Romano says, "As a former body builder (Romano competed professionally) I know that this kind of training is inappropriate for any athlete at any level. Not only am I surprised that this is being presented as Pujols’ workout, I can’t believe that he actually follows this program."
Every paragraph in this story contains a statement that is incorrect and can be refuted with evidence from the field of strength and conditioning.
In the first paragraph of the story we’re told that Pujols puts in “two-a-days at the gym, sometimes completing more than 36 sets worth of exercise in a single session.” For the uninitiated – or for readers of M&F – this might sound impressive, but when you look at the make-up of this routine all this means is that Pujols is wasting a lot of time in the gym.
To keep this item as brief as possible I will use the first day of this workout for examples, but every day – every workout - of this program contains faulty design elements and ignores the basic principles of program design.
Monday is chest, biceps and traps day. There’s no valid reason to ever break up the body into these small pieces, but this breakdown is particularly bizarre.
During Albert’s Monday morning workout he completes 6 sets of 6 exercises with a repetitions scheme of 20, 15, 12, 10, 8, 8 for each. The 6 exercises are flat dumbbell bench press, incline dumbbell press, machine fly, EZ-bar curl, seated dumbbell curl and alternating hammer curl. There’s that “impressive” 36 sets.
After taking a break from this diet of iron to partake in a similarly inappropriate cardiovascular workout, Pujols is back in the gym for his second helping of iron. In the afternoon the Cardinals’ slugger does Smith machine shrugs and dumbbell shrugs in the same set/rep scheme as the morning session, and some medicine ball crunches and jump rope.
This is classic body builder junk and displays a complete lack of understanding of how an athlete’s body works and needs to work. From the program design standpoint there is never a reason to split a workout into 2 daily sessions, as anything that is truly worth accomplishing in the weight room can be accomplished in one session. When you consider that all Albert does in the second session is some shrugs, this split session is even that much more absurd.
Another classic body builder blunder is to break the body down into component movements rather that provide compound, ground-based exercises that allow the body to work in a manner similar to the conditions experienced in competition. There is no imaginable reason to perform the exact same amount of sets and reps for the chest and biceps, especially when you consider the differences in the relative size and function of these groups.
Article comments
1 - Pujolsfan
Dang Albert,chill a bit...that's why you've been off too a bad start to 2007
2 - FK
Nice article. I too, even as a novice weightlifter, found Pujols' workout a little surprising. I've read over and over again the need to do functional and compound exercises when preparing for a sport.
Was wondering if you could illustrate a better "ground based" weights workout for baseball training? I assume it would involve leg work (squats, lunges) abs (side bends, crunches), back (upright rows), shoulders (military press) and triceps and forearm work.
Is a day of recovery still advisable?
3 - sal m
FK:
thanks...
you picked ground based movements that are appropriate for any athlete, and i would add explosive movements such as the split jerk, clean, high pull and/or snatch.
including the appropriate amount and type of ground based barbell and dumbbell exercises minimizes the need to do much arm work.
a day of rest is always advisable with 2 days rest at key times in the program. elite athletes really need to rest and recover in the off-season.
the amount of volume in this workout is really incredible.
4 - Ben Connole
First off, I was a player at Maple Woods CC in Kansas City for Chris Mihlfeld in 1996-1997. I left high school, sat out a year after high school, tried out for the Kansas City Royals at a closed tryout camp where Mihlfeld was a scout. I signed a scholarship at MWCC where Mihlfeld was a coach. I got there at 140 pounds. By the time i left I was 175 pounds of lean muscle. My power numbers where up, Homeruns, RBI's, Doubles, etc.....This is the reult of Mihlfeld's workouts. By far the best coach I ever played for. His workouts consist of very explosive movements very similiar to Pujols's. I never broke down, in fact I was stonger as the season went on. You can't tell me that what Pujol's is doing is wrong, had it not been for Mihlfeld's training program I do not believe I would have done as well as I had. Everything that Mihlfeld teaches are explosive movents. I am very gracious to play for him. In fact, at 31 today, I still use most of his training ideas in my workouts and I have absolutley no complaints and if you talked to other former players they would say the same thing. B/C of his ideas we all believed Mihlfeld would move on to bigger things in which he has. There are a million so-called trainers in this world who have many ideas on how to train, what makes you think his don't work. Did you take into account the oblique strain that Pujols had maybe had something to do with the fact he takes about 500 hacks a day at a baseball.. He just doesn't go to the park and puts on a uniform and goes to the plate do you. He hits of a tee, then in the cage, then soft toss, then batting practice, then back into the cage, then back on the tee. Everyday of his life, same routine. Pujols already had an existing elbow problem thats why they moved him to first. I'm not understanding the your purpose for saying Pujol's wokkout is totally wrong. Until you experience it first hand you could never gather the benefits of Mihlfeld's traing program.
5 - joel
um- have you ever tried this workout? i didn't even read this whole article- i stopped at the part where he says- "since all albert does in the second session is shrugs, there's no need to split it up". try this workout ONE time, and you'll be begging for it to be split up more than once...
6 - bruce
For what it's worth, Mihlfeld is Mike Sweeney's trainer and he is constantly hurt.
7 - Sam
This article is the only thing "wrong." There is so much misinformation written in here I can't believe it was published at all. First off, Pujols is a 1st-ballot Hall-of-Famer if he keeps this up, and he's had 8 straight spectacular seasons already. His elbow problems are due to a partially torn Ulnar collateral ligament that could go out at any time. If you remember, Pujols was originally a 3rd basemen and outfielder but was moved to first after the injury. To date Pujols has not elected to have the surgery and go through a long and grueling rehab.
8 - Bradley
Albert is such a natural talent but I have to believe his workout regiment contributes a little to his success. And what a year he is having!!!