How much does tennis work your abs?

cadfael_tex

Professional
Hadn't thought about it from this way but I know I strong core helps with shot production so you'd think that it would work at least slightly in reverse. My guess would be the obliques would be the most targeted. But I'm not a kinesiologist or doc so it's just a wild and uneducated guess.
 
Your abs should be getting a good workout from the coiling/uncoiling motion in hitting your groundstrokes. The service motion gives even a more violent rapid firing of your abdominal muscles as you rotate up after your leg pushoff.
Of course you will also want to be doing off court abdominal exercises that involve rotational movements like the bicycle crunch, and workouts using a medicine ball, dumbells and elastic tubing.
 

GuyClinch

Legend
You don't really get abs that way. You get 'abs' via fat reduction. Abs are actually a good way to check your body fat level. If you have them you are below 10%.
 

plasma

Banned
yeah i was donating racquets to a family of 11 and in the middle of gently replying to a woman who's son had a serious medical condition which she was too repressed to give him meds for when a 5.0 salesman banned me.
Guess that's proof that these lo$ers care more about sales than the children of this board. I'll get the PTR regional rep to hit them up with a huge donation request later this year and by doing so they can silently clear their filthy karma.
But now I'm back like Rick James, making TW my...well those under 30 know what I want to say. (pop culture reference).
Ab talk from a six pack heartbreaker.
Even if you suck at tennis it works the abs more than running, biking, walking, etc. The abs stabilize and fire most when the body swings like a door to get out of its own way, jump laterally side to side, squats, jumps, bounces, plays, steps forward deeply, and 4 other motions.
Targeting the core using crunches or gym workouts , is a fat mans game. I am lean and ripped. It is because I have moved this way for many years.
Tennis-FU
bow to your sensei, the white eyebrow master has returned form his challenge match~!
 

r2473

G.O.A.T.
Oh, Plasma. Paging Plasma.

Ab talk from a six pack heartbreaker.
Even if you suck at tennis it works the abs more than running, biking, walking, etc. The abs stabilize and fire most when the body swings like a door to get out of its own way, jump laterally side to side, squats, jumps, bounces, plays, steps forward deeply, and 4 other motions.
Targeting the core using crunches or gym workouts , is a fat mans game. I am lean and ripped. It is because I have moved this way for many years.
Tennis-FU
bow to your sensei, the white eyebrow master has returned form his challenge match~!

He doesn't disappoint.
 

krprunitennis2

Professional
He does. Are you an idiot?

Even from the moment a human being is born, it has abs. Do you even know what the hell abs are?

Well sorry for not using the correct term, and I know what abs are. Sorry for me being so informal about it.

I didn't know someone was going to be a dirtbag about it.
 

fuzz nation

G.O.A.T.
Two winters ago, I got a nasty tear in my abs from serving too hard with a 13.4 oz. racquet. I hadn't been keeping after my lifting (core work) or playing a very busy schedule (curse you winter!), so I guess I was "at risk".

Though I can't say just how much tennis works the abs - I'm sure it's significant, with or without plasma's notable response - I've come to believe that it's smart to work the abs to play tennis.

"She's super-freak-ay-ow..."
 

bhupaes

Professional
^^^ You are a wise man! In my opinion and experience, tennis will get you hurt more easily than it will get you fit! You have to get fit to play good tennis.

Let's see if this comment sends plasma into another paroxysm of rage... :)
 

Terr

Semi-Pro
Why doesn't Federer have abs?

My guess is that he doesn't do enough cardio.

What most people don't understand is that everyone has abs. Most of us just have them under a layer of fat. Simply working on increasing the size of your abs is a dead end road because no matter how big they get, they'll still be under a layer of fat.

What you need to do is excerise the entire body through cardio. Get your heart working really hard for 20-30 minutes 3-4 times a week. This will help you shed the extra body fat we all have in order to unveil your already existent abdominal muscles.

Jogging, using a rowing/stepper machine. etc will really help you achieve your goal.
 

maddogz32

Semi-Pro
ive been playing for a few years and never had a rock hard abs, so i think it can get you started but you need to be doing ab workouts when your off the court
 

akthe47

New User
having good looking abs is not a priority in top level tennis. It's more important an athlete have energy and endurance than to look picture-perfect.

Look at Michael Phelps. That dude don't have abs, neither, yet he burns what... at least 5k calories a day training. Having energy to keep performing at peak level is more important than looking good, so I am really under the impression that in a lot of sports, you just don't get amazing looking abs if you want to perform your best. The exception seems to be track stars, particularly sprinters. Anybody else know many other sports where you look so fit?
 

nfor304

Banned
michael-phelps-14.jpg


This guy doesnt have abs??????

I would say core strength is very important in tennis as it helps more than anything with balance. I agree that having abs isn't a priority in top level tennis, but it would certainly help your performance.

andy-roddick-australian09f.jpg

andy_murray_french_open.jpg

fed-shirtless.jpg
 

akthe47

New User
I knew someone would bring it up, so compare those pictures to the following:

RippedAbs2Crop.jpg


guys-beach-body-six-pack-400a050307.jpg


rain-abs-1.jpg



THOSE are abs. Everything you posted are called flat stomachs with little to no definition. I'd rather have the above abs than the abs you are posting (which look a bit effeminate if you ask me).

And yes, posting pictures of men with no shirt on is very gay.
 

nfor304

Banned
I knew someone would bring it up, so compare those pictures to the following:

RippedAbs2Crop.jpg


guys-beach-body-six-pack-400a050307.jpg


rain-abs-1.jpg



THOSE are abs. Everything you posted are called flat stomachs with little to no definition. I'd rather have the above abs than the abs you are posting (which look a bit effeminate if you ask me).

And yes, posting pictures of men with no shirt on is very gay.

Those are abs too, just like the ppl in the pics I posted. The ppl in yours just have greater definition and size. I would say they have fairly clear definition, but it really just depends on your own definition of what abs are i suppose
 
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