Road To 90: Journal 12/5/2022-1/13/2023
During my “Road to 90”, I will be posting two kinds of blogs. One style will be like the previous blogs which were longer and more detailed about my training. These will include going into deep details about the throwing program or changes to it, a big-picture look at where I am at or going, and just getting more into the weeds overall.
The other style will be like this one: my training journal entries. I keep a journal to write in during training to keep a record of what’s going through my head during a given session. It also allows me to keep track of what I’m working on and get back to it when I wonder. The journal is the fine details that the numbers don’t tell. Without further ado, here are the entries from December 5th (The Reboot) and January 13th (The Day Before):
12/5/2022
Today is Day 1 of rededication.
I decided I am probably not playing summer men’s league baseball, instead taking a gap year and officially train to throw 90. So 90 or die starts RIGHT NOW.
Step 1- Get Strong & Mobile
Today I skipped most of my warmup but I think I have it pretty dialed in on what my back and hips need. Strength-wise though, I’m a high schooler. So that made two things true:
Max Strength was needed
It was hard to do wrong so consistency was the key
For at least 4 weeks, I wanted to get as strong as possible with lifting focused around the “Big 3” (Squat, Bench, Deadlift). The plan is to do all these lifts 3x a week varying reps between 5, 8, and 2 based on the day’s focus on Power, Max Strength + Mobility, and Time Under Tension. My 2 rep maxes were just taken two days ago (12/3/22):
Squat = 255 lbs
Bench = 155 lbs
Deadlift = 185 lbs (this was a straight bar where keeping form is difficult, moved to Trap Bar shortly after)
Basically, I am going to kill myself in the weight room with max strength gain, mobility, and nutrition. This means throwing volume and intensity will go down in order to not overspend my training economy. And since I am good at plyo velos and pulldowns, I will keep throwing on the mound when I do throw since the other skills haven’t transferred yet. During my mechanical focus is to be fluid with shorter arm action and “use my legs more” by staying stacked better and riding the hip hinge down the mound.
So how did day one go?:
Mobility- pretty much non-existent
Nutrition- brought some food but not much; had a protein shake after the workout
Strength- KILLED IT; I want to die now
Throwing- arm action feels good, need to feel it come from the torso; Legs were hit or miss, mainly Janitor Throws felt good but were tired from Saturday’s workout
So I am going to focus on the nuts and bolts aka the boring stuff— getting stronger and moving better but by stronger I mean STRONGER. I mean back in the day, I was told to lift but “not get too big, too bulky, you’re a pitcher and don’t need to lift heavy, don’t bench, pec flies are bad, blah blah blah blah blah”. Well, guess what, I still don’t throw hard. Just like “growing into my velocity”.
So screw it, I am going to lift big and chase max strength which can be dowWHILE moving better on and off the mound.
12/8/2022- Day 4
Today mentally and physically did not feel great. Bad day mentally, but my body just felt like it was “just there”.
Weak
Tired
Less Mobile
This held true for Tuesday and Wednesday which were supposed to be Recovery/Bike & Mobility days. But I skipped them because my body felt like poop. Also, I didn’t:
Sleep well— less than 6.5 hours a night
Eat well—missed protein and meals
Stress— 60+ hours of work a week
Big increase in weight room paired with a new workout
Just gotta mark this day off as a loss. That happens sometimes. Not every day is sunshine and rainbows. So I’m gonna get some sleep and food then take tomorrow’s recovery day seriously.
12/15/2022- Day 11
After an up & down week, I came to some realizations:
I’m too busy to take things seriously
I was overworking my body
hurt shoulder
not recovered for lift
The solution to #1 was coming because as of today I am 1 1/2 weeks from quitting my side gig. So the easiest thing in the meantime was to simply for a bit by:
stop throwing, it was time to take a break and focus training economy on getting stronger, just until time was freed up. This helps both issues above.
