Cactus Athletic Camps

Many athletes especially baseball players are familiar with the rotator cuff muscles of the shoulder and the importance of properly stretching these muscles. There are 4 rotator cuff muscles which function as dynamic stabilizers in the shoulder. They are the subscapularis, supraspinatus, infraspinatus, and teres minor.

These posterior rotator cuff muscles, specifically the infraspinatus and teres minor, sustain much stress during the deceleration phase of throwing.  Consequently, these posterior shoulder muscles can be predisposed to increased muscle tightness and therefore, increase your risk for shoulder injuries.

It is very important that you stretch these posterior cuff muscles before and/or after you throw. Many professional and college athletes are fortunate to have physical therapists and athletic trainers to help keep their shoulders loose but here is a great posterior shoulder stretch you can do on your own.

1) Lie on your side of your dominant throwing shoulder and put your arm in the 90 degree position as demonstrated in Fig.1. For the sake of instruction, we will be stretching the right shoulder.

2) Place your left hand on your right forearm and push your forearm down toward the floor.(Fig. 2)

3) Once you feel a good stretch, turn your head down so that your chin is in line with the top of your shoulder. Hold this position for 20-30 seconds and then rest. Repeat 3 times or until your shoulder feels loose.(Fig.3)

As with any new exercise or stretching routine, if you experience pain stop immediately and consult your physician. When beginning a new exercise program, always consult your physician.

Taleen is a Certified Athletic Trainer and Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Physiological Science & a Master’s degree in Sports Health Care.

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Summer break is upon us in Arizona and kids all over the state are affixing themselves to sofas, love seats and couches to pass the time. Some stay there for so long that you might think they were velcroed to the furniture. Many of them will have video game controllers glued to their hands for hours and may even have the guts to yell at you from across the house to make them a sandwich. I got four words for you- Not In My House!

If that is a picture of your home I would encourage you to take the title of this article, replace the word kid with your child’s name, and have them incorporate some easy indoor exercises into their daily summer routine. One year ago my cousin Matt wrote an awesome article and shot a video that included 4 core exercises for beginners. Please click on the following link to be taken to the article- The Core Pyramid Circuit.

These are great for kids of any age and you may be surprised at their desire to do these on a daily basis once they get started. Core training is huge for all sports now and remember that close to 60% of your power comes from that area of your body. Get to it!

The Upper Body Step Up is a great strengthening and stability exercise for your shoulders. Two major joints help to create shoulder movement. They are your glenohumeral joint (ball and socket joint)  and your scapularthoracic joint (aka shoulder blade). These two joints along with the sternoclavicular and the acromioclavicular joints must all work together to create shoulder movement.

Many athletes focus on strengthening the glenohumeral shoulder joint and neglect stabilizing the scapularthoracic joint. The upper body step up helps strengthen a very important scapular muscle called the serratus anterior. The serratus anterior helps stabilize your scapula from a term you may have heard called “scapular winging” in which the medial inferior aspect of your scapula protrudes out off your thoracic chest wall.

The Upper Body Step Up demonstrated below is an exercise that should be incorporated in every strengthening program for overhead throwing athletes.

1)      Begin in a push up position with a 6 inch exercise aerobic step positioned between your hands. You can easily use 1 or 2 phone books as pictured in the figure. (Figure 1)

2)      Place your right hand on the step. (Figure 2)

3)      Then place your left hand on the step. (Figure3)

4)      While still maintaining the push up position, round your shoulders and give an extra push up. (Figure 4)

5)      Then proceed to come back down off the step first with your right hand and then with your left hand. Perform one set of 10 reps and then rest. You may perform a total of 3 sets of 10 reps.

As with any new exercise, if you experience pain stop immediately and consult your physician. When beginning a new exercise program, always consult your physician.

Taleen is a Certified Athletic Trainer and Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Physiological Science & a Master’s degree in Sports Health Care.

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Rice bucket? If you were to ask any Major League baseball player what a rice bucket is, they would all be able to answer you. And that is because they have all used a rice bucket in their baseball careers to strengthen their hands, wrists, and forearms.

The rice bucket is very common in the world of baseball. This is a piece of equipment which is not exclusive to professional baseball facilities and can be made quite easily and used in your own home. All you need is a 10 gallon bucket and lots and lots of rice! I suggest you fill the bucket 2/3 of the way up.

