It’s happening again – Wimbledon fever is building and tennis courts across the country are packed out as people head down to try and replicate what they’ve seen on the telly. If you haven’t picked up a racket since this same time last year, you’ll probably find your game is a little rusty but don’t let that put you off.
Now I’m no tennis coach (as anyone who’s seen me on court could confirm), I can help you with the strength and conditioning training required to improve your game.
Tennis is an incredibly complex sport, requiring a combination of strength, power, flexibility, balance, and – when you get your eye in and points start to last a little longer – endurance. To up your game you’ll want to be light yet strong, rocking the magic combination of a low body fat percentage and lean, strong, functional muscle.
Which, for anyone who doesn’t play tennis, also happens to look pretty good. So this programme isn’t just great for anyone looking to up their game, but also for those just looking to up their tone.
Each programme incorporates plenty of rotational movements, plus strengthening the shoulders and upper body strength to help with those serves and groundstrokes.
I’d recommend going for this 3 times a week, with one or two rest days in between each time.
Greenwich Training – Basic Tennis Workout
10 minute warm up run/cycle – steady state aiming to keep your heart rate around 120-150bpm
Perform each exercise twice, in a circuit format
Circuit 1
15 x Press up – feet elevated if able
12 x Swiss ball medicine ball twist
Circuit 2
15 x 2 x 1-arm DB row
10 x 2 x Kneeling MB lateral wall throw
Circuit 3 (perform 3 times)
3 x Lateral shuffle – 20 seconds on, 10 seconds off
20 x 2 Overhead external band rotation
Circuit 4
20 x TRX ice skaters
15 x O/H MB slam
Finish with a 5-10 minute cool down and stretching, particularly those shoulders!
So there you have it – a simple, effective total body workout that will really improve your performance on the court, improving your strength, challenging your core, helping you shed some body fat and also improving your CV.
Not bad.
If you’d like help putting together a more bespoke training programme to take your performance and fitness to the next level then just get in touch and we’ll get you started before Andy lifts that trophy next Sunday…hopefully.
Ian “Baseline” Male
Ps. If any of you fancy a free training session this evening 7:30-8:30 then drop me an email – our first Monday night GroupFit session is tonight at The Bridge in East Greenwich Pleasaunce Park.
Personal Trainer
tel: 07966844057
e: [email protected]
www.greenwichtraining.com
Greenwich Training
Personal Training & Group Fitness in Greenwich, Blackheath and South East London.