What did you do today?

Dana Cavalea: Performance Training for Baseball

As we go through life you always hear people say some of the following quotes:

1. Live everyday likes it your last..
2. Live Life to its fullest
3. Make a Difference
4.- My personal favorite: Live Like a Rockstar..

Anyway, these motivational messages sometimes get misinterpreted to signify going crazy, partying, and living life to its negative extremes. As we go through life and see people out on Friday and Saturday nights, we see a group of people that are dealing with life, most of the time in the wrong way, drinking, smoking, abusing their bodies. With that being said, when you actually take the time and speak with these people, you will realize that they truly are not happy. You will also realize that only about 10% of the population truly LOVES their jobs. With that being said, if you went to work everyday and hated your job, wouldn't you want to escape your reality as well?

Going back to these quotes, if this Friday and Saturday night wrecking crew had more fufillment in their life, and were able to help others see the light, they would shine more light and positive on themselves, and would actually be able to make a difference, dream big dreams, and accomplish success everyday.

So, with that being said, are you happy? Do you feel fufilled? Are you helping people each day? If not, one way to cure your blues is to START. Help somebody everyday, and you will be helped as well. It sounds kind of strange and holistic, but this is reality, the more you give, the more you get.

For more from Dana please check out his blog.


Dana Cavalea and Major League Strength serve as baseball performance strength and conditioning consultants for all Baseball Factory events. Dana currently serves as the Director of Strength and Conditioning for the New York Yankees. He has also spent time with the Pittsburgh Pirates and Toronto Blue Jays. Dana founded Major League Strength, a company that works to provide athletes with first class professional training and a dynamic program designed to elicit positive results in all aspects of Human Movement and Sports Performance. Dana is certified by the CSCS, NASM-PES and the USAW.

The Mindset of a Champion

Dana Cavalea: Performance Training for Baseball

Hey Guys,

A close friend of mine, Anthony Famiglietti, US Olympic Runner wrote this to me in an email in response to a question I asked him about training, and getting it done no matter what! I thought it would be cool to share with you, and let you into the mind of an Olympian!

"You know how it goes its not where you are, but where your at. My head was in the right place and I trained like a beast in NYC in the snow, rain, no coach, whatever. I was all in and I'm still all in. Second Olympic team and now I'm gunning to be the best in the world. Our sport is so tough though. We don't just compete against the guys in developed countries we compete against third world countries-everyone. Those guys are so tough too they have nothing to lose and everything to gain. So when you become world champ in running you really are world champ all countries included."

I thought this was an awesome piece, coming from a guy that has guts, and trains, and competes because he loves it, not just for financial compensation. Think about "GETTING IT DONE" and "BRINGING IT" everytime you lock it in to train or play!

For more from Dana please check out his blog.


Dana Cavalea and Major League Strength serve as baseball performance strength and conditioning consultants for all Baseball Factory events. Dana currently serves as the Director of Strength and Conditioning for the New York Yankees. He has also spent time with the Pittsburgh Pirates and Toronto Blue Jays. Dana founded Major League Strength, a company that works to provide athletes with first class professional training and a dynamic program designed to elicit positive results in all aspects of Human Movement and Sports Performance. Dana is certified by the CSCS, NASM-PES and the USAW.

Remember WHY You Play...

Dana Cavalea: Performance Training for Baseball

This was one of the best photos we have come across yet! This is a picture of Curtis Granderson of the Tigers, with some motivational words on the inside of his hat: HAVE FUN!

Why else do you play the game? To struggle, to beat yourself into the ground mentally due to failure? Each time you step on the field, each time you train, each time you practice, remember why you play and how it felt the first time you put on the spikes.

The reality is this, sport is not permanenet, meaning, it could be pulled from you with one injury, or a full roster. Remember WHY You play...

"JUST HAVE FUN...ENJOY THE RIDE...."

For more from Dana please check out his blog.


Dana Cavalea and Major League Strength serve as baseball performance strength and conditioning consultants for all Baseball Factory events. Dana currently serves as the Director of Strength and Conditioning for the New York Yankees. He has also spent time with the Pittsburgh Pirates and Toronto Blue Jays. Dana founded Major League Strength, a company that works to provide athletes with first class professional training and a dynamic program designed to elicit positive results in all aspects of Human Movement and Sports Performance. Dana is certified by the CSCS, NASM-PES and the USAW.

The Modern Day Athlete...How to Build Them

Dana Cavalea: Performance Training for Baseball

The Modern Day Athlete must compete at an incredibly high level, one that is very difficult to achieve based in strictly talent.

It is imperative that athletes work each day to be the best, enhancing both their physical strength and speed, while at the same time prepping their mind to deal with the ups and downs of sport.

