The Arm-Care Work Most Players Skip
6 Exercises for Health—and How 365 Is Always Coaching
A college teammate of mine was the perennial backup to Albert Pujols. He tried to knock the Hall of Famer off first base but topped out in Triple-A. With St. Louis, that former first-rounder spent big-league spring trainings under a Cooperstown-bound manager: Tony La Russa, who led the Cardinals from 1996 to 2011.
I once asked him what made La Russa special. His answer surprised me.
“ABC. Tony believed he should always be coaching.”
He explained that La Russa was constantly walking the field, getting to know players, standing behind the cage evaluating with intense focus. Sometimes he said nothing for an hour. But he was always teaching—or preparing to teach.
That’s the same belief behind Trosky 365, the most comprehensive daily training system available. When the pupil is ready, the coach is in your pocket.
And the reps? They’re added every day.
Strength Reps: Arm Care for the Long Season
This week’s Strength Reps prepare the arm for the marathon of a season.
Velocity gets you noticed.
Arm care keeps you playing.
“Arm care isn’t something you do when you’re hurt. It’s something you do every day so you don’t get hurt.”
— Justin Verlander
Old-School Arm Care: The Program
As Opening Day approaches, light dumbbells—and learning to isolate small muscles—keep players durable and available. Setup doesn’t need to be fancy. It can be as simple as a can of beans.
Choose your load:
Newbies: No weight. Master the movement.
Rookies: 15-oz can of Bush’s Baked Beans.
Arm-Care Vets: Up to 2.5 lbs.
Frequency:
Begin 3–4 days per week. After a few consistent weeks, progress to 5–6 days.
Set & rep guideline:
For each exercise below, perform 3 sets of 12 controlled reps.
Throwing is explosive. Earn that explosiveness by building the base first.
Staying healthy starts with the boring stuff. These six exercises work just as well in the weight room as they do in the living room.
Exercise #1 — Cross Raise
Builds stability in the shoulder and upper back. Controlled movement and muscle isolation allow light weights to fire muscles that rarely get targeted.
Exercise #2 — Shoulder Press
Each controlled rep builds coordination. Small muscles develop the same way big ones do—slowly.
Think progression:
Stability → Strength → Power
Pinch the scapulae lightly before beginning.
Exercise #3 — Reverse Goalposts
Arm speed works only if you have the brakes to slow it down. This exercise builds the decelerators—the most commonly neglected part of the shoulder.
Elbows stay just below shoulder height. Arms stop near parallel to the ground. Movements are controlled, with a light scap pinch before each set.
Exercise #4 — Rows
With your chosen weight, isolate the scapulae independently. By working one arm at a time, row through a full range of motion.
Before you “pinch the scaps” to make a long throw, build stability and strength in the part of your back that keeps the shoulder in place—the scapulae.
Exercise #5 — Full Cans
Stand tall with strong posture. Palms face the quads as both arms raise slowly.
Pause and breathe between reps to avoid recruiting the deltoids and reinforce smooth range of motion.
Exercise #6 — Empty Cans
Pinkies up. Thumbs down. Stop short of shoulder height.
With this final exercise, review and set your plan. These movements are in your Journey this week inside the Trosky 365 daily training app.
Balanced and stable plays longer. Old-school simple; Bush’s Beans practical.
The Virtual Coach
Trosky 365 supports complete development—physical, mental, and personal. Created to deliver daily training and prompts, here’s what’s coming this week:
Character Reps
Breathe into your goals with the godfather of baseball’s mental game.
In Heads-Up Baseball (1995), Dr. Ken Ravizza laid the foundation for modern mental training. One core habit: breathing.
“The breath helps you shift from consciously thinking to just doing. Let go of the thinking and move to the doing. Breathing is a powerful tool because it represents so much. It brings oxygen to the brain.
When you need to relax a little bit, focus on the exhalation.
When you need energy, focus on the inhalation.”
Make-Your-Bed Mantra
Control the controllables—starting every morning.
Watch the mantra twice, then ask:
What’s one small win I can get today?
Examples:
Make your bed
Clean your room
Organize your backpack or folders
Pick up trash at school
Fill this in: “My make-my-bed moment will be when I __________”
Baseball Development
Infield Mastery #1 — Field Through (IF Back)
For the next five days, we’re setting the highest on-field standard: do it like a big leaguer.
This is a visualization exercise that takes less than one minute but builds elite habits through repetition.
No matter your position, see yourself as an MLB shortstop. Watch the Infield Mastery video again. Then close your eyes and make the play—clean field, strong footwork, decisive throw.
After the out is made, answer one question to sharpen the visualization:
What do you turn and tell your outfielders?
Monday through Friday, one new play each day to challenge the visualization muscle:
Monday: IF Mastery #1 – Field Through (IF Back)
Tuesday: IF Mastery #2 – Drop-Step, Get in Front
Wednesday: IF Mastery #3 – Sweeping Backhand
Thursday: IF Mastery #4 – Routine
Friday: IF Mastery #5 – Lateral Left, Get in Front
Short reps. Clear intent. Big-league standards—every day.
Weekly Player Development Meetings
Last week, Hammer and I discussed choosing one primary mental skill for 2026. (YouTube link here.)
This Monday, we’ll focus on how Trosky 365 prepares players in short, powerful bursts. That conversation will be posted next Tuesday.
Or, join directly any Monday night at 5pm PT:
Have a great week!
On the adventure,
—Greg Moore
greg@troskyedtech.com
TroskyBaseball.com
Our Team
Trosky EdTech Inc. is dedicated to transforming education and amateur sports.
Our mission is to fulfill Nate Trosky’s vision of impacting a generation. Our team — a blend of baseball and business leaders — is united in changing academics and athletics forever. Our regional academies combine school + baseball, backed by groundbreaking whole-person training tech.
Meet the Team
Help us reach 1 million players and families by sharing the GYMR Newsletter.
Together, we elevate a generation.