A Simple System For Tennis Fitness Programs

So now that I've established a background for the need to spend time on building stamina, strength and speed in a well designed tennis fitness program, my goal today is to share with you when you do each, how long to spend in each phase, and whether it is always necessary to always go through all three phases.  

When it comes to tennis strength training, typically the primary intention is to optimize your physical being for tennis performance.  So achieve optimal performance levels on the court, as a tennis player, do you need stamina for long matches? You better believe it.  As a tennis player, do you need strength to perform at your best?  You bet your bottom dollar.  As a tennis player, do you need speed and power to crank those rocket-like serves and rip those killer forehands?  You most certainly do.

But to know when to do them, and how long to do them, you need to know when you hope to be peaking during your year...usually if you have trained properly, you are shooting to peak for a period of about 8-16 weeks- if you are a recreational player, maybe it is the club championships or possibly your USTA league season. If you are a college player, typically you are working to peak for your Spring season and the NCAA tournament. If you are a tournament player (whether junior or professional), typically you would plan out your training schedule at the beginning of the year...pin-pointing specific chunks of time during the year to peak with the biggest, most important tournaments involved.

Remember, when one applies this periodized approach to their training, it is next to impossible to peak at every tournament you play...so don't expect to.

So here's the SIMPLE SYSTEM:

Once you've picked your key points thoughout the year where you want to peak, here it is working from beginning to end:

A. Stamina:  3-8 weeks

B. Strength: 4-8 weeks

C. Speed: 4 weeks

D. Restoration: 1 week

E. In-Season PEAK PERFORMANCE Training (8-16 weeks)

**The sport-specific strength gains achieved by going through phases A-D should last 8-16 weeks (a season).

So now you ask, "Do I always have to go through all three phases?"

The short answer is NO, but there is more to it...

TO BE CONTINUED...

Adam 

Periodization Training Applied To Tennis Strength Training

...so to pick up where we left off, I wanted to provide you with some of the basic parameters of each area of tennis training I mentioned: Stamina, Strength, and Power/Speed. Today I will very simply explain what each is and the sets, reps, pace, rest period, weight, volume used in each. So here we go...

Phase 1: Stamina/General Strength
The exercises in this stage of program design do not mimic any specific sport movements...Main purpose is to create anatomical adaptations necessary to build basic strength and endurance necessary to increase the volume (amount) of work

Sets: 2-3
Reps: 12-20
Pace: moderate
Rest: <30>Weight: light

Volume: high

Phase 2: Hypertrophy/Absolute Strength
This is where you are working to build up the cross-sectional area of muscle fiber to increase its potential for power. Designed to build on base strength in resistance and movement drills and increase functional capabilities.

Sets: 3-4
Reps: 8-12 and 3-5
Pace: moderate to slow
Rest: 30-90 seconds
Weight: moderate to heavy
Volume: high

Phase 3: Explosive Power/Speed
This is where your training becomes as sport-specific as possible. In this stage of training you are peaking for performance. It is designed to enhance explosive capabilities of athlete; generate force rapidly in all areas of training.

Sets: 2-3
Reps: 4-6 and for time
Pace: explosive/fast
Rest: 2-3 minutes
Weight: heavy to light
Volume: moderate

So I here you saying to yourself, "This is all great, but when do I do each, how long do I spend in each and is it always necessary to go through all 3 phases when I set up a tennis fitness program?"

I applaud you for your question and will respond to this in our next session.

To Be Continued...

Great Tennis Fitness Programs Make Room For Everything

Happy Friday Everyone!  

Today I wanted to plant some seeds for a topic which  I plan to devote a great deal of time to over the next month or so...it is the area of Periodization Training applied to tennis training.  

Often, I get asked..."so how many repetitions should I be doing?"  Because there is rarely a one size fits all answer to this question,  I often respond with the question..."What phase of training are you in?"  More often than not, the person has no idea how to respond to my question.  

I don't ask this of them because I don't know the answer, rather to be able to accurately answer their question, I need to know whether they are training for stamina, strength, or speed/power.   

Each area of training has different repetition ranges as well as different weights to be utilized. In fact, each phase of training has numerous variables to consider...frequency, intensity, volume, rest, tempo and duration- just to name a few (I will go over these in another blog).

To make sense of all the above variables, a powerful system for training was designed called Periodization Training.  In short, periodization training is the systematic progression of an athlete through different phases of physical training intensities.  In a well designed periodization program, each phase becomes the building blocks or foundation necessary for the physical demands of the ensuing phase. 

To help illustrate this principle, let's look at an area that we all have experience in...let's use mathematics as an example.  To get to the point where one is able to do multiplication and division, they must first master addition, then subtraction.  In training terms, to get to the point where we train for speed and power, we must first prepare the muscles and joints for these higher intensity phases, by moving through stamina and strength first.

 In short the moral of this blog is that there is a time a place for everything in a thoughtfully designed tennis fitness training program.

To be continued...

Adam

12 Minute Results-Driven Tennis Fitness Workout

Just last night I was reminded of a syndrome which plagues folks relating to their tennis training and tennis fitness. It keeps them from working out...it is the false belief of "There'sJustNoTime-itis".

