Today’s episode features strength coach and gym owner, Eric Cressey. Eric Cressey is the president and co-founder of Cressey Sports Performance (CSP), with facilities in both Hudson, MA and Jupiter, FL. Behind Eric’s expertise, CSP has established itself as a go-to high-performance facility to both local athletes and those that come from across the country and abroad to experience CSP’s cutting-edge methods. Eric also works with the New York Yankees as the Director of Player Health and Performance. In the past five years, 125 CSP athletes have been selected in the Major League Baseball Draft, and CSP works with players from all 30 MLB organizations.
The field of sports performance is rapidly evolving, especially in the private sector where sport skills and specific strength are becoming increasingly blended. Compared to a decade or more ago, strength and sports performance coaches are learning more and more about the specific biomechanics and KPI’s that lead to success of their athletes on the field. Additionally, ideas on shoulder injury prevention and rehabilitation for athletic populations are also changing fast. Modern sport coaching is also getting better, albeit more slowly than what athletes would like, in methods to develop an optimal specific work capacity for their players rather than old school methods of slogging laps.
To keep up in a fast-changing world, I was really excited to catch up with Eric Cressey and see how his process has evolved in his years as a coach and business owner. As a man who works with many of the top athletes, coaches and therapists in the world, seeing how Eric’s process has grown over the years is an enlightening conversation. Some of the areas we get into specifically involve the blend of sport and strength coaching, shoulder health, work capacity, maximal strength training, and more. This was a brief, but information dense episode that coaches and athletes of any sport (but particularly over-head and throwing sports) can get a lot out of.
Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more.
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Timestamps and Main Points
5:55 How Eric got into coaching strength training and performance for baseball players 9:40 Eric’s transition into getting into the technical and biomechanical side of pitching 20:25 How getting into pitching mechanics has had an impact on Eric’s strength program 23:25 How Eric’s thoughts on strength training and powerlifting in working with athletes have changed over the years 27:55 How Eric’s thoughts on shoulder training and injury prevention have evolved over time 35:55 Pros and cons of using fixed vs. free scapular movements with athletes 36:55 Indicators from watching athletes move in the weightroom as to their chances of a acquiring a shoulder injury in sport 38:55 Building work capacity in baseball players 44:55 How Eric looks at asymmetry in baseball players“I wrote up a weighted ball and extreme long toss program, and I got a text when he had thrown live against the hitters at Harvard, he said I was 91-94mph, then we saw some 95s and 96s, he had a life changing velocity jump”
“A strength and conditioning coach is writing a throwing program, that’s never happened”
“Weighted implements had been around for a long time, but they haven’t been utilized… it got me thinking about weighted balls, medicine balls (for throwing enhancement). Training in those middle grounds seemed to have a lot of value”
“There are things that are being coached mechanically that are well intentioned but they don’t take into account the limitations that an athlete has, he just can’t get into the positions they need”
“Pitching mechanics are actually the most heavily debated topic out there”
“We want to prepare our athletes for a chaotic world, a lack of predictability”
“When you have a powerlifting background, you have to emotionally separate yourself from those things that have been fun for you when training rotational athletes”
“(For shoulder training) What you are going to do for a 65-year old man who has been sitting at his computer his whole life is a lot different than what you need to do for your athletes who are in extension-rotation sports”
“You can’t just pin your scapula down on a bench and expect it to carry over (to sport)
“When you train your elbow at your side, you’re not actually training it in a functional position, you want it to be strong in positions that really matter”
“Don’t just work cuff strength, work cuff timing”
“(With overhead athletes) When people do a lot of vertical presses, they often feel better”
“We should be looking at free vs. fixed scapular pressing, and how much vertical vs. horizontal pushing and pulling, everyone needs something a little bit different”
“I really don’t like floor presses because your shoulder blades are still stuck against the floor”
“(As a shoulder risk indicator) We’ll see people get a lot of arm motion because the scapula isn’t moving enough”
“Work capacity is incredibly specific”
“I think there is a need for a strong aerobic base. For most athletes, getting a heart rate under 60 means that you are in a pretty good spot”
“I like to train mobility circuits (for an aerobic base)”
“Right-handed individuals tend to have more extreme asymmetries. Your lefties tend to find more ways to work out of it”
About Eric Cressey
Eric Cressey is the president and co-founder of Cressey Sports Performance (CSP), with facilities in both Hudson, MA and Jupiter, FL. Behind Eric’s expertise, CSP has established itself as a go-to high-performance facility to both local athletes and those that come from across the country and abroad to experience CSP’s cutting-edge methods. Eric also works with the New York Yankees as the Director of Player Health and Performance. In the past five years, 125 CSP athletes have been selected in the Major League Baseball Draft, and CSP works with players from all 30 MLB organizations. In 2017 alone, CSP was off-season home to both the American League and National League Cy Young Award winners.
Cressey received his Master’s Degree in Kinesiology with a concentration in Exercise Science through the University of Connecticut Department of Kinesiology. At UCONN, Eric was involved in varsity strength and conditioning and research in the human performance laboratory. Previously, Eric graduated from the University of New England with a double major in Exercise Science and Sports and Fitness Management.
Eric has been an invited guest lecturer in six countries and more than 25 U.S. states, and is a presenter on the Perform Better Tour, widely regarded as the premier lecture circuit in the fitness industry. Cressey has written over 500 articles and five books, and co-created four DVD sets; these products have been purchased in over 60 countries around the world. In addition to regularly consulting for professional sports teams, Eric also serves as a baseball consultant to New Balance. Eric served as the strength and conditioning coach to the USA Baseball Under-18 National Team that won the gold medal at the 2015 World Cup in Osaka, Japan.
A record-setting competitive powerlifter himself, Cressey has deadlifted 650 pounds at a body weight of 174 and is recognized as an athlete who can jump, sprint, and lift alongside his best athletes to push them to higher levels – and keep them healthy in the process.
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