Will building mass hinder flexilibility on the tennis courts?

[Messarger]

I'm thinking of using my vacation to build some mass, but my teaching pro recommends against it. He says that mass will affect my movement on the court as i'll be too stiff. Is that true?

If so, how can i build mass without sacrificing any part of my tennis? Thanks.

[tenniko]

I'm thinking of using my vacation to build some mass, but my teaching pro recommends against it. He says that mass will affect my movement on the court as i'll be too stiff. Is that true?

If so, how can i build mass without sacrificing any part of my tennis? Thanks.

No, if you do flexibility training, you'll be fine. Look at some bodybuilders doing splits.

Naturally, if your biceps are 40", you'll have limited range, and more mass puts more pressure on your joints and requires more force to move.

Building mass like a bodybuilder is a not a good idea for tennis. Weight training for tennis is good. It helps your game in all categories.

[Messarger]

I'm not thinking of doing a bodybuilder, just increase the thickness of my arms, chest etc.

[Fedace]

I'm thinking of using my vacation to build some mass, but my teaching pro recommends against it. He says that mass will affect my movement on the court as i'll be too stiff. Is that true?

If so, how can i build mass without sacrificing any part of my tennis? Thanks.

of course, Terminator like looking muscles would be detremental. but you just have to know where and how much to build muscle. I think i built little too much on my shoulders and chest and actually that hurt my tennis game. Just to prove my point, i stopped all machine work for 6 weeks, and now actually i am serving harder and can handle low ball better. I am thinking building too much bulk hurt my flexibility.
Rafa nadal like looking body may get you more women but for 95% of the players, it is little too much muscles for tennis. Case in point, Jame blake, i really feel that when he bulked up, i think it actually hurt his game.

[SystemicAnomaly]

Nadal duznt appear to be inflexible or have much trouble moving quickly around the court. Agassi & others have bulked up without losing their foot speed or agility.

Be sure to train complementary pairs of muscles so that you do not develop muscle imbalance. For instance, you do not want to develop your biceps without also working on your triceps. Same thing goes for your quads & hamstrings and your abs with your lower back muscles.

Be sure that you include some power (speed strength) training. Often, bodybuilders develop their type II-a (intermediate fast twitch) muscle fibers to bulk up. For power in tennis, you need to develop both types of fast twitch muscles fibers, both type II-a and type II-b fibers. Developing both of these types should improve your speed strength as well as allow your to bulk up a bit

[Rickson]

I'm thinking of using my vacation to build some mass, but my teaching pro recommends against it. He says that mass will affect my movement on the court as i'll be too stiff. Is that true?

If so, how can i build mass without sacrificing any part of my tennis? Thanks.

How large are you gonna get during your vacation? From my experience as a personal trainer, I found that people gain a lot more bodyfat than muscle mass and think they've gotten "muscular" so to answer your question, if the mass you'll be gaining is bodyfat, then yes, it'll hurt your performance on the court, but if you'll be gaining all muscle, it'll probably help you. Do you honestly think you'll gain that much pure muscle during your vacation?

[Nellie]

I notice that I get a lot slower on the court if I lift too much and put on even a little weight. I do not notice any loss in flexibility, but do notice that I get injured a lot less and heal much faster when I am lifting regularly.

[Rickson]

I've never heard a guy in the gym say, oh no, I'm too muscular, but I have heard guys proclaim that they've gotten huge from muscle development so I check their bodyfat before and after. What often winds up happening is I say, "you've gained 5 lbs. of bodyfat and 3 lbs. of muscle". The digital calipers don't lie so before you worry about getting too "muscular", worry about getting fat.

[Messarger]

How large are you gonna get during your vacation? From my experience as a personal trainer, I found that people gain a lot more bodyfat than muscle mass and think they've gotten "muscular" so to answer your question, if the mass you'll be gaining is bodyfat, then yes, it'll hurt your performance on the court, but if you'll be gaining all muscle, it'll probably help you. Do you honestly think you'll gain that much pure muscle during your vacation?

Vacation, then continue from here. Since i got more time to workout. Once its over i'll cut down to maybe twice per week. I'm engaging in a personal trainer you see, and i trust that he knows the difference between muscle mass and body fat.

[Rickson]

Vacation, then continue from here. Since i got more time to workout. Once its over i'll cut down to maybe twice per week. I'm engaging in a personal trainer you see, and i trust that he knows the difference between muscle mass and body fat.

