Weight lifting

[crash1929]

Does it help or hurt a club player in their 30's?

I started back up lifting lightly after a few months off.

I can feel my arms don't feel loose.


Is there a difinitive answer? I have heard you have to stretch but for how long? I've heard you've gotta stretch for very long periods of time that made it seem very inconvenient.

[Kobble]

I think weightlifting is good for all levels. Not too much, as in getting super bulky, but most people never get to that point.

What doesn't feel loose? The shoulders? If so, stretch. It doesn't take much. Warm up a bit, and do holds for 20-30 seconds. I get decent results with 2-3 hold of 30 seconds. Do this after every workout for every muscle group you train, and you should even increase flexibility. I've heard of guys like Van Damme stretching for hours to overcome muscle shortening effects of weightlifting, but I go with what I know, and from my experience, it is bogus. Maybe to achieve freakish levels of flexibility, but to be more flexible than the average guy, heck no.

I'm not an authority on stretching, meaning, I'm not the guy who is going to give you the winning edge going into the Olympic trials, but I know enough get better than most weekend warriors. I have read a lot of scientific research, manuals posted by Bboy, tricksters, swim coaches, and other serious athletes. Do your own research to get an understanding. By my experience, stretching is specific, stretch the exact range of motion you want to improve. PNF method seems to be the fastest way, but it can be tough to apply to all situations.

http://www.trickstutorials.com/index...e=content/flx2

[ManuGinobili]

It def helps, but you have to do the right exercises, the ones that build explosiveness.

From my general knowledge, do short bursts, fewer reps of higher weights. The time spend doing the exercise and resting should be the same. Do ones that involve more than one body parts, like deadlifts...

There were threads on a high interval training method somewhere...

[charliefedererer]

If you've been away from lifting for a while, starting up again will definitely leave you with that less flexible muscle feeing. But that will go away fairly soon, and you'll be benefiting from the better state of fitness not just to bash the ball harder, but also to help prevent the many ailments of the shoulder, elbow and wrist that seem to occur. I hope you are including the thrower's ten in your workout for that reason.
I wish I had the discipline to do more stretching so I would have the flexibility of Rafa to hit outrageous shots on the run.(Right!) But even just stretching after workouts and tennis and in the morning and at night seems to help. I wish I had the time to do that yoga video from the p90x videos more often, but there is only so much time to work out, play tennis and have a life.

[ALten1]

Originally Posted by crash1929

Does it help or hurt a club player in their 30's?

I started back up lifting lightly after a few months off.

I can feel my arms don't feel loose.


Is there a difinitive answer? I have heard you have to stretch but for how long? I've heard you've gotta stretch for very long periods of time that made it seem very inconvenient.

I know the older you get the more rest you need in between work outs. I am close to 40, so only go to the gym once a week. I do one exercise per body part with heavy weights that allow me to do 6-8 reps. I count 4 seconds down and 4 second up on each rep. I am now stronger than I have ever been. My workout comes from Mike Mentzer.

I played tennis about 4 hours after working out (only once) and I barely could hit my serve over the net. That was the only time I felt my arms were 'tight'. My partner wanted to choke me because my play at best was laughable.

If you are feeling tight I recommend stretching. Could your muscle tightness be from just getting back into lifting. If so give it a solid month and then see how you feel.

[ALten1]

Originally Posted by ManuGinobili

It def helps, but you have to do the right exercises, the ones that build explosiveness.

From my general knowledge, do short bursts, fewer reps of higher weights. The time spend doing the exercise and resting should be the same. Do ones that involve more than one body parts, like deadlifts...

There were threads on a high interval training method somewhere...

What do you mean by short burst?

[mike53]

Originally Posted by crash1929

I have heard you have to stretch but for how long? I've heard you've gotta stretch for very long periods of time that made it seem very inconvenient.

I remember another thread somewhere in this section with a link to some objective tests of shoulder range of motion. You can use something like this to get an idea of your current range of motion. Whatever your shoulder rom is now, you only need to stretch enough to keep it the same as you ramp up your lifting program. Sometimes people get behind the curve when they don't stretch regularly. Muscles can shorten and range of motion is lost, little by little. By the time they notice, it can take some real effort to get it back. This is not a big problem if you keep up with it. Since any loss is incrementally very small at any given time, the amount of stretching needed to reverse the loss is also quite small, but still necessary.

[LameTennisPlayer]

weight training or as i prefer to call it strength training is essential for any age group, especially as one gets older,as they lose muscle mass at an increased rate...it definitely hurts if u do not execute with the correct technique.

Stretching however is still a highy debatable issue, there are conflicts within exercise physiologists about the importance of stretching before/after or during a work-out. Some imply that its not as necessary compared to a warm up of the actually event, so long as the lift is performed correctly and through its full range of motion. i.e warm up with 10% near max effort x 12reps is better than stretching the required area. I personally believe if you stretch its best to do it after your work-out rather than before.
Contrary to what alot of people believe about stretching and it prevents injury etc... most injuries are caused within the normal range of motion.
Remember that flexiblility and stability are not mutually exclusive.

[LameTennisPlayer]

Originally Posted by ManuGinobili

It def helps, but you have to do the right exercises, the ones that build explosiveness.

From my general knowledge, do short bursts, fewer reps of higher weights. The time spend doing the exercise and resting should be the same. Do ones that involve more than one body parts, like deadlifts...

There were threads on a high interval training method somewhere...

if your talking about strength training in relation to tennis, yes interval training is best, but explosiveness/power based training is counter productive this is more sports specific for weight lifters/100-200 mt sprinters etc sports that require a near maximum effort at any given time. Tennis hardly fits into this category of near max effort sports. Incorporating some explosive/power based workouts is good but you wouldn't base your training program around it maybe 10-20%

[Slazenger07]

To help you build muscle mass stick with a 6-12 rep range, mostly concentrating on 8-12 as this is the optimal range for muscular hypertrophy. Packing on muscle mass has made me stronger, faster, and just a better tennis player overall. Its a great idea!

[Slazenger07]

Originally Posted by ALten1

I know the older you get the more rest you need in between work outs. I am close to 40, so only go to the gym once a week. I do one exercise per body part with heavy weights that allow me to do 6-8 reps. I count 4 seconds down and 4 second up on each rep. I am now stronger than I have ever been. My workout comes from Mike Mentzer.

I played tennis about 4 hours after working out (only once) and I barely could hit my serve over the net. That was the only time I felt my arms were 'tight'. My partner wanted to choke me because my play at best was laughable.

If you are feeling tight I recommend stretching. Could your muscle tightness be from just getting back into lifting. If so give it a solid month and then see how you feel.

you should adjust your lifting tempo for better results, faster concentric lift and slower eccentric portion. The eccentric portion is when the most muscle fibers are broken down, meaning you get the most stimulus for growth.

Fyi I always stretch before my workouts and sometimes afterwards and Ive never had a muscle tear or any such related injury.

Ive been training seriously for muscle development 3+ years now.

[ALten1]

Originally Posted by Slazenger07

you should adjust your lifting tempo for better results, faster concentric lift and slower eccentric portion. The eccentric portion is when the most muscle fibers are broken down, meaning you get the most stimulus for growth.

Fyi I always stretch before my workouts and sometimes afterwards and Ive never had a muscle tear or any such related injury.

Ive been training seriously for muscle development 3+ years now.

What is your recommendation for tempo?