Forearm strengthening is sometimes overlooked in exercise programs for various sports such as baseball. However, your forearms play a very integral part of the biomechanical chain in sports movements such as throwing and hitting. There are 6 wrist movements described below that are commonly used in the rice bucket.

1)      Place the rice bucket on a chair and put both hands deep into the bucket. (Fig. 1) The following pictures show your hands and wrists outside of the bucket so that you may see the movements clearly.

2)      Your first two movements is forward and back. Move both wrists forward and backward deep in the rice bucket 10 times.(Fig. 2-3)

3)      Without resting, you will move into the next movement which is circles in and circles out. Perform 10 circles outward and 10 circles inward. (this is similar to the wax on/wax off motion ) (Fig.4)

4)      Finally, you will move immediately into the last 2 movements. You will do 10 finger grabs and 10 finger extension flickers. (Fig. 5-6)

As with any new exercise, if you experience pain stop immediately and consult your physician. When beginning a new exercise program, always consult your physician.

Taleen is a Certified Athletic Trainer and Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Physiological Science & a Master’s degree in Sports Health Care.

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The push-up one arm row is a great upper body exercise. This exercise is a combination of two exercises: the push-up which strengthens your chest and arms and the one arm row which strengthens your upper back. By combining these two exercises, the traditional push-up exercise becomes more challenging and the one arm row involves a greater level of muscle stability and control. In addition to strengthening your pecs, triceps, rhomboids, and lats, you will also strengthen your core muscles which will activate in order to stabilize you as perform the exercise.

1)      Begin in a push up starting position with each hand/wrist placed on a dumbbell on the floor. It is important that you have dumbbells that will not slide or slip on the ground surface you are using. (Fig 1)

2)      Perform a push-up while your hands are holding the dumbbells on the floor. (Fig 2)

3)      When you return to starting position (Fig 1) pull your left arm back off the floor in a row position (Fig 3) and then return your arm back to the floor. (Fig 1) Then pull your right arm back off the floor in a row position. Return your right arm to the floor. This is one complete rep.

4)       Perform 3 sets of 10 reps. As the exercise gets easier, you may increase to 3 sets of 20 reps and also increase your weight.

As with any new exercise, if you experience pain stop immediately and consult your physician. When beginning a new exercise program, always consult your physician.

Taleen is a Certified Athletic Trainer and Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Physiological Science & a Master’s degree in Sports Health Care.

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The bridge rotation is a great core exercise to incorporate into your present core stability program. This exercise will strengthen your transverse abdominus and oblique muscles. The bridge rotation will guarantee to challenge you by the instability of the swiss ball and especially when your weight is increased.

1)      First, lay with your head and back on a swiss exercise ball and both feet flat on the ground approximately shoulder width apart. The swiss ball should be positioned between your head and shoulder blades/mid back. This is the bridge position. Hold a weight (dumbbell or medicine ball) with both arms directly above your chest. (Fig. 1) Begin with a light weight such as 2lbs to make sure you keep correct form before increasing weight.

2)      Rotate your arms to the left while holding the weight and allow your right shoulder blade to come up slightly off   the swiss ball. (Fig. 2)

3)      Then rotate your arms to the right in the same manner. (Fig. 3)

4)      Return to starting position. (Fig.1). This is one rep. Perform one set of 10 reps and then rest. You may perform 2-3 sets of 10 reps and increase your weight to tolerance.

As with any new exercise, if you experience pain stop immediately and consult your physician. When beginning a new exercise program, always consult your physician.

Taleen is a Certified Athletic Trainer and Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Physiological Science & a Master’s degree in Sports Health Care.

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The plank knee punch is a great core exercise and provides a variation to your plank hold exercise which is typically performed on the floor. By using a swiss exercise ball, the plank knee punch will require a greater level of core stability. This exercise will strengthen your transverse abdominus muscle and will fire your oblique abdominal muscles as well by adding the knee punch component.

1)      Begin this exercise with both feet on the floor and lean on the swiss exercise ball with your elbows. (Figure 1)

2)      Then roll forward out on the exercise ball into a plank position.(Figure 2)

3)      While holding this plank position, kick or “punch” your right knee toward the ball. Perform 10 repetitions. (Figure 3)

4)      Then rest your right foot on the floor and “punch” your left knee toward the ball. Perform 10 repetitions.

