You can’t help but admire the strength, agility, and all-around physical fitness of professional athletes. For obvious reasons, they have to stay in the best shape possible. This means that their training regimens must be top-notch as well.
If you’re looking to upgrade your fitness level, below are six tips to help you train like a tennis pro!
1. Don’t just stick to tennis-specific movements.
This is perhaps one of the biggest mistakes amateur tennis players tend to make. They focus too much on training only the muscles used to perform the routine movements specific to tennis. For example, a tennis player might spend the bulk of his/her time training their arms and shoulders in hopes of adding power to their stroke, but if they neglect to strengthen their core muscles and legs, they won’t have a solid base from which to generate power and explosiveness for their swing. To train like a tennis pro, you should place some emphasis on the muscles that do the bulk of the work in your given sport or activity. But you also have to add balance to your training regimen in order for all of the muscles in your body to act as one kinetic unit.
2. Train larger muscle groups via compound movements.
Keeping in line with the previous point, isolation workouts are not the best way to go if you want to train like a tennis pro. It would be much better for you to build a strong foundation for overall athleticism by performing compound movements that recruit large muscle groups. This can include squats, lunges, deadlifts, burpees, etc. Also, incorporate a variety of movements to improve your overall athleticism, such as jumps, skips, hops, and lateral movements.
3. Stretch.
Even the most ardent fitness buffs are tempted to skip stretching sometimes, because let’s face it – stretching can be boring, especially when you’re ready to get down to business. The problem with this is that without taking the time to stretch, your muscles won’t be as flexible, leaving them more prone to injury. By taking the time to stretch both before your workouts, you can properly prime those muscles for action – you know, like the tennis pros do.
4. Drink plenty of water.
Tennis pros understand the importance of staying hydrated for peak performance. Keep in mind that your muscles are primarily comprised of water (to the tune of about 80 percent), so if you allow yourself to get dehydrated, it can greatly diminish your capacity to perform. When training like a tennis pro, be sure to drink at least six to eight 8-ounce glasses of water a day. If that seems like too much, try replacing a glass or two with some water-rich fresh fruits and veggies such as grapes, watermelon, cucumbers, and celery.
5. Focus on getting proper nutrition.
As the famous saying goes, “You can’t out-train a bad diet.” For many aspiring athletes, nutrition is the make-or-break factor that can either move them forward or hold them back. Your stamina, energy levels and recovery rate are all largely dictated by nutrition. Creating the right kind of diet for optimal performance might seem like a tall order, but it doesn’t have to be complicated. Just keep things simple by eating three properly portioned meals per day, along with a couple of snacks in between. Be sure to eat plenty of greens (e.g., kale, spinach, red leaf lettuce, etc.) in order to invigorate your cells and make your body more alkaline. Also be sure to consume some type of protein-rich food source immediately following your workouts in order to aid the recovery process.
6. Stay disciplined.
This is perhaps the most difficult part of training like a tennis pro. You must be willing to stick to the training schedule and regimen that you have created, even on the days when you just aren’t feeling it. This separates the average from the elite, and the amateurs from the pros.
Whether you’re a tennis buff, a marathoner, or a swim-junkie, there’s always room for improvement in terms of boosting your physical fitness and athleticism. Start putting the above tips into practice, and train like a tennis pro!