Eat a basic 3 meals a day
For 2 weeks I will just be liftings, 1 week of lifting + light throwing, and then 2 weeks of lifting + alternating throwing intensity. That puts me back on the mound after Christmas and gradually ramping up for the B-day baseline mound velo on Jan 14th. The baseline mound velo will be the start of my assessment and building out the beginning of my program. After all the testing (which will include some that I am testing out for The Lab), I will look at all the data to create my training program with the long term of throwing 90 by Jan 14, 2024. That will go into TRAQ with some goals so I can easily follow the plan and track my progress towards the objective goals that correlate with throwing hard. All of this I am planning on sharing in a deep-diving, comprehensive blog.
12/19/2022- Day 15
Lifting PR on 3 out of 4 reps so far up to 275; gonna go for more…. (writing this as I am lifting) LET’S DP 300!!! GOT IT! Think I might be able to do even more next time.
My weight has been hovering around 170 (I’m scrawny) which makes 300 lbs 1.76 of my body weight. I think my first goal is going to be 2x my body weight which would make that 340. Maybe even shoot for 360. Those numbers feel relatively not that far away and are a good spot for the first 6-8 weeks of strength gains.
Now Bench: goal is to get to body weight here (170) today. On the 3rd set, I went for 165 and got only one rep. Went down for the last set. Close to body weight, heck may have been bodyweight on another day. But getting a ratio of 1 is just a good day away. So I’m going to go for 200 because that would be the all-time max I chased early in my life and that would be about an increase of 35 lbs which seems like a lot in my head.
Deadlift: No specific goal here, just want to lift as much as possible. At this moment before I left, TRAQ has my max at 255. I think also a 2:1 ratio on this one like Squat so let’s see where I am at today.
260 on the 3rd set—passed the previous max; 270 on the last set good for a 1.59 ration
Think there was more in the tank so I am going to shoot for that 340 mark.
12/29/2022- Day 25
10 days since the last time I wrote. Since then:
Christmas & Bad Weather
Stopped Working 2nd Job
Sleep has Increased
Started Throwing on 12/26
Changed My Strength Workout
Throwing:
Getting arm in shape with no pain AKA gradually increasing workload and intensity
Become fluid in movements and feel the different segments build on each other AKA relaxed muscles and smoothness
Move better
Cleaner arm action; close and loose
Be able to hold torso counter rotation and hip hinge down the mound
Get pelvis open at FP and accept force into the front leg
Changes In Workout:
Pushed my maxes pretty high relative to the starting point. My body is getting taxed pretty well with it and since I started throwing I will need to change it up. I’m keeping the idea of the “Big 3” lifts but adding variations:
Squat- Back, Rear-Foot Elevated Split, Front-Foot Elevated Split
Bench- Barbell, Dumbell, Incline dumbell
Deadlift- Trap Bar, Single-Leg RDL, Split Stance Trap Bar
I moved the auxiliary or companion lifts around to match some of these new workout ideas. This seemed more of an overall lifting program where you get a little taste of everything. For the next 2 weeks, Back Squat, Barbell Bench, and Trap Bar Deadlift will be 4-5 reps with the next two weeks being 2 reps for each exercise. The goal is to continue max strength increase until the 1/14 test to see where I am at. I also changed my mobility routine to something more specific as I learned some new things. Eventually, I’ll dive into this in another blog.
1/13/2023- Day 41
It’s been a while since I’ve written and I haven’t done much content. My wife got sick and there is plenty to do at The Lab. I mean I have a giant catch-up list that I can finally work on. I’ve still been working hard, I just haven’t been making the posts
So here’s what happened:
I accidentally hit 79.3 mph FB on a B day; I was just focused on riding the hip hinge down the mound and pronating my release for better spin efficiency.
My weights keep going up in the weight room and I feel more mobile than ever
Turned my last Mound Blend B day into a short box to help the hitting floor. Was hard to stay under the short box speed limit— also this caused me to miss my first lift so far as there wasn’t enough time in the day with the change of throwing schedule
Today I did some mobility and STIM (recommended over icing) as my shoulder was tighter than expected. Not a good sign. The intensity was low, but there was a lot of volume.
I don’t like the fact that my shoulder is tight. This has me thinking I should push it back, but I think I will be fine. It’s just soreness, not pain. Meaning getting a new all-time PR will be difficult. However, it’s been a while since my body has felt this great. I know what I need to do mechanically & in the warmup. Now I just need to stay calm, focused and have some fun.
