Match Fit vs Gym Fit

source

I have raised this topic today as there was a healthy discussion between the commentary team during the New Zealand Vs England cricket test yesterday. The ex players who have now turned to commentary for a living have noticed a change in fitness techniques over the years.

Back injuries will happen to most fast bowlers at some point in their careers through wear and tear as the spina is under severe stress. The bowling action could be also causing the injury but when we are talking about professionals in their early twenties then something is seriously wrong. The list was rather lengthy with over 12 fast bowlers missing due to back problems. This highlights a lack of match preparation and nothing else as it is that obvious.

I have always said someone who trains in the gym maybe fit for the gym, but definitely not fit for playing sport. Muscles and bulking up mean absolutely nothing and cannot replace someone who is fit away from the gym.

The current England cricket team is relying on a bowling attack that would normally have retired in jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad as they have very few options left open to them. The rest are all injured mainly with back issues and that is down to one thing and that is not being match fit. Dale Steyn played 11 years before he started having injury problems and that was purely down to wear and tear which is expected in this profession as a fast bowler. He was skinny and match fit for his entire career and why most teams wanted him in their side.

Being a fast bowler in cricket means you need to bowl thousands of balls each season which puts a huge strain on the rest of your body being the back, the knees and your ankles. The gym does not prepare your body for the punishment that lies ahead.

Simon Doull who used to bowl for New Zealand mentioned his pre season training involved fitness work but also bowling over a 1000 balls per week in the training nets. That number would increase as the season got closer and why his injuries were less than others as his body was prepared.

This is not something that is aimed at cricket as most sports suffer from similar issues and sportsmen are becoming soft. There is too much emphasis on gym work over outside preparation work. Nothing can beat doing the real thing and cannot be replaced by lifting a weight.

When I was playing competitive rugby many of my team mates spent pre season in the gym and I did the exact opposite. I took a ruck sack of bricks or grabbed a large pole and did a 10 km run instead. The only playing injury I suffered was a broken ankle and it wasn't even my fault. The difference was I was punishing my body in a way the gym doesn't making myself more prepared for the oncoming season.

The same way cricketers are breaking down other sportsmen are falling to the gym idea as making you fit. Toning your body yes but fit no as this is not preparing you for what is to come. Maybe everyone is kidding themselves with all the gym work and supplements having fake muscles not fit for purpose.

The workload of all sportsman has increased over the years with more and more matches being added to the yearly calendar. This makes preparation and readiness even more important as injuries will happen to those that fail to prepare.



0
0
0.000
10 comments
avatar

I absolutely agree with you on this sir. Keeping up at the gym is never the same as keeping fit. The real work is out there especially with Cricketers and footballer. Gym work can help but can never substitute with actual keeping fit. These days, your diet is even part of keeping fit but still, the real work is out there.

0
0
0.000
avatar

I would partially agree! The runs you made did train your muscles that were more small and connecting the big muscle groups. In a scence you just rained the correct "small" muscles while your teammates only focused on the "big" muscle groups that everybody knows.

But it is not jsut the training, it is also the coordination and movements that are important. The more often your body is used to a certain dynamic movement and kowns how the muscles have to playe together the more resistant he is against injuries :)

0
0
0.000
avatar

Yes it is a combination with repetition movement especially in a bowlers case which is what makes them match fit.

0
0
0.000
avatar

I feel building your muscles in the gym is to gather strength and stamina. It's to work your body to gain a certain level of rhythm and I agree that it should go more than just being gym fit.

0
0
0.000
avatar

so true. I see gym bunnies get sick on the field after 5 minutes. Not the same. Its kind of the same as a kit car. might look the part but the engine of a Peugeot 206

0
0
0.000
avatar

I love this post and really opened my mind. I have been both gym fit and "match fit". I've found that the greater my match fitness is (cardio in the fitness sense I'm talking about) then it would have a great flow on effect to my gym fitness and muscle mass. But the muscle mass I built was not practical and I'm so happy that as I exited my 20's and into my 30's, it was all about getting practical fitness that I could use in every day life.

I'm all match fitness over gym fitness and I would have this same thought concept to be applied in all sports.

0
0
0.000
avatar

Has to be applied in all sports and explains why so many sportsmen break down as in the last decade most spend at least half of their training in the gym.

0
0
0.000
avatar

Spot on. When my colleagues say we should hit the gym to stay fit, especially when we have football matches to play, I have also always thought that the gym doesn't necessarily keep you fit. I think the gym is more suited to help your build or whatever you wish to use it for, but not particularly staying fit. Your diet, sleep pattern and stress management I believe better help with that.

0
0
0.000
avatar

We were talking about this the other day and how even bodybuilders will admit that their mass has no real practical purpose and when put into tests of athletic competence they will almost always lose. Just look at the guys in the strongman contests, almost all of those guys are barrel-chested and don't normally look extremely ripped. They are a hell of a lot stronger than most bodybuilders though who don't even enter the contest because they'll get embarrassed .

Then there are the arm-wrestling competitions where they take mid-level arm wrestler who weights 50kg less than the bodybuilder he is up against and the bodybuilder always gets destroyed in these things.

0
0
0.000