You can't bowl fast unless you have a healthy shoulder, but bowling is notoriously tough on your shoulders. If you have bowled for a long session you know the feeling of soreness in your bowling shoulder the next day.

To stop that from becoming an injury, you need to do some preventative exercise beyond just heading to the nets and getting a few overs under your belt.

For a lot of bowlers this means doing work with a band on the rotator cuff and some bench pressing.

Nobody knows why, but there is a direct relationship between to strength of your lats and how fast you bowl.

That means, the more weight you can move in an upper body pulling movement will directly relate to greater speeds on the pitch.

It's not often that this crossover is so clear, so you should take advantage and do as much pulling as possible if you want to bowl faster.

The problem is that upper body pulling is one of the hardest movements to train, especially in the horizontal plane.

One of the big issues with gm training for fast bowlers is the transfer from weights to the bowling action.

As Steff Jones says, there is a large river of difference between them unless you bridge the gap.

That's what this quick exercise combination from Steffan does really well, taking a "traditional" strength exercise and pairing it with a fast, powerful movement.

It makes sure you take the gym with you to the playing field.

MS Dhoni recently lamented the lack of fast bowlers in India,

"We're going through a stage when we don't have the same firepower when it comes to the bowling department."

That has to hurt if you are an Indian fast bowler.

But it's true at club and school level too, it's not just an issue at the top.

Steffan Jones, former professional cricketer and cutting-edge strength coach, has joined the PitchVision Academy coaching panel and his brand new course is available now.

Steff is trainer to a range of cricketers and has developed a tried and tested training programme for fast bowlers that: prevents injury and increases bowling pace. He brings with him a reputation of career-saving results with methods adapted from other sports to bring astounding results. 

The course has never been available online before, but today you can get your hands on it thanks to PitchVision Academy.

It is the result of years of experience and hundreds of players who vary in age from teenagers up until former Test players in their late 30s.

There has never been a more cutting edge fitness training plan available for upcoming fast bowlers outside the professional game.

Ask any Strength Coach about the fitness needs of fast bowlers and they will all quickly start talking about the core.

The term is loose, but it broadly means your "midsection". It is vital for you to be strong and stable in that area if you are looking to bowl fast, prevent injury or both.

And who isn't?

Of course, core training can et complex with a lot of differing theories so it gets confusing quickly.

Do you do crunches or not? Are your hamstrings part of the core? What about this "anti-rotation" buzz word you have heard?

The 4th season Cricket Show kicks off with a blast into 2013, and it's set to be the best series yet as we head towards our 200th show.

Burners, David Hinchliffe and Mark Garaway talk about the real way to make changes and why resolutions are not the best place to start. But it is a new year and people's minds turn to fitness so we also answer your questions on resistance bands and training late at night.

Remember, you can participate in the show, improve your cricket and win a prize!

Ashish asked a question I think a lot of young fast bowlers wonder,

"What are some good bowling exercises for teenage fast bowlers to do at home? I heard fast bowlers need a strong core, shoulders, arms and legs."

Ashish has heard right in that bowlers need strong everything!

The new year brings new hopes for getting fit, and for cricketers that means very specific things: run faster, bow faster, hit harder, throw longer, keep up stamina and prevent injuries.

All worthy aims of course, but there is a trap waiting. If you fall in you can forget about your dreams of improved fitness this year.

What is this trap?

There is no doubt that fitness is crucial to the modern cricketer to improve performance and prevent injury. The benefits are well proven.

But fitness is also a minefield.

There is so much information available yet much of it is at best no benefit and at worst dangerous.

That's why you should get the PitchVision Academy newsletter.

The weekly email cuts through the rubbish and takes you straight to the tips, ideas and programmes that actually work to help you reach your goals for the year.