Weights training for increased speed?

[MrDucksWorth]

Hello,

So whats the go on weights training and fast bowling? Your not wanting to
just become a weight lifter and become too heavy, but do things with dumb bells?

Or is bench pressing and stuff like that where your lifting more weight helpful as well?

What muscles should you be most focused on? (and balance thereof?)

 

[Matteh]

Core muscles seems to be the ones to go for for all round cricket skills.
Can't hurt to beef up the arm muscles either, although obviously not to an excess as that'll have the opposite effect.

 

[maditaliano]

I have noticed after adding about 35kg to my bench pressing weight last year, for about an hour a week, I have been able to throw much further and more accurately. I don't think it has a huge effect on bowling though.

I mainly did it to help out my football, but it had other advantages as well (such as throwing).

 

[bond21]

fast bowling, legs and core are most important. Core is sit ups, push ups, the plank, anything using your stomach muscles. Also do stretches for flexibility.

Also chest and the lateral pulldown one(forget which muscle it is) Its the machine where you sit on the bench and pull the bar down.

Dont bother with the arms, you dont use your biceps or triceps to get speed, its all in the shoulder and chest.

Look at Brett Lee, hes thin and doesnt have ANY bulky muscle on him, and hes the fastest bowler in the world. But I would bet he has a strong core and he is very flexible, which helps for fast bowling and injury prevention.

 

[MrDucksWorth]

the plank

Sorry?

Also chest

Are you speaking of the one where you have your elbows at right angles and your pulling weight toward your body? I could probably replicate this with dumb bells, but I have an aunty and uncle that have one of those machines (that they don't use) that does this and the other one you mentioned (and also your legs), I should probably buy it off them then.


With dumb bells then, is it beneficial to do the ones where you start with your arms by your sides and lift your arms strait up to make you look like a big T?

 

[vic_orthdox]

Lots of the weights and gym work done by fast bowlers is often more in the name of injury prevention than increased speed.

 

[Josh]

But I would bet he has a strong core and he is very flexible

 

[bond21]

yea, for the chest just do push ups or that machine you said. Theres 2 types ive used, one is small handles on a cable thing that you pull in with your arms straight, and the one you said with the pads and your arms are at right angles.

And the plank is you basically lie on your stomach, get on your toes and put your forearms on the ground and just stay there, so you are using your toes and forearms to keep off the ground.

If you can do it for over a minute you have a strong core. And it is more strenuous than it sounds.

 

[unccricket]

for the chest, the standard barbell bench press works pretty good. I do three variations of it, flat bench, incline bench, and decline bench to work all areas of the chest. It also works out your triceps and shoulders. Pushups also do much of the same work.

for the back, pullups are the best, but if you are like me and struggle to do them, the lat pulldown (the one with the handle above you that you pull down) works pretty good. I also do the seated row machine to work on the back.

for shoulders, I do mostly seated military presses(lift weights straight up from your shoulder height) and upright row (pull the barbell up from about knee height to chest height).

for legs, I do squats and lunges, and I am too lazy to work my core!

all of my workouts are for my own personal benefit, but any gains I get on the cricket field are an added bonus!

 

[Goughy]

Weight work for speed isnt going to do much.

As mentioned, the key is for injury prevention and muscle balance.

Muscle balance is very important as fast bowling is strenuous and the body will rip itself apart if certain muscle groups are disproportionally strong.

Bigger muscles and bulking up certainly will not add speed.

Aside from weight training for injury avoidance, core work is essential as is flexibility (can be combined with pilates).

Sprint work shouldnt be neglected. Running 5 miles every day isnt going to help as much as sprint work will.

 

[MrDucksWorth]

Weight work for speed isnt going to do much.

Aside from weight training for injury avoidance, core work is essential as is flexibility (can be combined with pilates).

Sprint work shouldnt be neglected. Running 5 miles every day isnt going to help as much as sprint work will.

So by 'core work' we are talking push ups, sit ups, the plank, laterial pull downs and the chest ones spoken of?

Legs were spoken of, and for the sake of my joints I'm thinking I will ride my (mountain) bike three times a week for 30 mins. The idea would be to have a 'track' through the side streets, time myself and then try to beat that time. Good idea? *its also just a fitness thing

 

[bond21]

Legs and core. 2 most important things.

You get power from your legs when bowling, and the stronger your core, the faster you will bowl.

