The first step in your daily training is to TISO test. We prefer this testing is done when the athlete is completely cold meaning they have done no activity today.

TISO testing is all about consistency. Done in your training routine at the same time daily you will get consistent results in determining your score. 

Get acquainted to the tests below and really pay attention to the minor details around set up. Once you have the hang of the tests, application of TISO testing in your routine should be seamless. 

 

 

TEST #1- D1 Pattern

-First make sure the TISO unit is 5 ft from the ground and the TISO unit value is at 0. 

-Start in a neutral position hands by your side while facing the TISO unit.

-Rotate your feet so that your testing side foot faces the TISO unit.

-Bring your testing side wrist to hip height. 

-Press the testing arm straight out. The hand should stay at hip height and make sure there is no slack in the testing strap. 

-With 100% effort and no rotation from the body, pull straight across for 3 seconds. 

 

TEST #2- Horizontal Abduction 100 SS

-First make sure the TISO unit is 5 ft from the ground and the TISO unit value is at 0. 

-Start in a neutral position hands by your side while facing the TISO unit.

-Step back into a split stance with the testing arm side leg. 

-Elevate the arm until the hand is approximately at eye level. 

-Rotate the hand until the palm is facing up to the sky and make sure there is no slack in the testing strap. 

-With 100% effort and no rotation from the body, pull straight back for 3 seconds.

 

TEST #3- Horizontal 90 Palm Down 

-First make sure the TISO unit is 5 ft from the ground and the TISO unit value is at 0. 

-Start in a neutral position hands by your side while facing the TISO unit.

-Step back into a split stance with the testing arm side leg. 

-Elevate the arm until the hand is approximately at shoulder height. 

-Palm stays facing down towards the ground and make sure there is no slack in the testing strap. 

-With 100% effort and no rotation from the body, pull straight back for 3 seconds.

 

TEST #4- Horizontal Thumb Up

-First make sure the TISO unit is 5 ft from the ground and the TISO unit value is at 0. 

-Start in a neutral position hands by your side while facing the TISO unit.

-Step back into a split stance with the testing arm side leg. 

-Elevate the arm until the hand is approximately at shoulder height. 

-Rotate the hand until the palm is facing the TISO unit and make sure there is no slack in the testing strap.

-With 100% effort and no rotation from the body, pull straight back for 3 seconds.

 

TEST #5- Y Thumb Up

-First make sure the TISO unit is 5 ft from the ground and the TISO unit value is at 0. 

-Start in a neutral position hands by your side while facing the TISO unit.

-Step back into a split stance with the testing arm side leg. 

-Elevate the arm until the elbow is at eye level. 

-Rotate the hand until the palm is facing the sky and make sure there is no slack in the testing strap.

-With 100% effort and no rotation from the body, pull straight back for 3 seconds.

 

TEST #6- Side Internal Rotation

-First make sure the TISO unit is 5 ft from the ground and the TISO unit value is at 0. 

-Start in a neutral position hands by your side while facing the TISO unit.

-Rotate your feet so that your testing side foot faces the TISO unit.

-Bend the elbow to 90 degrees and make sure there is no slack in the testing strap.

-With 100% effort and no rotation from the body, pull straight across for 3 seconds. 

 

TEST #7- Side External Rotation

-First make sure the TISO unit is 5 ft from the ground and the TISO unit value is at 0. 

-Start in a neutral position hands by your side while facing the TISO unit.

-Rotate your feet so that your non- testing side foot faces the TISO unit.

-Bend the elbow to 90 degrees and make sure there is no slack in the testing strap.

-With 100% effort and no rotation from the body, pull strap straight away from the body for 3 seconds. 

 

TEST #8- Extension

-First make sure the TISO unit is 5 ft from the ground and the TISO unit value is at 0. 

-Start in a neutral position hands by your side while facing the TISO unit.

-Bring the testing side wrist to hip height. 

-Step back approximately 3ft into a split stance with the testing arm side leg. 

-Push the testing arm straight out from the hip and make sure there is no slack in the testing strap.

-With 100% effort and no rotation from the body, pull straight back towards the testing side foot for 3 seconds.

