Why Baseball/Softball Arm Care Needs More Than Resistance Bands
By Dr. Carmen Jansante, PT, DPT, CSCS Undefeated Physical Therapy & Performance | Canonsburg, PA| Pittsburgh, PA
Your Arm Care Program Needs Variety
If you play baseball, chances are resistance bands are a regular part of your arm care routine. Bands are convenient, easy to use, and a great way to incorporate strengthening exercises into your throwing program. However, effective baseball arm care needs to include more than just resistance bands.
One of the most important principles of strength training is providing your body with different training stimuli. Our bodies adapt to the demands we place on them, and incorporating different types of resistance, exercises, and loading strategies allows us to develop strength in a variety of ways.
At Undefeated Physical Therapy & Performance, we believe arm care should be individualized, progressive, and built around the demands of throwing.
Bands have their place, but they are only one tool in the toolbox.
1. Resistance Bands Are Great, but They Have Limitations
Let’s address the use of resistance bands right away. Bands are great for applying resistance to the muscles around the shoulder and elbow. They’re also convenient. You can throw them in your bag, take them to the field, and complete a series of exercises in a relatively short amount of time.
So, what’s the problem with using only bands for your arm care?
The answer comes down to how resistance is applied.
Resistance bands provide what is known as accommodating resistance. As you stretch a band, the resistance generally increases. This means the amount of force required to perform an exercise changes based on how far the band is stretched.
For example, when performing an external rotation exercise with a band, the resistance is typically lower when the band is less stretched and higher as you move farther away from the starting position.
This isn’t necessarily a bad thing. In fact, it’s one of the reasons bands can be useful. However, it is a different loading strategy than using free weights or a cable machine.
If your entire arm care program consists of bands, you’re repeatedly exposing your body to a relatively narrow range of loading strategies.
The goal isn’t to eliminate bands. It’s to understand their limitations and incorporate other tools when appropriate.
2. Different Types of Resistance Provide Different Training Stimuli
Not all resistance is created equal. Dumbbells, resistance bands, and cable machines each challenge your muscles differently.
Understanding these differences can help you build a more comprehensive arm care program.
Dumbbells and free weights
When using a dumbbell, resistance is primarily determined by gravity. A five-pound dumbbell weighs five pounds throughout the movement, but the torque it creates around a joint changes as the position of your arm changes.
For example, during a shoulder external rotation exercise, the demand on your muscles can vary depending on the position of your forearm relative to gravity.
This provides a different resistance profile than a band and can be useful for developing strength through specific portions of a movement.
Cable machines
Cable machines provide resistance through a pulley system. Depending on the setup, the direction of the cable and the position of your body, you can change how resistance is applied throughout an exercise.
This allows you to target muscles using different lines of pull and resistance profiles.
Cable machines can be especially useful when you want to introduce a different loading strategy without relying entirely on bands or free weights.
Resistance bands
As discussed earlier, bands generally provide more resistance as they stretch. They are portable, versatile, and easy to incorporate into a throwing routine.
However, the resistance profile is different from that of a dumbbell or cable machine.
Each tool has advantages and limitations. The important thing is understanding how to use them together rather than relying on one method for everything.
3. Your Arm Care Program Should Progress With You
One of the biggest problems I see with arm care programs is a lack of progression and variation.
Players often work through their band exercises quickly. They may complete a few repetitions of each exercise without spending enough time under tension or progressively challenging their muscles as their strength improves.
Other times, players aren’t performing their arm care programs consistently or using exercises that address their individual limitations and needs.
Ultimately, the goal of a good arm care program is to build the strength and capacity needed to support the demands of throwing.
That requires more than simply completing a list of exercises.
Your program should consider factors such as:
Strength: Are you progressively challenging the muscles around the shoulder, elbow, and upper extremity?
Time under tension: Are your muscles spending enough time working to create a meaningful training stimulus?
Progression: Are you adjusting resistance, repetitions, sets, or exercise difficulty as you improve?
Variation: Are you incorporating different types of resistance and exercises when appropriate?
