I’ve been asked many times if a push-up is a strength or endurance exercise.  The answer: it depends.

If you are first starting to do push up’s and you can only get 2 reps in a set, then obviously you have limited strength in the exercise.   Now if you work your way up to 100 reps in a set you have built a base of strength, which allows you to work in the endurance end of the spectrum.

I like to think of pitching in the same light.  Depending on the coach, you will get differing thoughts about if pitching is an endurance or explosive movement.  I believe it’s both.

The act of pitching is explosive by nature that uses fast twitch muscle fibers in the arms and legs, no pitcher wishes to strive for a slow delivery.  The repeated action of throwing a baseball requires more than just explosiveness; it requires endurance from the body to be able to replicate the motion over and over again.

Now many coaches and trainers still believe that the ideal way to train pitchers for the “endurance” aspect of pitching is by running long distances.  Not only has this belief been proven to be scientifically flawed, anecdotal evidence points us to believe this is false as well.

Think of a quarterback, whom has the same responsibly (in the throwing aspect) as a pitcher.  His job is to be able to repeat the delivery of throwing a football numerous times a game.  Now when is the last time you saw a quarterback running miles upon miles to get in shape? I honestly can’t think of one.  What you do see is him running sprints with the rest of the team, building up his work capacity of running around the field and throwing the ball throughout the duration of the game.  And there is no way in hell that any pitcher runs more than a quarterback in any given game, so why train him that way?

So what about training for the endurance portion of pitching?  Throw.  Endurance is built through repetition, whether it is push-ups or pitching, repetition is the key to building endurance.  That is why it is so important to implement a proper throwing program to build endurance of the pitching motion.  Progressive overload is the key; here is a copy of the throwing program I refer coaches and players to.  It was published by Mike Reinold, who is an athletic trainer for the Red Sox.

TAKE HOME MESSAGE: Pitchers need to build strength through sprints and strength training and endurance through the act of pitching.  Simple, yet very effective.