The great game of baseball and another Fall Classic showed the world why, in my opinion, baseball is the best team sport ever invented. 
In Athletic Health, Fitness & Exercise, Life Priority, Men's Health, Sports & Conditioning, Total Health, Vitamins & Supplementsby

What Happens to MLB Players Now That The Season Is Over?

“What Happens to MLB Players Now That The Baseball Season Is Over? by Greg Pryor

What a great World Series!  The great game of baseball and another Fall Classic showed the world why, in my opinion, baseball is the best team sport ever invented. What happens to MLB players when baseball season is over? A very important aspect of off season conditioning is the diet. For most professional baseball players their “cherished” off season is here. A small percentage of players will go to play winter baseball in Mexico, Venezuela, Puerto Rico, or the Dominican Republic.  Most players will stay in the States and enjoy their families who they don’t get to see much during baseball season.

One of the bad things that happens to players on clubs that make the postseason, especially the Indians and the Cubs, is that they will have a much shorter off season. In just 4 short months (exactly 120 days), players on World Series teams will be reporting to spring training.  The “real” MLB ballplayers know that their 2017 season has already begun and they are not wasting time getting ready.

The story of the 2016 MLB World Champs began on the first day of spring training last March at their training site in Arizona.  In reality, the beginning of a baseball season for a “real” MLB player begins on the day that his season ends.  As one who participated in 16 seasons of pro baseball, the 7 month grind of no weekends off and an average of 28 games per month from March to October is not for the feeble minded or physically weak. No offense to the talented players in the NFL, NBA, and NHL who have their own tough grind, but I consider the “combined” mental and physical stress of a MLB season to be the toughest of all sports.  Proper off season preparation by individual players is one of the most important aspects of winning a World Championship.  The story of what George Brett did between the end of the 1984 and the beginning of the 1985 season is a good example.

In 1984, the Kansas City Royals won the American League West Division title but George had one of his worst seasons.  For him, hitting a paltry .284 and driving in only 69 runs was very disappointing and he was challenged by the then-owner, Avron Fogelman, to show people the real Brett in ’85.  George used the off-season to get ready and every Royals fan remembers what happened.  George added 50 points to his average, doubled his RBI output and the Royals went on their first World Series crown.  George put in the workout time during the off season and it paid off.

Next March, around 1,300 pro ballplayers, those on MLB rosters and invitees, will report to the MLB spring training sites of their team.  Older players will be trying to keep their jobs and younger players will be trying to take someone else’s job.  A few will report with jobs locked up because of the size of their contract or the high level of their ability.  Regardless of any of that though, the amount of physical work that they all will have put in over the previous 5 months (but just 4 months for the World Series teams) will determine what kind of season that they, and their teams, will have.

Most MLB players have their own winter workout regimen. The team trainer will give them suggestions and workout schedules to follow but most players will be on their own program.  Many MLB players hire personal trainers to oversee their grueling workouts and to hold them accountable for showing up and putting in the effort.

Being motivated to do effective off-season work is one thing, but the most difficult part of getting ready for another MLB season is to determine what exercises to do, what muscle groups to use, how often to exercise and how many hours or days to rest between exercises.  Every off-season I would try and put on 10-15 lbs of muscle by hiring a trainer to “punish” me during workouts.  I wanted to break my muscles down enough so that they would grow back stronger.  At age 21, I weighed 165 pounds when I signed my first pro contract.  Over my 10 yr. MLB career my weight was between 185-190 lbs. Had I not gotten stronger and quicker, I never would have earned a MLB job.

Another very important aspect of off season conditioning is the diet.  Although MLB players probably eat nutritious meals, I am confident that most use some dietary supplements to help them recover more quickly from workouts.  I did not know until after I was done playing that there are many nutrients not easily found in a decent diet that can have a wonderful effect on muscle recovery after workouts. Some are best used before workouts and some are best used afterwards.

In 1994, my wife and I formed a health and nutrition company called Life Priority, Inc. Life Priority can be located at www.lifepriority.com and offers a line of high quality, results-oriented, scientifically-formulated health supplements to the marketplace.  If you are interested in learning how to get better workouts as a pro player or a weekend warrior, please contact me at customerservice@lifepriority.com.  I will be glad to help evaluate your current regimen and offer time-tested solutions to help you get better results from your workouts.  In 1991, I became a customer of the Life Priority products and, because of my results and the results of others, I joined the health industry.  Make your decision now! The “off season” is shorter than you think!  Get ready for a great 2017!

