Muscle fatigue after 3-4 days of tennis

[arthell]

In my current tennis training regimen, I practice tennis ~1.5h on 3-4 consecutive days each week: Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday. After 2, sometimes 3 days, I keep getting this pulsating feeling of fatigue in primarily my calfs, but the front thighs soon follow. It usually doesn't hurt, but it's very noticeable that the muscles are tired, and it also shows on the court with the legs being less responsive than I'd like. I'm looking for ways to either strengthen my legs, or speed up the recovery, or perhaps be more efficient on the court - anything that can help me play more frequently.

It should be mentioned that my legs rarely feel dead after a training session. I play intensively, move fast, but I rarely run out of energy while on the court. I play at roughly NTRP 5.

Aside from tennis, I also try and fit two gym sessions into the week: legs and upper body. Whenever I do legs, I try getting two days of complete lower-body rest before going at it again.

In addition, I stretch said muscles every morning right after waking up (1 minute hold per muscle). However I don't always stretch after tennis sessions because I haven't really noticed any effects of doing so (eager to hear if anyone strongly disagrees). My diet is very complete. I drink a lot of water.

I'm hoping that perhaps there is a way to train my legs for faster recovery? Or perhaps take more breaks during each session? Any other tips that I could explore?

Thanks!

 

[Deleted member 775640]

I mean maybe push through your discomfort. If it's just soreness, your legs should strengthen to a new level of fitness over time.

This advice doesn't hold up if you're overweight.

 

[nyta2]

how strong are your legs?
not that i can do it now, but i used to be able to squat 405 for reps for example..
and i'm confident i can train up to doing pistol squats again...

 

[Deleted member 775640]

how strong are your legs?
not that i can do it now, but i used to be able to squat 405 for reps for example..
and i'm confident i can train up to doing pistol squats again...

height/weight and full split, let's see it

 

[arthell]

Thanks for the constructive replies.

I’m 5’10’’, weigh 176 lbs (I have more muscle than your average tennis player). I haven’t done barbell squats for quite some time, but I’m fairly confident I’d do 8 reps at 260 lbs today. My leg training consists mostly of box jumps, lunges and the occasional deadlift.

If heavier leg training is the solution, I’ll happily do it, but I’m just worried the required recovery time will prevent me from being on court…

 

[nyta2]

Thanks for the constructive replies, except for the initial jerk who I’m sure has no friends.

I’m 5’10’’, weigh 176 lbs (I have more muscle than your average tennis player). I haven’t done barbell squats for quite some time, but I’m fairly confident I’d do 8 reps at 260 lbs today. My leg training consists mostly of box jumps, lunges and the occasional deadlift.

If heavier leg training is the solution, I’ll happily do it, but I’m just worried the required recovery time will prevent me from being on court…

not sure how high level tennis players do it, but the utr10-14 's (20's and younger) that i've been able to chat with about their regimen/fitness... they are really f'ing strong. wiry, but really strong, especially lower body.
they are also used to playing 2x full 3-set matches in a day... on back to back days...
since you're an ntrp5.0 already (utr9+), i imagine you'd have to get to similar level of strength&conditioning
the juniors at my club appear to do conditioning daily + tennis...
but like you said, they do it in a way that doesn't burn them out from being able to make it back on the court to hit.
speculating here, but guessing they're doing some form of "greasing the groove" type training (NOT maxing to exhaustion)
guessing gymnasts have to do something similar, cuzz they are also hella strong, but still also have to practice their technical routines.

 

[WildVolley]

Assuming your nutrition and recovery (especially sleep) is good, you probably need to just cut back on your overall tennis/workout time. Either go light one of the four days (say the 3rd) or take a full day off from tennis and do something that will give your legs time to recover. Working harder isn't always the answer if you're looking at peak performance.

 

[Fintft]

Vitamin B100 helps recovery.
And take a hot shower, massaging your big muscles within 15 min of finishing your exercises.