CRICKET TRAINING PLAN
Cricket bowling can often lead to injuries to your back and shoulders, and the more you bowl the higher your risk. Therefore, it is advised that bowlers should undertake specific exercises to help improve flexibility and strength which in turn will minimise your risk to injury due to the repetitive nature of your bowling action.
The 2 key areas to concentrate on are your rotator cuff and your core and our exercise programmes are designed to improve both of these areas.
The Resist&Skip Fitness Rope is unique because you will be using your own body strength to determine the required resistance and as you get stronger you can alter the length of your rope to strengthen the resistance.
Resist&Skip Fitness Ropes can be used indoors and outdoors, at home or at your club’s training sessions and they fit perfectly in to your cricket bag without taking up much room or adding any extra weight!
TWO-LEG BRIDGE
Lying on your back on the ground, bring your feet hip width, close to your buttocks wrap the fitness rope around your hands and place arms out straight at a 45 degree angle to the body with the fitness rope lying over your hips.
Squeeze your buttocks and back then lift your hips up as high as they will go! Lower your back down the ground and repeat. Make sure your knees stay in line with your toes.
HORIZONTAL PULL UP (with a partner)
Using a low bar take an underhand grip lie flat beneath the bar place a fitness rope over your hips or waist a partner hols the fitness rope on the ground, bend your legs push off both feet and lift your hips off the ground, then pull your body weight against the resistance towards the bar until your chest touches, lengthen the arms and repeat.
PLANK ROW
Place the Resist&Skip Fitness Rope under your hands and get into plank position with your hands shoulder width apart and shoulders directly over your hands and balancing on either your toes or knees! Draw your belly button up into your spine and brace through your core, then pull the rope past your ribs leading from your elbow keeping your hips even and still. Repeat on the oppositeside.
SPLIT SQUAT WITH BICEP CURL
Stand one leg on the fitness rope and wrap hands around the rope. Brace through your core and bend into the standing leg allowing the other leg to move backwards.Keep the elbows in line with the shoulders whilst pulling your hands up in to a bicep curl. Return the leg and arm to start position.
INTERNAL ROTATION WITH SIDE LUNGE
Attach the Resist&Skip Fitness Rope to a fixed object or get a partner to hold it (single or doubled). Stand side on to the fixed object and place the rope into the hand closest to it. Tuck the elbow into your waist at 90degrees. Step the leg furthest away out into a side lunge with the toes and knee lined up out to the side. The other leg is straight with the knee facing forward.
As you bend the outside knee to 90 degrees internally rotate the arm holding the rope whilst keeping the elbow locked at your side Straighten the leg and return the arm.
KNEELING SUPERMAN
Wrap the Resist&Skip Fitness Rope around your feet and bring it between your knees as you place both knees and hands onto the ground. Put the rope under your palms so the wrists are neutral.With a flat back and bracing through your core straighten one arm and the opposite leg out in a long line. Return and repeat on the opposite side.
EXTERNAL ROTATION
Attach the Resist&Skip Fitness Rope to a fixed object or partner stand side on to the rope and hold it (single or double) with the outside hand palm up and the elbow tucked into your waist. Simply pull the rope outwards keeping the elbow fixed. Return and repeat.
SIDE RAISE WITH ROTATION
Place the Resist&Skip Fitness Rope under your feet shoulder width apart. Cross the handles over with your thumbs at the rope end of the handle. Standing tall draw your elbows out to the side in a side raise with arm and elbow at 90 degrees. Then holding the body and arms still rotate the palms upward then slowly lower to the side raise. Return to the start.
DO 10 -12 REPETITIONS OF EACH EXERCISE 2-3 SETS
PRESS UP
Lie flat on the ground and place the Resist&Skip Fitness Rope over your back and under your armpits! (Single or double –up the rope). Place your hands on the rope lining them up with your chest and with your elbows at 90 degrees. Press your body up away from the floor keeping your back flat and the mid-section braced either on your knees or your toes. Return almost to the floor and repeat.
