By Brett Holland PT, DPT, CSCS
70 hits, .347 average, 20 stolen bases, only 13 strikeouts in 200+ at bats, and a trip to the Ole Miss regional. This is how I ended my senior year at Monmouth. Things weren’t always this fine and dandy. Here is my story.
Everyone has heard the story about the ultra skinny kid whom through hard work and dedication ended up making a successful career in some sort of athletic endeavor. Well add another one to the list (me!).
I grew up an skinny kid, like really really skinny, in the suburbs of Pittsburgh with 2 younger brothers and an older sister.
Baseball is something that runs in my family. My grandfather played (professionally), my uncles played, and my dad played. So naturally I played.
I was the proverbial switch hitting skinny fast kid who barely hit the ball out of the infield. Being tired of hitting singles, and especially tired of seeing my own ribs everyday in the mirror, I began hitting the weights seriously about my sophomore year of high school.
And woo la, I became so ripped and jacked everyone at school was asking what I was doing. Except it didn’t happen that way. Not even close. I certainly put on a few pounds but I weighed in freshman year fall baseball camp at Monmouth at 155 lbs.
After my sophomore year at Monmouth I began taking strength and conditioning more seriously. This is where my love for strength and conditioning really started. I began reading everything I could get my hands on and the following year I weighed in at 176 lbs, and my senior year I weighed in at 186 lbs.
My strength and conditioning programs at this time were far from perfect and I made my fair share of mistakes looking back.
When compared to other sports such as football, powerlifting, and track and field baseball is light years behind in terms of strength and conditioning. It’s hard to find quality information.
That’s why I’ve created this website, to provide quality information. That way you don’t get stuck making the same mistakes I did.
-Brett
Senior Year at Monmouth: 186 lbs
Freshman Year: 155 lbs
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