Last week, I had the pleasure of going on a trip to the Caribbean. It’s been a long time since I’d been on a vacation, and I loved almost every second of it. (I had no access to any baseball info! That’s right. No ESPN, no MLB TV, nothing!)
On my trip, I had the chance to go kayaking, twice. I’d never been kayaking, so I was definitely up for it.
The first kayaking experience was in the ocean. That was just flat out hard, and not the way I recommend jumping into kayaking. The second time was on a river in the jungles of Belize. (That’s right, I said jungle.) Aside from the falling coconuts, bats (of the flying kind), the occasional baby croc, and the fact that about halfway into the excursion, my kayak decided to take in a lot of water, it was much easier than kayaking in the ocean.
Not easy mind you, just ‘less difficult’ than fighting the waves and ocean current.
Nevertheless, being the great athlete I am (or used to be?) I wasn’t tested to my limits. However, I was sore enough to notice the next day. I wasn’t completely surprised given the conditions (heat, little drinking water, the time spent kayaking) but I was caught off guard a little bit – particularly how I was completely ‘out kayaked’ by the guide on the trip.
My ‘jungle guide,’ was not what you’d call a physical specimen, unless you consider tall and pencil thin, athletic. But he was an absolute magician w/ the kayak. He could accelerate in a split second, and stop on a dime. He could spin his kayak around, go backwards, and even stand up and paddle without hesitation, or even a slight wobble.
All without breaking much of a sweat.
On top of that, after our tour through the jungle, our guide stepped away for a second, only to return for another jaunt through the wilderness.
I am in pretty good shape, but I knew I couldn’t make it down the river and back a second time, much less a few more times over the course of the day.
How could this be?
I lift weights in a hot and stuffy garage, using the same muscles I used kayaking. I can throw batting practice for hours and not be the slightest bit sore the next day.
But, as much as I hate to admit it, the guide and the kayak got the better of me.
What gives?
The answer: sport-specific exercise.
Sure, I exercise like a fiend… but I don’t kayak on a daily basis. Kayaking, while nice to try on vacation, is a sport. (In fact, my guide mentioned how he races kayaks and canoes competitively.) Paddling, steering, even standing up in a kayak are as sport specific to kayaking as throwing a ball or swinging a bat is to baseball.
If you don’t ‘practice’ those elements – on a daily basis – you won’t get much better at them, and your muscles will not recover as you might expect.
I work out hard, using the same muscles I used kayaking. BUT NOT IN THE SAME FASHION. That’s the difference, and why I noticed that my body hadn’t fully recovered the next day.
By working on your skills every day, you will teach your body to prepare and recover quicker (adaptation), develop new, longer lasting strength levels (muscle endurance), and develop repeatable form (technique).
My guide may not look like the prototypical athlete, but he definitely is one in the sport of kayaking!
By working out once in a while, you will just spend the next day complaining how sore you are and missing valuable time developing a consistent technique.
Now I’m not saying that you shouldn’t lift weights in ways that aren’t completely sport-specific. After I do my sport-specific exercises, I always mix in general strength building exercises. I do fully believe they are great supplement to the rest of my workout.
Supplement… not replacement!
So the next time you walk into the weight room, or sit down to plan out your ‘baseball-specific’ workouts, take a good look to see if what it is your doing really does make you a better ballplayer and not someone who fills out a uniform.
Coach Bones
