Apr 25 2008
It’s Only Cricket, Why Be Fit?
5 reasons you need to get fit for cricket

1. Performance - Fitness improves bowling speed, hitting power, reaction times and running speed. It does this for everyone without fail (no matter how old). What's more, even highly trained elite players suffer no loss of performance through bulking up - they are not training for huge bodybuilder muscles and neither should you.
2. Injury Prevention - Stronger bones, muscles, ligaments and tendons reduce the risk of injury.
3. Teamwork - Training in pairs or in a team is great for building camaraderie between teammates. Making training competitive also makes it more fun.
4. Variation - Playing cricket is the best way to get fit for cricket. That said, the body likes variation. Different activities cross train your body and keep your mind alert.
5. Health - General fitness makes you feel and look better in the rest of your life too.

How important is the gym for cricketers?
Is pumping iron going to get you wickets and runs?

1. Some things, like strength training, are best done in the gym. You can exercise in ways, with weights and with muscles you would have great trouble or expense replicating elsewhere.
2. Good gyms have good gym instructors who will quite happily reel off as much advice as you need.
3. Fitness training is good for your general health (the main reason why most people go to the gym anyway).

So every player should join a gym unless they have a very strong reason not to.

What are the reasons not to?

There are a few:

1. If your doctor has told you not to.
2. If you are under 18. You shouldn't be lifting heavy weights at a young age as it is detrimental to your physical development (light or body weight exercise is fine).
3. If your gym training is detrimental to developing cricket specific speed, endurance, agility or skill. Ideally the gym will compliment these, but if it’s better to stay away and just train cricket specifics than lose out because the gym is taking too much time.

As usual then, it’s all about finding a balance to get the best results: more runs, wickets and catches.