When you are on the tennis court running around and doing drills, hitting balls etc… your body is constantly being impacted by force. The majority of this force will be felt on your thighs, knees, calves and your feet.
In order to avoid excessive stress on these areas, it’s good to give your body a break and do some non-impact workouts.
What are Non-Impact workouts?
Non-Impact workouts are any routines that do not involve putting stress on your joints from impact with the ground. Tennis players spend a lot of time on court putting their whole body through a tremendous amount of physical force. This can lead to complications and injuries if you don’t do the right type of rehabilitation and recovery training.
What type of Non-Impact Training and Fitness can I do?
Here are a list of exercises that you can do to help your body recover from impact exercises.
Cycling
You can visit a gym or just take out your own cycle and go riding around your city or a race-track. This is the best workout you can do to get a full body tune up. Anywhere between 1 – 2 times a week for an hour is good.
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Swimming
Also a great way to get your full body in tune and relax at the same time. Swimming also helps with strength training, as you use a lot of muscles to push your body forward, but without the stress of impact.
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Elliptical Training
One of the best workout machines for tennis players, not only does it give you a full range of body motion but it also helps with building stamina and endurance.
A 20 – 30 minute workout twice a week will really give your fitness level a boost. Incorporate it with some squats and a fast paced walk on a treadmill for extra benefits.
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Yoga & Pilates
Any of the above two are good to help with your flexibility and increasing your overall strength. Pilates will really help you out with your core, one of the main power centers for a tennis player.
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Light Weight Gym Workout
Going to the gym and working out with light weights (2.5kg) to give your muscles a tone up is very low impact. Try and do more sets with the same amount of repetitions to help with building muscle. Remember, don’t rush through a set but take it slow and easy.
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So if it’s raining outside, or you don’t feel like playing tennis today don’t worry there’s many things you can do to keep your body in fit mode till you get a chance to hit the ball again.