5 reasons for a cricketer to join a bodybuilding gym
I just joined an 'old school' bodybuilding/powerlifting gym and it's one of the best decisions I have made for my game.
A spit and sawdust gym might not seem an obvious place to start improving your performance in the middle. In the few short weeks I have been there I can say it has had nothing but a positive effect. Here is why:
- Equipment. Unlike most gyms, these types of gyms have plenty of equipment that is best for your game: Free weights. There is little in the way of cardio equipment to slow you down, just heavy stuff you can lift up to improve your speed and power.
- Motivation. The guys in my new gym are strong and they look it. I can't think of anything more motivating to be able to walk into a gym like that knowing you can lift a good amount of weight for your size. Sure it might take some time, especially if you are a beginner but it's a challenge and the competitive minded love that.
- Advice. Go to the right gym and you can get some incredible advice from people who have been training all their adult life. Need technical tips or ways to improve your strength? Some of the people you meet in the gym have amazingly deep knowledge. A word of caution though, some advice can be misinformed. Always check your source before adapting your training.
- Testosterone. OK this one is for the boys (although girls you should be going to these gyms too). A good weight workout with free weights is one heck of a manly pursuit. You feel great and ready for anything after a new personal best on the squat.
- Results. The best reason for using a gym like this is simple though. If you go regularly you will get stronger and faster more quickly than any other way. And we know the stronger and faster you are the better you will be at cricket.
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Comments
Everything you just wrote is perfect. Spot on mate good job.
I'm glad we can come to agreement. This site is built on sharing ideas.
There was a time when all you had to do to play cricket was to show up dressed in your whites. Thankfully we are in a more enlightened time and your blog will help lead the way. Good job.
Good to see more athletes talking about the benefit of adding more bodybuilding type training to their programs to increase performance. Building muscle can help in so many other ways beyond looking great.
Nice job!
But coaches like Greg Chappell and his associate Ian Frazer are against heavy weight lifting as per their book for cricketers. They say you need to develop long muscles not short ones and squatting with weights can make your butt grow too big. Are they wrong? How can one make muscles longer? A broad chest will hamper your batspeed they say. It does not make much sense as so can any one qualified in exercise science please comment?
Greg Chappell was a great player and has forgotten more about cricket than I will ever know. However if what you say is true then he is talking rubbish.
You can't make muscles longer or shorter. They are a set length as determined by the length of your bones. You can of course make them bigger if you so desire but you can get strong without getting big. Hypertrophy (muscle growth) and strength are linked but not interdependent.
Even if you DO get bigger muscles, it's not the size that matters but the amount of fast twitch fibres there are in the muscle and how much range of motion you have around your joints (mobility). These are far more important in determining bat speed than chest circumference. Look at Matthew Hayden.
This myth about being too big and bulky is almost all pervasive in cricket and is just not true.
Muscle nerd - I would be cautious of taking bodybuilding techniques for cricket training. However I would have no issues in using the same gym as bodybuilders. hey have the best equipment round here!
GC has said this many times and even his book states that. David, but Ian Frazer is a sports science specialist and he says weight lifting spoils a player ( makes him slow) and they use an army style obstacle course at the Rajasthan Cricket Academy.
http://content-www.cricinfo.com/australia/content/story/320797.html
All trainees are put through this grueling course by Ian Frazer. With my limited knowledge I am wondering if this kind of course will cause injury to some? Jumping off an 8 foot wall can kill the knees unless there is a linear progression ( start with smaller walls and progress) to handle that load? Rope climbing is also more skill related and is a very tough task. Should these kind of obstacle courses be used as for conditioning a cricketer?
Hmm tough to answer this one newbie. Fazer is clearly an expert but from how you present his ideas I have serious reservations.
First I would echo Alywn Cosgrove in saying there are no methods only principles. If you stick with with a single method (like obstacle courses) you are setting up to fail. Stick to principles and you can use any method that fits them.
