has a moderate effect on power hitting. For that matter, weight training often causes the opposite effect. On the other hand, short range dash doesn't cause the opposite effect basically. Namely, it means safety and steady road even though little bit roundabout way.

Thus, short range dash is very effective training. In addition, in the case of my training method, short range dash is combined with hip joint exercises. It means that I aim to improve the function and strength at the same time. That is, I aim to make the state that hamstrings and iliopsoas muscle are functioning well before the dash. As a result, hamstrings and iliopsoas muscle are trained efficiently in the dash. And this theory is applied to the case of "suburi", That is, I combine the suburi and hip joint exercises. For now, I think it is the best way.






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