When we build training programs, it is imperative that we train with a purpose, and that purpose should be based on the athletes individual needs, not just strictly based on COOL exercises, lots of them, high volume, and exercises/ intensities used to make athletes sweat.

But, there is a fine line between creating a perfect training program, which could be to SOFT, and lacks the mental componenet, or mental push that is needed to get through a set. We must teach athletes how to push their bodies to their limits, while maintaining proper form/ positioning / alignment, in order to still stay on pace with our number 1 goal of injury prevention and long-term health.

The bottom line is this, TRAIN WITH A PURPOSE, have a goal in mind, and while working to achieve this goal, pay close attention to form and body position, but also don't be affraid to push your limits with high intensity intervals/ conditioning to increase your mental strength.


For more from Dana please check out his blog.


Dana Cavalea and Major League Strength serve as baseball performance strength and conditioning consultants for all Baseball Factory events. Dana currently serves as the Director of Strength and Conditioning for the New York Yankees. He has also spent time with the Pittsburgh Pirates and Toronto Blue Jays. Dana founded Major League Strength, a company that works to provide athletes with first class professional training and a dynamic program designed to elicit positive results in all aspects of Human Movement and Sports Performance. Dana is certified by the CSCS, NASM-PES and the USAW.

Fatigue...Hey It's The Dog Days of Summer

Dana Cavalea: Performance Training for Baseball

Well its the summer , and even more than the summer, for the baseball community its is the Dog Days of Summer. The weather is hot, there have been a lot of games played, and hopefully a lot of training done! With that being said, its time to say it; you have to adjust and cut back your training. By this we mean not to STOP TRAINING, but to REDUCE YOUR VOLUME. When we say cut back though, this doesn't mean to stop lifting heavy, and increase your reps, it actually means the opposite. Stop lifting light, and decrease your reps. Typical August rep ranges would look similar to 4-6 reps, and 1-2 sets.
So, cut back, and enjoy the game!

For more from Dana please check out his blog.


Dana Cavalea and Major League Strength serve as baseball performance strength and conditioning consultants for all Baseball Factory events. Dana currently serves as the Director of Strength and Conditioning for the New York Yankees. He has also spent time with the Pittsburgh Pirates and Toronto Blue Jays. Dana founded Major League Strength, a company that works to provide athletes with first class professional training and a dynamic program designed to elicit positive results in all aspects of Human Movement and Sports Performance. Dana is certified by the CSCS, NASM-PES and the USAW.

Dynamic Warm-Ups: Part 2

Dana Cavalea: Performance Training for Baseball

So, we talked about Dynamic WARM-UPS in the last 2 posts, and this is the new buzz word surrounding training for sports, so, sometimes many think that since this is the new "way" to warm-up, its the only way to warm-up. Much like the Functional Strength Training Revolution that is now taking place, with med balls, physioballs, and training movements in a free environment rather than machines, Dynamic Warm-Ups are in, but we can not throw out the methods of the past.

With this being said, we must focus on static stretching methods as well as Dynamic. How do we use static stretching in a new world of Dynamic Movement? The way we do it is by using static stretching on the areas of the body that are typically overly tight on ballplayers. These areas of the body include the following:

1. Hip Flexors
2. Glutes/ External Rotators
3. Obliques/ Intercostal Mucles
4. Hamstrings

These 4-Major Areas of the body should still be addressed by static stretching, which will require the athlete to hold a stretch position, then back off, then repeat again. Back in the day, it was said to hold a stretch for 30 seconds, but the reality is, a more effective means to increasing tissue length and extensibility is to hold a stretch for 3-5 seconds, then back off, then repeat again through a larger range of motion.

So, its simple, stretch the hamstrings by using the stretch above, leaning into the stretch for 3 to 5 seconds, then get off it, then get back on it at a new range of motion.

As we continue to speak about static stretching, we will talk about using angles to increase depth.

"TRAIN HARD"

For more from Dana please check out his blog.


Dana Cavalea and Major League Strength serve as baseball performance strength and conditioning consultants for all Baseball Factory events. Dana currently serves as the Director of Strength and Conditioning for the New York Yankees. He has also spent time with the Pittsburgh Pirates and Toronto Blue Jays. Dana founded Major League Strength, a company that works to provide athletes with first class professional training and a dynamic program designed to elicit positive results in all aspects of Human Movement and Sports Performance. Dana is certified by the CSCS, NASM-PES and the USAW.

