Improving Functional Strength and Explosiveness

[summer]

I want to emphazise that I do not want to be a bodybuilder in any way and want to train primarily functional with tennis being 1st priority and basketball being 2nd priority, but I want to get stronger, particulary upper body, actually a lot stronger as I am quite weak Shoulders are pathetic for example. I will not sacrifice cardio however as I do mostly interval training, spinning, rowing, cardio tennis, and boot camp stuff which I would describe as 80% cardio. So I am looking for advice on optimal program for strength and meals etc. as I think maybe I am not eating enough. I am doing the 5-6 meals thing but I am looking for the breakdown and how people keep track of servings etc. I would guess I burn calories so I might be eating. The only supplements I take are Whey protein and Glutamine and will not try anything else. I am eating healthy for the 1st time in my life. I owe a big thank you to Kevin T's posts about that, but I feel like I am not working out optimally with regards to getting stronger and better as it pertains to tennis and basketball. I like circuit training, but frankly think I am doing the wrong kinds of mixture of workouts. Time and motivation is not a problem until May 1st. Knowledge is. Thanks in advance.

 

[Ano]

Sorry, can't help much.

I can only recommend you to read these books :

- Complete Conditioning for Tennis by Todd Ellenbecker and Paul Roetert
- Power Tennis Training by Donald Chu
- Functional Sports Training by Mike Boyle
- Complete Book of Food Counts by Corinne Netzer ( to count your calories
from food).

You can buy CCFT and PTT from Tennis Warehouse.

Good luck.

 

[atatu]

I agree that the Boyle book is a good read. Also, check out Vern Gambetta's new book Athletic Development, I'm in the middle of it now. Finally, check out this USTA website: http://www.playerdevelopment.usta.com/content/fullstory.sps?iNewsid=114682&itype=7418

 

[summer]

Thank you both for your advice. Ano, you are one of my favorite posters on any forum. I have learned a ton from you, tricky, Kevin T and chess. Now that I have joined the forum, I will have PLENTY of dumb questions to ask.

 

[lajollatnsplyr]

part 1 of 3 is a tennis specific workouts that might help.
www.ten-ace.com
I guess the other parts are coming later this week and next. This guy seems to know a lot. I've emailed him and he has given me some info. He seems to know more then just tennis.

 

[chess9]

part 1 of 3 is a tennis specific workouts that might help.
www.ten-ace.com
I guess the other parts are coming later this week and next. This guy seems to know a lot. I've emailed him and he has given me some info. He seems to know more then just tennis.

Thanks for that. Nice site. I've added it to my favorites.
-Robert

 

[Ano]

Thank you both for your advice. Ano, you are one of my favorite posters on any forum. I have learned a ton from you, tricky, Kevin T and chess. Now that I have joined the forum, I will have PLENTY of dumb questions to ask.

Thanks. Unfortunately starting from today, I can't spend much time in this forum. I will become extremely busy at the office (central bank are going in to my bank to do yearly audit). And after the office hour, I'm busy writing articles for a friend who will start publishing a local fitness magazine on April.

But I promise to visit this forum whenever I have free time.

You said knowledge is power. I disagree . Knowledge is not power. Knowledge applied is power.!

So read as much as possible. See Marius hancu sticky at the top of this forum, there are plenty of good fitness sites that you can learn from.

 

[lajollatnsplyr]

Thanks for that. Nice site. I've added it to my favorites.
-Robert

Yeah, its nothing fancy but he has some good info. Its new, I hope he expands it.

 

[Bjorn99]

Gimme your email and throw out most everything you read.

 

[summer]

Thanks Bjorn. I guess the PM system doesn't work. Look forward to hearing from you.

 

[lajollatnsplyr]

Summer, Part 2 of that tennis workout is up on www.ten-ace.com

In my research to many opinions exist on how to train and eat right. I have done a lot of research and know that you have to sacrafice some cardio and hit the weights to accomplish your goals. This message would be too long to explain how to train but if interested I can email you some info.

 

[summer]

Summer, Part 2 of that tennis workout is up on www.ten-ace.com

In my research to many opinions exist on how to train and eat right. I have done a lot of research and know that you have to sacrafice some cardio and hit the weights to accomplish your goals. This message would be too long to explain how to train but if interested I can email you some info.

I would appreciate any material you can shoot my way. If I have to sacrifice some cardio that's fine, just not a substantial amount. I look forward to hearing from you.


I subscribe to coreperformance website. Some of the exercises are confusing a bit and I am apprehensive to try some on my own based on what I read here, but I think it's an excellent site. The medicine ball exercises look good, but I would think my gym would frown upon throwing a ball at a wall and catching it etc. That and the fact that I take things with boot camp, tennis, and see a trainer and seeing as I am an all or nothing person, I don't think I take enough rest after workouts and I want to things optimally as it applies to tennis and basketball.

 

[The Gorilla]

yeah ,could you send me the same email please?

frankdolan@hush.com

 

[lajollatnsplyr]

Ill send out an email this week...

 

[Bjorn99]

Tennis is speed and COMPRESSION and I have never seen anything on any tennis site, that addresses compression properly, or even licks the outside of the box.

Richard Gasquet has no serve, forehand to speak of etc... and a backhand that everyone raves about. But his ability to bounce and compress, is the secret to his game. How did he get such an ability. Well, if you look at his body as a teen, he did not have much bounce. Hardly any?


How did he get it? Heh. Lets just say, that if you use your head and really think it out, it will come. I use it for myself and my two students. And out of respect to them, I ain't giving the secret away. But you can come up with it.

That top American skier, figured it out for skiing. And is copied now by some Europeans. Everyone else was doing squats, but he thought outside of the triangle(box) and realized that squats didn't deliver the compression needed for skiing. So he eliminated the up motion of the squat and just loaded up huge weight on a machine he created, and went down with it. And the result was huge.

Tennis requires huge compression on the serve and groundies and for takeoff. Traditional squats are okay, but come up with something else, that is similar, you are cooking.

And make it the comression required in tennis. So duplicate the unique stance required for the serve in your work. Seem Difficult? Think harder and create.

 

[summer]

Thanks Lajolla and Bjorn.