Weight Training

[lexluger]

Well the idea is to get the physique of an athlete and not that of a bodybuilder.If you look at most cricketers these days,they seem extremely fit externally but just take a look at the number of injuries that you see today inspite of all the technology and highly trained Physios.I remeber Tony Greig once said that if you are a fast bowler,you should be fit enough to bowl long spells in a cricket match and train yourself to run a marathon.

 

[Howsie]

It's not as simple as simply hitting the weights and getting big biceps. Each player's training needs to reflect their ideal body shape and what they're trying to do with it. If we're talking about a skinny chap like Ishant Sharma, then no, you'd ruin him by covering him in Graeme Smith's muscles. However, if you compare Sharma to similar 6'4" pacemen, he is still a bit wiry, but the shape is good. If you were to add to his upper body, maybe fill out his arms a bit, you'd want to be certain that his lower body could handle the extra force in the delivery stride. The front foot is a fast bowler's... er... Achilles heel.

Shane Watson had a different problem, where he had upper and lower body strength, but weakness in the core was putting extra work onto his hamstring. His solution included a lighter weight program and incorporating yoga postures.

It hasn't really helped though has it.

 

[StinkyBoHoon]

I think what angryangy said comes closest, but the fact is, there is no set regime that will benefit everyone. some people gain weight easier, some people are stronger naturally, some people are skinny naturally, some people have lots of stamina naturally.

there are also different ways to do weights. you can do extremely heavy weights, maybe a few reps, that really builds muscle, or you can do medium sized or light weights for strength and stamina. bowlers might benefit more doing 20 reps on a shoulder muscle, batsmen may benefit from doing 10 of a heavier weight. If you are skinny you might even benefit doing 6 of an extremely heavy weight to build it up, then switching to a more strength orientated regime to make the most of the size.

for example, I don't think Ryder should be worrying about bench presses, he's big enough and probably a lot more naturally strong than some other guys.

 

[angryangy]

It hasn't really helped though has it.

A quad strain suggests his hamstrings might even be too strong now.

 

[iridescentt]

Wasn't Lee doing a lot of it during his fight to get back into the Aussie squad.

 

[chainsnatcher]

Yup he certainly worked his butt off during his time away from cricket.He spent hours together at the gym and look at him now,he seems to be in great shape.I would rate him as one of the fittest super fast bowlers ever as he has always been really fit except for the occassional injuries which can happen to any athlete.

 

[sohum]

I'm not sure weight training is all over the place, especially in the subcontinent. One of the reasons is its not part of the culture. I noticed in the U.S. that a high percentage of men start weight training in high school whether they have a scope for professional sports or not. This becomes part of their lifestyle and hence they are inherently fitter (except for the obese, of course). This means that their athletes already have a strong base to work off, and they can then specialize in those areas that are necessary.

By contrast, in India (from personal experience), until recently only the select few were interested in weight training. Now we are seeing the youth start to get into it, but there's still a lot to be desired. I doubt junior cricketers in India (under-17, under-19, under-21) have a weight training portion in their fitness regime outside of what they like to do personally.