Armored Heat

A Pitcher’s Warm Up Is All About Bang For Your Buck

This combo exercise is great because it hits a wide variety of activation with just one exercise

Pike Up ➡️ Serratus Anterior
Open Rotations ➡️ Rotator Cuff
Single Arm ➡️ Co Contraction for Stability

Give it a Try! 👊

Two Creative Forearm Exercises For Pitchers

✅ Cable Wrist Flexion: Great way to isolate the wrist flexors by using the pad to stabilize the forearm

✅ Three Finger Hangs: This will absolutely light up your finger flexors. Make sure you train into this one and build up to it!

You don’t NEED to re invent the wheel, but some times it’s fun to mix it up

PS: Fatigued Muscles act like Weak Muscles so please don’t crush these the day before an outing 👊

How To Build Elite Posterior Scap Tilt👇

✅ Upper T Spine Extension
✅ Arm Side T Spine Rotation
✅ Sufficient Pec Major/Minor Length
✅ Sufficient Biceps Length
✅ Elite Low Trap Strength
✅ Elite Serratus Anterior Strength

When looking at layback in a pitcher, it’s important to understand that it is built from 3 primary components:

1️⃣ Thoracic Spine Extension
2️⃣ Posterior Scapular Tilt
3️⃣ Glenohumeral (Shoulder) External Rotation

This posterior tilt helps dictate the starting position for shoulder external rotation, which is why we often describe it as the foundation of layback.

🔥 We want to maximize all 3 components not only for arm health, but also to load all 3 “springs” for energy transfer into the baseball.

Here’s what contributes to clean posterior scap tilt:

⚾ Upper T Spine Extension
Brings the upper ribs backwards, into a more favorable position relative to the ribs below it, creating less of a forward slope and a better foundation for posterior tilt.

⚾ Arm Side T Spine Rotation
Also helps bring the upper ribs back, encouraging posterior tilt.

⚾ Pec Major & Pec Minor Length
Restrictions in either muscle can pull the scapula into a more anteriorly tipped and forward position.

⚾ Biceps Length
Both heads of the biceps attach to the scapula and can contribute to anterior tipping when excessively restricted.

⚾ Elite Low Trap Strength
The lower trap plays a major role in posteriorly tilting the scapula.

⚾ Elite Serratus Anterior Strength
Works alongside the lower trap to help create and maintain posterior tilt.

Elite layback isn’t just about stretching into more external rotation.

It’s about creating the right foundation for the shoulder to move efficiently

Pitchers need to strengthen this muscle 👇

The Pronator runs from the inside of the elbow to the outside of the forearm and acts as a key secondary stabilizer for the medial elbow, alongside the FCU and FDS (Two other forearm muscles)

What makes it unique is how it works when the forearm is supinated. As you move into supination, the pronator actually lengthens and gains tension, allowing it to better support and protect the elbow when stress is highest.

✅ The first exercise here is banded pronation. One thing I love about this variation is that the resistance actually increases as you move deeper into the motion, which is the opposite of most pronation exercises

✅ The second exercise is kettlebell pronation. This one starts the contraction from a maximally lengthened position, which is huge for this concept. It’s also easy to load up and progress, making it simple to track strength gains over time.

These exercises may or may not help you, but they’re great tools to have in your toolbox 👊

Secret Weapon For Pitchers 👇

Rows with trunk rotation are a great way to get max range of motion from the Scap!

Some different ways to incorporate this 👇

✅ Split stance cable rows with rotation

✅ Pull/push combo adding a press with the other arm is great (if you have a Kaiser)

PS: The trunk rotation will create some momentum, so it's important that you drive this motion through your Scap 👊