Avoid: Chest Fly
Bodybuilders have popularized the Chest Fly as a way to increase chest size. A big chest may look good on the beach, but the Chest Fly will not help you become a better athlete, since very few sports skills involve its movement pattern.
Instead of building a bigger chest, aim for improving your horizontal pressing strength and power.
Do: Dumbbell Bench Press with a neutral grip
The neutral grip in a dumbbell press takes the shoulders out of internal rotation and puts them in a much safer neutral position. You can also overload this exercise more which makes it better for increasing strength in the chest, shoulders and triceps.
Avoid: Upright Rows
To perform Upright Rows, your shoulders need to be internally rotated. Try this without weight and notice how uncomfortable it feels in your shoulders. Upright Rows put unnecessary stress on your shoulders, and they should be avoided by athletes, particularly throwing athletes
Do: Band Pull Aparts
Band Pull Aparts are a great exercise that target the upper back muscles.
Avoid: Bench Dips
Similar to upright rows, bench dips are done with your shoulders internally rotated. To compound this issue more, your shoulders are in even more internal rotation since your arms are behind you.
Do: Close Grip Push-ups
The Push-Up is an old school exercise that often gets dismissed by athletes as “too easy” since no weight is involved. But performing Push-Ups properly is an effective method for building upper-body strength, which is important if you want to tackle harder or throw faster.
Part of a good strength training program includes proper exercise selection. Use these tips above to improve your strength training program.
P.S. Would you like us to evaluate your child’s strength training program for free? CLICK HERE and we’ll setup a time to evaluate exactly what your son or daughter is doing to ensure they are doing safe exercises while getting the results they want.
