In this thread, we radically transform our tennis endurance in exactly 4 minutes a day.

[TimeToPlaySets]

Can you spare 4 minutes a day?
Yes.

Can you mentally handle 4 minutes a day?
Most can not. Instead they find excuses. (See FAQ below)

Spring season is 60 days away.
Nearly everyone will be out of shape.
Not us.

I am doing Burpees a few times a week, and invite others to join me.
If you've never done this exercise, prepare to have your mind and body blown.
Playing 2 hours of singles tennis will feel like a nap in a hammock compared to this.

8 sets:

• 20 seconds Burpees
• 10 seconds rest

Use this timer
https://fitlb.com/tabata-timer

Here is how this thread works:
1) Do the 4 minute workout
2) You post your total number.


FAQ:

"I'm a fitness expert. Burpees are bad because X. You should to do Y instead. I am a fitness expert"
(Thank you. We will do burpees, while you pontificate into the ether)

"How is this good for tennis?"
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17414804

"What is the point of burpees?"
(Those who have completed the 4 minute Burpee workout never ever ask this question.)

"You can't get in shape in just 4 minutes."
(Ok. We will do 4 mins. of burpees while you do your 4 min. typing protest thing)

"How long will it take for me to see results?"
(Do it once, and you will see you are asking the wrong question)

"Do I have to jump?"
(Yes, this is not a squat thrust.)

"Do I have to do a pushup?"
(Chest touches ground!)

"This workout is insane. I need more rest than 10 seconds."
(Then rest more. Work your way up. Rome was not built in a day)

"What should I post in this thread?"
(Your reps, brah. This thread is for men of action, not talk.)

"I thought you were a fool. Then I did the workout. I'd like to apologize. For everything"
(Sure thing. Glad you saw the light)

 

[StringSnapper]

Good luck with your development

I think this is a large and easy gain to be had on the court. Why not pick the low lying fruit first?

 

[TimeToPlaySets]

51

 

[S&V-not_dead_yet]

Someone posted a link recently to a HIIT workout and burpees were one of the exercises. This is the toughest of the exercises for me.

I think some might look at the workout and say "that's too easy. I need something a lot more advanced than that." Oh yeah? Don't jump [no pun intended] to conclusions.

Others will say "that's too hard" and they fail to do anything while looking for the perfect routine. But all of the exercises can be modified to be easier or harder.

Still others will say "tennis is my workout" but I think that's incorrect, or, at the very least, non-optimal. Just as tennis practice is different from tennis matches since they allow you to concentrate on very specific things repetitively, so does a workout allow concentration on specific muscle groups or strengthening or flexibility.

 

[TimeToPlaySets]

Hello @S&V, I hope you are well.

Yes, this exercise is tough.
That is what makes it so good.
Keep chipping away, and your body will quickly adapt.

I do agree that "tennis is my workout", but that only applies if you're playing 5-6x a week.
And not playing doubles. It is winter, so most people are not playing 6x a week.
For this majority, there is time for a 4 min. HIIT.

But, few people have the mental fortitude to endure a 4 min. workout
This exercise will make your chest explode, and will make chasing down a few lobs feel like a light walk in the park.

 

[Deleted member 754093]

Do 1000 double unders for time and report back

Good luck keeping your nipples to the net

 

[Hmgraphite1]

53 but didn't do all the pushups, good motivator, 4 min

Prob would be 40 with pushups

 

[TimeToPlaySets]

53 but didn't do all the pushups, good motivator, 4 min
Prob would be 40 with pushups

Bravo for stepping up to the challenge!
Not bad for 4 minutes, right?
I'm glad you made the time.
Most people make excuses.

Why did you skip the pushups? Injury?
Pushups are a great bang for the buck if you have not done them in a while.

 

[Hmgraphite1]

Bravo for stepping up to the challenge!
Not bad for 4 minutes, right?
I'm glad you made the time.
Most people make excuses.

Why did you skip the pushups? Injury?
Pushups are a great bang for the buck if you have not done them in a while.

I've been letting things go, gotta get back in the gym. And doing pushups again. Seems like yesterday I was 25 and doing 75-100. As my off arm used to be kinda just floppin around I smashed it with my racquet a few times just below the elbow. Only recently did some deep tissue massage and the weakness pain is finally gone. Took about 10 months to get it back.
This is great hiit where you don't need a lot of space.

 

[Deleted member 754093]

https://www.womenshealthmag.com/fitness/a19748374/why-this-trainer-hates-burpees/

Don’t mind the website. This guy (Michael Boyle) is one of the best around

 

[time_fly]

https://www.womenshealthmag.com/fitness/a19748374/why-this-trainer-hates-burpees/

Don’t mind the website. This guy (Michael Boyle) is one of the best around

If you only have 4 minutes to work out, burpees are one of the more complete exercises you can do. But they aren't enough to get you fit for tennis (no balance, lateral movement, or core rotation) and are hard on your body. It would be better to do a longer, more balanced workout.

