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Workout Routines For Beginners

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Workout Routines For Beginners

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Fake Workout Routines

Like my “Reminders to Self” page, this constantly-updated page organizes some of the tennis-specific exercises my trainer and I incorporate into various workout routines to help improve overall strength, power, endurance, on-court movement– and to prevent common tennis injuries. Each exercise title below to see a video or description. As I outline in a post on “,” I vary my workouts constantly, depending on specific goals throughout the year and timing of the USTA competitive season.

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As an ISSA-certfied and iTPA CTPS (Certified Tennis Performance Specialist) myself, the most important advice I can give to anyone serious about their training is the following:

Every single player is different, so we all need to develop customized workout programs tailored to our individual goals, needs, athletic backgrounds, and overall health and injury profiles. Ideally, this is done under the supervision of a top-notch certified personal trainer– preferably, a trainer certified by . If you cannot afford to invest in a trainer on an ongoing basis, I strongly (strongly) urge you to invest at least in a few sessions with an iTPA-certified coach to help you chart your course in a way that safe and effective for you.

SOURCES: Sources and videos for various exercises are linked when possible or noted in parentheses. “iTPA” short for International Tennis Performance Association. “Magnus” is short for , located at in Tenefly and Bogota NJ. “Gallegos” is short for NYC-based trainer Jay Gallegos.

If no video is linked to exercises , I haven’t found one yet but will try to post one at some point.

DYNAMIC WARM-UP EXERCISES BEFORE WORKOUTS / COURT TIME  I am religious about doing a dynamic warm-up before workouts, on-court practices and matches. The old-school gym coach idea that you should do long, held stretches before sports has been debunked by research: today, there is broad agreement that doing dynamic movements before intense activity–whether lifting weights or playing sports–will help athletes perform better and avoid injury. Deep, static stretches should only be done AFTER your workouts; doing them before can increase risk of injury and hinder performance (see background , , and ). Dynamic movements prepare the body for intense activity by elevating the heart rate, raising core body temperature to get muscles warm, and activating production of joint-protecting synovial fluids among other benefits. Below are several exercises I incorporate, mixing it up just to keep things interesting. The most important thing to do is get your heart rate up through gentle movements thatprogressively expand range of motion. I recommend picking and choosing the things you like best. Aim for an absolute minimum of 5 minutes total (10 minutes preferred)– to the point of developing a “light sweat.” Dynamic Warm-up Exercises to Choose From: ** Start with these:  Change it up every once and a while by incorporating some of the following: Alternating Side Lunges (with arms up)  (PDF) Heel walk (10 reps) Toe walk (10 reps) Knee to Chest walk (10 reps) Hamstring Handwalk (10 reps) Straight Leg March (10 reps) Alternating Lunges w/Upper Body Rotation (10 reps) Lateral Lunge (10 reps) Spiderman Crawl (10 reps) Sumo Squat Walk (10 reps) Cheerleaders (10 reps) 10-Yard Movement Sequence (2 reps, 3 sets) Don’t forget including some upper-body in dynamic warm-up, e.g.:  (see my  post for why)  (no weight, or just using Theraband) Hugs (10 reps) One final note: Mini tennis is NOT an adequate substitute for a good physical warm-up. However, you can make your mini-tennis more physicalby following this great advice from Jeff Salzenstein: “.”

I. CORE STRENGTH & STABILITY

    (Gallegos) (Gallegos) (Gallegos) (Gallegos) (Gallegos) (Gallegos) Core Circuit (ITPA)
Rotational
    (Magnus) (Gallegos) (Gallegos)

II. UPPER BODY STRENGTH & STABILITY

     (Gallegos)  (Gallegos)  (Gallegos) *  *Overhead raises are not recommended by iTPA for tennis players due to risk of injury (on Bosu ball to add instability) (Gallegos) Bent Over Row (12 reps x 3) (iTPA) Kneeling Lunge Lat Pulldown (12 reps x 3) (iTPA) Cable Open Stance FH and BH (each side) (8 reps x 3) (iTPA) Shoulder Prehab Circuit (12 reps x 3) (iTPA)
A tennis player should be… “FAST in the feet, EXPLOSIVE in the legs, POWERFUL in the core, LOOSE in the arms & mentally STRONG in the head.” —, McCaw Method Sports Performance Training 

III. LOWER BODY STRENGTH, POWER & STABILITY

  • Resisted Forehand Drill (4 reps x 3 sets) (iTPA)
  • Resisted Backhand Drill (4 reps x 3 sets) (iTPA)
  • RH and BH Open Stance Medicine Ball Toss (5 reps x 2 sets) (iTPA)
  •  (McCaw Method)
  • (McCaw Method)
  • Lateral Shuffle with Crossover Step (iTPA)
  • (McCaw Method)

V. INJURY PREVENTION/ “PREHAB” (I do 3x/week)

    “” with tubing (iTPA) with tubing or cable. Hold 2 seconds at end of range of motion. 10-12 reps, 2 sets (helps prevent variety of problems including calf strains, achilles tendonitis, and plantar fasciitis) Calf Strengthening Single-leg calf raises on stairs or platform (without weight to warm up, with weight when warm) Occasionally build in quick up (concentric) and slow down (eccentric)

YOU. ENDURANCE

    MK Drill (iTPA) Spider Drill (iTPA)

VII. FLEXIBILITY (Dynamic & Static)

    Wharton Dynamic Flexibility Movements ( and see ) (Dynamic)  (Gallegos) (Dynamic)  (Gallegos) STATIC (iTPA-recommended):

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