Cricket Fitness: Dale Steyn / Weight Training

by Andrew

Since you have worked with Dale Steyn, I just wanted to know what weight training he does as he isn’t a big man, but he bowls quick.

What exercises does he do?

Hi Andrew,
when I started with Dale in 2005 he was 22 and had finished growing, the male finishes bone growth at 22.

The goal was to fill out the final skeletal growth with musculature which would allow Dale to bowl quick and carry progressively greater workloads as he got older.

The conditioning coach at the Titans, Rob Walter, had Dale learn compound movements with Olympic lifts.

A qualified conditioning coach or biomechanist can explain this in greater detail, but in a nutshell these are whole body movements with an Olympic weights bar to generate force and build power.

Morne Morkel and Dale trained with the other Titans players in basic lifting technique to learn this. The loads were periodised and technique was put before weight.

Dale is also genetically gifted with lots of fast twitch muscle fibre, he is built for speed. The goal of the weight training has been to develop the power which is the foundation of Dale’s speed.

This has been supplemented with work on bowling technique to make sure that Dale’s mechanics are smooth and effective to generate maximal speed with minimal effort.

Check out the section on Cricket Fitness for more ideas.

Regards Coach

Comments for Cricket Fitness: Dale Steyn / Weight Training
Dec 16, 2014 Dale Steyn: I want to correct my run up
by: Raj kkpm Hello sir I watched steyn action,I follow him completely,but I can’t correct my run up,how to corrupt it please watch my video YouTube As (dale steyn tamilnadu RAJ kkpm please help me…thank you.Hi, the best thing is to lay out some cones or soft markers on the ground to give yourself a pathway to follow when you run in to the crease. Make sure you get close to the stumps so that your stock ball is from wicket to wicket. This makes the batter have to play the line of the ball bowled at off stump.Regards Coach
Apr 24, 2013 nitish
by: Anonymous hi sir .. i am fast bowler myself … apart from the gym work .. what kind of training does steyn do to keep him going at the same pace from ball 1 to the last ball of the match … Hi, do interval training during the off season. 2-3 times a week with a day in between sessions, do a 20 minute run, after a 3 minute walking – jogging warm up, each minute do a 10 second sprint and then walk for 50 seconds. Repeat each minute up to 20 minutes. In season Dale’s workload on field in the nets keeps him running fit. Best wishes Coach
Apr 19, 2013 what are exercises for pacer in the gym ?
by: chetan hello sir,
i am a medium pacer but i do not know the proper exercises and also do not know the gym exercises.please help me to generate my pace more and also maintain my fitness. Hi go to Cricket Fitness and see Greg King’s Fitness Tips
Feb 15, 2013 legs strengthening
by: Anonymous how he have a very fast run up..wat are the training programme to build us fast…??Go to the cricket fitness tab and check Greg King’s conditioning programs. Coach
Jan 27, 2011 Dale Steyn Weight Training
by: Coach Pybus Yes he did do bench press, shoulder press, pull ups etc … I want to re-affirm though that this was 5 years ago when we were preparing him to carry the workload of first class and international cricket. I can’t speak for his current program, as with all conditioning programs, they need to be periodised and balanced to meet the needs of the individuals physiological strenghts and weaknesses. Happy Training
Jan 17, 2011 upper body exercises
by: Anonymous Thanks for your reply. Does he do upper body exercises like bench press, pull ups,rows, shoulder press, push ups etc?
Dec 28, 2010 Upper Body Weights Training
by: Mike I have heard that it can be bad for fast bowlers to do upper body weights training. Is this true and does Dale Steyn do a lot of upper body weights training?Hi Mike, as with all training, the specificity of the training is paramount.What are the goals for the training load?The important training questions are… when in the years training cycle is he doing the weights, what is he lifting and how frequently ?

He won’t do alot of weights ‘in-season’, whether its upper or lower body, as he is just playing too much cricket, most of the work will be maintenance work to hold strength levels that have been established in windows during the year when there was little to no cricket.

The work will be light-ish weights to maintain speed and explosive power.

A qualified bio-kineticist or conditioning coach can help you to periodise the workload and frequency to optimise speed, power and endurance for fast bowling.

regards Coach
Dec 28, 2010 strength training
by: Anonymous What exercises does he do? eg bench press, shoulder press, squat, deadlift?
Could you list them pleaseHi Anonymous, phew, its five years ago when Rob did that programme … so I shall have to jog the memory … I can’t remember exactly, but the focus was on clean and jerk, clean and press, squatting, lunging and medicine ball work.
It was to develop the cricketer’s ability to learn Olympic lifts and to work through the kinetic chain from the ground up.There wasn’t alot of isolated exercises, more compound and functional.Dale is loaded with fast twitch muscle fibre so another goal was to fire these up and get them activated, working from light technique oriented movements, to pushing 60 – 90 of 1 RM during the winter and move to explosive power and cricket specific training as we got closer to the summer.
Hope that helps …
regards Coach
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Richard Pybus

About Richard Pybus

I'm Richard Pybus, I've coached Pakistan, Bangladesh, Middlesex, Titans and the Cape Cobras in South Africa and the goal of this site is to help you to play winning cricket.

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