Keep in mind that conditioning also has a greater scope of benefit than just athletic performance. For one, conditioning has longterm health benefits. It is also a great stress management tool, particularly during exam time. And conditioning has appearance benefits which you coaches perhaps may find useful as a motivation factor fbr your girls. Just explain to them that by merely working out they can control their weight easier and maintain a healthy appearance.

So what does one do to get into softball shape. The very first thing is to get a physical exam by your physician. He can tell you about your current physical state, as well as caution you about any physical limitations. Also, always remember, if you are in pain while doing exercises, STOP! The old adage of pain equals gain is a myth. If pain continues, go to a doctor.

Running:

A good conditioning program should include both running and strength development, on a year-round basis. At this point, though, the programs will differ depending upon age. Let us begin with the younger children. The age group I am talking about is somewhere around junior high school ages. As I describe some programs, do take into consideration the physical development level of the child. For example, one I I-year-old could be as tall and strong as a 14-year-old, while another I I-year-old could have the equivalent development of a 9-year-old. So when outlining a program for a youngster, be sensible and use good judgement.

The problem about outlining a strict regimen for this age group is that they get bored easily. So we want to make conditioning fun for these girls. But first some basics: Running will differ according to the time of year. The fall and early winter will be more distance-type running so the girls can build a base of endurance. Also, the endurance of each girl will differ, so keep that in mind.

The goals is to try to build up the endurance of the girls, so that they can run about a mile, three or four days a week. If they can do more, great. If they are truly having trouble, cut back. And like I said before, use good judgement and do not overwork the girls. When I say build up to, this means start with a low mileage until that mileage can be run without too much strain. Then add another block or portion of a mile, and rim this mileage until again it can be run without strain. Continue to add until the desired mileage is achieved.

During the pre-season the girls want to begin more sprint-type running. Use basically the same mileage or a little less, but have them sprint for X meters, then walk or slow jog for X meters, keeping the distance sensible. To keep things fun, maybe have the girls race each other. Such racing may get the girls to start setting goals as to whom they want to beat or how fast they want to nm a certain distance. And as a result of this competition, the girls may push themselves harder without the need of a coach's pushing.

Strength Building

The second component to conditioning is building strength. Unfortunately, building strength at this age is hard, because these children are still growing. So I would discourage weight lifting and, thus I will not outline any such programs for this age group. Instead I would suggest push-ups, sit-ups, arm circles, chin-ups, or anything that would work muscle groups without over-straining a developing body. As to amount, again use good judgement. Also keep in mind that certain exercises will be easier than others.

'Me older age group will follow generally the same program, although a bit more grueling. This age group consists of high schoolers and up.

The running program would again be broken down into seasons. The fall and early winter should consist of distance running, at least five days a week. The distance should cover ten to twelve miles per week. This amount could be broken up either unevenly or divided up into even portions. For example. A girl could run three miles one day and one the next, or she could just rim two miles a day, for five days. The objective here is again to build a base of endurance, which is built by times run per week as well as amount run per week. Also, try to keep the time per mile around eight minutes, and certainly under ten.

Once late winter and early spring rolls around, the running should switch to sprints with a day of distance per week. Again, try to run around five days a week, though probably no more than five, because sprints tend to take more out of an athlete than distance. So the girls would sprint for four days and run distance for one.

The key to sprints is to keep a constant motion, even when not sprinting. For example, have the girls spring X meters, then slow jog (or, if necessary, walk) X meters. The amount of running should be somewhere around a mile to a mile and a half.The following is a sample work out which your girls will probably find to be challenging: Sprint 50 meters,jog 50, sprint 100,jog 100, sprint 150, jog 150, etc. up to 300 meters, then build back down from 300 meters to 50 meters via 50 meter intervals. Or have the girls sprint/jog 20 75-meter intervals. In essence, the idea is to run intervals for a mileage.

Once in season, running should be modified. An outline is difficult to describe due to the fact that every team has a different schedule, some heavier than others. To stay in shape while in season, try to have the girls run some modified sprints, though running distance is perhaps more important, because endurance must be maintained.

As to building strength, this age group should be introduced to weights. The lifting can be done with free weights or with machines. I personally prefer the former due to the fact that free weights make both sides of the body work equally hard, where as machines do allow some cheating.

Softball players need to build explosive strength, not bulk or weight endurance. Thus, weight amounts, repetitions, and sets should be intermediate levels. An intermediate number of repetitions and sets would be three sets of eight reps, or two sets of ten reps. The latter is a good work out if time restrictions are a concern. Also, to ensure that the athlete is indeed building strength, a weight should be selected that requires a spotter's help on the last one or two repetitions. Once the girl can lift the weight without the spotter's help, they should increase the weight so that they require the spotter's help the last few repetitions. Remember, we are looking to build strength, so select an intermediate weight and an intermediate amount of lifts.

In order to build strength, lifting should be repeated three times per week, with a day of rest between lifts so that muscle has time to rebuild. Once the season appears, strength building should stop and maintenance should begin. Thus, the girls should not try to increase the weights, as would be done when they are building strength in the off-season.

The best program to use is one that works all muscle groups. Begin with small groups and work to big (i.e., arms to abdomen) because the bigger muscle groups are sometimes used in conjunction with the smaller. So fatiguing the bigger groups early may compromise the entire workout.

The following exercises could be used for a complete routine,. Additional exercises and proper lifting form are described in most weight lifting books.

Upper Body: Bench press, butter fly curls, military. press, shoulder rows, incline press, bicep curls, tricep curls, wrist curls (four directions), finger curls

Lower Body: Leg press, calf raises, hamstring curls, knee raises (if machine)

Abdomen: (4 sets of 25): Sit-ups, crunchies, abdomen curls, hanging knee raises

Back: Reverse back raises

And there you have it, a simple conditioning program that will get your girls in tip-top softball shape.

AMY Redmer was a starting pitcher in the Big Ten at Northwestern University playing softball from 1986-1990. She is an MD, Board Certified in Family Practice, graduated from Chicago Medical College, She's currently a Lt. in the Navy stationed in Italy.