If you’re a high school baseball player trying to play in college one day, here’s a reality check.
Most athletes don’t really think about the weight room at all.
Or at least in the RIGHT way. Not like, “If I get stronger, I’ll throw harder, hit harder, run faster, and stay healthier.” For a lot of athletes, lifting is just something they’re required to do. They show up because it’s mandatory, go through the motions, and leave. Box checked.
That’s a problem for college baseball players, but it’s an opportunity for ambitious high schoolers looking to replace them.
The biggest misconception: “The weight room doesn’t really carry over to the field”
A lot of athletes don’t believe the weight room has much carryover to sport. They don’t connect getting stronger to playing better. They don’t think much about injury prevention. They don’t view training as part of their identity as an athlete.
They treat it like an extra chore. But baseball doesn’t reward people who treat development like a chore.
When athletes do buy in, it’s often for the wrong reason
When athletes do take the weight room seriously, a lot of the time it’s for aesthetics, looking better, more than performing better.
There’s nothing wrong with wanting to look shredded, muscular, etc. But if your “why” for training is mainly the mirror, you’ll stop pushing when it gets inconvenient. Your training becomes random. Your progress slows. And when it matters most, late season, tired body, high pressure, you won’t have the physical base or the mindset to separate yourself.
Here’s the advantage: most of your competition is lazy and asleep
This is the good news. If most athletes are just checking the box, then all you have to do to stand out is care more and connect the dots.
Lock in and train like an athlete who cares…an athlete who wants to get bigger, faster, and stronger, every time you step into the weight room, and you will soar past your competition.
A better way to think about the weight room
If you want the weight room to carry over to baseball, train with a purpose:
Power: stronger legs and hips can transfer into harder throws and more bat speed
Speed: strength and stiffness help you accelerate and decelerate
Durability: building tissue tolerance and control helps keep you on the field
Confidence: the athlete who knows he’s prepared plays freer
The simplest takeaway
Don’t be the athlete who “shows up.”
Be the athlete who understands why he’s there.
The weight room is not a punishment. It is leverage. And if you start treating it that way now, before you ever step on a college campus, you’ll already be ahead of most guys you’ll compete against.
Because nobody can make you care. That part is on you