Dietary recommendations from the USTA Sports Science page:
"Nutrition: Performance Diet Principles for Competitive Tennis
By Page Love, MS, RD
2.
Do not starve the muscles of fuel! Eating at least
8-10 servings per day from carbohydrate choices will create the base to maintain your muscle glycogen levels. Choose higher fiber options whenever possible - cereals, bread, rice, pasta, etc. Seven a day from fruits and vegetables will meet extra carbohydrate, mineral, and additional fluid needs complex from food. Choose a wide variety of colors and types of fruits and vegetables daily - something citrus, something deep green, and at least one other red, yellow, or orange choice. Divide these foods into 5-6 small meals.
3.
Eat breakfast everyday! After a ten to twelve hour overnight fast your muscle energy levels are low. It is unfair to expect yourself to perform at a peak without refueling with carbohydrate sources. Many traditional breakfast choices are appropriate choices, i.e. low sugar breakfast cereal, two slices of toast, glass of juice; or, pancakes or waffles, small amount of syrup, fresh fruit, 8 oz. of skim milk. Even if you have not been eating breakfast, try eating a bagel and juice in your car on the way to the court. Starting to eat something again will help to rejuvenate you hunger levels in the morning.
4.
Provide the building blocks of muscle tissue everyday! Complete protein sources like turkey, chicken, tuna, tenderloin, and fresh lean deli meats are needed at at least 4-6 oz. amounts during the day. Choose alternative protein options to meet additional protein needs such as low fat milk, cheese, and cottage cheese, light peanut butter, beans, or tofu at smaller meals to aid in satiety and fullness."
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http://www.usta.com/Improve-Your-Ga...mance_Diet_Principles_for_Competitive_Tennis/
You are playing and training at a high level.
Quickly recovering from your tennis and workouts is important.
Check out the hints in this free easy-to-read downloadable booklet from the USTA that covers the following areas:
• Nutritional Aspects of Tennis Recovery
• Heat and Hydration Aspects of Tennis Recovery
• Psychological Aspects of Tennis Recovery
• Recovery Aspects of Young Tennis Players
• Physiological Aspects of Tennis Recovery
• Musculoskeletal Injuries/ Orthopedics Aspects of Tennis Injury
• General Medical Aspects of Recovery
• Coaching Specific Aspects of Recovery
Recovery in Tennis
http://assets.usta.com/assets/1/dps...ence/RECOVERY PROJECT 22410 EMAIL VERSION.pdf
Tennis is harder to train for than most sports because:
1. Players are on the court daily, expending a lot of energy and experiencing microscopic injuries that need time to repair.
2. The competitive tennis season is so long that it is hard to train hard lifting and not experience fatigue in a match or training session the following day.
I would assume that this is a prime season for tennis playing where you live.
You may want to currently limit your weight work to:
1. Thrower's Ten to minimize the chance for an overuse injury by engaging the rotator cuff muslces and to achieve muscle balance between your hitting and stopping muscles. [If the "hitting" muscles get so much stronger than the "stopping" muscles as you bash all those tennis balls, the stress of stopping the forward movement of your arm is transferred from flexible muscle tissue to non-elastic tendons and joint that can become inflamed.]
Thrower's Ten Exercise Program
http://www.muhlenberg.edu/pdf/main/athletics/athletic_training/throwers10.pdf
2. You may also now want to begin:
"Phase 1 - Foundational Tennis Strength Training
The objective of this 6 week phase is to build a solid base on which you build more intense, more tennis-specific fitness later.
Like all competitive sports, tennis places uneven demands on the body. You swing with one arm and one side of the body. Certain muscle groups are overworked while others are neglected.
Infamous over-use injuries like tennis elbow and damage to the rotator cuff muscles are less likely to occur in a balanced physique.
So our goal during this first phase is to prepare the ligaments, tendons and connective tissue for more strenuous activity to follow.
Here are the parameters for phase 1 of the tennis strength training routine:
Duration: 6-8 weeks
No. sessions: 2x week
No. exercises: 10-12
Resistance: 40-50% 1 Rep Max
Repetitions: 12-15
Rest between exercises: 90 secs
Rest between circuits: 2-3 mins
Speed of lifts: Smooth and controlled"
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http://www.sport-fitness-advisor.com/tennis-strength-training.html
Then, as your schedule permits, you can move on to
Phase 2 - Maximum Tennis Strength Training
With your muscles stronger, and your tendons and joints better prepared for it, finally you can proceed to
Phase 3 - Convert to Power & Strength Endurance
I think we can all appreciate that tennis itself provides it's own power training bashing the ball, particularly launching up to crush a serve.
So tennis players are constantly converting any increases in strength from off court lifting into powerful movements on the court.
I hope this helps.
Good luck!