One of the hot athletic fitness topics of the moment is how to prevent injury and increase power in throwing.

As cricketers we should all be interested in that, especially bowlers whose shoulders regularly get quite a beating. Both benefits come from improving the stability and mobility of your shoulder muscles as part of an overall training programme:

It's a horrible feeling when you have been in the field for a long time: Your legs get heavy and all you want to do is get off the pitch, get in the shower and have a pint or a cuppa.

Usually this is the time you need to be most switched on.

So it pays to use a couple of tricks to keep the fatigue away in the dying overs.

Some cricketers are natural runners, especially between the wickets. We can't all be as swift as Collingwood or Symonds though so we need a simple cheat to get our 22 yard dash up to speed.

That's where your arms come in.

Many coaches encourage the use of technique training to make this process as efficient as possible but in fact there is a simpler trick (especially for club players with little time to train):

Cricketers, more than any sportsman, enjoy their food. After all, the game is built around lunch and tea. So it's no surprise that most players will be carrying a little extra weight after the excesses of Christmas.

Don't panic, you can lose those pounds before the summer arrives.

Getting fit for cricket doesn't have to be expensive.

You improve your strength by overloading your muscles using weights. Nobody says this weight has to be expensive bars and machines in a gym though.

Consider the humble sandbag.

You can make your own with some freezer bags, sand and a couple of sacks for about a tenner.

There are a lot of ways to get fit. Some, like running and circuit training, are better for cricket than others.

Is Pilates a method that fits the needs of cricketers?

Pilates is a training method developed in the early 20th century that has grown in popularity recently. It's primarily interested in developing core strength and flexibility: Both important requirements for cricketers.

Have you resolved to have a better cricket season this year?

In the UK it's a great time to start working towards that goal as indoor nets start across the country. You have enough time to get stronger, fitter, faster and more skilful before you even face a ball in anger.

But just as 90% of people who resolve to get fit in January give up, you might find yourself overwhelmed and unmotivated.

Cricket is a game of multiple components: strength, power, speed, timing, mobility...

The list goes on and on.

But it's back to Vern Gambetta to shed light on the most important factor in cricket performance:

"Balance is the single most important component of athletic ability because it underlies all movement. It is a component of all movement whether that movement is dominated by strength, speed, flexibility or stamina. Problems that you thought were strength, speed, flexibility or skill-related could in fact be directly balance related and are manifested as a lack of strength, speed, flexibility, skill etc. Poor balance leads to poor technical or skill development which often results in injury."

Boys don't stretch.

That's what a female fitness instructor once told me when I was working in a local gym.

She was right too.

Most men in that gym and every man I have played cricket with have flexibility at the bottom of their list of fitness requirements. Is the benefit of flexibility worth all the time it takes? I think it is, and here's why:

Isn't it great when you find an impressive sounding journal to backup your own cricket training ideas?

In June 2006 the International Journal of Sports Physiology and Performance had this to say:

"Research on neural adaptations to resistance training indicates that intermuscular coordination is an important component in achieving transfer to sports skills."