5)      Perform 1 set of 10 repetitions on each side and then rest. Perform a total of 3 sets of 10 repetitions.

As with any new exercise, if you experience pain stop immediately and consult your physician. When beginning a new exercise program, always consult your physician.

Taleen is a Certified Athletic Trainer and Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Physiological Science & a Master’s degree in Sports Health Care.

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The catcher step up is a great exercise to strengthen your lower body. This exercise primarily activates and develops your quadriceps, hamstring, and gluteal muscles and has an upper body component. This exercise is performed with a 4-6 inch step and can be progressed to an 8-12 inch step as shown in the figures below. You can also perform the lateral stepping portion of this exercise if you do not have a step.

1. Begin with one foot on the step and one foot on the ground. Use a medicine ball or a dumbbell (5-10lbs.) and squat into a catcher’s stance. (Figure1)
2. Step up onto the step with both feet and lift the weight with both hands to shoulder height in front of you. (Figure 2)
3. Then proceed to squat down on the other side of the step with one foot on the step and one foot on the ground. Lower the weight between your legs. (Figure3)
4. Squatting and stepping up to the other side of the step and then returning back over the step is one rep. Perform 3 sets of 10 reps.

As with any new exercise, if you experience pain stop immediately and consult your physician. When beginning a new exercise program, always consult your physician.

Taleen is a Certified Athletic Trainer and Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Physiological Science & a Master’s degree in Sports Health Care.

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The hamstring curl plus bridge is a great exercise for toning and strengthening your hamstrings, gluteals, as well as core muscles. The two exercises, the hamstring curl and the bridge, are done as a superset. A superset is when you perform two exercises in a row with minimal to no rest in between. For example, with the hamstring curl plus bridge exercise, one set of ham curls are performed with one set of bridges performed immediately afterwards. After a one minute rest, a second set of each is done.

A superset is a great way to increase work intensity when training. The instructions below describe how the hamstring curl plus bridge exercise is performed correctly and safely.

1. Lie on your back on the floor and place both feet flat on the exercise ball. (Fig. 1)

2. Life your pelvis up into a bridge position and begin the hamstring curl by rolling the ball out and then back in while maintaining the bridge position. Perform one set of 10 curls. (Fig. 2)

3. After your perform one set of 10 reps immediately perform one set of 10 bridges by bringing your pelvis up and then back down to the floor. Make sure you keep your abdominal muscles tight and you squeeze your butt cheeks together at the top of your bridge. (Fig. 3)

4. After you perform one set of 10 reps of each exercise, you may rest for one minute. Then begin your next superset.

Perform 3 supersets of 10 reps.

As with any new exercise, if you experience pain stop immediately and consult your physician. When beginning a new exercise program, always consult your physician.

Taleen is a Certified Athletic Trainer and Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Physiological Science & a Master’s degree in Sports Health Care.

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The common front lunge exercise can be made more dynamic and functional to help strengthen not only your lower body muscles but your upper body muscles as well. This new exercise called the front lunge row is a front lunge combined with an upper body row.

This exercise targets your lower body muscles such as your glutes, hamstrings, quads, and calves and also works your upper body muscles such as your rhomboids, traps, biceps, and forearms. By reaching across your body to the outside of your knee with one dumbbell as instructed below, your glutes will fire more than in your typical front lunge exercise.

1)      Stand straight up holding a dumbbell in your right hand. (Please see Figure 1)

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2)      Step forward and lunge with your left leg while reaching to the outside of your left knee with the dumbbell.  (Please see Figures 2 and 3)

3)      Step back and return to your starting position and pull your arm back in a row motion with the dumbbell. (Please see Figure 4)

4)      Perform 10 reps. Switch the dumbbell to your left hand and perform another 10 reps with your right leg. You may begin with 2 sets and progress to 3×10 reps.

As with any new exercise, if you experience pain stop immediately and consult your physician. When beginning a new exercise program, always consult your physician.

Taleen is a Certified Athletic Trainer and Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Physiological Science & a Master’s degree in Sports Health Care.

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