More here: http://tinyurl.com/2xrow6
I think obstacle course have their place, but not as the only method. I also think a blanket statement like "weight training makes you slow" is another example of putting methods above principles.
Slow weight training makes you slow I agree. Fast, powerful movements make you fast and powerful. Show me a cricketer who can jump squat, clean, snatch and high pull and I'll show you someone fast and powerful.
Thanks for the reply. Slow weighting makes you slow you said can you elaborate on what are these slow exercises?
Most exercises can be performed slowly or quickly. For example, you could perform a bench press with a tempo of 3 seconds up, pause, 3 seconds down or you could explode the weight up in less than a second.
Again, it's not the method (ie. avoid doing x exercise because it's slow) its the principle: Perform exercises at a fast tempo.
So I guess one needs to use light enough weights because the heavier the weight the slower the movement?
How do say Frazer is an expert if he is not making sense?
What is potential for injury when boys are climbing up a 8 feet wall and jumping down? Is that not highly plyometric depth jump? How does it help prepare a cricketer? Thanks
newbie,
Actually I would encorage weights to lift in the 5-8 rep range for adults. The lower the rep the better the strength gain without massive muscle size increases. The key is not the weight but how fast you move it. Powerful athletes can clean their bodyweight in kg in less than a second.
I would not rule out any exercises that are safe to perform.
David, Its not really about more exercises its about the using an effective program with multi joint exercises as stronglifts.com shows?
I agree 100%
It's about movements, not muscles, training to be fast and training to be adaptable.
We know Vern Gambetta said what you repeated. But Its about movement AND muscles. Not just movement or Isolating muscles as a body builder does is a poor way to train, we know that.
No doubt Weight training the big lifts is a great way for building strength but it is a general stimulus and not to be confused with training game skills.
I agree. Both are important.
...great article. Thank you...
building and developing muscle is so improtant in all sports now and myself having joined a buildybuilding gym has really given me massive motivation to train hard
Good for you!
Building muscle and more importantly strength is so important in a huge range of sports, not just to improve performance, but to prevent injury too. Awesome article dude
I am a pro athlete and personal trainer and would like to say what an awesome help youve been in the weight training colum!i have a client whos a cricketer and wanted to weight train but didnt want to decrease his speed! i believed he could still weight train and you backed my advise!please tell me what would be the best weight exercises for cricket
awesome help! thanks!im a pro athlete and trainer,what exercises would help most with weights to encrease speed and power? n which body part would you concenrate to build
thanks again Rich
Rich, if you are able to coach them I would look at squats, cleans, deadlifts, snatches, chin ups, dips and a rangle of single leg variations. You also need to customise the plan based on the players individual needs.
At what age do u recommend to start lifting weights?
Thanks, I am a member at a gym, and all things you said are true.
This comment comes 6 years late, but better late than never! Thank you for the wonderful article. I get sick and tired when I see most cricketers' approach to getting fit, esp weight training. "I don't wanna get big and slow down", "weights make me stiff and slow" "you only need to lift light weights quickly for high reps" "I don't wanna get bulky". What a bunch of crap!
Strength and power for cricket or for any sport for that matter is best built on gradually working up to substantial weight relative to lean body mass on compound exercises such as squats, cleans, presses, rows and dead lifts". Some medicine ball and resistance band training can be used to supplement this training but is strictly optional. End of story.
This comment comes 6 years late, but better late than never! Thank you for the wonderful article. I get sick and tired when I see most cricketers' approach to getting fit, esp weight training. "I don't wanna get big and slow down", "weights make me stiff and slow" "you only need to lift light weights quickly for high reps" "I don't wanna get bulky". What a bunch of crap!
Strength and power for cricket or for any sport for that matter is best built on gradually working up to substantial weight relative to lean body mass on compound exercises such as squats, cleans, presses, rows and dead lifts". Some medicine ball and resistance band training can be used to supplement this training but is strictly optional. End of story.