Category: Fitness

What started out as an impulsive “why not join the Training Club?” (after all, a weekend of SquashSkills training camp improved my game) has evolved into many reasons why I should continue.  Little did I suspect how transformative this experience would be.

Competitive squash requires a comprehensive blend of all of the body’s different energy-producing pathways, due to the high pace, prolonged rallies, and short recovery periods inherent to the game. Using set-distance interval running sessions is a great way to help develop the necessary fitness base needed for success on the court, and 400m repeats are one of the very best of these kinds of high intensity workouts.

If I’m brutally honest about myself I’d have to admit I’ve spent years talking a good game on how I’m going to get much fitter, I’m going to improve the technical side of my game, solo practice more and eventually be one of the better players in my Squash Club. I have made improvements over the years, I am fitter, I’ve won my first team matches and I was regularly practising on court alone or with a partner. However, I’ve lacked motivation from time to time and I’ve now gone onto realise I’ve kept myself training at a “comfort level”, doing what I know and probably just about maintaining my current fitness at the time.

In our SquashSkills ‘Circuit of the Month’ series we bring you a brand new squash-specific conditioning session every 4 weeks, to help freshen up your physical training and give you some ideas for new exercises and training methods.

Circuits are a fantastic method of training for the squash player, perfect to use to optimise available time and to get maximum impact from your workouts.

There are a lot of good ways to improve your squash-specific fitness, with most players typically working a blend of circuits, gym sessions, ghosting, and court sprints. Perhaps the most straightforward and enduring form of fitness training however, is simply getting outside and going for a run. Just getting out and jogging occasionally is enough for many, but for those who approach their running training with a little more focus and enthusiasm, one of the most common distance formats is the 5K.

While it can seem difficult to know where to start when trying to keep up with your physical conditioning while deprived access to your local squash club or gym, there are still a number of training methods and workouts you can utilise to keep on top of your fitness while away from the court.

This brand new playlist sees SquashSkills own Jesse Engelbrecht back with another instalment of his ever-entertaining ball skill development at-home exercises!

Training in the current climate of quarantine and lockdown is extremely difficult. Various bodyweight focused exercises can still be utilised, and restricted space can be adapted to some degree, but getting in any truly squash-specific work is a challenge for many. With a bit of creativity and forethought however, it’s still possible to tailor even very limited training space into an area suitable to provide a taste of the ghosting exercise you’ve no doubt been missing!

In our SquashSkills ‘Circuit of the Month’ series we serve up a brand new squash-specific conditioning session every 4 weeks, to help freshen up your physical training and give you some ideas for new exercises and training methods.

Circuits are a fantastic method of training for the squash player, perfect to use to optimise available time and to get maximum impact from your workouts.

For this week’s brand new playlist we have SquashSkills Fitness & Performance Director Gary Nisbet taking over, with a very timely series of videos taking a look at ways you can adapt your squash-specific fitness work, to be able to still train hard even if confined to your home.

Check out this clip from the Origins series that sees Joey and Jonah discuss the merits of court sprints and how you can effectively balance solo practice and physical exercise.

This 30-minute interview has been very well received and offers some light relief during these particularly difficult times.

We hope you enjoy…

Squash is a game that can be very tough on the body. While many squash players swear by the benefits of a good sports massage, sometimes schedule and cost will limit access to this kind of soft-tissue therapeutic intervention. The option then to be able to use an implement to do this yourself in the comfort of your own home, is an enticing one.

In our SquashSkills ‘Circuit of the Month’ series we give you a brand new squash-specific conditioning session to try each month, to help freshen up your physical training.

Circuits are a fantastic method of training for the squash player, perfect to use to optimise time and get maximum impact from your workouts.

Love them or hate them (and it’s probably more likely to be the latter!), court sprints are a familiar part of squash training for players of any and all levels. While some debate may surround exactly how beneficial they are in comparison to other lower impact training modalities, there’s no escaping the fact that they provide a simple, straightforward, and effective session to boost your squash-specific conditioning.

Speed is a huge asset in almost all sports, but especially so in a game like squash that relies so heavily on repeated movements to and from the ball, in both defence and attack.

We have a brand new edition of our popular ’11 Points on Fitness’ Q&A, this time featuring English international and world number 24, Tom Richards.

Tom had a very good start to the 2019/20 season in the China Open, overcoming Egyptian world junior champion Mostafa Asal with an excellent 3/0 victory, before falling to a very narrow 3/2 loss against world no. 1 Ali Farag in the quarter-finals.

When most amateur players talk about ‘getting fitter’ for their squash, what they usually mean is that they want to increase their endurance – their ability to be able to maintain a higher work output for a longer period.

We have a brand new edition of our popular ’11 Points on Fitness’ Q&A, this time featuring Egyptian star Mazen Hesham.

Mazen has been on a long road back from injury after first bursting onto the scene several years ago, but a big win over Diego Elias at this week’s British Open is a sign that he’s almost back to his best.