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Softball is a popular sport these days. Corporations, adult leagues and inner-city competitions are fueling the demand for skilled and competitive players. While softball may be experiencing a surge of interest, the basic techniques to improve your game and gain a competitive edge have remained the same.

Many do not realize that basic softball movements such as batting and throwing are not a directly related to arm strength. The movement begins in the legs. The power is then transferred into the hips, the torso, the upper back, the chest, the shoulders and then the arms.

A proper softball strength training routine will include an exercise for each muscle group. During the off-season, athletes will be able to strength train 2-3 times per week. Training should be reduced to 1-2 times per week during the season. Each exercise should be performed 8-12 times for 1-3 sets.

Quickness, speed, agility, balance, explosiveness, and power will be enhanced as the strength training program progresses. Below is a list of sample exercises for the commonly used muscles in softball. There are many other exercises you could perform, but this will provide a starting point.

Quadriceps – Squats, One-Legged Squats, Jump Squats
Hams & Glutes – Lunges, Explosive Lunges, Bridge on Ball
Hip Adductors/Abductors – Lying Side Leg Raises, Ball Squeeze
Obliques- Oblique Crunch on Ball
Rectus Abdominis – Ball Crunch, 180 Ball Crunch
Erector Spinae – Plank Pose
Deltoids – Shoulder Press, Military Press
Pectoralis Major – Chest Fly, Chest Press, Push ups
Latissimus Dorsi – Bent Over Row, Reverse Fly
Triceps – Overhead Extensions, Skull crushers
Biceps – Bicep Curl, Hammer Curl
A powerful softball strength training program will produce powerful players. Use a full ROM (range of motion) for each exercise. Generally free weights provide a better ROM than machines, but use which ever feels best to you. The ultimate goal is to create a solid program that will deliver a well-rounded athlete.

The common practice of requiring physicians-in-training to work many double, and even triple, shifts results in performance reductions equivalent to the effects of drinking several ounces of alcohol, according to a new study led by a University of Michigan sleep researcher published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Depending on the type of medical or surgical care they decide to specialize in, young doctors can spend anywhere from three to 12 years in training. The first year – the internship – is considered the most intense.

Thirty-four Brown University Medical School pediatric residents completed standardized tests following two different schedules: a month of 44-hour work weeks in office-based clinics with no overnight duties; and a month of 90-hour work weeks, including day shifts in the hospital’s wards or intensive care units, plus overnight shifts once every four or five nights.

Vigilance, Attention
Following the month of longer hours, the doctors’ vigilance, attention and driving skills were found to be impaired. Their test responses were equivalent to their performance after consuming three to four alcoholic drinks following a month of lighter duties.

“This adds to the growing evidence that sleep deprivation among medical residents significantly impairs their ability to perform, although it is important to note that we did not assess performance on specific medical tasks,” says J. Todd Arnedt, PhD, a sleep psychologist who is a clinical assistant professor of psychiatry and neurology at the U-M Medical School. Arnedt works in the the U-M Sleep Disorders Center and the U-M Depression Center Sleep & Chronophysiology Laboratory.

Three Hours Sleep
Sleep diaries and an automatic wrist-watch activity monitor verified that the residents on heavy work shifts got significantly less sleep per night on average than those with lighter schedules during the study period.

In the 24 hours leading up to the test days, residents on a light schedule slept an average of 6 hours and 37 minutes, compared with about 3 hours for the residents on a heavy schedule.

The residents were tested four times, in two separate sessions. Two of the tests were completed after they had worked a month of light duty without overnight shifts; the tests were given before and after they consumed three to four alcoholic drinks.

In the second session, they were tested on the day after an overnight shift that came at the end of a month of 90-hour work weeks. During this session, they were tested before and after drinking a non-alcoholic placebo beverage. Of primary interest were the tests conducted after they had drunk either the alcohol or the placebo.

Performance, Effort
The researchers asked the residents to rate their performance and effort on the tests. Ratings of impaired performance were higher following the month of heavy work shifts compared to the light schedules.

Residents also rated their effort as higher after heavy work shifts compared to the lighter shifts with alcohol.

In addition, the residents rated their levels of sleepiness. During the heavy call month, they felt more tired than during the light-call month, even after they had consumed alcohol on the light-call rotation.

They were not allowed to nap on the test day or to use caffeine after noon. All of the tests were conducted at 3 pm.

Reducing Fatigue-Related Impairment
Most of the tests took place before new work-hour restrictions were imposed by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education in 2003.

