Overall fitness/health tennis program

[Zenman]

Hello everyone,

I am former tennis player and making sort of "come back" to coach/sparing Junior/ITF players. I used to play 4hours/day+fitness training, and in the pre/off season, focus was more on fitness.

I am struggling, now, as someone who didn't play single match in 3/4 years to play one set. Endurance, very very slow recovery after points and so on so forth.

I need advice for a program to slowly start from a beginning. Do you have any suggestions?

What concerns me for instant is: if I go to gym and play tennis later I lose "feeling" due to the muscle heaviness.

Thank you ALL!

 

[Harry_Wild]

Sounds like you are really out of shape! It you continue to play tennis regularly, you will adjust and be in better shape - less fatigue, move better, etc... You could alway do tennis drills too for getting into all around tennis conditioning. I would just take it easy in terms of playing tennis and not go at it as a serious sport until you get into better conditioning and you muscles adjust to the tennis movement. Give it 3 or 4 months of regular, relax play before taking tennis more seriously in terms of being more physical. In other words, keep from getting injured while you get back in the “swing” of things. Have fun!

 

[Zenman]

Sounds like you are really out of shape! It you continue to play tennis regularly, you will adjust and be in better shape - less fatigue, move better, etc... You could alway do tennis drills too for getting into all around tennis conditioning. I would just take it easy in terms of playing tennis and not go at it as a serious sport until you get into better conditioning and you muscles adjust to the tennis movement. Give it 3 or 4 months of regular, relax play before taking tennis more seriously in terms of being more physical. In other words, keep from getting injured while you get back in the “swing” of things. Have fun!

Dear Harry_Wild,
Thank you--indeed I am really out of shape. I play regularly, sometimes even, I ask my friend, coach, to feed me balls from the basket. But it is not--enough--anymore. Now I think to play less tennis and to start with the fitness program?

I am getting back to the court--not as a player, but as a sparing partner and coach.

Thx again!

 

[dsb]

FBT60?

http://www.fbt60.com/index.php

 

[IowaGuy]

Hello everyone,

I am former tennis player and making sort of "come back" to coach/sparing Junior/ITF players. I used to play 4hours/day+fitness training, and in the pre/off season, focus was more on fitness.

I am struggling, now, as someone who didn't play single match in 3/4 years to play one set. Endurance, very very slow recovery after points and so on so forth.

I need advice for a program to slowly start from a beginning. Do you have any suggestions?

What concerns me for instant is: if I go to gym and play tennis later I lose "feeling" due to the muscle heaviness.

Thank you ALL!

Be sure to also work in some low-impact exercises on off-days. (Don't do high intensity for every workout!)

I hike or do yoga on days that I'm not playing tennis.

 

[Marius_Hancu]

Some of the links at my post

Great Fitness Sites I (Conditioning)
https://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/index.php?threads/great-fitness-sites-i-conditioning.52164/

such as:

http://www.netfit.co.uk/racquets-web.htm
http://www.angelfire.com/id/ustc/day1_7.htm

still work)

 

[Racer41c]

#1 Quit drinking so much damn beer!

#2 Quit eating Fries 5x per week!

#3 Ice cream is NOT a food group!

Oh, sorry that's what I need to do. but just in case it may work for you as well.

 

[Big_Dangerous]

Be sure to also work in some low-impact exercises on off-days. (Don't do high intensity for every workout!)

I hike or do yoga on days that I'm not playing tennis.

Machine are also great for building up stamina and endurance but also minimizing the impact. Elliptical, bike, etc. I love sneaking off every day at work and using my lunch break to get in ~1 hour on the Adaptive Motion Trainer machine.

 

[Big_Dangerous]

#1 Quit drinking so much damn beer!

#2 Quit eating Fries 5x per week!

#3 Ice cream is NOT a food group!

Oh, sorry that's what I need to do. but just in case it may work for you as well.

Can't help with a beer substitute since I don't touch the stuff.

