Spending "Break Time" Wisely

By a series of scheduling circumstances I happen to have a 2.5 week hiatus from baseball right now which isn't necessarily a bad thing. I will continue to go to the cages and hit off a tee to maintain my hitting form but what I do with the rest of the "break" will be key in maintaining performance and decreasing my chance of injury.
I have a few nagging nicks: several hit by pitch "reminders" as well as a mild ankle sprain to pay attention to and in 2.5 weeks those should be back to "normal."
But I am also going to work on some more SMR (self myofascial release) through foam rolling, stick work and small ball work to improve soft tissue quality and pliability. That is a continual struggle as we age as we tend to lose moisture from our tissues which impacts tissue pliability and elasticity.
I will also continue to work on my strength/power, movement work and conditioning. It is known that we lose power at twice the rate as we lose strength yet so few Masters athletes do little, if any, power work.
In my strength work I emphasize "big bang" exercises. Currently, I have front squats, deadlifts, inclines, chins, and KB swings amongst others, in my strength program.
My power work currently includes box jumps, long jumps, and med ball work. I also do sprint/agility work at least twice weekly even in-season.
I do mobility work daily as it is critical to maintaining at least some mobility/ROM esp. in my ankles, t-spine, and hips.
I am more convinced than ever that you either keep moving and pretty soon you won't be able to move. There is no magic pill that will replace movement and the human body is designed and meant to move.
I playing and observing both my teammates and other teams play baseball this summer and in the past 10+ years that I have been playing senior men's baseball it is apparent to me how limited one's game becomes when you can't move. Even in a game where many think movement is not important if you can't move in baseball you can't: steal a base, your fielding range is severely limited, you are easy to "double up", you can't get an infield hit, etc.
I hope to avoid that fate by being diligent in my training and maintaining my ability to move. So should you!

Train hard and train smart!
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