I'm 46. I stopped playing about 14 years ago because of knee problems, but I just started getting back to tennis this year. It's been tough battling the problems of age, but I'm pretty close to where I was before. I was a 4.5 rated player when I stopped, and right now I'm beating most 4.0's and some 4.5's and still improving.
I've always been into weight training and fitness, so I already got that part down. The tough part for me was joints and general muscle aches. Call me stubborn, but I don't like making concessions to age if at all possible. I feel like I can play almost every day now, and on the days I don't play I workout at the gym. My style of tennis is pretty tough on my body. I hit hard topspin shots, and I run down balls that most people my age won't attempt. Here's what I'm doing differently now:
- I incorporate more forearm and calf exercises into my workouts. This helps protect my knees and elbows. I do reverse calf raises as well as regular calf raises. I also do wrist curls, wrist extensions, rotations, and I supinate and pronate as much as possible when I do arm exercises.
- In additions to multivitamins and protein powders, I'm also taking a variety of supplements for joints and connective tissue including: Glucosamine/Chondroitin/MSM, Hyaluronic Acid, Zyflamend by New Chapter, and Flax Oil/Fish Oil for Omega 3's. Taking only Gluc/Chon/MSM did NOT work for me. It was the combination of all these ingredients that finally got results.
You can Google any of these supplements and read reviews and testimonials for yourself. If you don't know where to get them, here's the place that recommended them to me:
www.vitamin-discounts.com