Cricket players and fans alike know that each game, bowl after bowl, takes its toll. Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club have found the secret to efficient training for every over.
Steeped in cricketing heritage and home to some of the best cricketers to have ever graced the crease, Nottinghamshire County cricket team has been embracing the benefits of heart rate training at Trent Bridge.
Using heart rate monitors and innovative training tech in and out of the gym, the Notts CCC team members are competing against themselves and each other so that they can be at their best when they face division rivals.
How Notts County found the sports team secret to smart cricket
Whether it’s perfecting performance on the cricket field or recovering efficiently in-between matches, heart rate training allows Notts County cricketers to get the most out of every effort when it counts.
“One of the main things we use Myzone for is our energy system development – gauging fitness,” explains Liam Price, strength and conditioning coach at Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club.
“What we’ll do is prescribe different interval training options, running or on the Wattbike, making sure that our athletes are in the right heart rate zones.
“The beauty of Myzone is that it’s changeable. So, for example, if we’re on the bike we can whack a chest strap on one of the lads and make sure they’re in 80-90%, and they can get a decent stimulus from there and get the adaptation.
“Also, if we’re looking for recovery or active recovery, we make sure that the boys aren’t pushing too hard so they’re staying in the lower zones to promote recovery rather than risk the detriment of strain.”
Heart rate training that hits for six
“Our players enjoy using Myzone because of the ease of use of the app,” Liam continues. “They can see in real-time where their heart rate is if we’ve given them specific targets.
“They get the overviews of their peak heart rate or their average heart rate; they can compete against each other to see who can earn the most Myzone Effort Points, so it really buys the lads in.
“Another cool thing is the nutrition aspect. It’s tricky in cricket to fuel for what you need to do. A lot of the fuelling obviously needs to be done beforehand.
“With Myzone, what we’ve done is retrospectively go back to understand what a session of bowling looks like for a particular player – it might be 1200 or 1300 calories – and then we know we need to get two thirds of that into them beforehand to give them the energy to perform.
“It gives us a way more accurate picture. Before, we were loading lads up with loads of food, but some lads burn way more than others because of their physiological make-up.
"This gives us a real balance on how we can fuel the players for their performance.”
For more details on Nottinghamshire CCC visit the Trent Bridge website or boost your team’s performance with Myzone.
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