The Twins are back for another season of America’s favorite pastime. Twins strength and conditioning director, Ian Kadish, offers some insight on how the players stay game day ready all year round. It turns out, MLB player’s workouts aren’t all that different from the averageperson’s.
What does a typical training session look like for a Twins player?
It depends on the time of year. During the offseason the frequency is a little higher. In the offseason I recommend training three times a week for higher intensity training. Then also three times a week, on separate days, they do what we call “recovery work.” I set up an offseason, weekly schedule on Monday, Wednesday, Friday. That is when they’ll do their weight room training. Then Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday they’ll do their movement and recovery regeneration training sessions.
How does training differ based on a player’s position?
Every player will have the same format within the week, but within the lifts it will definitely vary per position. Pitchers will have a lot more unilateral or single leg work. Whereas, some position players, not all, will have more bilateral or two legged work. Because pitching is more unilateral in nature their training tends to go more in that direction. We also really like to pay attention to arm care, rotator cuff and scapula, and maintain their shoulder and elbow health. Where position players get a little more granular is what intensity they should be training at. Whether that's training with lighter weights at higher speeds, or with heavier weights at lower speeds. It depends on what bucket each player falls into. Some players fall into the middle bucket where they need to be doing both because they're required to do both on the field. We try to visualize not only for the person, but also for the position as well.
How much does the role of strength play at hitting a home run versus precision?
Hitting is extremely hard, right? I think it's probably well known that hitting a baseball is the hardest thing to do in sports. So as biased as I am, I can't say that the stronger you are, the better you're gonna be at hitting because there's a lot of factors that go into hitting. But I do believe the stronger, more powerful you are, the better your capability is to hit the ball harder. I'm not saying you'll make more contact. But when you do make contact, you have the potential to hit the ball harder. So it definitely does help. But again, making contact is extremely vital and hitting and it's a lot harder and a lot more nuanced than probably we would like it to be.
How does the training of an MLB player differ from the average person’s typical workout?
I think when you look at the big picture and aspects of training, it doesn't need to differ that much to feel right. What has already been established is what we call the foundational movement patterns. Nobody is reinventing those, everybody needs to do hinge movements, everybody needs a squat, everybody needs to be able to push, everybody needs to be able to pull, everybody needs to be able to carry. What that looks like for each person can vary depending on limitations, injury, history, age, and all the other factors that go into it. But the foundational movement patterns are always going to be there for everybody. It just depends on at what intensity you're doing those at. But again, the foundation of your workout training session versus mine versus one of the players probably doesn't need to be that different in terms of foundational movement patterns. It just depends on what each person can tolerate.
What are your personal fitness tips?
I think the more active you can be the better. Getting outside and getting into the sunlight, I know in the winter it's tough to get sunlight, but getting some vitamin D and physical activity is always going to be beneficial for a person. The more we can get up and move around and be physically active, get our heart rate elevated, get a sweat, and some cardiovascular fitness, I think the better for everybody. It can be as simple as going for walks, playing pickleball, going for a run or working out at the gym. It could be playing basketball with friends or hockey, but just being active is the most important and what your active looks like versus my active can be different. But the theme there is just making sure you're doing something.