Individual needs: Does your program address your strength deficits, training history, and throwing demands?
Consistency: Are you following the program regularly enough to adapt to the training stimulus?
The goal is not to make your arm care program unnecessarily complicated. It’s to make sure the program is actually helping you get stronger.
4. Arm Care Is About Building Strength, Not Just Completing Exercises
Arm care is often treated as a quick routine that pitchers complete before throwing. While a warm-up and preparation routine can be valuable, arm care should also include a structured approach to developing strength.
A well-designed program can incorporate resistance bands, dumbbells, cable machines, and other appropriate strengthening exercises to progressively challenge the shoulder and elbow musculature.
This is particularly important for pitchers, who repeatedly expose their throwing arms to high forces and demanding workloads.
The objective is to develop the physical capacity to tolerate those demands. No single exercise or piece of equipment can accomplish that on its own.
It is also important to understand that arm care is only one part of the bigger picture. Throwing workload, recovery, mechanics, overall strength, and appropriate progression all play a role in how a player tolerates the demands of a baseball season.
Arm care should complement your throwing program, not replace a comprehensive strength and conditioning program.
5. What About Velocity and Tommy John Surgery?
One example that highlights the importance of strength training is the rehabilitation process following Tommy John surgery.
After surgery, athletes complete a structured rehabilitation program that gradually restores range of motion, strength, function, and the ability to tolerate throwing.
As athletes progress through rehabilitation, they often incorporate a variety of strengthening exercises and loading strategies before returning to a throwing program.
Some pitchers even return throwing harder than they did before surgery.
It is important to understand that replacing or repairing the ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) does not automatically make a pitcher throw harder. Velocity improvements can occur for a variety of reasons, including improvements in strength, physical preparation, throwing mechanics, and training.
The rehabilitation and strengthening process is an important part of preparing the athlete to return to throwing. The ligament itself is not a velocity-enhancing tool.
This is another reason we should look beyond bands alone. Developing strength requires an appropriate progression of loading, exercise selection, and training over time.
The Bottom Line: Bands Are a Tool, Not the Entire Program
Resistance bands are an excellent addition to a baseball player’s arm care routine. They are convenient, versatile, and effective for many exercises.
However, they should not be the only tool you use to develop strength.
Incorporating dumbbells, cable machines, and other appropriate forms of resistance allows you to expose your body to different loading strategies. Combined with progressive overload, adequate time under tension, and consistent training, this can help build a more comprehensive approach to arm care.
The goal is not simply to complete your exercises before you throw. The goal is to develop the strength and physical capacity necessary to meet the demands of throwing.
At Undefeated Physical Therapy & Performance we help baseball players develop individualized rehabilitation, strength, and return-to-throwing programs based on their needs and goals.
Your arm care program should be designed to help you get stronger, not just give you something to do with a band.
If you’re a baseball player looking to improve your arm strength or build a more complete arm care program, visit undefeatedpt.com to learn more about our baseball-specific physical therapy and performance services in Canonsburg, PA.
References
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Lopes, J. S. S., Machado, A. F., Micheletti, J. K., de Almeida, A. C., Cavina, A. P., & Pastre, C. M. (2019). Effects of training with elastic resistance versus conventional resistance on muscular strength: A systematic review and meta-analysis. SAGE Open Medicine, 7. https://doi.org/10.1177/2050312119831116
American College of Sports Medicine. (2009). American College of Sports Medicine position stand: Progression models in resistance training for healthy adults. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, 41(3), 687–708. https://doi.org/10.1249/MSS.0b013e3181915670
Camp, C. L., Tubbs, T. G., Fleisig, G. S., et al. (2019). Current workload recommendations in baseball pitchers: A systematic review. Sports Health. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31013139/
Rehabilitation and return to sport criteria following ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction: A systematic review. (2022). The American Journal of Sports Medicine. https://doi.org/10.1177/03635465211033994
Return-to-play and competitive outcomes after ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction among baseball players: A systematic review. (2021). https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33748295/
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