 

TEST #9- Flexion

-First make sure the TISO unit is 1ft from the ground and the TISO unit value is at 0. 

-Start in a neutral position hands by your side while facing the TISO unit.

-Raise the testing side hand until the pinky finger is at eye level (re-position the feet as needed). Make sure there is no slack in the testing strap. 

-With 100% effort and no rotation from the body, pull straight up for 3 seconds. 

When it comes to training many think that the more you “feel” in an exercise the better the exercise is to create change. In reality what most athletes are chasing is sensation instead of stimulation.

This couldn't be more true when we talk about warming up with bands. 

Go to any field and you will see a kid with elastic tubes on a fence, going through a series of undefined exercises, flapping his arms around as if to say "meh that feels good enough I guess". 

Most kids chase the idea of what we call sensation when in reality we need to be focused on the process of stimulation. To get a better understanding of what we mean let's define these two terms…

Sensation: is the FEELING of a physical perception resulting from something that happens to the body. 

Stimulation: the INCREASING of levels of physiological or nervous system activity in the body.

The biggest difference between these two is the “feeling” of change (Sensation) compared to “actual” change (Stimulation).

When building our Prep Bands routine we specifically aimed to "warm up" an overhead throwing athlete. So our mission was to create movements that would aid this specific type of athlete (stimulation) while executing them in a fashion that would leave the athlete feeling "ready to go" (sensation). 

The below exercises are our recommended warm up exercises you can utilize pre-training. 

 

Prep Bands Exercise #1 Dynamic Hug

Our first exercise is the Dynamic Hug. The purpose of the Dynamic Hug is to allow our athlete to start producing movement form the scapula, glenohumeral joint, and rib cage in a manner that matches the act of throwing.

Quick note: Bands should be set at 5ft for this exercise 

In throwing the spine flexes and extends while the glenohumeral joint moves through horizontal adduction and abduction. Additionally we notice the scapula moves via both retraction and protraction around the rib cage.

The Dynamic hug integrates all these movements in the same nature as the throwing motion.

In the dynamic hug the first movement starts with the spine extended and the chest flared. The athletes positioning places the shoulder into horizontal abduction and the scapula in retraction. This will mimic similar positioning as MER in the throwing motion.

The concentric aspect of the move integrates the spine going into flexion while the shoulder moves into horizontal adduction with shoulder protraction. This position of these three joints are the same the positions that they will be in at the end of the throwing motion.

The legs are in the in a split stance to replicate once again the nature of the throwing motion. 

 

Prep Bands Exercise #2 Delt Fly (Palms Facing)

The Delt Fly (Palms Facing) has similar patterning to the Dynamic Hug. This biggest difference is the concentric and eccentric loading of specific musculature.

In the Delt Fly (Palms Facing) the primary muscles that are concentric are the rear delt and trapezius muscles. These muscles are the muscles in the throwing motion that bring the shoulder into horizontal abduction and allow for retraction of the scapula.

The Delt Fly (Palms Facing) prepares each of these muscles to maximize the full range of motion with the integration of both the spine going into extension and the scapula moving through retraction.

The eccentric phase allows these muscles to get into their fully lengthened position and produce force through this position. 

 

Prep Bands Exercise #3 Extension to 0

In Extension to 0 the lat is the primary muscle. In the throwing motion the lat plays a large role from foot plant to ball release. In Extension to 0 the rib cage, spine and pelvis will be in a fixed position. This fixed position will allow for better true lat activation.

The rib cage will be tucked down with the chest slightly to the ground. The pelvis will be tucked under. These cues executed in proper movement will fully active and lengthen the posterior oblique sling.

The starting position for the exercise will have the shoulder flexed to 90 degrees with the shoulders externally rotated. The shoulder being externally rotated allows the lat to be in a more lengthed position.

In the concentric portion the lat will pull the shoulder into extension. The athlete will stop at 0 degrees of extension meaning the athletes hands will stop at the hip. We want to stop at the hip to assure we train the lat as an extender not a flexor.

The eccentric portion will allow the lat to prepare for what it will face when trying to slow the arm in the follow through of the throwing motion.