Ask him to check you bodyfat, before and after so that weight gain would come from muscle and not bf. The naked eye is not a great indicator of muscle or fat gain so it's important that you have a good source for accurate measure.

[Messarger]

Ask him to check you bodyfat, before and after so that weight gain would come from muscle and not bf. The naked eye is not a great indicator of muscle or fat gain so it's important that you have a good source for accurate measure.

Yes i will. I'm only concern if muscle mass will make me a stiff geek when i'm executing my ground strokes and all.

[Fedace]

My question is If Guga built up his muscles like Rafa, then would he had a much longer career and won 5 more french opens ??

[Rickson]

Yes i will. I'm only concern if muscle mass will make me a stiff geek when i'm executing my ground strokes and all.

There's a big difference between getting stiff from workouts and getting stiff from muscle mass. Many people get sore and "tight" after a workout and they confuse that feeling with gaining muscle mass. Yes, you will find that moving around after a tough workout is more difficult, but your question was whether muscle mass will slow you down or not so the answer is a resounding no. If it were possible to become as big as those muscle mag bodybuilders, why would they do steroids? Getting big with muscle is really not an easy task because if it were, I'd be huge. I used to have a 345 lb. bench, 405 squat, and a 125 lb. dumbbell row. But I stayed away from those harmful drugs and stayed relatively small in the way of muscle mass. I was just as strong or stronger than those juiceheads in the gym, but I never got "big" so stop worrying about getting huge muscles and remember, don't confuse getting sore from workouts with getting too muscular because there is a huge difference. (no pun intended)

[In D Zone]

I'd say develop the three essential elements: your core (flexibility), stamina (endurance) and strength (weights)

Don't focus on one type of training, otherwise it'll throw off your rythm. Cross training is alway the best way; alternating your activity every other day helps rest and flex certain mucles. In this way you stay balance. If the Pro's player (outside tennis) do it - why not apply it to tennis? Trust me it works.

Strength - gym for weights, push ups
Core - Pilate, Yoga , Plyometrics
Stamina - Swimming, running, aerobics

Of the all the activities I mentioned - plyometric (jumping excercises) to me is the hardest. It really wear you out and you'll legs will be sore for days.... but you'll notice you footwork will improve dramatically. Best to perform plyo exercise on grass or soft surface - and wear a good pair of shoes.

[Messarger]

There's a big difference between getting stiff from workouts and getting stiff from muscle mass. Many people get sore and "tight" after a workout and they confuse that feeling with gaining muscle mass. Yes, you will find that moving around after a tough workout is more difficult, but your question was whether muscle mass will slow you down or not so the answer is a resounding no. If it were possible to become as big as those muscle mag bodybuilders, why would they do steroids? Getting big with muscle is really not an easy task because if it were, I'd be huge. I used to have a 345 lb. bench, 405 squat, and a 125 lb. dumbbell row. But I stayed away from those harmful drugs and stayed relatively small in the way of muscle mass. I was just as strong or stronger than those juiceheads in the gym, but I never got "big" so stop worrying about getting huge muscles and remember, don't confuse getting sore from workouts with getting too muscular because there is a huge difference. (no pun intended)

Rickson, i'm looking at it long-term. Not feeling sore when playing tennis after a workout, but slowing me down in the long term ie after maybe 4 month of gym work. If the answer is indeed a resounding no, then what is my coach's concern?

[Messarger]

To the rest, thanks for all the advice. I'm reading them as well.

[Rickson]

Rickson, i'm looking at it long-term. Not feeling sore when playing tennis after a workout, but slowing me down in the long term ie after maybe 4 month of gym work. If the answer is indeed a resounding no, then what is my coach's concern?

Here's my take on the situation. Your coach may not have a lot of experience with weight training and he might think gaining muscle is as easy as 123. The truth is that gaining a boatload of muscle is extremely difficult. Hit the gym and if you gain 20 lbs. of solid muscle, consider yourself genetically blessed because I couldn't accomplish such a feat without anabolic steroids. Check with your trainer and see how much muscle you gain and rememember that bodyfat gain doesn't count because my opinion is that excess bf will hurt your performance. BTW, the fastest people in the world have big muscles, 100 meter sprinters.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=-gFXa4AcD5w&feature=related