I plan on completely changing my physique; help?

[dr_punk]

Hey guys
I recently lost a bit of weight (I would think maybe 20 pounds or so in about a month, safely) and I plan on hitting the weights quite hard. I had originally started going to the gym at about 14 or 15 and I used to the hit pretty hard so although i've lost most of the muscle, i still have most of the strength. Any ideas on what I should work on primarily for tennis? I was thinking legs, abs, back, chest, and shoulders. I'm also going to be doing quite a bit of conditioning as I plan on moving to a more demanding racquet (PS 6.0 85) Thanks for looking and post if you can help me out a bit.

 

[thursdayisgod]

I prefer working my abs heavily for tennis, I think it helps with like 'torquing' your body for groundstrokes and serves. Naturally, all power comes from the legs though too since they start the kinetic chain. I'm not expert though, you should question specifically what strokes or aspect of your game though so it's easier to answer your question.

 

[Pleepers]

Hey guys
I recently lost a bit of weight (I would think maybe 20 pounds or so in about a month, safely) and I plan on hitting the weights quite hard. I had originally started going to the gym at about 14 or 15 and I used to the hit pretty hard so although i've lost most of the muscle, i still have most of the strength. Any ideas on what I should work on primarily for tennis? I was thinking legs, abs, back, chest, and shoulders. I'm also going to be doing quite a bit of conditioning as I plan on moving to a more demanding racquet (PS 6.0 85) Thanks for looking and post if you can help me out a bit.

Legs and abs are a good way to go. The only problem is that tennis players need to be fast and have great agility, balance, and coordination. For this, I think that doing "footwork" drills are ideal. Things like: line sprints, the four corners drill, and whatever else that gets you to move in sudden bursts and makes change direction. Best of luck to you!

 

[dr_punk]

well my legs are pretty much set. i am pretty quick and i had cut legs at around 14 when i started practicing tae kwon do (all legs) so i guess i lucked out.

 

[Pleepers]

well my legs are pretty much set. i am pretty quick and i had cut legs at around 14 when i started practicing tae kwon do (all legs) so i guess i lucked out.

Now that that's taken care of -go for the Nadal arms!

 

[dr_punk]

lol, well honestly i wasn't looking to beef up my arms that much, all i really need is forearm muscle, right?

 

[thursdayisgod]

Well, having an entirely built body is better, but arms are the least important. It's all based on the kinetic chain (energy transfer beginning in legs, to body, to arms, and all the muscles in between). Having more muscle arms just results in faster headspeed I find, and allowing the transfer from shoulder to racquet more clean.