 

Prep Bands Exercise #4 Flexion to 90

The Flexion to 90 is to prepare the long head of the bicep, pec and anterior delt for throwing.

The bands will be attached on the low setting allowing the shoulder to be at a 0 position next to the hip. This position places these muscles into more lengthened position mirroring the requirements from the arm at MER during the throwing motion.

It is important to cue the rib cage and pelvis just as we did in Extension to 0 with the rib cage down and pelvis tucked back. Done properly this allows for true flexion of the shoulder without rib cage extension.

The concentric aspect of the exercise will happen up until the shoulder is flexed to 90 degrees. This would be when the hands reach shoulder height in the movement.

The eccentric aspect of the exercise will prepare theses muscles to withstand the force that the shoulder experiences when it begins to accelerate the arm out of MER in the throwing motion. 

 

Prep Bands Exercise #5 External Rotation

The exercise External Rotation is designed to prepare the muscle group we call the "external rotators" of the shoulder. These external rotators are Infraspinatus, Teres Major and Teres Minor.

These muscles work during the throwing motion to help stabilize the glenohumeral joint and the scap. This stability allows other muscles such as the lat to absorb the force.

For this exercise the athlete will start by placing their hand on their stomach. Placing the hand on the stomach will fully lengthen the external rotators thus allowing for the athlete to begin producing force from these muscles in a fully lengthened position.

The athlete will cue the rib cage down and pelvis tucked back. This fixed position will allow for better motion through the duration of this exercise.

Initiating the exercise the athlete will externally rotate the shoulder until the hand is in-line with the elbow. If athletes hand goes past the elbow the scapula will began to retract and will take away from this movement.

To compete the exercise the hand will return to starting position on the stomach. 

 

Prep Bands Exercise #6 SL Rotations

The exercise SL Rotation is designed to prepare the athlete to hold counter rotation while on a single leg.

To start the exercise the athlete is positioned to fully lengthen the posterior oblique sling by rotating the hip, spine and shoulders together.

The spine will start the rotation and bring the shoulder in front of the body. This position mirrors the rotation the athlete will experience during the follow through of the throwing motion.

As the back leg flexes, the hands and knees comes together. The single leg stance created will prepare the spine to hold anti rotation on a single leg.

This move can be observed in the throwing motion right before foot plant.

In the eccentric portion the hands will rotate back over the front leg and the back leg will return into extension. This extension of the back leg is the same extension that leg will go through when the ahtelte pushes down the mound. This will get are three of these joints (the hips, spine and shoulder) prepared for the throwing motion.

 

"Be sure to get your recovery work in". You hear this regularly around the baseball community. You hear coaches encouraging their athletes to "recover" by doing a series of exercises. 

Reality is the human body can either build up or break down. You are either on the way to losing muscle or on the way to gaining it. Limiting stimulus on the body provides the body a chance to build from prior stimulus. Too much stimulus applied and the body cannot overcome the needed repair thus possibly leading to injury.  

This is why you hear so often that sleep is the best recovery tool. Stimulus can be placed on the entire body leaving both the nervous system and musculature taxed. Sleeping is the only time where both the physical (muscles) and mental (nervous system) have the chance to adapt to the stimulus placed upon them. Every activity an athlete does is stress inducing, some activities more stressful than others, but still all activity can be considered stress inducing. 

Our goal when building ꓘP Bands was to keep this in mind. By building an arm care system that would be auto regulatory we felt we could improve the model of how athletes approached arm care daily. Our KP Bands Strength Protocol is just that... a strength protocol. We do not label any of our programs as "recovery". Our goal with the KP Bands system is to build strength. 

The Strength Protocol provides the appropriate amount of stress daily through the exercise selection, tension, sets, reps, and tempo. In doing this we feel utilizing this program daily is encouraged. We do encourage thoughtful programming in other aspects of an athletes training but be it that the KP Bands system is auto regulatory we feel you can continue to regularly utilize KP Bands without extended off periods. 

To properly implement our Strength Protocol we do recommend it be done after all training activity daily. 

 

KP Round Tables coming soon!