When living your best life, have you ever picked up a strain or niggle after playing Tennis or Squash? Well, so have countless others and here’s why you need to understand the importance of conditioning exercises in Tennis. Whether you are semi-professional, pretty decent or an amateur, perhaps you’re returning to the sport in retirement, in which case, it’s even more critical.
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The benefits of Tennis as exercise
By its nature, it is relatively high-energy, so this intensity benefits you in the following ways:
- Increasing aerobic capacity – You can play for longer without needing to stop.
- Lowering resting heart rate – A by-product of improved fitness
- Increased metabolic function – More exercise requires more fuel, and your metabolic process will grow to feed your muscles.
- Weight loss – A reduction in body fat and weight loss are likely benefits of exercising.
- Increased reaction times – A positive by-product of Tennis, a result of needing to return the ball.
- Improving muscle tone, strength and flexibility – Intensive play results in using and stretching muscles
- Increased bone density – Exercise improves bone density and produces more hormones helping muscle tone and general health and keeping your body younger.
What are conditioning exercises in Tennis?
Conditioning exercises are those that help to improve muscle strength and tone. Tennis conditioning focuses on the muscles that will be used in the typical movements, such as forehand and backhand strokes, along with leg tone and lower back movements to strengthen these areas.
How can conditioning exercises avoid tennis injuries?
By conditioning the muscle, you are improving muscle health: muscle strength, elasticity and recovery. In addition, by performing exercises, you are allowing your muscles to be prepared for the activities, limiting the chance of pulling from overextension or tearing due to lunging quickly.
What exercises can you do to improve muscle conditioning?
Here are seven great exercises to help with muscle conditioning for Tennis.
One – Pushups from knees or toes
Pushups from the knees or toes will help with chest, shoulders and back muscles. This is a great conditioning exercise.
Two – Resistance band stretches
Resistance bands are a great way to exercise for conditioning in Tennis. Exercises including Lateral raises, reverse fly, and front raises are brilliant activities when training for Tennis movements.
> Front raises – Bands under feet and raise the arms from the hips out in front of you like you are sleepwalking. Raise and lower, feeling the resistance that is right for you.
> Lateral raises – Bands under feet and crossed over, then raise your arms up and out you are flying. Raise and lower, feeling the resistance that is right for you.
> Reverse fly – Band in your hands and raise your arms above your head, with the band behind your head and your arms in a u-shape. Open and close, feeling the resistance that is right for you.
Three – Kettlebell Swings
Stand legs hip-width apart, and swing the kettlebell from between your legs to arms straight directly above your head. This exercise works the shoulders, upper and the important lower back. You can increase your weight when you feel able.
Four – Forward & backward lunges
Lunges are a solid exercise to strengthen the lunge movements you make in Tennis, in particular, it builds the quads and stretches the muscles beyond normal daily activity. Do perform a lunge from a standing position, take a significant step forward, and then continue the movement like you were picking up a tennis ball. To reverse the exercise, from a standing position, step back and lean into the movement, dropping the knee to 90º
Five – High knees
In the standing position, begin to march on the spot. When warm, raise your knees as high as possible, almost to your chest, if you can. This exercise is a great way to stretch your leg movements, and it builds calf muscles and muscle around the knees. It can help provide stability in your game.
Six – Plate squats
Take the plate to your chest and then squat. If you are new to squats, do not go too low. Stay above 90º. You can drop lower later. You can also increase your weight to match your development as well. Start light and build up. This exercise strengthens legs, promotes extended movement and will help endurance and hip strength.
Seven – Stretches or Yoga
When you are done, make sure that you stretch to lengthen muscles, this avoids tightness and improves suppleness. Being supple avoids tearing and damaging yourself during movement, which is important. Yoga is about controlled movement which can build strength and suppleness. It is recommended as part of many exercises and will help all ages of players.
If you need any support with Fitness Equipment, Mirafit is an online retailer of conditioning equipment, including kettlebells, resistance bands, yoga mats, weight plates and more. If you are still determining what you need, then ask the company or speak to your coach, who will be happy to help.
Why do we get sports injuries?
Sports injuries are not always specifically related to sports. However, they are typically associated with repetitive movements. Tennis is repetitive, and the movements tend to put pressure on joints and muscles that become overworked, as supported in the following quote.
“Sports Injuries are typically injuries that are attributed to sports-type actions, such as Tennis Elbow, for example. You can get tennis elbow from painting or ironing, and these injuries are normally the result of repetition or using your joints and limbs in ways they might not be used as much in daily activities. Muscle conditioning will help.” – Nicky Snazell
Summary
In this article, we have explained the benefits of exercise for muscle conditioning. We have advised what muscle conditioning is and why it is vital in Tennis. We have explained how conditioning can help to avoid injury and suggested exercises to help you to improve muscle conditioning for the primary movements associated with Tennis activities. Others exist or may be better for you. Please speak with your coach.