Life Priority, established in 1994, offers supplements that are scientifically-formulated, results-oriented, and GRAS (Generally Recognized As Safe) and are manufactured at USDA and FDA inspected facilities.
*The products and statements made about specific products on this web site have not been evaluated by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent disease. All information provided on this web site or any information contained on or in any product label or packaging is for informational purposes only and is not intended as a substitute for advice from your physician or other health care professional. You should not use the information on this web site for diagnosis or treatment of any health problem. Always consult with a healthcare professional before starting any new vitamins, supplements, diet, or exercise program, before taking any medication, or if you have or suspect you might have a health problem.
*Any testimonials on this web site are based on individual results and do not constitute a guarantee that you will achieve the same results.
I spent 16 seasons as a professional player, and I experienced the depths of stressful feelings that baseball can create, on & off the field.
In Athletic Health, Brain Health, Men's Health, Mental Healthby

Greg Pryor: Fighting the Stress of Post Season Baseball

After I attended my first MLB game in Cleveland, Ohio as a 7-year-old, I became “addicted” to baseball.  Fortunately I was able to spend 16 seasons as a professional player (5 seasons for the Kansas City Royals).  I have experienced the depths of stressful feelings that baseball can create, on and off the field.  Last season, all KC Royals fans were treated to one of the best postseason runs in baseball history.  I noticed a resurgence of incredible love for Royals baseball from thousands of “veteran” fans and new ones.

We were constantly on the edge of our seats during the month of September and October as we lost work time and sleep!  Some of us forgot what day of the week it was! From the glorious night of last season’s Wild Card game versus the Oakland A’s to the last out of the World Series….WE FELT STRESSED!

The ’15 Royals team has been so much fun to watch from spring training to the inevitable day we clinched our first American League Central Division title since 1985! We are thinking ahead of who our opponents might be in the Division playoffs, and, hopefully, the American League championship and World Series game. Again, it is STRESS time for many Royals fans!

As a co-owner of a health and nutrition company for the past 20 years (lifepriority.com), this is a great time to inform you about how stress affects us and offer some information that might help increase your natural defense systems to deal with the stress in our lives, especially all Royals fans!

Stress is the body’s natural response to threatening situations, and it affects everyone. Stress can be good, like buying a brainnew car, or bad, like running up credit cards. Either way, your body and mind react to such situations with a heightened state of readiness, which is called the “fight or flight” response. This reaction causes your brain to make hormones including adrenaline and cortisol.

Adrenaline gives you more energy by increasing your heart rate and blood pressure.  Cortisol increases the amount of glucose in your blood and impairs bodily functions that might be harmful in a fight or flight situation, such as digestion and reproduction. This can help you perform well on a test or at a sporting event, but it can also distract you, keep you up at night, and make you lose your appetite.

Stress becomes chronic when your body does not shut off its stress response, so you are always in a heightened state of readiness.  This affects your immune system and can lead to mental and physical health problems.

One of the ways that you can defend yourself is to make sure that you provide your body with stress-reducing nutrients through your diet. To ensure that your diet provides you with enough of those nutrients, you should consider supplementing your diet with a potent, high-quality multi-vitamin with adequate amounts of B vitamins, vitamin C, vitamin D3, and omega-3 fatty acid. Life Priority offers the following products that allow you to touch all of your nutritional bases so put them into your daily nutritional “lineup”: One Per Meal Lifeguard, Sunlife, Omega-3 Priority, Vita C2, Lift and Mind.  Read about these great products and other Life Priority products at www.lifepriority.com today!

Life Priority, established in 1994, offers supplements that are scientifically-formulated, results-oriented, and GRAS (Generally Recognized As Safe) and are manufactured at USDA and FDA inspected facilities.
*The products and statements made about specific products on this web site have not been evaluated by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent disease. All information provided on this web site or any information contained on or in any product label or packaging is for informational purposes only and is not intended as a substitute for advice from your physician or other health care professional. You should not use the information on this web site for diagnosis or treatment of any health problem. Always consult with a healthcare professional before starting any new vitamins, supplements, diet, or exercise program, before taking any medication, or if you have or suspect you might have a health problem.
*Any testimonials on this web site are based on individual results and do not constitute a guarantee that you will achieve the same results.
In Fitness & Exercise, Joint Health & Mobilityby

Don’t Neglect Your Brain, Muscles, and Joints

by Greg Pryor, Life Priority co-owner and former Kansas City Royal from the 1985 Championship team

Although I was a pro baseball player for 16 years, my real love in high school and college was golf. I sometimes wonder what might have happened if my life had gravitated towards playing competitive golf instead of baseball.

