Off season weight training

[Manee]

Hi all,

I was thinking that I need to put on muscle mass during the English off season. I move the ball quite a lot in the air and off the seam but while no one can accuse me of being slow, I don't get the ball through at an enormous pace. If I were to estimate, I'd reckon I spend most of my time at 60-68mph which is about average for my age (17).

Reading this site, I think I could use this program to beef up my skinny frame and hopefully take the excess weight off the gut. The issue is that, at present, my legs are very weak and my general body is quite weak too and so I am restricted in the number of exercises from the program, I can do. However, do you think that this would be sufficient.

I will start this either this or next week, depending on when my cold subsides.

+++++ Max Effort Upper Body (Monday) +++++

A. MAX-EFFORT LIFT - Work up to a max set of 3-5 reps.

Thick bar or regular barbell bench press

B. SUPPLEMENTAL LIFT - Perform 3-4 sets of 6-10 reps.

Flat dumbbell bench press (palms in or palms forward)

C. HORIZONTAL ROW - Perform 4 sets of 10-15 reps.

Chest supported rows
Bent-over dumbbell or barbell rows
(Haven't made a choice here)

D. REAR DELT/UPPER BACK - Perform 2-3 sets of 12-15 reps.

Seated rear delt machine

E. WEIGHTED ABDOMINAL EXERCISE - 3-4 sets of 8-15 reps.

Choose one of the following exercises:

Barbell Russian twists

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+++++ LOWER BODY - (Wednesday) +++++

A. MAX-EFFORT LIFT - Work up to a max set of 5 reps.

Straight bar deadlifts (various grips)

B. UNILATERAL MOVEMENT - Perform 3-4 sets of 8-15 reps.

Walking lunges (not weighted atm)

C. HAMSTRING / POSTERIOR CHAIN MOVEMENT - Perform 3-4 sets of 6-10 reps.

Romanian deadlifts

D. GRIP TRAINING - Perform 3 sets of timed sets.

heavy dumbbell holds
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++++++ REPETITION UPPER BODY - (Friday) ++++++

A. REPETITION LIFT - Work up to 3 sets of max reps, rest 60 seconds between sets.

Choose one of the following exercises:

Dumbbell benches on Swiss ball, flat bench or incline bench

B. SUPPLEMENTAL LIFT (triceps) - Perform 3-4 sets of 5-10 reps.

Choose one of the following exercises:

Rope pushdowns

C. VERTICAL PULLING - Perform 4 sets of 8-12 reps.

Choose one of the following exercises:

Chin-ups or Pull-ups


D. MEDIAL DELT or TRAP EXERCISE - Perform 3 sets of 10-15 reps.

Choose one of the following exercises:

Dumbbell shoulder press (seated or standing)

E. ELBOW FLEXION EXERCISE - Perform 3 sets of 8-10 reps.

Alternate dumbbell curls (standing or seated incline)

F. ABDOMINAL CIRCUIT TRAINING

Here, I may actually look to do shoulder strength work, such as high pulls, push presses and heavy bag boxing, maybe some farmers walks.

[King Pietersen]

Seems you've got similar plans to myself. I'm looking to bulk up over the winter, and although techinque is obviously more important, having abit more bulk, strength and power is always going to be handy when bowling quick. There are quite a few websites around that will help you bulk up real quickly. I've read stories of guys bulking up sort of 40lbs in the space of a month. Diet will be a key factor as well as weight training and just getting more calories in you; eating more meals and possibly even protein shakes can really help you bulk. I read that a good mindset to have is to eat as soon as you don't feel full, as opposed to waiting until you're hungry.

Good luck with the bulking process mate, sure if you stick to that work out regime and get some more calories in you you'll soon start seeing signs. Extra muscle mass should definitely help with your pace.

[Tom M]

Manee, you may be interested to know that I've created my own adaption of Westside For Skinny Bastards for cricket players, which incorporates Jim Wendler's excellent 5/3/1 program for the ME lifts.

My adjusted program is focused on full leg and hip development (both speed and strength), core strength and flexibility. Secondary goals are maximal upper body strength and prehabilitation work for the external rotators, shoulder and upper back.

I do occasionally suggest a repitition upper body day just for a bit of variety, but it's really not that 'sport specific' (although all work in the gym is GPP). Instead, you'll get all your DE upper body work from bowling or batting.

If you'd like to see my adjusted program, send me an email or wait for the book.

And yes, it's in the making!

[Tom M]

Also, just as a note, you should cycle your exercises every 3-4 weeks to avoid plateaus.

Cheers,

Tom

[Manee]

I have sent you an email. Good luck on the book and I'm always up for a chat on msn about your work at the email address which should have been sent to you, by now.

Thanks

Manee.

[micoach]

It's great to see this kind of discussion on a cricket forum. There is not enough focus on strength and power training in my view, so the more plans and programs that exist for cricketers the better in my view.

[inbox24]

Hey guys.

How many times should you hit each part of the body per week?

[micoach]

Depends on your goal but I would avoid thinking about body parts. We don't play cricket with body parts, we play with our whole body.

A better way is to think of movements - pushing and pulling, upper body and lower body.

Ideally you will hit each movemement 2-3 times a week. However it is slightly more complex than that.

[inbox24]

What if you just wanna get big and cut first?

[micoach]

There is not such thing as "just" when it comes to being big.

I'm not a bodybuilding expert so I can't comment properly. What I will say is that there is a general move in the industry away from bodypart training and towards movement based training. Certainly in Athletic Development you would get laughed out of the room for suggesting an arm day. It may be different in the bodybuilding world though.

Not that bodypart training is BAD per se. It's just that if you can get similar results in less time AND make them more cricket specific, they why would you go with body part splits?

[Tom M]

Originally Posted by inbox24

What if you just wanna get big and cut first?

Do Jim Wendler's 5/3/1.

Might help your cricket a bit. A bit. You'll definitely get big and strong though!

[micoach]

Originally Posted by Tom M

Do Jim Wendler's 5/3/1.

Might help your cricket a bit. A bit. You'll definitely get big and strong though!

Yep good plan. There are loads out there that will get you big if you put in the work and eat enough food.

Stronglifts 5x5 is another top one. Eric Cressey Maximum Strength has been getting good reviews too.

[Tom M]

Originally Posted by micoach

Yep good plan. There are loads out there that will get you big if you put in the work and eat enough food.

Stronglifts 5x5 is another top one. Eric Cressey Maximum Strength has been getting good reviews too.

More good training programs. Eric Cressey is a super man, his youtube account has loads of great info on it. I've recently recommended his shoulder rehab program to several people, I know this would help out a lot of cricketers.

[SpeedStar]

I've also been doing weight training, my bowling speed has increased significantly.

[Manee]

Did the Monday session from Tom's guide (box squats, step up variation, romanian deadlifts and ab circuit) - the romanian deadlifts were a bloody killer and had to abort with 8x1, 3x2 instead of 8x3, probs went in too heavy tbh.