A pitcher's week is a scheduling puzzle with a hard constraint in the middle of it: the arm. Lifting and conditioning can move around. The hardest throwing day is what everything else has to respect. Driveline programs every other throwing day relative to the velocity day [1], and in season the start or outing plays that role [3]. Once you know where your anchor is, most of the rest of the week falls into place.
Rule 1: anchor the week on your hardest throwing day
Pick the day that carries your highest-intent throwing. In the offseason that is usually a velocity day: pulldowns or mound velocity work. In season it is the start for a starter, or the expected outing days for a reliever. Then work outward.
- Stack heavy lifting on the same day. Charlie Francis kept high-intensity work grouped so the following day could be genuinely light [2], and Tread's in-season guidance has relievers lift on the night of an outing to consolidate stress and leave maximum recovery before the next one [3].
- Make the day after easy. Low-intent catch play, light plyo work, mobility and easy aerobic work.
- Leave at least 48 hours before the next high. That is Francis' minimum between similar high-intensity sessions [2]. Driveline avoids pulldowns more than about once every five days and uses a plyo-based velocity day as the second weekly high [1].
This is the high and low day idea from Part 2 turned into a calendar. For a typical Driveline athlete in one study, it meant two high-intensity days, one moderate day and three recovery days in a seven-day cycle [4].
A sample offseason week for building velocity
This example combines Driveline's day types [1] with the high/low logic above. It assumes a healthy high school or college pitcher in a velocity-building block who has already completed an on-ramp. Use it as a starting template to adjust.
| Day | Throwing | Lifting and physical | Intent |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mon | Velocity day (pulldowns or mound velocity) | Lower body, heavy or power, after throwing | High |
| Tue | Recovery: partial plyo circuit, light catch | Mobility, easy aerobic work | Low |
| Wed | Moderate: plyos, catch play with movement goals | Upper body | Moderate, skill challenge |
| Thu | Second high day: plyo velocity work | Lower body power, jumps, med balls | High |
| Fri | Recovery | Aerobic conditioning intervals | Low |
| Sat | Command day: targets and constraints | Upper body, accessories | Moderate, skill challenge |
| Sun | Off | Off | Off |
Notice what is missing: no day sits in a vague medium-hard zone, and the two highs are separated by more than 48 hours. If your arm is newer to high-intent work, replace Thursday's high with a moderate day and keep one true high per week. Our throwing program progression guide covers how to add the second high safely.
Rule 2: freshest work first in every session
Inside a single session, order matters as much as it does across the week. Zatsiorsky and Kraemer recommend doing exercises that demand fine coordination and speed while fresh, right after the warm-up [5], and Bompa and Haff place speed work early in the session and after a rest or light day [6]. For a pitcher, the sequence on a high day looks like this:
- Warm-up and arm preparation.
- Max-intent throwing or sprint and jump work. Speed and skill go first.
- Heavy strength or power lifting.
- Volume and conditioning last. Fatigue blunts fine coordination, so it belongs at the end.
Readiness-aware weeks
Let your arm vote on the plan
Pitch AI pairs your workload trend with a daily Wellness Check-In for arm freshness, soreness and pain, so the week can reduce volume when your arm needs it.
Rule 3: build for three weeks, back off for one
Across weeks, load should rise in steps. Francis used three weeks of step-like loading followed by a lighter fourth week for recovery [2], and Bompa and Haff describe the same 3:1 pattern, suggesting 2:1 for young athletes [6]. Driveline's deload week combines off days with low-intent throwing so the arm keeps its fitness while fatigue clears [1].
The lighter week often feels like a step back. It is frequently where the work shows up. Zatsiorsky describes the gains from hard training appearing mainly during unloading, usually two to six weeks after the hard block [5]. A sensible rule of thumb from his work: a light week runs at roughly 60% of the volume of your heaviest week [5].
What changes in season?
In season, the goal shifts from building to holding. Tread's in-season blueprint for pitchers 16 and older recommends keeping three to four lifting sessions a week, dropping loads to about 85% to 90% of offseason weights in the same rep ranges, and cutting total volume by about 40% to 50% [3]. For example, 4 sets of 10 at 100 pounds becomes 2 sets of 10 at 85 to 90 pounds. Tread also advises avoiding heavy eccentric emphasis and extra forearm work during the season [3].
A sample week for a starter on a seven-day rotation
Tread's template for a seven-day starter runs roughly like this [3]: start day with conditioning after the outing; then a light tolerance throw with lower-body lifting; flat ground with upper-body lifting; another tolerance throw with conditioning; a bullpen with lower-body lifting afterward; a tolerance throw with upper body or conditioning; and a light flat ground the day before the next start. Tread also suggests skipping a scheduled light bullpen if the arm is not ready [3]. In a separate video, a Tread pro pitcher walks through a 25-pitch moderate bullpen two days before a start, aimed at movement and execution more than intensity [8].