 

[Deleted member 754093]

If you only have 4 minutes to work out, burpees are one of the more complete exercises you can do. But they aren't enough to get you fit for tennis (no balance, lateral movement, or core rotation) and are hard on your body. It would be better to do a longer, more balanced workout.

My point is more so that, if you want to get each part of the burpee, just do each part separately. If you want to do push ups, do push ups. Don't flail around like an idiot and do them in an uncontrolled, haphazard fashion. If you want to do plyometrics, just do plyometrics. No need to prostrate yourself on the ground after each jump. If you want to get your heart rate up and do interval training that mimics the anaerobic nature of tennis, do interval training. Jump rope. Do sprints. Do suicides.

The burpee combines all of this together and makes each component part worse, especially because no one does them properly as they get tired. Stupid exercise on par with kipping pull ups. No wonder crossfitters love them

 

[TimeToPlaySets]

As a reminder, here is how this thread works:
1) Do the 4 minute workout
2) You post your total number.

Also, please refer to the FAQ:

"I'm a fitness expert. Burpees are bad because X. You should to do Y instead. I am a fitness expert"
(Thank you. We will do burpees, while you pontificate into the ether)

 

[TimeToPlaySets]

If you only have 4 minutes to work out, burpees are one of the more complete exercises you can do. But they aren't enough to get you fit for tennis (no balance, lateral movement, or core rotation) and are hard on your body. It would be better to do a longer, more balanced workout.

When posters demand even more, and resort to doing 8 min burpees, then we can add variety. Until then, this thread is for foundational V02MAX. 4 min. burpees. How many did you get?

 

[Deleted member 754093]

As a reminder, here is how this thread works:
1) Do the 4 minute workout
2) You post your total number.

Also, please refer to the FAQ:

"I'm a fitness expert. Burpees are bad because X. You should to do Y instead. I am a fitness expert"
(Thank you. We will do burpees, while you pontificate into the ether)

Have fun with your development

 

[SystemicAnomaly]

No can do. Only have 0:03:59 to spare
.

 

[S&V-not_dead_yet]

No can do. Only have 0:03:59 to spare
.

No problem; but be aware that you'll only derive 239/240ths of the benefit.

 

[Traffic]

My excuse is I'll try this in March. I'll think about it for the next 3 weeks though. Baby steps.

 

[TimeToPlaySets]

You want to try this now, during the off-season.
In March, the time for conditioning will be limited, since you will be playing more tennis.
In middle age, it is very hard to play tennis 5x a week AND do conditioning drills.
Winter is when you have the time to recover, since tennis is probably down to 2x a week.

 

[Traffic]

You want to try this now, during the off-season.
In March, the time for conditioning will be limited, since you will be playing more tennis.
In middle age, it is very hard to play tennis 5x a week AND do conditioning drills.
Winter is when you have the time to recover, since tennis is probably down to 2x a week.

ow, my wrist is already starting to hurt thinking about a push up.

Ok. I'll give the beginner set a try sometime today.

 

[TimeToPlaySets]

If you can't do a pushup
then do not risk it.

8 sets:

• 20 seconds Burpees
• 10 seconds rest

Use this timer
https://fitlb.com/tabata-timer

In fact, I am going to do this right now myself.
B/c as we've seen, talk is cheap.

 

[TimeToPlaySets]

@Traffic

96.

I just did 8 sets of squat jumps.
I averaged 12 reps per set.
4 mins. gives a nice burn to your legs.
My heart rate is also elevated.

 

[SystemicAnomaly]

No problem; but be aware that you'll only derive 239/240ths of the benefit.

Dunno about that. OP says Exactly 0:04:00 . Leads me to believe it's All or Nothing.

 

[Traffic]

@Traffic

96.

I just did 8 sets of squat jumps.
I averaged 12 reps per set.
4 mins. gives a nice burn to your legs.
My heart rate is also elevated.

I just spent 30min shoveling my driveway. 7” accumulation from last night. I used two different shovels. One was a push type like a snow plow. The other was a more conventional push/lift.

 

[TimeToPlaySets]

@Traffic
My quads are sore this morning.
4 mins. well spent.

 

[atp2015]

12+9+7+8 = 36

Sweat started breaking after this.
The most useful thread in months!

 

[TimeToPlaySets]

Wow, my quads are really sore.
100 jump squats will get ya!

