QuestionShould baseball players run long distance a lot? Here is an article on the subject which is one among many saying the same thing. I just wanted to know if there were major league teams that have proven this theory wrong - that long distance trains the muscles to be slow. What do you honestly think?
SHOULD BASEBALL PLAYERS RUN LONG DISTANCES?
Gabe Mirkin, M.D.
Running long, slow distances slows you down. Muscles are made up of two types of fibers, those that are used primarily for endurance and those that are used for strength and speed. Running long distances develops your endurance fibers at the expense of your strength and speed ones, inhibiting your ability to jump high and run fast. Basketball players and sprinters need to run very fast two or three times a week, and so do marathon runners. Otherwise they will be slow runners.
It makes no sense to run long distances if you compete in sports that require short bursts of speed, such as basketball, baseball, football and hockey. Running long distances slows you down. During a basketball game, the players rarely run more than 20 or 30 yards continuously. The best way for basketball players to improve their endurance for basketball is to play basketball and run a series of very short sprints, two or three times a week. Distance runners need to run long distances to train a greater percentage of their fibers, but to be able to run very fast in races, they also should run a series of very short distances (called intervals) at near maximum speed two or three times week. To compete in any sport that requires short bursts of speed, run short intervals twice a week.
Ono, Miyashita, and Asami, Inhibitory Effect of Long Distance Training on the Vertical Jump and Other Performances among Aged Males. in Biomechanics V-B. Ed by Komi University Park Press, Baltimore.
AnswerHi Tom,
Thanks for the great question!
I know this concept flies in the face of traditional training concepts, but I have to agree - Sprint training is more beneficial to baseball than long distance running.
This is not to say that long distance running has no place at all in preparation for the sport, but sprint training (or interval training) will provide much greater benefit than distance running.
If you look at the game of baseball the farthest a player will have to run is 360 feet and that is on a homerun. Most plays require the athlete to sprint 90-120 feet and then rest 50-90 seconds before doing it again. The athletes training program should closely mimic this intensity level.
The main reason that distance running should be included in a baseball players program is for weight management. To give you an example of this, today I was working with a collegiate player that has a try-out with the Padres at the end of the month. They have basically told him that he needs to lose 10-15 pounds. This is where the traditional caardiovascular exercise comes into play. But even in this situation, I have him alternating workouts between spring intervals and long distance running.
I'm not sure if that helped clear things up for you, but I'd love to hear your thoughts on the topic. Feel free to e-mail me at
[email protected] and don't forget to visit www.BaseballStrength.com.
Yours in Sport,
Coach Dan
