Sports Performance Training for Youth Athletes

In our last newsletter we shared with you the story of how Zane Kelly founded Athletes In Motion. His first year training professional baseball players was exciting, not only because he was able to combine his two passions - baseball and strength & conditioning - but also because he was getting great feedback which confirmed he was doing the right thing.

But professional athletes weren't the only ones seeking Zane's training expertise. During this time, Zane was working out of Sunset Athletic Club and came across dozens of youth athletes that had the same drive to succeed in the sport they loved to play.

In 2008, Zane created a new program called the AIM Class, which targeted youth athletes. Between the ages of 8 and 14, kids are starting to become more competitive and serious about excelling in sports. They are also battling their own bodies, which are constantly changing and growing. Zane recognized that this age group had unique challenges and required a special type of program.



The AIM Class works on overall athleticism and skill. The program is designed to maximize physical ability while minimizing risk of injury. In the AIM Class, kids work to develop proper running techniques, athletic coordination, balance, relative strength, and muscular movement patterns.

As kids get a little older, the focus shifts from learning basic athletic skills to perfecting these skills. Repeated practice leads to permanent and positive changes and mastering these skills creates a better athlete.

Whether it's professional athletes wanting to improve and extend their career, collegiate players looking to become pro's, high schoolers with their sights set on a D1 scholarship, or youth athletes who are still honing their skills and developing... the theme is clear. Dedicated, driven, and hard-working athletes seek out and train with Athletes In Motion because they know hard work pays off and Zane's programs deliver what they are looking for.

5 Common Baseball Strength & Conditioning Myths Debunked

Myth 1 – Distance Running Will Allow a Pitcher to Pitch Deeper in a Game and Improve Recovery Time. 

Although running poles and/or several miles a day is something pitchers have become accustomed to doing, the truth is, it can actually hurt your performance! The reason? Long-distance running trains the wrong energy system. Sprinters don't train by running miles and long distance runners don't include sprinting in their training. Baseball is full of short, explosive movements therefore, baseball players should train more like a sprinter with short, intense sprints, rather than running long distances. At Athletes In Motion, we focus on sprints. We use a variety of (short) distances, rest periods, and intervals. We never jog and we never move slow!

Myth 2 – Static Stretching will Prevent Injuries and Enhance Performance.
Static Stretching involves reaching forward to the point of tension and holding the stretch. Again, this is something baseball players (most athletes, actually!) have become accustomed to doing before getting started with their exercise, practice, or game. The truth is, static stretching is not the best way to prime your body. Before an activity, you want to warm your body up and get mentally prepared. Static stretching actually cools down the body’s core temperature down and encourages day dreaming and socialization. The best way to get ready for an activity is with a Dynamic Warm-Up. Not only does a dynamic warm-up energize and the prime the muscles, but it also gets you mentally prepared by forcing you to focus and concentrate on the task at hand. If you’ve been working out at Athletes In Motion this winter, you’ve done these dynamic warm-ups hundreds of times.

Click here for a video demonstration of a dynamic warm-up.

Myth 3 – Rotator Cuff This, Rotator Cuff That.
Many players and coaches believe that shoulder problems are caused by a weak Rotator Cuff. The truth is, dysfunction of the Rotator Cuff is the result of poor mobility in the Thoracic Spine and poor mobility and stability in the Scapula. Both of these help to stabilize the Rotator Cuff. While it is important to train your Rotator Cuff, doing this alone will not improve the health of your shoulder. It’s important to stabilize the Scapula! Without creating the proper stabilization, you're building on a weak foundation.

Myth 4 – Having a Six-Pack Means You Have a Strong Core. 
People have historically believed that doing hundreds of crunches each day will develop a strong, athletic core. But this is absolutely false! Sit-ups and crunches work the superficial muscles, the Rectus Abdominis, and ignore the deep muscles that actually make your core stronger and protect against injury. While the larger muscle groups do produce the most movement, if your supporting muscles aren’t strong, you are more likely to get hurt. At Athletes In Motion, we do core work everyday but we don’t incorporate any sit-ups or crunches in our program. Instead you’ll find yourself doing Active and Anti-Rotational work.

Myth 5 – Weighted Bats will Increase Your Bat Speed.
Most players believe that a weighted bat helps to speed up their swing but truth is, it only feels like your swinging faster when you switch over to your normal (lighter) bat. Furthermore, swinging a weighted bat can actually slow down your bat speed, enforce faulty movement patterns, and change the mechanics of your swing. While there is some truth that swinging a weighted bat (for some) can mentally prepare you for a game, it’s strictly mental. At Athletes In Motion, we never encourage the use of weighted bats with our athletes however, if one of the players feels it gives them some sort of edge, then we would not forbid it. The approach best used to increase bat speed is good old fashion strength training.

Dynamic Warm-Up

A Dynamic Warm-Up is a series of movements that are designed to actively prepare the muscles for performance. A proper dynamic warm-up will:

• Activate, energize and prime the muscles. It prepares the body for peak performance! 
• Activate the nervous system, which enhances coordination and motor ability. This is especially beneficial for younger athletes who are still learning their bodies. 
• Raise the body's core temperature. This will increase the elasticity of muscles, tendons, ligaments and overall joint structure. This also improves your range of motion and increases flexibility. 
• Prepares the mind for the practice or game ahead. As we know, baseball is a mental game and proper mental preparation is vital to maximizing your success.

Dynamic warm-up

I stopped to watch a little league tryout over the weekend and was both impressed and disappointed. The parent support was amazing! There must have been 10-15 parents there working the kids. Now, no matter what the level you need a proper warm up. I know "taking a lap" and doing some old school static stretching is what people have been doing for years. It gets regurgitated from generation to generation - which is the problem. It doesn't make much sense to hold a stretch in one position as a way of preparing the body to move explosively. Research shows that workout preceded by static stretching actually have a worse output, and increase the likelihood of injury more than doing NOTHING as a way of getting loose before an event. 


The goal of the warm up is to get the body, and mind, ready to work quick. A dynamic warm up will get you loose and ready to work hard without breaking down the muscles before an event. Save the static stretching for after the game. 


With over 600 muscles to prepare, your warm up will be no shorter than 10 minutes and can last as long as 30 minutes, depending on the environment, with the end result of the athletes all being sweaty and ready to go. If the body feels fatigued, this tells us that (most likely) the kids are deconditioned. 


No more showing up to the field and having the kids play catch to warm up please. If you have questions about building a proper warm up, leave a comment or contact us! 


Zane Kelly is the Owner and Creator of Athletes In Motion LLC, a company that provides training to more professional baseball players than anyone else in the Northwest.