Relievers
Relievers rarely know their outing days in advance, so Tread has them stack lifts on the day of an outing [3]. Driveline describes relievers as needing more frequency and starters as building toward one side session and one peak day per week [7]. Both are practitioner templates and worth adjusting to your league and role.
Rule 4: let the data steer the plan
A written week is a forecast. Your body's response is the weather. Driveline uses weekly velocity days both to train and to check how well an athlete is recovering from daily training [1]. A few simple decision rules keep the plan honest:
- Velocity down at the same effort: ease off for a day or two.
- Arm feels off: swap the high day for a low one and move the high later in the week. Driveline moves athletes to a lower-intent day when needed [1].
- A personal best on a high day: stop there. Francis ended high-intensity work when an athlete hit a best or near-best, or when quality visibly dropped [2].
- Several bad days in a row: look at sleep, soreness, arm feel and the last two weeks of workload together before blaming one session.
If you track an acute-to-chronic workload ratio, use it as a trend that prompts questions. Impellizzeri and colleagues argue that the ratio has conceptual and statistical problems and should not be used as a precise injury-prevention threshold [9]. Sudden spikes in throwing are still worth noticing. Our workload and arm health guide goes deeper, and the guide to choosing a throwing program shows how good programs build these rules in.
Build your week this weekend
Write your anchor day first. Put your heaviest lift on it. Mark the next day as easy and pencil in a second high at least two days later if you are ready for one. Fill the rest with moderate skill days and recovery, and keep one full day off. Then plan four weeks at a time, with the fourth lighter than the third. If you have not mapped the whole year yet, start with Part 1 on planning the offseason, and use Part 3's velocity ceilings to keep the easy days easy.
Frequently asked questions
How many days a week should a pitcher throw hard?
Most structured programs use about two high-intent throwing days per week in a velocity-building phase, separated by at least 48 hours, with genuinely easy days between them. Newer or younger pitchers can start with one.
Should pitchers lift on the same day they throw hard?
Usually yes. Stacking heavy lifting on high-intent throwing days keeps the following day free to be truly easy. Relievers in season often lift on the day of an outing for the same reason.
How should pitchers lift during the season?
Tread recommends 3 to 4 sessions a week at about 85% to 90% of offseason loads in the same rep ranges, with total volume cut by about 40% to 50%. The goal is to hold the strength you built.
How often should pitchers take a deload week?
A common pattern is three building weeks followed by one lighter week, or two and one for young athletes. Gains from hard training often show up during the lighter week.
One plan for the whole week
Run your training week in Pitch AI
Pitch AI puts strength, workload and velocity work in one plan, logs every throwing session so workload builds progressively, and pairs your acute-to-chronic workload trend with a daily Wellness Check-In for arm freshness, soreness and pain.
References
- Boddy K, Daniels M. Hacking the Kinetic Chain: Advanced Pitching. Driveline Baseball; 2017. Chapter 3.1, Throwing Programming.
- Francis C. The Charlie Francis Training System. Patterson P, ed. 1992.
- Brewster B. In-Season Training Blueprint: A Training and Nutrition Template for Pitchers Ages 16+. Tread Athletics.
- Marsh JA, Wagshol MI, Boddy KJ, et al. Effects of a six-week weighted-implement throwing program on baseball pitching velocity, kinematics, arm stress, and arm range of motion. PeerJ. 2018;6:e6003. doi:10.7717/peerj.6003
- Zatsiorsky VM, Kraemer WJ. Science and Practice of Strength Training. 2nd ed. Human Kinetics; 2006. Chapter 5.
- Bompa TO, Haff GG. Periodization: Theory and Methodology of Training. 5th ed. Human Kinetics; 2009. Chapters 2 and 12.
- Driveline Baseball. "What 1,000 Bullpen Days Told Us About Pitch Counts." YouTube, 2026-10-10. youtu.be/5OZjHuvBtiY
- Tread Athletics. "How To Structure A Moderate Bullpen [Grips Included]." YouTube, 2026-09-17. youtu.be/IgSo0HzkXHk
- Impellizzeri FM, Tenan MS, Kempton T, Novak A, Coutts AJ. Acute:chronic workload ratio: conceptual issues and fundamental pitfalls. International Journal of Sports Physiology and Performance. 2020;15(6):907-913. doi:10.1123/ijspp.2019-0864