How the Dodgers’ Cody Bellinger Trained His Way to a Record-Breaking Rookie Season

The National League's answer to Aaron Judge discusses all the hard work that went into the season.

Dodgers' Cody Bellinger Giving Aaron Judge a Run for His Money
Cody Bellinger #35 of the Los Angeles Dodgers hits his 23rd home run of the season against Colorado Rockies to score teammate Justin Turner #10 during the third inning of the baseball game at Dodger Stadium June 25, 2017, in Los Angeles, California. (Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)

While every sportswriter has been cooing about the “Baby Bombers” and the emergence of Aaron Judge, another equally talented rookie has been making waves on the West Coast: the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Cody Bellinger.

The likely National League rookie of the year, Bellinger ended the season hitting a respectable .267, with 39 home runs—good for the NL rookie home run record—and 97 RBIs. He was also named to his first-ever all-star team, and helped his Dodgers win a stunning 104 games. They ran away with the NL West, and will now face the Arizona Diamondbacks in the NLDS.

Bellinger, the son of a utility baller who won a pair of World Series rings with the New York Yankees, has the pedigree. And according to Men’s Fitness, the workout plan to end all workout plans. We’ve condensed it below.

-All part of Bellinger’s regimen are “squats, hex bar deadlifts, sled pulls, medicine ball throws, hurdle drills, battle rope workouts, landmines, and push-pull workouts.”

-Bellinger told Men’s Fitness that he works “on my legs a lot—that’s where my power comes from. Playing every day, your legs can get tired and you have to get your strength back under you. I usually start with squats and then go into Romanian deadlifts. My favorite training to do is when I’m working out my lower body.”

-He’s also a big core and hammies guy: “You don’t want to have a pulled hamstring, so you’ve got to work them out as much as you can, even though they’re going to be sore the next day. Being a left-handed hitter, I’m normally twisting to the right, and so in the gym I try to counteract it. I do that by throwing the medicine ball against the wall, and twisting the other way just so I can even out my back, my spine, and my core.”

-In terms of what he’s fueling his superstar-in-the-making engine with, Bellinger tells MF that he consumes a lot of organic chicken, salmon, and rice. He also enjoys the Met-Rx shakes, especially cookie crunch and apple pie.

-When he’s feeling like he wants some junk food, he’s all about McDonald’s Big Macs.

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