Dynamic Warm-Ups

Dana Cavalea: Performance Training for Baseball

So we started to talk about Dynamic Warm-Ups in the last blog entry, but it is important to realize that DYNAMIC WARM-UPS are composed of several different parts. They are outlined below:

-Balance
-Core Activation
- Footwork/Quickness
- Muscle Tissue Elongation/ Increase in muscles temperature

These are the main goals of any warm-up. In baseball, we like to place a special attention on releasing the hip flexors, elongation the hamstrings, and activating the glute muscles in order to ensure optimal hamstring length and glute function. This in itself will work to lower the predisposition of lower body injuries. Typically, due to all the squatting and single side rotation done during the game, these assymmetries will develop and cause a breakdown somewhere in the lower body.

If we are able to work the core each day, balance each day, footwork, and elongate tissue each day, we will work to maintain an optimal situation for the body. The exercise above illustrates a movement that will activate the core, while at the same time keep the glutes firing and release the hip flexor. The key to remember is a Dynamic Warm-Up can be a mix of STATIC STRETCHING and MOVEMENT, it is not a one or the other thing. In the next few posts we will go over static stretching uses, and exercise selection for Dynamic Warm-Ups!

"TRAIN HARD"

For more from Dana please check out his blog.


Dana Cavalea and Major League Strength serve as baseball performance strength and conditioning consultants for all Baseball Factory events. Dana currently serves as the Director of Strength and Conditioning for the New York Yankees. He has also spent time with the Pittsburgh Pirates and Toronto Blue Jays. Dana founded Major League Strength, a company that works to provide athletes with first class professional training and a dynamic program designed to elicit positive results in all aspects of Human Movement and Sports Performance. Dana is certified by the CSCS, NASM-PES and the USAW.

Roll Out...Did you get your Roll ON?

Dana Cavalea: Performance Training for Baseball

Time to get back to training! Hopefully you enjoyed last weeks talk about the MENTAL GAME, but this week its back to getting your body right!

If you don't own a foam roller, you need to buy one! This is the greatest tool for a self massage. As athletes, due to the repetitive patterns/movements/ and stresses of sport, your muscle tissue gets knotted up and can't slide and contract optimally. With this being said, if you can afford a bi-weekly, or weekly massage great, but for those that can't, you need to get on the roller. The roller is like a MUSCULAR ROLLING PIN, which will not only flush the tissue and promote blood flow for healing, but really works to release the tension that builds in the tissue.

At first the roller hurts, but when you get up from a good session you will feel relief, and your legs will feel extremely light, and they will have new life! This foam rolling is a part of regenerating the body, and for athletes could be done everyday, and for Coaches, it is a must do post game!

For more info. check out our Recovery DVD which breaks down foam rolling, and combines it with stretching techniques that will keep your muscle tissue at ideal lengths, and in ideal health!

Click here to see the RECOVERY DVD: http://www.mlstrength.com/store.php

Keep on Rolling!

For more Blogs from Dana, check out his blog Major League Strength
Dana Cavalea CSCS
Major League Baseball Strength and Conditioning Coach
www.mlstrength.com
Check out the mlstrength.com blog

Dana Cavalea currently serves as the Director of Strength and Conditioning for the New York Yankees. He has also spent time with the Pittsburgh Pirates and Toronto Blue Jays. Dana is certified by the CSCS, NASM-PES and the USAW.

Introduction

Dana Cavalea: Performance Training for Baseball

Over the past few years I have had the opportunity to work with the Baseball Factory at its various clinics and tournaments and have seen nothing but a first class operation. What separates the Factory from other youth baseball companies is the fact that they have great morals and guiding principles. Taking players to the next level through quality instruction, providing great exposure, and teaching players life lessons through their highly acclaimed coaching staff is what they are all about. In addition to providing lessons about the game and life, the Factory has added a new element to their camp that really creates separation in regards to athletic development. The focus isn't simply on skill, but the development of athleticism, which ultimately leads to a better all around ballplayer.

Over the next few months I will personally be providing the Factory with articles and blog entries on Performance Training for Baseball and Nutrition. My goal is to help spread the word about positive lifestyles and how to treat your body for maximum results on and off the playing field. In addition, check out www.mlstrength.com for the most cutting edge information for ballplayers, coaches, and parents.

I would recommend the Baseball Factory to any young athlete (and most importantly their family) looking to get to the next level of play, whatever that level may be for their particular skill level and personal goals. I am happy to work with the Factory through my career and help young athletes reach their dreams.

Dana Cavalea CSCS
Major League Baseball Strength and Conditioning Coach
www.mlstrength.com
Check out the mlstrength.com blog

Dana Cavalea currently serves as the Director of Strength and Conditioning for the New York Yankees. He has also spent time with the Pittsburgh Pirates and Toronto Blue Jays. Dana is certified by the CSCS, NASM-PES and the USAW.