What's going on in this video and why do I consistently program this for highly trained pitchers?

In this thread I ask some questions and answer them. Let's dive in!

first: what even is this?

this is a variation of a bicep drop catch. the goal is to apply a large amount of force very quickly to train your biceps and forearms. I like this variation because it takes the skill of catching the barbell out of it. just lock it in and stabilize

second: why the biceps and forearms?

the bicep and forearm act as dynamic stabilizers in the throw. without getting into too much detail, the bicep rapidly slows down elbow extension and the forearm helps keep your UCL from taking too much of the load.

third: can't you just do normal bicep curls?

absolutely, and you definitely should first to build up a strength base! while heavy bicep curls will focus on the total force your bicep and forearms can produce, bicep drop catches work on how quickly you can apply that force

here's a graph example of the force the bicep plays a big part in stabilizing from a high arm-stress thrower. this peak is equivalent to about 65 lbs of force and goes from 0-65 lbs in ~0.02 sec. That's a lot of force being applied REALLY fast!

here's a graph example of the force the forearm plays a big part in stabilizing from that same high arm-stress thrower. this peak is equivalent to about 100 lbs of force and goes from 0-100 lbs in ~0.06 sec. Again, that is a huge amount of force applied EXTREMELY fast

training to produce more total force AND to produce/accept it faster can be a great supplement to a well-designed weighted ball throwing program for both performance and health.

that's what's going on in the video and why I program that exercise for highly trained pitchers!