.......Talking with Softball Superstar Larry Carter........


During the course of the season I am always looking to try news things to help me with my swing or my workout habits. While I was in Bismarck, North Dakota this past summer visiting the McQuade Softball Tournament I had a few minutes to talk with softball superstar Larry Carter. Larry who has been playing softball for almost 20 years now is one of your health nuts and workout gurus that has a lot to offer to the up and coming softball player. I spoke with Larry about what type of routine he was doing now to keep himself strong for the long grind of a slo-pitch softball season.

Larry said that when he was younger he would be hammering all kind of weights which would help him become stronger for the game . But now that he has gotten older he says that there was always that mental grind of the long season. Now that he has his strength right where he wants it he has changed his routine so that he is not killing himeslf during the season and therefore he has plenty of energy left at the end of the season. So this is his routine to maintain his power for the long summer.

I got a chance to speak with Larry the other day and he said he really enjoyed hitting on the Long Haul Bombers Tour this past year. He felt he could have done better if he was playing tournament ball during the season. This past year he just concentrated on the homer tour and he feels like he needed more game like situation swings. He said "I was taken my usual 200 to 250 swings on Tuesday and Thursday during the season but when it was all said and done I wished I could have had more live swings in games." Larry said he would like to apologize to his fans because he knew he could of done better and he is defintiely looking forward to next year.

More info about Larry.
Larry says he has been playing softball since 1989. He says that when he was in High School he weighed 185 lbs. He played football at Central State and played defensive tackle at 210 lbs. Says he went up in weight as he grew older and continued to lift heavy weights. From the age of 28 to 35 he would usually weigh in anywhere between 225 and 260.

Now at the age of 40 he weighs 285 lbs. He say he is as strong as he ever was. The one thing that he has learned over the years is that the older you get the tougher it is to hit the weights hard throughout the season and still feel fresh when National Championship time rolls around. He feels he needs his legs at the end because that is where he gets a lot of his power from. The last couple of years he has changed his workout for the simple reason that he is not worn out by the time he gets to Orlando to play at Disney. Below I have put together Larry's workout for the different individuals that this might help. Good Luck in the off season.

Remember that this is a maintain routine. You can see that he does not use a lot of heavy weight. This workout will keep you strong throughout the year.

Quads
Leg Press Machine / 2 plates, 3 plates, 4 plates, 5 plates @ 12-15 reps per set.
Leg Extensions
80 lbs. for 4 sets of 12-15 reps.
Hip Flexers with Anti-Burst Exercise Balls
4 sets of 15-20 reps against a wall. Standing dips
Treadmill Routine
Ride treadmill for 12 minutes on #3 speed with a #8 incline
Chest
Machine Chest / 130 lbs @ 4 sets of 12-15 reps,
Dumbells
80 lbs @ 4 sets of 12 to 15 reps
Smith Machine - Chest
120 lbs. @ 4 sets of 12-15 reps
Tri-ceps
Tri-Ceps Pushdowns 100 lbs. @ 4 sets of 12-15 reps
Treadmill Routine
Treadmill for 12 minutes @ #3 speed with a #8 incline.
Deep Squats
2 - 45 lb. plates on squat rack @ 4 sets of 13-20 reps
Cable Rear Pulldown
80 lbs. to 100 lbs. for 4 sets of 12-15 reps.
Dumbbell Bent-over Row
Knee on bench -70 lb. dumbells @ 4 sets of 12-15 reps /elbow to ear
Cable Seated Row
80 to 100 lbs. for 4 sets of 12-15 reps.
Hamstring Curls
80 to 100 lbs. for 4 sets of 12-15 reps.
Treadmill Routine
Ride treadmill for 12 minutes on #3 speed with a #8 incline

Saturday and Sunday I take off.

Larry standing at the plate with his left foot slighty open.
Here Larry is loading up by lifting his front leg to lean back to start his coil backwards.
Larry has made his contact and is following through with his swing.



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