No matter your playing level or interest in tennis, the activity offers numerous health advantages. From strengthening lower body muscles to increasing bone mass and building endurance, tennis provides an all-around workout.
Tennis’ lateral movement helps improve balance and posture, with one long term study reporting a 59% reduction in cardiovascular disease risks due to regular participation.
Cardiovascular Exercise
Cardiovascular exercise stimulates your heart and oxygen intake, helping your body’s systems work more efficiently and lowering your risk of heart disease. Plus, exercise releases endorphins into your system which provide a temporary runners’ high. Research also suggests it could help protect against depression.
Attaining cardio doesn’t need to be laborious – there are plenty of low-impact activities that count as cardiovascular exercise, such as running, walking, cycling, swimming, dancing, skating, rowing and climbing stairs. To be considered cardiovascular activity it must consistently raise heart rate and breathing above resting levels for an extended period. Strength training activities that use weight machines or lift heavy objects do not count as cardiovascular exercises as these only offer brief periods of intense exertion within larger periods of non-intense movement.
A solid cardiovascular exercise routine should include five to ten minutes of dynamic warm up – a slow and gentle stretching session designed to prepare the body for exercise – before engaging in cardiovascular exercise. Furthermore, five minutes should be allowed for cooling down so as to gradually bring your heart rate and breathing back down to normal after your session is finished.
Prior to embarking on any exercise program, it is vitally important to speak to a healthcare provider first. They can advise on the recommended amount of aerobic exercise each week and ways to incorporate this activity into your everyday schedule.
If you are not currently active, begin slowly and gradually increase the intensity over time. Aim to complete at least 150 minutes of moderate- to vigorous-intensity activity each week.
Exercise can be tough to stay motivated about, but exercise can become much more enjoyable when done with friends or family and while listening to upbeat music. Remember it takes three or four months before forming new habits so try your hardest and stick with them!
Muscle Strength
Strength training is one of the primary reasons people exercise. Strengthening muscle helps your body burn calories faster, which makes weight management and fat loss simpler. Strength training also builds strong muscles, joints and bones which helps protect you against injuries as well as improve overall health and fitness. Strength training can be done at home or gym using basic equipment like dumbbells and benches or simply your own body weight to perform exercises such as squats and push-ups.
Muscle strength training aims to increase the amount of force a particular group of muscles can exert over a prolonged period without becoming fatigued, an important element in building muscle. One way of measuring this increase in force is through one-rep maximums (1RMs). To develop your 1RM for any particular exercise, warm up with light cardio activity and dynamic stretching before commencing an actual strength workout session; your 1RM can then be determined by measuring how heavy weight they can lift during one rep of an exercise while using proper technique – or 2 (see 1RMs).
Muscle power refers to how much force can be generated quickly; an excellent test for this is performing a barbell clean, which requires you to move a significant amount of mass quickly within a very brief period of time. Your ability to generate force quickly depends heavily on both muscle fiber size and its activation by your brain – however this can be enhanced through training.
To develop muscle strength, aim to train each major muscle group twice or three times each week, performing two to five sets of reps beginning low and gradually working up as you gain strength. You should allow at least 48 hours between strength training sessions so your muscles and nervous system can recover fully in order to maximize each workout session.
Flexibility
Tennis requires flexibility to move through its range of motion smoothly and lengthen and stretch muscles effectively, improving everyday tasks like bending over or reaching for something high on a shelf while simultaneously decreasing injury risks when playing tennis. Flexibility exercises may include hamstring stretches, hip flexor stretches and shoulder stretches.
Change up your exercise routines regularly so you don’t overtrain any one muscle group and to ensure your entire body receives an effective workout. By changing up activities, it may also help you meet fitness goals more quickly; typically adults need 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity per week plus two to three days dedicated to muscle-strengthening activities.
Tennis offers both a fast and gentle form of cardio exercise. An hour of singles tennis burns roughly 600 calories for men and 420 for women; doubles allows players to take it at their own pace but still burns calories quickly.
Tennis’ fast movements are an excellent way to build agility and balance. Additionally, its weight-bearing nature means it strengthens bones while decreasing risk for osteoporosis.
As an aerobic activity, tennis can help increase blood flow to your brain, muscles and organs – increasing oxygen in your blood and decreasing fatigue – leaving you feeling more energetic than ever!
Furthermore, yoga can assist with building lean muscle mass and burning fat. Furthermore, it can boost confidence and self-esteem as well as reduce anxiety and stress levels.
Tennis is an enjoyable, social activity enjoyed by people of all ages and can provide an outlet for pent-up emotions by releasing endorphins – the feel-good hormones which promote good mental health and help adherence to fitness and weight loss goals in the long run.
Agility
Tennis is an active whole-body sport that engages major and minor muscle groups, increases flexibility, improves balance and coordination and burns calories. As an accessible low-impact activity, it can be played by people of any age or fitness level over time with friends or acquaintances, building stamina over time. As an interpersonal and team-oriented activity, tennis provides social benefits which improve mood as you interact with people while competing against one another.
Tennis’ quick thinking and split-second reactions help keep the brain sharp, which in turn may lower stress and anxiety levels. Meanwhile, the game’s lateral movement strengthens core muscles as well as upper body and shoulder muscles. Furthermore, weight-bearing exercise improves bone density while decreasing risk for osteoporosis.
Since tennis requires jumping, running and bending movements, it activates both fast-twitch muscle fibers for speed as well as slow-twitch fibers for endurance – thus creating a calorie-burning, high intensity workout which explains why professional tennis players typically boast such excellent physical condition and have those coveted sleek muscle bellies that many admirers covet.
Outside, where uneven surfaces challenge your footwork and leg strength, can enhance the effectiveness of your tennis workout. Top athletes such as Maria Sharapova play on sand dunes as part of her training routine while Caroline Wozniacki trains for marathons by running uphill.
While researchers still do not fully understand why, studies have demonstrated that tennis players have lower risks of heart disease compared to non-players. One such study showed those who played tennis were 56% less likely to die from cardiovascular causes compared to non-players; perhaps this longevity boost can be linked to players adopting healthier lifestyle choices thanks to tennis incorporating elements like diet and social interactions into its curriculum.
Studies conducted on high-performance players suggest that regular tennis participation helps create positive body image and the capacity to overcome adversity, according to research on them. Furthermore, playing tennis teaches players resourcefulness, goal setting, and learning from mistakes – lessons which can then be applied elsewhere in life and help players become more independent and confident problem solvers.