Kent County Cricket Club have taken the unusual step of sending their players to an indoor skiing system to improve their fitness this winter.

Under the watchful eye of physio Nimmo Reid and fitness coach Pete Kelly, some of Kent’s players took a trip to Club Alpine Fit in Canterbury on Wednesday to see the benefits of using the BodyCarver.

Designed and created by former Olympic skier Tim Dudgeon, the BodyCarver is an innovative machine that allows the user to recreate being on the slopes, without the need of a trip abroad and with the added benefit of getting you fit at the same time.

Ten years in the making, the BodyCarver is almost impact free, allowing the Kent players to hone their fitness levels and at the same time enjoy a different way of preparing for the season ahead.

Both Nimmo Reid and Pete Kelly have advocated the use of the BodyCarver for Kent’s players and explained to KSN the reasons behind making the trip to Club Alpine Fit:

“I think from our point of view it’s good as you haven’t got any stress going through the knees. It’s pretty much non impact and at the same time challenging.”

“From a workout point of view it’s pretty full on and we thought it would be a bit of a change for the guys.”

“If you are running, you have got three and a half times your body weight going through you every time you put your foot down, where as with this you don’t have that, so that would be the key aspect for me.”vsaid Nimmo.

Pete Kelly is in the process of building up the players’ fitness levels ahead of April as they look to regain their Division One Championship status and the fitness coach told KSN how impressed he had been by the indoor skiing venture:

“I think it’s something different and good for some of the guys coming back from injuries.”

“We’re trying to develop an all round fitness programme and this fits in well with that.”

“Last year we did a bit of boxing and everyone seemed to enjoy that, so we’ve got stuck into that this year.”

Kelly also revealed that he had been in touch with new Head Coach Jimmy Adams who is back in Jamaica as they look to prepare the players for the new season:

“I had a brief chat when I first met him and we’ve been in touch since to keep him up to date with what the boys are doing. Hopefully he’ll be here soon to be a good influence on the boys.”

Ironically, it was Reid and Kelly that turned out to be the two that took to it the most, with both having a go on both skis and a snowboard.

One player that had a go was spinner James Tredwell and he told KSN how he had enjoyed his first visit to Club Alpine Fit:

“I was pleasantly surprised as to how it went as I thought I’d be terrible! Once you get the rhythm of the movements, it’s actually quite good fun.”

“It’s good to different things and Pete has introduced some cross training as well. The BodyCarver is good for being able to hold a position and I think it should benefit my slip catching as you are in that crouched position moving your hips side to side.”

Tredwell missed the end of last season with a hamstring injury and explained how with the help of Nimmo Reid, he felt he had got to the bottom of the problems that saw him sidelined:

“I think we worked out that it isn’t my hamstrings that are the issue. It is more to do with my hips, so I have been working with Pete and Nimmo on a specialised strengthening programme. Hopefully we can put it under some pressure in the next few months to test it out.”

Club Alpine Fit is just a part of Kent Cricket’s fitness regime and in the coming weeks and months they will be undertaking a whole range of activities so they hit the ground running when they visit Yorkshire on April 5th.

Boxing, hill running and the dreaded Strongman are just some of the alternative ways Kelly is aiming to to help the players for the season ahead and we’ll be there in the coming weeks to watch what happens – and take part!