 

[OnTheLine]

I find that the actual burpee is quite stressful on my wrist (previous compound fracture with a few surgeries) although pushups are not ... it is the "landing" on the hands that really hurts

so I have been doing the following since 2010 (in the morning right after my time with the foam roller) .... absolutely in the same vein of thinking.

1 minute: how many full sit ups can you do (80-120 depending on day)
1 minute: pushups (full complete chest to the ground back flat) (40-70 depending on day)
1 minute what I call "fast feet" ... I have no idea how to describe this but think basketball drill upright, back straight, slight squat and get your feet moving fast on balls/toes ... don't stop (and don't look in the mirror ... you may look silly)
1 minute boxing combo ... jab/jab/cross/uppercut
1 minute lunges

So I go 5 minutes and that is all ....

I wish I didn't have wrist pain with the burpee and agree it is a good fairly complete exercise ... so kudos for doing it

 

[TimeToPlaySets]

You can do 120 situps on one minute???
That's 2 per second.

That exercise is sometimes called "foot on fire".

 

[OnTheLine]

You can do 120 situps on one minute???
That's 2 per second.

That exercise is sometimes called "foot on fire".

Dang, sorry, total typo ... 80-100 ... go fast or go home

 

[S&V-not_dead_yet]

1 minute what I call "fast feet" ... I have no idea how to describe this but think basketball drill upright, back straight, slight squat and get your feet moving fast on balls/toes ... don't stop (and don't look in the mirror ... you may look silly)

Look at the "ladder drill" starting at 15:19:

[/QUOTE]

 

[Deleted member 23235]

big fan of burpees for raw conditioning... inspired by "the prison workout" (https://breakingmuscle.com/fitness/bobby-maximuss-5-favorite-not-for-wimps-workouts), 7years ago before i picked up tennis again...

i got to level 25 (>325) ~360 burpees in 30
best for 5 minutes was 100 (20 per minute)

ironically i wasn't playing tennis at this time... just focusing on distance running, obstacle courses and martial arts.
probably a bit too much now if i expected to play tennis anytime in the next week (my recovery time has dropped dramatically)
but probably should incorporate a bit of this to drop weight and improve conditioning.

 

[Deleted member 23235]

https://www.womenshealthmag.com/fitness/a19748374/why-this-trainer-hates-burpees/

Don’t mind the website. This guy (Michael Boyle) is one of the best around

completely agree... if you're slamming yourself to the ground... but if you're doing them properly, it should be smooth, low stress... kinda like trying to jump up as high as you can, then landing without making a noise. (yeah, by the 20th rep, i don't do that either )

 

[movdqa]

The Hierarchy of Fat Loss

1. Correct nutrition.  There's nothing that can be done training-wise to undo a poor diet. You have to create a caloric deficit and get enough protein and essential fats. There's no way around this. Some say that the only difference between training for muscle gain and training for fat loss is your diet. That's a massive oversimplification, but it does reinforce how important nutrition is.
2. Activities that burn calories, promote muscle mass, and elevate metabolism.  It's fairly obvious that the bulk of calories burned are determined by our resting metabolic rate or RMR. The amount of calories burned outside of our resting metabolism (through exercise and the thermic effect of feeding) is a smaller contributor to overall calories burned per day. We can also accept that RMR is largely a function of how much muscle you have on your body – and how hard it works. Therefore, adding activities that promote or maintain muscle mass will make that muscle mass work harder and elevate the metabolic rate.
3. Activities that burn calories and elevate metabolism.  The next level of fat loss programming would be a similar activity. We're still looking at activities that eat up calories and increase EPOC (Exercise Post Oxygen Consumption). EPOC is the metabolic rate's recovery back to pre-exercise levels, which can require several minutes if you do light exercise, and several hours if you do hard intervals. Look for activities that keep you burning more calories after the workout.
4. Activities that burn calories but don't necessarily maintain muscle or elevate metabolism.  This is the icing on the cake – adding activities that'll burn up additional calories but don't contribute much to an increased metabolism. This is the least effective tool in your arsenal because it doesn't burn much outside of the primary exercise session. Once diet is in place, the kind of training you do makes all the difference in the world. Don't spend your limited time doing the least effective work. Start with the training that will do the most for you, then expand from there if you have more time.

https://www.t-nation.com/training/hierarchy-of-fat-loss

It would be more efficient to just eat less to get your weight down to normal BMI and then work on the fitness. That would be a net gain in time as you'd save the time that you'd normally spend preparing, eating and cleaning up.

 

[TimeToPlaySets]

It is a given that anyone doing Burpees has already hyper-optimized their diet.
This tread is for those pushing beyond the obvious basics, and are already eating clean.

This is neither a fat loss thread, nor is it a bodybuilding thread.

Here is how this thread works:
1) Do the 4 minute workout
2) You post your total number.

