First blog and start of winter training.

Hi Everyone

There a variety of reasons for me writing this blog. Firstly there are cricket supporters who might be interested in knowing more about what professionals do, both on and off the field. Secondly I have friends and family scattered all over the place and sometimes cant speak to them or see them as much as id like, so this is a way for them to catch up with what im doing on a weekly basis. Finally, its for me. By writing this blog it works as a bit of a diary for me and will hopefully give me some direction. At the end of the week when i write, its a chance to properly analyse my week and plan for the next.

This week I started my winter gym programme. Typically players tend to have a few weeks off at the end of September or early October but i have decided not to, primarily so I can get a head start in the gym. Im not going away this winter because im trying to move house with my girlfriend and son, and also my son George is at a very young age where i want to be heavily involved. Also it has been a particularly long cricket season this year especially for bowlers, im sure every county cricketer would agree its been a tough summer. I want to give my body some time to recover from bowling, and a winter in Australia would be a fun and great opportunity but not sensible. Also we have a great support staff at Essex who are around all winter to help with training, both cricket and fitness.

My gym sessions this week and for the first couple of weeks in October will be focused on weight training and trying to build strength back up and put weight on. I tend to lose a bit of weight and muscle during the season so getting both back as quickly as possible is a priority. Its quite difficult because i dont put weight on easily so i have to try and eat 5-6 times a day combined with my strength training. Our strength and conditoning coach Ant Sharp, who i will no doubt mention in more of my blogs, leads all the gym sessions and makes all the guys work really hard and points us in the right direction.

I will update more next week after some more gym sessions.

Take it easy

Chris