Super User Koz Posted February 12, 2022 Super User Posted February 12, 2022 I'm in my late fifties and need to get in better shape. I don't eat junk food or fast food, and I eat my veggies, but I don't get enough exercise - especially over the winter. That will change some once the water warms and I can get out on my pedal kayak, but I still need to do more. I bought some weights a few weeks ago and use them 20-30 minutes every other day. Baby steps. But I wanted something that was fun for me and to get in some cardio and then it came to me - pitching! Other than throwing batting practice to youth baseball and middle school players, I haven't thrown a real pitch in over 30 years. I'm certainly not ready to do that now, but I'm getting ready. I did my "warmup to throw" routine and then brought a net and a bucket of balls out in the back yard and got at it. My brain knew what to do, but my body was not ready to comply just yet. I wasn't trying to throw hard (I bet I didn't top 55 if that), just trying to get into a rhythm and find some of my mechanics again. No video, no radar gun, just out there having fun and grumbling at myself for not getting it right. But in a fun way. I had a lot of fun out there and got the blood pumping. I quit at 50 pitches because frankly, I was out of gas even just taking it easy. My arm feels great, but my shoulder is a little stiff and I'll probably feel it in the morning. But I don't care. It felt great out there, "pitching" a baseball again. I'm going to keep at it, and when I feel like I'm ready I'll break out the video, radar gun, and use the Team Mustard app to analyze my pitching and see if the old man still has it. I think a reasonable target for my age is to throw 65-70 mph by the fall. My 16 year old son laughs at that because he's throwing 87-88 right now. Heck, I barely threw 84 in college, so there's no way I can get up near 80 now. 2 Quote
Super User A-Jay Posted February 12, 2022 Super User Posted February 12, 2022 Nice Job young man ~ Perhaps speed walk or better yet light jog, the length of that field between every pitch. Otherwise, not really cardio. A-Jay Quote
Super User Deleted account Posted February 12, 2022 Super User Posted February 12, 2022 Pitching is actually very good exercise that works many muscle groups, and helps with coordination and is also good for cognition, but aerobic it is not. Quote
Super User FryDog62 Posted February 13, 2022 Super User Posted February 13, 2022 I threw about your velocity when I was in junior college. Took many years off and then partially tore my rotator cuff at 41 lifting weights. Never thought I’d throw again... then my boys got into travel baseball and they needed a coach. I started throwing again gradually and eventually 500-1000 pitches a week in batting practice. When the boys got into 9th grade I needed to get the velocity up again. Although I’m sure I never hit 80, I did snap a few curve balls off and froze a couple guys that that were starting to tee off on me. That made it all worth it. Bottom line, if you stretch out ahead of time, get good and warm and don’t try to overthrow, you can get there again. Good luck, stay healthy... 1 Quote
Super User gim Posted February 13, 2022 Super User Posted February 13, 2022 I started up on the cardio again too. I’m pretty good about lifting weights regularly but running on a treadmill just gets so old. So I’ve been swimming laps, playing in a racquetball league, and skating around on the ice rink. It takes time because I haven’t been doing some of this during the pandemic. 1 Quote
cyclops2 Posted February 13, 2022 Posted February 13, 2022 I am not a hamster that runs on tread mills / belts. I am much better now. So I can do yardwork & finish up a outside generator shed & fuel storage shed also. I like changing tasks. Up & down basement stairs 10 to 20 times a day on some projects. I keep things far enough apart, to keep more active. 1 Quote
Super User Koz Posted February 13, 2022 Author Super User Posted February 13, 2022 7 hours ago, A-Jay said: Nice Job young man ~ Perhaps speed walk or better yet light jog, the length of that field between every pitch. Otherwise, not really cardio. A-Jay My heart rate begs to differ. The time from first movement to foot plant - when done properly - is one second or less. Plus I don't have TV timeouts or a batter getting set in the box to delay the next pitch. There's actually a lot more to it than just throwing to get the heart rate pumping. The misconception many people have is that you throw to warm up. In actuality, you warm up before throwing. It's a pretty solid 30 minute routine just to get ready to throw. 3 hours ago, FryDog62 said: Bottom line, if you stretch out ahead of time, get good and warm and don’t try to overthrow, you can get there again. Good luck, stay healthy... You should check out the National Pitching Association and the Team Mustard app. There's a lot more to the pre-throwing routine than just stretching. The app is absolutely amazing in helping with not only mechanics, but everything about being a pitcher from nutrition to the mental game to mechanics and video analysis. I haven't put myself on it yet, but I use it with my son and with some of my players. 1 Quote
Super User FryDog62 Posted February 13, 2022 Super User Posted February 13, 2022 13 hours ago, gimruis said: I started up on the cardio again too. I’m pretty good about lifting weights regularly but running on a treadmill just gets so old. So I’ve been swimming laps, playing in a racquetball league, and skating around on the ice rink. It takes time because I haven’t been doing some of this during the pandemic. The struggle with cardio exercise is real… A friend of mine is an exercise physiologist and helped set me up on a program years ago. One day of cardio, the next day weights and resistance training. Gotta be honest the hardest is the cardio for sure. But he always told me if you’re going to skip a day or you miss due to travel or whatever skip the weight lifting day and stick with the cardio. I try to do that but yeah life gets in the way sometimes. I started on the exercise bike years ago, and it sucks. But I try to do 45 minutes every other day. So in the winter I turn on the DVR and watch fishing shows lol. In the summer I turn on Twins baseball and watch that. It’s the only thing that passes the time enough to get through the workout many days. But with a family history of lots of heart issues, I know I need to stick with it. Whatever you decide to do to keep active is great. Some form of movement every day I think makes a big difference. Yeah easier said than done but you can always find something to do. 2 Quote
Super User Jigfishn10 Posted February 13, 2022 Super User Posted February 13, 2022 Man, I miss throwing BP to 12-15 y/o's. Haven't done it in 3 years. We used to get hitting tunnels a few times a week for an hour and I'll tell ya, I was gassed by the end of the hour. I threw fastball, slider & split to those kids and would sweat my butt off. I really miss coaching, that's for sure. 1 Quote
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