Page 16 - Fully Equipped Playbook

CHAPTER 3: FUNCTIONAL TRAINING
When you’re young, you go all-out all the time. You don't necessarily watch what you eat or how you train. That's the glory of being young and feeling like your body is invincible. But as you mature you have to pay closer attention to what fuels your body and how certain training feels. You have to become a smarter athlete, more in tune with your body. Jack Lalanne sums it up best “Your body is your most priceless possession. Take care of it.”
Like all of the tools in the Fully Equipped Playbook, maximizing my potential physically took years to figure out. Some of those lessons proved pretty painful.
2009 was a tough season for me. I only hit three home runs that year and felt immense pressure to prove I could do better. My immediate gut feeling was that I needed to be bigger and stronger to get the results I desired at this next level. I got in touch with a nutritionist, and came up with a plan to put on weight and gain muscle. With a lot of discipline, I managed to gain 25 lbs that offseason. I was up to 230 lbs. The biggest I had ever been, and boy was that a mistake.
Bigger is not always better, and it definitely wasn't better for my body. I injured my shoulder early on that season because I was simply too big, not functionally fit. I looked more like a linebacker than a sleek outfielder, and it took its toll. I came back strong after a few weeks of rest and rehab. I also got my body under control and back to 205 lbs, the weight which I was used to playing.
That season, 2010, I went on to hit .344 at Double-A with the Tennessee Smokies. 13 home runs and 39 doubles, which was a team record. The Cubs named me the organizations Minor League Player of the Year. Talk about a roller coaster of a season.
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