i sometimes venture for a read on those forums. it's hard to follow because there are so many regional argumentsIf only!
No, but every time this site puts up a new article, it's discussed in great detail on caribbeancricket.com....
I don't know - I mean having a higher level of fitness can never hurt you and doing weights will improve a whole lot of things, from making your body resistant to injury to giving your more power/explosiveness in all facets of the game. Just purely for injury prevention, working out can help ease the workload (you can of course overtrain and make it worse, but these guys have full time trainers who manage such things to make sure there isn't overtraining and players stay near their peaks). Obviously your main focus should still be your trade but we're in the fully professional era where you don't generally have to make that choice - you have time to do both.
I'm sure weights will help but I've always believed it's best, especially for bowlers, just to keep bowling. Courtney Walsh followed a similar philosophy and he had an ok career
Yeah look to be honest I'm not an expert on this. I've just always followed Courtney Walsh's philosophy
of course but there has to be a balance right? I mean I doubt you can start bodybuilding like arnold schwarzenegger and be as good in cricket
Yeah, in Holding's autobiography, he mentions the influence Roberts had on him as a mentor and how much W. Indies's fitness coach contributed to their fast bowlers' success. Also Lloyd did a great job balancing their bowling workloads... all four bowlers would invariably end up having bowled an identical number of overs (or very close) after every Test.
Yea, but what's 'too much weights'? Most taxing weight regimens are rarely more than like 45 minutes a day four-five days a week (and for non contact sport where sheer size is less important, it's usually only like 40-45 minutes, probably three days a week). For a professional athlete, it's hardly 'too much' or overkill. I doubt it takes that much out of your bowling, batting or fielding time. I mean you don't ever weight lift for like three hours a day, every day.
But Holding has also flat out said he would not have been able to play today like he did due to the workload. He came from an era where playing 50 Tests in your career was not really uncommon. So his training regimen would have had to change for him to keep up with the intense and sustained demand of the modern scheduling....
Yep. Holding was off a much shorter run later in his career too so, even then, it's not as if he was bowling flat out for his entire career. If he was playing now, something would have to give; either he would have to have upped his training regimen like you said or play less.
I was, when I lived and worked in the Caribbean....
It came about as a result of the Packer years, and Lloyd linking up with Dennis Waight. The Aussie instituted a fitness regime that ensured that the WI players didn't break down with injury. Holding said he never set foot in a gym, but Waight organised a series of exercises they could do on the field, and even in the hotel room, to stay fit. In his autobiography, 'No Holding Back', the Jamaican pacer highlights fitness as one of the main reasons why the Windies dominated for so long. None of the other teams, including England and Australia, took fitness that seriously at the time. When they did start taking fitness seriously, Brian Lara took over the captaincy, and he had a negative attitude towards Waight's fitness regime. They had a clash, Waight went, and Windies cricket continued to decline.
This is what Roberts said in the cricinfo article, and I agree with him....
interesting. then my memory must really be failing me since i distinctly remember holding mentioning doing weights in the gym during his commentary stint. my mistake. need to drink more!