Residents now are subject to the following rules: an 80-hour weekly work-hour limit; a 24-hour limit on continuous duty time; in-house call duty no more than once every three nights; and one day in seven free from all patient care and educational obligations. All requirements are averaged over four weeks.

The new regulations are “a good initial step,” Arnedt noted, “but the solution to the problem is not likely as simple as well-intentioned policies aimed at reducing work hours, which can themselves have negative ramifications,” he pointed out.

“Our study, like others before it, does raise concerns about the performance of sleep deprived physicians-in-training and suggests that strategies aimed at reducing fatigue-related impairments are likely necessary,” Arnedt said.

Alcohol Comparison
Arnedt and his colleagues are the first to study medical residents using the sleep deprivation and alcohol comparison model, which has been used in other p! opulations, including truck drivers. Both sleep deprivation and alcohol consumption impair a person’s reaction time, attention, judgment, control and driving ability.

In a Harvard University study published earlier this year, the authors found that interns were more likely to have an automobile crash or near-miss while driving after an extended work shift.

Arnedt’s team found that skills on a driving simulator deteriorated in residents who were tested after an overnight shift in the hospital at the end of a month of heavy night work. The findings from these studies suggest that the personal safety of residents who drive home after working all night may be at risk.

“We need to continue to find simple, practical and effective strategies that hospitals and senior doctors can take to reduce sleep deprivation among residents,” says Arnedt.

Today, drugs in some professional sports have become mainstream. The hypocrisy of Major League Baseball serves as a wake up call for an American culture that indulges in careless living by risking its health through poor nutrition, alcoholic beverages, cigarettes, etc. Before we can hope to see bodybuilding return to its roots in physical culture, we will first have to witness a ‘new way of life’ throughout our society.

Since the early days of physical culture, modern man has been searching for the elusive “Fountain of Youth”. The promise of radiant health, enduring strength and a Herculean physique has drawn millions on this quest for physical perfection.

Through the early decades of bodybuilding, the forefathers of physical culture established basic guidelines for the muscle enthusiast to follow. Natural foods, resistance training, plenty of rest, and a positive outlook in life were the primary ingredients for achieving ones goals. The demand for knowledge on ‘how to’ reach the stars would result in millions of booklets being sold by mail order, while magazine stands and bookshelves were continually restocked with the latest ‘muscle building secrets’. Tons of steel and exercise equipment would find its way into the homes of thousands of Americans all across our nation. Health clubs and iron gyms would sprout up in local neighborhoods and towns, while physique competitions were held to determine who the best in the land was. The strong roots of physical culture were taking grip in our society, and the mighty oak of bodybuilding would soon branch out through every city in America.

A new ‘way of life’ became a reality for many as the ‘body beautiful’ movement swung into high gear. For decades the much traveled road to muscledom kept its promise, then by the mid-60′s what seemed pure and natural took a wrong turn setting the course of modern bodybuilding down a dead end. The introduction of anabolic steroids into the sport of bodybuilding would usher in a new era of super sized and equally strong muscular physiques that would attract millions of young men with a desire to achieve the same naturally unattainable goals.

Along with the growth of the sport, the physiques continued to become bigger and more vascular as bodybuilders experimented with ‘stacking’ the latest in designer muscle enhancing pharmaceuticals. Magazine and ticket sales were at a peak and bodybuilding competitions were seen regularly on network TV. The popularity of the sport was soaring high. Then, what could have been mostly prevented by not promoting and rewarding individuals whose physiques were chemically altered became a reality as the widespread use of drugs in the sport became relevant.

Words such as steroids, cycling, and growth hormones became common place in our gyms, and juicing no longer meant enjoying your favorite health drink. Reports of bodybuilders on dialysis and with heart ailments became a frequent occurrence while the eventual death of several competitive pros hit home hard. What had been a dark cloud in a sport with such great potential turned into a storm that spread its vast shadow on a culture that once shined.

Organizations dedicated to natural bodybuilding and a healthy lifestyle would soon respond to the call for a return to the ideals set forth by the forefathers of physical culture. Physique promoters throughout the land created natural bodybuilding competitions so athletes could compete on a level playing field without running the risk of ruining their health. Publications featuring natural bodybuilders began to spread the gospel of healthy living through proper nutrition and exercise. The televised media developed new bodybuilding and fitness programs to inspire future generations of natural iron pumpers. And as the age of cyber space came upon us, the Internet became a resource of concepts and opinions for bodybuilders to learn and express their views with other physique artist throughout the World. The new millennium is here and those dedicated to physical culture have begun to prevail as the radiant beacon of light from the torch of natural living begins to shine through the storm.