Why You Shouldn’t Stop Strength Training In-Season
May 17, 2025Let’s talk about one of the biggest mistakes I see baseball players make—especially during the season:
They stop strength training.
And I get it. You’re trying to save energy for game day. You don’t want to risk being sore. You’re already dealing with long practices, tight schedules, and extra travel.
But here’s the deal:
Stopping strength training in-season is one of the fastest ways to lose power, lose velocity, and lose your edge.
Why Strength Still Matters
Your body doesn’t just “hold on” to strength because you built it in the off-season. It needs needs continual work to keep those gains you made in the off-season.
We’ve seen athletes lose up to 6 mph on their fastball over the course of a season just from cutting out strength work.
That’s not a small dip — that’s a game-changer.
The Secret Sauce Behind Power
Power isn’t just something you have.
It built from strength.
And strength comes from your body knowing how to create and control tension under load.
If you remove that strength and power training completely, your brain and body forget how to do it. That’s why skipping in-season lifting doesn’t just make you weaker — it makes you less efficient, less powerful, and more likely to break down.
What In-Season Training Should Actually Look Like
Now I am not saying your strength training should look the same as it was in the off-season.
In-season training just means training smart.
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Reduce volume (fewer sets/reps)
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Adjust based on your game and travel schedule
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Prioritize movement quality
You don’t need to be sore. You don’t need to crush yourself.
You just need to keep the system firing.
Want Help with That?
If you’re not sure how to build a smart in-season plan, that’s exactly why we created Periodization for Program Design.
It's our step-by-step plan for creating a program for whichever season you are in.
It guides you into how you can create a balanced program whether you are in the in-season or off-season!
Need a program that actually works in-season?
Check out Periodization for Program Design here.
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