Workout Regimen Runner
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
- (see #2 on linked page) (Gallegos) (Gallegos) (Gallegos) DB Jump Shrug (iTPA) Barbell Squat (iTPA) DB Lateral Lunge (each leg) (iTPA) Core Circuit (iTPA) (Jez Green/Andy Murray variations) (Magnus/CourtSense) (Magnus/CourtSense)
IV. MOVEMENT (Tennis-Specific Speed & Agility)
- Split Step Training Drill (1 rep x 5 sets) (iTPA)
- Lateral Cross-Over Drill (6 reps x 2 sets) (iTPA)
- 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):
- Lying Hamstring Stretch
- Lying Knee to Chest Stretch
- Figure 4 Stretch
- Pretzl Stretch
- Butterfly Stretch
- Kneeling Hip Flexor Stretch
- Cross-Body Stretch
- Pec Stretch
- Sleeper Stretch
- Posterior Shoulder Stretch
TREATMENTS FOR COMMON TENNIS INJURIES (see also ) and
17 Comments SD Mar 15, 2013 @ 11:45:59 Thanks PJ for sharing your journey. I am a tennisaholic on an similar journey myself. Nice to see that we are doing so many things similar – tips scrapbooking, self-reminders, flexibility training, strength training, mental aspect, yoga-meditation etc. Recently I have been working on staying relaxed yet focused during practice/match play, such a powerful tool when done right. This page is my favorite- tennis workouts and fitness training. Thanks again for sharing and good luck. Hope you reach your goal soon. P.J. Mar 15, 2013 @ 14:40:51 Thank you so much! Great to hear from another tennis soulmate. I’ve been remiss in adding new material to this page for past couple months, about to do another push to add more with my trainer. Your feedback gives me added incentive. If you’d ever like to do a guest post on the blog on your own epiphanies/ things working well for you that might help others, just let me know – would be great. P.J. Apr 15, 2015 @06:50:23 Thanks for sharing as it will help various tennis players to get aware of various injuries and their recoveries liurui Apr 07, 2013 @ 02:49:44 P.J. Very pleased to find your website! I am a tennisaholic too. I am 40 years old. Nowadays my friends play tennis for body-building， however, I’m eager to improve my tennie level. Maybe we are almost at the same level, my goal is 4.5 too. Come on! P.J. Apr 07, 2013 @ 09:20:59 Hey there, great you found and like the site and glad to know we’re on a similar journey. Look forward to staying in touch. Come on!! P.J. faisal Jun 29, 2014 @ 20:27:54 Dear PJ , I just started the ITF circuit tour, your fitness advices and videos are amazing, can you please give me a whole fitness schedule for the whole week ? I really appreciate it. P.J. Jul 27, 2014 @ 10:00:21 Hey Faisal, I’ll email you some thoughts and recommendations for some additional resources as soon as I can! PJ yashad Nov 20, 2014 @ 02:15:39 Hi The information you provided seems tobe up to the mark. It’s great though. I’ve recently started playing in the ITF’s and looking forward to perform better. It’s good to hear about the iTPA. Does all the trainers of top pros stick to same kinda fitness schedule (the one you provided) or they do things differently?? Nov 24, 2014 @ 19:18:42 Hi! Love the info here. Can you provide links for some of the content, for example, the ‘core circuit’ provided by the iTPA? I don’t see that product on their site. Dec 17, 2014 @ 19:26:33 Thanks for finally talking about >Tennis Workouts & Fitness Training <Liked it! sina Feb 03, 2015 @ 07:58:36 hi! i suffer from lower back injury and abdominal muscle strain its because i play a lot and i am not in a good shape can you send me workout plan.i am 183cm and 62kg. thank you Mar 23, 2015 @ 19:51:56 This content is very interesting but I see that you aren’t using the full earning potential of your website. You can earn pretty good promoting products related to health and beauty niche, don’twaste your traffic, just search in google: Polym’s earning ideas jilani shaikh Mar 27, 2015 @ 23:55:14 Hi, really nice workout plan. Michael Apr 26, 2015 @ 05:46:18 This is an awesome site! Keep up the good work! Jan 12, 2016 @ 20:51:20 Hi Tenniaholics, I am a physical therapist /fitness coach from Canada. I came by your site and was impressed with your posting and recommendations. You may also be find some interesting info in my book Fit to Play-Tennis or some of my training DVD’s. Fit to Play & Perform. Regards Carl Feb 28, 2016 @ 19:02:26 […] Tennis Workouts & Fitness Training – The Road to 4.5 Tennis – DYNAMIC WARM-UP EXERCISES BEFORE WORKOUTS / COURT TIME I am religious about doing a dynamic warm-up before workouts, on-court practices and matches. […] Mar 07, 2016 @ 21:39:21 […] […] Leave a Reply
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