When viewers tuned in to the JAAA All Comers Meet #3 at the National Stadium on May 20, they would’ve seen a familiar name, albeit in another sport.
In section two of the Men’s 100m, West Indies Test vice-captain, Jermaine Blackwood, took part in his first track meet, running 11.76 to finish seventh. That run, according to the 31-year-old, was just for fun.
Cross-training is a way for athletes to participate in training for one sport to improve aspects of their game in another sport and this is a method Blackwood has started to utilize.
Since February of this year, the batsman has been training with the Titans International Track Club in Kingston.
Blackwood says the decision came after a suggestion from his friend and member of the club, 2011 World 100m champion Yohan Blake, after he told Blake he wanted to work on his fitness.
“Just before I went to South Africa, I started training with Titans International,” Blackwood told SportsMax.tv on Tuesday.
“I reached out to Yohan (Blake) and told him I want to come and do some fitness work and he said I should come to the track and train with his club and, from that day, I haven’t looked back since,” he added.
The Jamaican said that he’s seen a significant improvement in his fitness levels since starting to train with the club.
“I can see that my overall fitness has improved a lot from there until now and I’m in very good shape,” Blackwood said before going into how the training has helped his batting.
“Whenever I’m fit and I’m playing, I tend to score more runs because my mind is clear on the kinds of shots I want to play. My decision making is clear,” he said.
“I just tell myself I’m coming in here to put in the work and, once I do that, I’m going to score even more runs. Fitness is a big part of my batting. My back doesn’t get tight when I’m fit and that helps me to bat even longer,” he added.
When asked if this training will allow him to prolong his career, Blackwood responded saying, “Yeah for sure. My body feels really good. I don’t really feel like my age right now because I’ve been getting up early, coming in and putting in the work. I reach the track at 6:00 am, leave at 9:00 am to go to the gym with Yohan and then after the gym I do my cricket training. I have to stay disciplined and Know that, once I put in the work, it will pay off.”
Blackwood also said that he plans to continue training with Titans International whenever he’s not playing cricket.