[Casey is an Exercise Science student at ECU and is an Athletic Development Intern for Athletic Lab] Power is defined as the rate of performing work and is expressed as work divided by time or force times velocity.(2) In regards to the human body, it is the muscles? ability to produce as much force as fast as possible. Athletes with more fast twitch muscle fibers, which are responsible for short-duration anaerobic activities, are typically capable of producing more power.(3) Explosive power is one of the most important components of fitness for an athlete to possess to be successful, regardless of their sport. For a baseball player, it can be the difference between safely stealing second or being thrown out by a step. Hitting that game winning homerun with two outs in the state championship or making the final out at the warning track. Incorporating power training in the athlete's strength and conditioning program is imperative to avoid the latter of the two in these scenarios. So we know power training is a must for baseball, but what exercises or lifts should we incorporate to stimulate these fast twitch muscle fibers. Unfortunately, this is where it can get tricky. The Olympic lifts (snatch, clean, jerk) are one of the best tools to develop explosive power and are used worldwide. However, for years there has been a constant warfare going on between strength and conditioning coaches/trainers on whether these lifts should be included in the training of a baseball player. One coach will regularly utilize the Olympic lifts in his/her program while another coach would not dare use this form of training on his/her athlete. The lifts are either hated or they are loved. Rebuttals can be [...]