#2: If you have a bit more time you can do air fried or oven baked plantain slices as a better healthier substitute for french fries. They're part of the banana family, so you get very similar benefits to eating them as you would bananas, and honestly they make a great fry substitute. I wait for them to ripen when they turn yellow with some black spots as they turn sweeter and a bit softer. They're great with ketchup or by themselves. Just slice them like you would a banana and arrange them in an air fryer basket or cookie sheet. If you opt to bake them, I'd line the sheet with foil and spray a little nonstick cooking spray on it. Also, do be sure to flip them about half way through. I usually do 400 Fahrenheit for about 10 minutes in my air fryer, then flip them and another 10 minutes.

#3: For ice cream, much like you I do have an affinity for that, but I was able to get myself completely off the Ben & Jerry's, Dryers, Blue Bell (Texas brand), etc. I usually go for the Halo Top or Kroger makes a sort of knock off brand called Low Cow that's usually cheaper than Halo Top. I buy a few pints and usually go for the lowest calorie ones like 240-280 range. On days where I gotta have something, I go for one of those. I find that even if I eat the whole pint, it's nowhere close to as bad as 2 servings of some regular ice creams, and the benefit of 20+ grams of protein is also really nice. It makes it feel like you aren't consuming empty calories on something with a minimal nutritional value.

 

[TagUrIt]

Dear Harry_Wild,
Thank you--indeed I am really out of shape. I play regularly, sometimes even, I ask my friend, coach, to feed me balls from the basket. But it is not--enough--anymore. Now I think to play less tennis and to start with the fitness program?

I am getting back to the court--not as a player, but as a sparing partner and coach.

Thx again!

Try T-25 it's a 25 minute workout at home, great for getting back into fitness.

 

[Traffic]

This summer, I played a lot of tennis matches (USTA) and tennis practice matches. But because of family schedule; especially kids' programs, my other activities have suffered. I typically ride mountain bike twice a week and when the schedule wasn't as full, I'd hit the gym once or twice a week as well.

But due to schedule, I was only able to play matches.

After 3mos or so, I found my fitness had diminished. I could see that my quickness had dampened. And recently I did some singles practice and I had a hard time staying strong through the entire court time.

It's been about two weeks of bike riding added back into the routine and I can already see an improvement in my overall fitness (aches and pains in addition to normal fatigue).

So some sort of off court cardio is going to be of great benefit.

 

[fuzz nation]

I've also enjoyed a substantial difference with my on-court endurance through recent years when I get out on my bicycle two or three times a week. I even picked up one of those Trak Stands to that I can use my own bike as a stationary bike in the garage for winter workouts when it's too cold outside or the roads are trashed. Riding gives me zero pounding and keeps my knees much more happy, too.

I teach and also coach a local high school team, so I'm often out for heavier slugging sessions with stronger kids. I'll turn 53 this winter. My warrior years are certainly behind me, so any fitness work I do off-court now pays off for me big time. I'll be doing more lifting (with moderate weights) now that it's getting colder, I try to get a few sets of push-ups done every day, and I also keep a jump rope in my bag. The rope is great for helping me to be a bit more nimble out there.

I wouldn't have tried yoga if a friend of mine hadn't started teaching after taking it up herself and then earning certifications. She was really beaten up after some years of marathon running and yoga was fantastic for her recovery. So I tried it one winter and after about five weeks (two sessions per week), my movement on the tennis court became almost effortless, especially around the net. My balance, core strength, and flexibility all improved.

It seems to be the case at least for me that there's just no substitute for a little running and footwork stuff. I like to run on the softer grass/dirt around the perimeter of the practice fields at the high school where I coach (instead of running on rock-hard streets or sidewalks). While I'm running laps, I'll also do some side-shuffling, cross-overs, and also run backward for increments of 50-80 yards. Daily? No way. But a couple times a week can make a big difference when I'm trying to stay sharp or get up to speed before the team starts a season.

That's me. Everything helps and I also try to avoid going too hard or heroic with my off-court work. If my intensity is generally moderate, I can keep at it more easily and more regularly than trying to make huge gains with intense workouts that will likely beat me up.