For many, the crazy demands of today's life leaves small windows of only 15-20 minutes for health related activities. Often, these same individuals mistakenly believe that a good workout means one where they spend 45-60 minutes in the gym (sometimes even more). Because these two numbers don't add up, the result is to DO NOTHING. Missed exercise is a slippery slope toward irreversible consequences...especially as it relates to your on-court tennis performance...without finding time for you off-court fitness, you might soon find yourself nursing a pulled hamstring, or sore low back, or torn rotator cuff.

Throw out the idea that you need an entire afternoon or a free evening to have a great workout. It simply doesn't take as much time as you think. Here's one example: (taken from one of my newsletters)...and there will be MORE TO COME! By the way, this can be home exercise, you don't even need to go to a gym for this one.

12 Minute Results-Driven Tennis Fitness Workout
**Do the following in a circuit with a 30-60 sec rest at end. Complete 2x, time permitting

1. Dumbbell Squat Press: Stand with your feet shoulder width apart and hold a dumbbell in each hand at shoulder level. First lower down into a squat position. Make sure that your knees do not go past 90 degrees. Exhale as you press the dumbbells overhead while you straighten your legs and return to the starting position.
Complete 8-12 repetitions.

2. Sprint, Jump Rope, or do Jumping Jacks for 30 seconds.

3. Dumbbell Lunge and Curl: Stand with your feet shoulder width apart and hold a dumbbell in each hand down at your sides. Exhale as you lunge forward with your right leg and curl the dumbbells up toward your chest. Make sure that your knee does not go past 90 degrees. Inhale as you return to the starting position and repeat on the other side. Complete 8-12 repetitions.

4. Sprint, Jump Rope, or do Jumping Jacks for 30 seconds.

5. Dumbbell Bent Over Rows: Stand with your feet shoulder width apart and hold a dumbbell in each hand. Bend your knees and lean forward from your waist, keeping your back flat. Exhale as you drive your elbows back and squeeze your shoulder blades together. Inhale as you return to the starting position. Complete 8-12 repetitions.

6. Sprint, Jump Rope, or do Jumping Jacks for 30 seconds.

7. V-Ups: Sit on the edge of a chair or bench and lean back. Exhale as you drive your knees in toward your chest, squeezing your abdominal muscles. Inhale as you lower your knees back down with control. Complete 15-20 repetitions.

8. Sprint, Jump Rope, or do Jumping Jacks for 30 seconds.

Think outside of the box. Could you do a 10 minute workout in the morning and a 15 minute workout before bed?

Let's be honest, you make time for the things that you feel are important. If I told you that for every minute you spent exercising I would give you a thousand dollars, would you find a minute to exercise? Sure you would! You'd probably find quite a few minutes to exercise.

Short bursts of intense exercise will give you the results you want, all you have to do is make the time for it.

Somewhere deep down inside you know that it's now or never.

Will you allow your hectic schedule to slowly push you down the path of injured tennis player, obesity and health risk? Or will you find creative ways to fit exercise into your day as you steadily regain your shape and health?

Make this the day that you finally make the change.

Adam

A Tennis Training Must Do For Your Abs

So now that you've got your tennis fitness program for your abs headed in the right direction by putting you on the swiss ball, I wanted to add one more exercise for you to work on and master before we move on.  Before I reveal the exercise, I wanted to reiterate the idea that a comprehensive tennis training program wouldn't be complete without a simple and effective series of moves devoted to your midsection.  

As with any area of your body, when it comes to your belly, you absolutely need to start with the basics and build fundamental and baseline strength before you move on.  Far too often, I see people in the gym putting themselves in the position for serious injury by doing very advanced exercises (that they've probably seen on a video somewhere or have seen someone else doing) without having the necessary foundation of strength to do them safely.  

As a tennis player, functionality and mobility are the cornerstones of what we do, so don't blow that by doing ab exercises that look cool, but that you shouldn't be doing until you are ready. Remember, it is in repetition of the fundamentals on a daily basis that true mastery is found.

So anyway, here is the third of the fundamental moves on the Swiss ball...it is called the Roll-Out.

Just like the the Stability Ball Crunch and SB Oblique Crunch (see last post), begin with 1 set of 12 repetitions and work your way up to 1 set of 20 repetitions.  Work on these three exercises for 2-4 weeks and then you'll be ready to take it to the next level.

Train on Purpose and Play with Passion,

Adam 

Welcome to Fit Tennis Player!

Hello Everyone,

I am absolutely thrilled to be able to bring this blog to life!  It has been a long time coming...but as the saying goes, "Good things come to those who wait".  My hope is that those "good things" come in the form of interesting and educational information and videos relating to tennis fitness.

Over the course of the 15 or so odd years that I have been creating tennis training programs for clients- from the recreational tennis player to tour professionals- I have had the good fortune of learning so much along the way...both from ideas and training programs that have worked great and those that quite honestly were not so hot.  At the end of the day, it is through both our successes and failures that hopefully we gain insight, wisdom and grow along the way.  

It is my sincere hope that through this blog, I can share with all of you, those "things" relating to tennis training which I believe can help take your game to the next level.  To that end, I'll be covering topics that will include strength and conditioning, speed, agility and quickness, core stability, balance, nutrition, sport psychology and so much more. 

So here's to the sport of lifetime...whose competitors are, in my eyes, the ultimate athletes. 

Train on Purpose and Play with Passion,

Adam

P.S. Oh yeah, in case you haven't seen any of my One Minute Clinics on the Tennis Channel, check out the video below.  It is one of a series I did for them recently.  Some of the others can be found at TennisChannel.com/omc