The reason that I was more drawn to golf than baseball was it was more of an individual performance rather than a team performance. Unlike golf, baseball has umpires, pitchers, and managers, who can have a direct adverse effect on the outcome of your performance (or even if you get in the game). In golf, it is basically your clubs, the course and the weather.

Golf and baseball swings have many similarities. During both swings it is essential to watch the ball, have minimal head movement, and get proper weight shift and follow through. A major difference in the swings is the amount of time between swings. A golfer has several minutes between shots to think about how the next swing (or putt). A baseball player is required to make most swing decisions in a split second. Regardless, playing competitive golf or baseball requires a high level of mental concentration and communication between the brain and muscles.

Hitting a golf ball or a baseball square is mentally physically demanding. Both swings require a certain amount of “muscle memory’ to make the necessary body movements to do what is required to hit the ball square at impact. Both swings also require a quick mental “cleansing” before the next shot or swing. The relationship between the brain and muscles in any athletic endeavor is all controlled by neurotransmitters.

Rudy Ruteger Celebrity Golf Tournament, 2008

Everything that happens in your brain, every memory, every thought, every emotion, every innovation, every “wow, that’s great!” is a result of the release of neurotransmitters. Neurotransmitters are natural substances made by nerve cells in your brain (acquired from your diet) that transmit messages from one nerve cell to another across the synapse that divides them. There is a very good chance that even if you have a good diet, you’re not getting the optimum amount of the raw materials that your brain can use to make neurotransmitters. Contact me at customerservice@lifepriority.com for more info on neurotransmitters.

Athletes who achieve quicker muscle recovery have a better chance to win or succeed at their chosen sport. Muscle Memory™, a product from Life Priority is used prior to exercise (like the repetitious hitting of a golf ball or baseball), to help increase muscle endurance and quicker muscle recovery after exercise. The “miracle molecule” generated from using Muscle Memory improves heart health, energy levels, and impacts every cell, tissue and organ in your body.

Joint inflammation can really hinder optimal performance. To ease joint pain and inflammation many athletes use glucosamine, the main building block for healthy cartilage. Sam Snead, a famous pro golfer, said that when he played well his joints felt “oily”. For a more “oily” golf or baseball swing, I invite you to consider Life Priority’s Joint Decision™ and Total Joint Complex™.

Whether you are trying to perfect the art of hitting of any ball, do not neglect the most important aspects of your swing–your brain, your muscles and your joints.

To your Health! Greg Pryor

Durk Pearson and Sandy Shaw KC Royals 1985 World Series Win

Life Priority, established in 1994, offers supplements that are scientifically-formulated, results-oriented, and GRAS (Generally Recognized As Safe) and are manufactured at USDA and FDA inspected facilities.
*The products and statements made about specific products on this web site have not been evaluated by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent disease. All information provided on this web site or any information contained on or in any product label or packaging is for informational purposes only and is not intended as a substitute for advice from your physician or other health care professional. You should not use the information on this web site for diagnosis or treatment of any health problem. Always consult with a healthcare professional before starting any new vitamins, supplements, diet, or exercise program, before taking any medication, or if you have or suspect you might have a health problem.
*Any testimonials on this web site are based on individual results and do not constitute a guarantee that you will achieve the same results.
I wanted to share some thoughts with you about the odds to reach the major leagues and to play in a World Series.; Durk Pearson and Sandy Shaw
In Athletic Healthby

Former ’85 Royals Partied Like it was 1985 in Arizona!

Every January for the last 10 years, I have attended the Kansas City Royals Fantasy Camp in Surprise, Arizona. This year’s camp was memorable because it was kind of like a reunion for the members of the 1985 World Championship team–I was an infielder.  The other players in camp included Steve Balboni, Buddy Biancalana, Bud Black, George Brett, Mark Gubicza, Mark Huismann, Charlie Leibrandt, Dennis Leonard, Hal McCrae, Darryl Motley, Greg Pryor, Jamie Quirk, Bret Saberhagen, Pat Sheridan, Jim Sundberg, John Wathan and Willie Wilson. Royals Hall of Famers, John Mayberry and Jeff Montgomery also attended.

greg-pryor-stretching-royals-fantasy-camp-2012

Fans attended the camp and were placed on one of six different teams and managed by three different Royals alumni. Campers played games against other teams and learned the fine points of baseball. The best part of the camp is after the games when alumni mingle with the campers in the clubhouse and share stories about our careers it was like to play in The Show.

At camp’s end, campers thanked the members us for helping to make the camp special. Many campers expressed how much the Royals and baseball have been such a great part of their lives.

