COACHING
Off-Season Fitness Programme - Especially for the Fast Men
First things first - If you are a young fast bowler, banish all thoughts of heroics and showmanship before entering a gymnasium. If Arnold Schwarznegger is your role-model, then you are in trouble. Instead, try to focus on what you want to achieve on a cricket field, like bowling fast, batting brilliantly, being quick while running in to bowl or between the wickets, fielding and catching effectively and throwing well from the deep. It is important that you concentrate on the muscles that will help you in achieving these objectives.Start your daily exercise programme with a hamstring stretch.
1. Lie straight on your back.
2. Lift one leg.
3. Bend the knee.
4. Hold the toes with both hands.
5. Try to stretch by pushing the leg straight and upwards as much as you can.
Wasim Akram, one of the greatest 'fast men' of all time
Do twenty reps of the same five times for each leg
alternately. This stretching exercise will help you
overcome stiffness in the hamstring and lower back.
SHOULDER STRENGTHENING - WEAK-POINT TRAINING If shoulders are the weak-point in your physique, adjust your training so that you do more sets and use as many 'shocking' principles as possible to work on that area with maximum intensity.
You can begin with:
1. MACHINE PRESS Purpose of the exercise: To train the shoulders so that there will be lesser pressure on the shoulder ligaments. Doing presses on the machine will help you do the movements properly and allow you to avoid 'cleaning' a weight if you have some sort of shoulder problem. You can also let the weight come down much lower, which gives an extra stretch to your front deltoids.
SHOULDER STRENGTHENING - WEAK-POINT TRAINING If shoulders are the weak-point in your physique, adjust your training so that you do more sets and use as many 'shocking' principles as possible to work on that area with maximum intensity.
You can begin with:
1. MACHINE PRESS Purpose of the exercise: To train the shoulders so that there will be lesser pressure on the shoulder ligaments. Doing presses on the machine will help you do the movements properly and allow you to avoid 'cleaning' a weight if you have some sort of shoulder problem. You can also let the weight come down much lower, which gives an extra stretch to your front deltoids.
Try to go through the longest range of motion.
Do 10 reps - 3 sets (1st week)
12 reps - 4 sets (2nd week)
15 reps - 5 sets (3rd week)
PUSH PRESS: TO DEVELOP ADDITIONAL DELTOID STRENGTH.
EXECUTION : Hold the bar with an overhand grip
Hands should be slightly wider than the shoulder
Take the weight up to shoulder-height.
Bend the knees slightly
Press upwards with your legs to get the bar moving
Use this additional impetus to press the bar upwards and overhead.
Do 8 reps - 5 sets - 1st week
12 reps - 5 sets - 2nd week
15 reps - 5 sets - 3rd week
STANDING LATERAL RAISES:
PURPOSE OF EXERCISE: To develop the outer deltoids.
EXECUTION:
Take dumbbells in both hands
Bend forward slightly
Bring the weights together in front of you at arm's length
Lift the weights out and upwards on either side
Turn the wrist slightly (as if you are pouring water out of a pitcher) so that the rear of the dumbbells is higher than the front.
Lift the weight to a point slightly higher than the shoulders.
Lower it back, slowly resisting all the way down. A common mistake made while doing this exercise is to rock backwards. Please don't do that as it reduces 80% of the effect of this particular exercise.