Please refer to the FAQ:

"I'm a fitness expert. Burpees are bad because X. You should to do Y instead. I am a fitness expert"
(Thank you. We will do burpees, while you pontificate into the ether)

 

[TimeToPlaySets]

@Traffic @OnTheLine

My quads are still very sore from the 4 mins. of only jump squats.
So, today, I tried 4 mins of pushups. Total failure (I got about 60 total).
However, neither of these are as good as Burpees,
which will tax the entire body at once and pin your heart rate.

Body part isolation is good for hypertropy, but not for V02MAX HIIT.
This thread is for HIIT Burpees.

I will be back to Burpees tomorrow if my chest is not too sore.
And THIS is why you need a 60 day lead time to acclimate to new demands.

 

[movdqa]

Some of us are already eating clean.

Here is how this thread works:
1) Do the 4 minute workout
2) You post your total number.

Please refer to the FAQ:

"I'm a fitness expert. Burpees are bad because X. You should to do Y instead. I am a fitness expert"
(Thank you. We will do burpees, while you pontificate into the ether)

Percent of adults aged 20 and over with overweight, including obesity: 71.6% (2015-2016) -- NIH

I don't see where tennis players can escape demographic reality.

My workout today was running four miles and some time with a few barbells.

Here's a workout I did last summer. While on chemo. Want to give it a try?

 

[TimeToPlaySets]

Thank you for your contribution.
In this thread, we radically transform our tennis endurance in exactly 4 minutes a day
by doing Burpees.

 

[S&V-not_dead_yet]

big fan of burpees for raw conditioning... inspired by "the prison workout" (https://breakingmuscle.com/fitness/bobby-maximuss-5-favorite-not-for-wimps-workouts), 7years ago before i picked up tennis again...

i got to level 25 (>325) ~360 burpees in 30
best for 5 minutes was 100 (20 per minute)

That's freakin' impressive. I couldn't do 20/min even if the jump part was eliminated.

probably a bit too much now if i expected to play tennis anytime in the next week (my recovery time has dropped dramatically)

Uh, you mean "risen", right?

 

[TimeToPlaySets]

48.

Took a few days off and paid the price.
Lost a rep in each set.

This is hard.
I was drooling on the last set.
Chest is raw.

Not for the meek.
I advise n00bs to start at 4 sets, not 8.

 

[Hmgraphite1]

I'm going to add this to my routine now that i'm back to working out. Will start tomorrow. Just ate half a chicken, protein shake, apple pie and french vanilla ice cream.

 

[TimeToPlaySets]

No amount of burpees can overcome such an aggressive carb loaded intake.

Why you even have the shake?
The chicken already covers the protein.

2 deserts is gluttonous.

Were you at a buffet ?

 

[Hmgraphite1]

Naw just temporarily sick of numbers. I made the pie last week and my kids had some, but had to finish it up.
I only had 3/4 scoup of powder. I'm doing a lot of body weight exercises and lifting weights at gym. Got a 4.0 clinic tomorrow, thursday ball machine, and friday tournament playing 4.0 and 4.5 singles. Pro at club asked me to play 4.5 for free to fill in the draw. I need my lower back strong to play 2 consecutive matches. Not really in the shape I want to be but cramming for the 'exam'. Dead lifts and squats and core rotations holding a 8.8 lb weight seem to be helping. Did some pushups yesterday. I'm up 10 lbs from my summer weight currently 5'10" 178. Alot of muscle but would be better at 160.

 

[Rattler]

Burpees are great...but the push up in those videos is BS.

 

[TimeToPlaySets]

I agree. Chest must touch the floor.
How many did you do in 4 mins?

 

[DonDiego]

39
Considering I'm 45, 240 pounds and haven't worked out in months, I'ts encouraging.
Going back to my Rushfit (GSP) program 2-3 times a week will work magic I know it.

 

[TimeToPlaySets]

What did you think?

 

[TimeToPlaySets]

48

I noticed shrinkage, ostensibly due to the fact the blood must be pumped to the entire body at once.
That is how efficient this exercise is. As soon as I was done, shrinkage was gone.

 

[RogueFLIP]

I did 20 in 2 minutes then I stopped because while there's many good points to burpees, the biggest con for me is that the burpee movement isn't functional pertaining to tennis.

Back in my paintball playing days, burpees were def part of the routine as they translated very well transitioning from the snake into a more upright firing position.

Thanks and happy hitting!

 

[TimeToPlaySets]

Glad u gave it a try. As far as not seeing the tennis connection to V02max HIIT conditioning, try doing the full workout next time, and youll get it next time you're chasing down a lob 3 times in a row...

If you're playing doubles, then you won't see the connection, since they're isn't one. Doubles does not even involve sweating.