In case you missed it, THIS is what I am referring to and yes it is way past time. After seasons of injury it seems that our hard hitting giants Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton have revamped their offseason workouts in a big way. It's big but not in the muscular way. Last winter there were pictures of Stanton bench pressing supermodel Adriana Lima and I cringed when I saw it. Now it sounds like both of them have cut back on the weights and are now focusing on their flexibility and agility.
Wow. Well I am glad Stanton is taking a break from bench pressing supermodels, but why the sudden change of heart? Eric Cressey the Yankees director of health and performance is also happy about the change, "we have to be mindful of the stresses on guys who are 6-foot-7, 6-foot-8. Big dudes who are standing around for long periods of time in cleats. Those are things that normal people don’t encounter. So I think we’ve understood their preparation has to be markedly different in terms of not just building them up as athletes, but building them up as baseball players where there is a gradual on-ramping of those specific stressors. Running the bases, changing directions, swinging. So both of those guys are in a good place."
I wish it hadn't taken this long to put two and two together but I guess better late than never. It sounds like it is embraced by a lot of the other guys too. "Aaron in particular has taken a heavy interest in a lot of yoga. We’ve had a great instructor in Dana Santas who’s come in and helped out at our spring-training complex. Not just Aaron, but Luke Voit and Mike Ford and Thairo Estrada and Nick Nelson, a lot of those guys who are down there. So that’s something that I think is important."
He's right, it is important and the yoga will be just as important as the weight training. Maybe if the Yankees embraced this sooner they would have fewer pulled muscles. Maybe it would've saved Stanton a few hamstring injuries last season. Hopefully it pans out this season and it helps our guys stay healthy this season and productive.
And now I am trying not to laugh as I think about Stanton and Judge doing yoga poses....but I dig it!
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