And no the core isnt lat pulldowns, thats for the back muscles(it helps the back shoulder muscles)

Core exercises are - Plank, Sit ups, there are so many more ie sit with your legs in a V shape(kind of curled up, but you are using your core muscles to balance you) and get a medicine ball and move it from one side of your body to the other.

Thing about that is you are using your core just to balance, and the medicine ball will make it work even harder.

And for the legs, squats are the best. Also push ups arent really for the core, theyre for the chest muscles.

 

[Matteh]

Legs were spoken of, and for the sake of my joints I'm thinking I will ride my (mountain) bike three times a week for 30 mins. The idea would be to have a 'track' through the side streets, time myself and then try to beat that time. Good idea? *its also just a fitness thing

Did that over the summer. Worked well for general fitness i found. Would say that 30mins isn't really long enough though, try doing an hour or if time's an issue do two sets of 30 during the week and one of an hour at the weekend.

 

[PhoenixFire]

Sorry?

Lie down on the floor with just your toes and fists (clenched) to elbows touching the floor, with your back in a straight line. Basically you hold that for as long as you possibly can. It makes your abs incredibly strong if you can do it for long periods of time. We have to be able to do it for 2.5 mins before we get selected for our hockey teams.

 

[MrDucksWorth]

Did that over the summer. Worked well for general fitness i found. Would say that 30mins isn't really long enough though, try doing an hour or if time's an issue do two sets of 30 during the week and one of an hour at the weekend.

Yeah I may do that. Mainly time is the issue, because I wanna be at least working on my core for 30-40 mins 3 times a week as well.

We have to be able to do it for 2.5 mins before we get selected for our hockey teams.

Yeah I googled 'the plank' and found a bunch of stuff on about.com on improving your core strength. I tried the plank this morning only to find how incredibly weak my core is (never really worked on my core). I only lasted 16 seconds :P . Its not really to my suprise because i've never really been good at 'core excerises' and i've had issues with back pain (which about.com says strengthening helps with).

So if i'm bowling 110-118 with a weak core, can't wait to see what 3-4years of regularly working on my core, legs, fitness, playing and practising cricket through out the entire year (instead of just going to the nets in summer) can achieve

 

[MrDucksWorth]

After some research I have a list that I may include on a regular work out

• The Plank
• V-Sits
• Dead Lifts
• Sit Ups
• Reverse Crunch
• Bicycle Crunch
• Oblique Crunch
• Alternating Superman
• Back Bridge

And a couple that are geared more toward the legs (may not spend as much time, considering i'll be bike riding

• Squats
• Lunges

 

[iamdavid]

In addition to the core work thats already been mentioned I'd recomend you do a bit of swimming...

Get down to the pool a couple of times a week and do a few laps....Has a toning and strengthening effect on your upper body without placing your joints under stress or causing you to really 'bulk up' the way weight training would.
Plus its great for your endurance.

And if your hearts really set on hitting the gym, then I'd suggest you stick to bodyweight exercises (pushups for chest/shoulders/triceps, chinups for back/biceps). Far less risk of joint/tendon injury in comparison to weight training. And I also say this due to my own experience as a fast bowler who used weights and found it had if anything a negative impact on my bowling.

 

[Nate]

Took that core thing as a challenge and just did it for three minutes. Won't be lifting anything tomorrow.

 

[MrDucksWorth]

And if your hearts really set on hitting the gym

Well its not really anymore, I don't really need a gym to do the exercises listed above. Swimming is a good idea, but everything costs money and with two indoor games a week and such I don't have a lot of money left for other things. Living the centrelink full time student life at the moment :P

Took that core thing as a challenge and just did it for three minutes. Won't be lifting anything tomorrow.

impressive and humorous at the same time :P . I probably could have lasted longer the first time, but knew more reps were coming. It's good to see that the 2nd time I made four reps of 20 secs (instead of going 16, 14, 12, 10 'intentionally' like I did before). I had been for an hour walk and a 40 min bike ride (during the hottest part of a 31 degree day lol) . Man there was swet dripping everywhere and so much energy going into the last few seconds of the plank during the 4th rep!

 

[MrDucksWorth]

well I've made it up to 4 reps of 30 secs. Every core workout (which usually take 45 mins to 1 hour) i've been able to add 2 secs per rep. At this rate in 20.6 weeks I should reach 4 reps of 2 and a half mins

This coupled with improving my bowling technique I think has added a bit of pace. My brother seems to think so.