Many campers have attended multiple Fantasy Camps. One of my favorite campers is Byron “The Professor” Strom. Byron is a former college chemistry professor from Iowa. He has attended the last 10 Fantasy Camps in Arizona. The Royals also appreciate The Professor. We showed him by giving him a signed jersey with number 85.

1985-royals-world-series-win

It was wonderful to see many of my old teammates. Our team had a special bond and we overcame great obstacles to win the World Series championship. In 1984, we had lost the AL playoffs to the Tigers who went on to win the World Series. Most of us came back to spring training in 1985 very eager to get back to the post-season. That year, we accomplished the ultimate goal of every player in MLB–to win a World Series ring. Even though the spirit of all of the alumni at the camp remains youthful, it was evident that all of us are affected by age.

Last season’s American League Champion Royals rejuvenated the fans and created new Royals fans all over the country. We are eagerly waiting for our team to return in April to begin another quest for a World Series trophy. Our core players, Alex Gordon, Lorenzo Cain, Escobar, Salvador Perez, Eric Hosmer, Jeremy Guthrie, Jason Vargas, Yordano Ventura, Danny Duffy, Kelvin Herrera, Wade Davis, and Greg Holland are still on the roster. I hope that all of these players and our newest Royals are ready for the grind and to make it back to the post-season.

No matter what your personal grind in life, being healthy physically and mentally will be your MVPs and help you win! My company, Life Priority, Inc., was formed in 1994 to offer high-quality, research-based and time-tested dietary supplements. I invite you to contact me personally to discuss ways that may help you have a healthy winning season!

To Your Health!

Greg Pryor

opening day
In Athletic Health, Life Priorityby

Make Every Day Your Opening Day for Fitness

Article by Greg Pryor published in Kansas City Sports & Fitness.

Greg Pryor - Kansas City Royals Fans are eagerly looking forward to Opening Day at Kauffman Stadium.  We are tired of single digit temperatures and melting snow drifts. Another “opener” is our signal of the beginning of warmer, sunny days ahead. Every spring from ‘67 to ’87, I was getting ready for another opening day for my college baseball team (’67-’71), or the professional team that I was with (’71-’87).  Maybe you should create an opening day attitude for your fitness schedule.

Your personal fitness goals ought to be structured so that you are prepared to get the most out of your exercise.  Most importantly, and as a compliment to a good diet, you should use dietary supplements to promote your recovery process.    You don’t have to be a professional athlete to benefit from supplements. It’s not all about being able to clock a faster time or lift more weight; supplements also serve as an insurance policy against the additional stress and energy needs brought on by exercise.

“It’s like you have one car to drive around for the rest of your life,” said Liz Applegate, Ph.D.,professor of nutrition at the University of California – Davis, and author of the Encyclopedia of Sports and Fitness Nutrition (Prima Publishing, 2002). “You wouldn’t start taking care of it after it was 20 years old. You would do regular maintenance.”

Just as a car’s maintenance needs change as it gets older, so do those of an active aging body.

“In general, nutrient requirements increase with exercise,” Applegate said. “But at different ages there are other considerations that come into play as well.”

  • Certain nutrients, not readily found in adequate amounts in the modern diet, can help encourage your mental energy and motivation in your job or workouts.  In 1991, I found two supplements, LIFT™ and MIND™ from Life Priority, that I use every day to help me feel bright-eyed and bushy-tailed to tackle each day like it is opening day!
  • Then, protecting the health of cartilage, tendons and ligaments should be at the top of your list as you exercise.  Glucosamine is a smart choice to support joint health and help speed recovery from injury or over use. Life Priority offers two great products for joint inflammation, JOINT DECISION™ and TOTAL JOINT COMPLEX™.
  • Exercise itself produces free radicals so, to prevent free radical damage to muscle tissue and from causing inflammation and soreness, use a mix of antioxidants prior to exercise. I suggest either the Life Priority ONE PER MEAL LIFEGUARD™ or LIFESHEILD™.
  • Finally, an amino acid that I have known about since ’91, arginine, is one of the most valuable nutrients that you can use prior to exercise.  Email me at customerservice@lifepriority.com for a free report on arginine and how to use it (available in the Life Priority product, MUSCLE MEMORY™) effectively for the best workouts of your life (and quicker recovery!)

No matter what your age, your body needs certain essential nutrients every day in adequate amounts. Don’t take your body and brain for granted!  Give it the best chance to have a great opening day, every day!

 

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These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. Life Priority Health and Nutrition does not provide medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Life Priority, established in 1994, offers supplements that are scientifically-formulated, results-oriented, and GRAS (Generally Recognized As Safe) and are manufactured at USDA and FDA inspected facilities.

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