TRIANGLE WITH EXTERNAL ROTATION
The purpose of this exercise is to stretch so if you do not have the flexibility just keep the knees soft!
Place the Resist&Skip Fitness Rope under one foot. Step your feet really wide apart, with your heels in line and turn the toe out to the side that is on the rope. Wrap the rope around your hands. Keeping your legs as straight as you can, slide the same arm as the front leg down towards your knee or shin, turn your body out until your shoulders are stacked and slide your back hip away bringing length to your waist.
Once in position brace through your core and externally rotate the top arm until straight! Adjust the resistance by wrapping more or less rope around the hand. As your flexibility increases slide the hand closer to the ankle!
Hold for about 45- 60 seconds
LEG LOWERS
Wrap the Resist&Skip Fitness Rope around your feet. Bring it between your knees and lie down on your back. Place the handles into your hands with the little fingers at the rope end. Lengthen your arms up above your shoulders and draw your naval down towards your spine, bringing the legs up as straight as you can above your hips. Keeping the back and body braced and the arms still press the legs away from the body to 45 degrees or more (if you can keep the lower back still on the floor) slowly return the legs to the start position and repeat.
SIDE PLANK WITH LEG RAISE
Tie the Resist&Skip Fitness Rope into a loose loop. Lie on your side with your elbow directly under your shoulder and place your feet through the loop. Stack them and lift your body off the ground into a side plank. Once you have stabilized, squeeze the top leg upwards and return under control! Do 10-12 reps and then do the other side.
SQUAT WITH FRONT RAISE
Step both feet hip width apart onto the Resist&Skip Fitness Rope with your little fingers at rope end of handles. Sit your body weight backwards bending from the knees but keeping an upright body. Lift the arm out in front towards shoulder height as you sink into the squat. Return to standing under control.
ROTATING PLANK
Wrap the Resist&Skip Fitness Rope around your hands approximately shoulder width apart. Place your hands on the ground under the shoulders. Step your feet back into a long straight plank with your feet hip width apart. Rotate your body into a side plank rolling the feet to their inside and outside edge keeping the legs and body long. Draw the top arm up squeezing from your shoulder blades. Return to centre plank and repeat on the other side. Complete 10 reps in total.
FIXED/PARTNER Y & T
Attach the Resist&Skip Fitness Rope to an immovable object (or partner). Face towards the anchor point and hold the rope handles with your thumbs at rope end move away so that there is tension on the rope. Keeping your body strong and straight take the arms up and out to the Y shape activating the back of your shoulder and the shoulder blades. Return to the start position and then squeezing from the shoulder blades take the arms out to a T position return to start (both Y & T count as 1 rep).
BOX WALK
Step onto the Resist&Skip Fitness Rope with your feet hip width apart. Wrap the rope around your hand and cross the handles over and place your hands on hips. Keeping the chest up and your core activated step your right foot forward then your left, return the right leg then the left making a box shape! Keep the feet out at the same width for all repetitions then change sides (wrap the rope tighter to make it harder).
SIDE STEP/JUMPS
Attach the Resist&Skip Fitness Rope to an immovable object (or partner). Turn side on to the anchor point take 2-3 steps away keeping yourmid-section braced and the feet wide. Return slowly and repeat. For more intensity jump or side hop away from the attachment.
SKIPPING
Skip for 45 -120 seconds as fast as you can maybe add in some double under skips or high knees. As you get better at skipping you will be able to skip for longer and do more difficult jumps. Try starting off skipping as a warm up before you do these exercises and then gradually progress to skipping after each exercise. This helps with your cardio fitness, which will help you run quicker between the wickets and improve your running speed when fielding.
SPLIT LUNGE ARM THROW
Anchor the Resist&Skip Fitness Rope to an immovable object (or partner). Using only one handle and with your thumb closest to the rope end, turn away from the anchor point and step forward with the rope arm above your head. Drop into a split lunge bending both knees to 90 degrees keeping head shoulders and hips in a straight line whilst simultaneously throwing the arm over in an arcing motion to approximately shoulder height. Jump back up to the start position. Complete 10 reps on one side then the other.