4 Exercises for Healthy Shoulders

By Joe Bonyai | June 6, 2012

As the high school season comes to an end, summer travel teams are ramping up. In order to keep your throwing shoulder healthy thoughout the season, you must be PROACTIVE, continuing to keep your shoulder loose and strong before and after you pitch. In my last post, I demonstrated self-massage exercises that you can do if you have two tennis balls and a softball. In this week’s video, I give you my 4 favorite shoulder strengthening exercises that combat the fatigue you accumulate over your season.

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Why Softball Players Shouldn’t Stretch Their Arms

By Joe Bonyai | May 30, 2012 |

In the Northeast, the high school season is progressing into section playoffs which has inspired me to share some tips on how to keep your throwing shoulder healthy throughout a long season. First, I have to make a bold proclamation: not all softball players should stretch their shoulders.

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Medicine Ball Exercises for Batting and Pitching Power

By Joe Bonyai | May 23, 2012 |

Medicine ball exercises should be used to coordinate and translate the benefits of traditional strength training exercises into softball specific patterns. In this video, I demonstrate the “meat and potatoes” of the medicine ball training I use with softball players to increase rotational power for throwing and batting.

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Awesome At-Home Softball Specific Total Body Workout

By Joe Bonyai | May 16, 2012 |

In this post, I demonstrate a two-circuit, total body workout using only Valslides, a Cook Band, and your own bodyweight. This routine can be done at home, in a hotel when traveling, or you can take theses portable pieces of equipment to your gym. Throughout the videos, I explain the softball-specific and female-specific physical benefits of each exercise.

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Muscles and Exercises You Can’t Pitch Without: Part 3

By Joe Bonyai | May 9, 2012 |

How exactly does a strong core allow you to track properly and throw harder? In these two videos, I continue to define how the core muscles contribute to softball pitching performance and demonstrate three exercises using the Valslide that reinforce pitching specific core control.

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Muscles and Exercises You Can’t Pitch Without: Part 2

By Joe Bonyai | May 2, 2012 |

In this week’s video, I explain in more detail the role of the core muscles in maintaining optimal posture throughout the windmill pitching delivery. I redefine what “the core” is and demonstrate why old fashioned exercises like sit ups and crunches are a BAD choice for softball pitchers. I also give you three pitching specific, KILLER core exercise progressions.

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Muscles and Exercises You Can’t Pitch Without: Part I

By Joe Bonyai | April 25, 2012 |

THIS IS WHAT YOU’VE BEEN WAITING FOR! Well, maybe this is just what I’ve been waiting to write. My three upcoming articles will identify how specific muscles and exercises can contribute to optimal pitching technique. For this series, I’m breaking down the windmill delivery into three general phases, for each of which strength training has different benefits: acceleration, transition, and deceleration. The first installment will review the critical mechanics of the acceleration phase.

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The Personal Trainer’s Guide to Softball Pitching

By Joe Bonyai | April 18, 2012

If you’re a fitness professional who trains athletes, stop for a second. You don’t need new exercises, equipment, or certifications. What you DO need is to learn how to communicate what you already have to offer on your athletes’ terms . Speak their language. If you train softball pitchers, this post is exactly what you need.

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Strong Words From Bonyai #1

By Joe Bonyai | April 11, 2012

If you don’t want to lift weights, don’t play sports.
Lifting means doing squats, deadlifts, lunges, step ups, push ups, and pull ups.
If you can do more than 10 reps of an exercise you’re not lifting, you’re counting. Add weight. If you can do more than 10 pull ups, I want to see.

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