My Top 10 Exercises To Increase Pitching Velocity

(if you’d rather watch than read, you can do so here):

If you want to throw 90 mph and beyond, you need to be doing the right stuff in the weight room.

Not bodybuilding lifts — exercises specifically designed to increase pitching velocity.

These are the 10 movements I’ve used to help myself reach 98 mph and help dozens of our Pitch Lab athletes hit 90mph+.

1. Trap Bar Deadlift (VBT + Jumps)
Attach a VBT machine and track bar speed like you track pitching velocity.

The goal is to move heavy weight fast.

Pull at > 1.0 m/s for speed, 0.8 m/s for power.

If you don’t have a VBT use trap-bar jumps to train rate of force development and neural drive.

When you can jump off the ground with 315, you’ve built real horsepower.

2. Split Stance Overcoming Iso
Push against an immovable bar from a relaxed to max effort state.

Six-second holds build neural drive and rate of force development by teaching the brain to recruit every motor unit.

It’s position-specific too — training the front-leg block position

3. VBT Bench Press
Use velocity-based training to build upper-body explosiveness.

Move the bar as fast as possible, even bounce it slightly like javelin throwers do.

You’re training your pecs to rebound like springs that transfer energy into the ball.

4. Belt Squat
All the benefits of heavy squats without spinal compression.

I stopped back-squatting after a herniated disc — belt squats lets me load heavy, protect my spine, and still build lower-body power.

5. Split Stance Yielding Iso
Hold a heavy split-stance position for 20 seconds to 10 minutes.

It builds tendon stiffness — the tight slingshot that lets force travel efficiently up the chain.

6. Spine Circuit (Jefferson Curl, Side Bend, Pullover)
Train flexion, side-bend, and extension strength.

Jefferson curls builds strength through full flexion range.

Side bends strengthen obliques and QL

Pullovers train spinal extension — to create the “bamboo snap” of the spine in the pitching delivery.

7. Dumbbell External Rotation
Progressive-overload your external rotations like any lift.

Strengthen the back of the shoulder to match the front to handle the throwing forces.

8. Jumps (Vertical, Broad, Skater)
Choose jumps based on your profile: strength, power, or reactivity.

Broad jumps > 9 ft correlate with velocity.

Skater jumps mimic front-leg blocks and train lateral power.

9. Eccentric Presses + Altitude Drops
Control heavy dumbbells slowly or fall into push-up catches.

Both build eccentric pec and shoulder strength to absorb and redirect throwing forces.

10. Sprinting & Med Ball Throws
Sprinting drives neural output and twitchiness — hard throwers like Rōki Sasaki share sprinter-like legs.

Med-ball throws pattern the lower body safely; I’ll do 20–30 a day with a 2-lb ball to replicate and pattern the pitching delivery.