Do tennis players lift weights is a question that comes up in many minds. Read our article and know all about the gruelling exercise regimens they follow.
Tennis players have always been on the slimmer side, we do have a few exceptional players that you would probably say off the top lifts weights.
Do Tennis Players Lift Weights
These players would be Serena Williams and Rafael Nadal on the female side Serena body built would be one the most semi-bulked body and the most you will see on a professional female tennis player, in regards to the men’s body built Rafael body built would be the on the bulkier side as well for men.
And the question still remains do tennis players lift weights? The heavy weight lifting to an extent of bulking up is differently a no however at pro-level the training can sometimes be consistent with weight training as well. So the answer would be a yes however its not the most important thing on their daily routine training schedule to lift weights unless they have retired and desires to bulk up a bit.
Why Don’t Tennis Players Lift Weights?
Being big and bulked will not be beneficial in this sport so it makes no scenes for the tennis players to be in the gym lifting weights and bulking up. Bulking up will only slow you down on the tennis court with too much bodyweight on. Remember guys tennis a sport that contains a lot of side to side movements on the court. Lots of twists and turns will be done as well, some quick reaction plays too so if a player was to focus on just bulking up for them power swings and serves will not suffice.
Tennis is a sport in which you must be able to fully control your body on the tennis court, speed, endurance, and power are all needed. If you are to cut speed and endurance and just work on power it would result in you decreasing from the other two, you would be slower and easily tired. We know for a fact that after falling back like that it would be the end of the game for you, in this sport you need to keep a perfect balance of all.
Those are really the main reason why tennis lifts weights in regards to bulking up themselves, tennis players do lift a bit of weight most professional players have weights training as well but it will not bulk them up.
Why Tennis Player Should Lift Weights
Tennis players should lift mild weights not to bulk up lifting weights is beneficial for the body as well it will reduce your chance of getting injured easily. Working on your arms and legs will do wonders when in a competitive match its good to keep those muscles well active. Active muscles will always perform well and are not easily toured creating more room for a more skilled game.
Lifting weights have a lot of beneficial factors to it like building up more power and strength however we will only list what’s best for the tennis players and what they should be doing. Working on your chest as a male tennis player is not relevant and will not do you any good on the court but look good. When lifting mild weights a person just needs about 2 hours once per weel alongside with there normal tennis training routine, doing more than that will result in bulking you.
Disadvantage Of Not Lifting Weights In Tennis
In regular training, you are more focused on your more dominant side making one side of the body fitter than the other in which lifting weight works on all. This is the main reason for injuries most of the time, one side of the body is fit and the other is not so you are basically playing unbalanced and you don’t even know you are straining the other side of your body or the related muscles.
What Should I Work On Upper Body Or Lower Body
This is a very frequently asked question, truth be told the lower body does 75% of the work if not more. Just take a look back on most professional tennis players in the world, they may seem to be skinny when looking at their upper body but if you look there lower body you see a big difference. Everyone knows you move around with your legs but what most people may not know is that you get the strength from your legs as well in terms of hitting the ball.
The lower body will the first get tired in an event of competing, it is always a priority to work on your lower body structure more. The upper is important too however working on your lower body structure will be best and most important. I guess training the body this way is perfectly balanced in the world of tennis if you get what I am saying, the lower body must have all the strength needed to carry around a smaller upper body so the smaller the upper body the faster movements in the game.
This is the key factor in why tennis players don’t lift weights to be bulked, the fact that the lower body is more important it makes no sense really to left weights however lifting weights are also good just not to a heavy extent. Doing so will cause the lower body to be performing at a double-time rate making the lower body earlier to become tired.
So, now that we know all this and have understood just why these superstar tennis players never sport big arm muscles, let us look at what are the best exercises that tennis players can do to keep themselves fit and improve their game.
- warmup– It is important to start each exercise session with a warmup. This will help prepare you for the exercises that are yet to come and will make your muscles lose and limber. It will also prevent you from developing sore and aching muscles the following day.
- Bench press– A bench press is a compound movement that engages the chest, triceps and shoulders all of which are needed for a game of great tennis serve. Few exercises build upper body strength as effectively as a properly-performed bench press.
- Goblet squat– goblet squats are a variation of squats that not only work the glutes and quadriceps but also involve the core muscle and the arms.
- Box jump– Box jump is a low-impact exercise that helps tennis players prepare for intense jumping and diving movements. It also improves the body’s shock absorption ability especially while touching back down which is essential for avoiding foot and leg injuries.
- Lateral lunge-A lateral lunge helps improve lateral body movement and works the entire lower body, including the glutes, hip abductors, knees, and hips.
- Medicine ball slam– Medicine ball slam is a highly effective, full-body movement with a greater emphasis on the abdominal muscles. The more force you use to slam the medicine ball, the better core strength and more powerful swings on the court.
- Shoulder internal and external rotation– Shoulder internal and external rotation exercises are really important as rotator cuff injuries are very common in tennis players.
Cooldown– A cooldown program is just as important to any exercise regime as a warmup program is.
Final Thoughts
Do tennis players lift weights? yes but not to the limit of bulking the body that would then alter with there playing performances on the tennis court. Tennis is a sport in with the lower body plays the most important role so you really see a bulked tennis player even if they do lift weights. It is without a dought that before they lift weights to bulk they don’t at all and just work on the lower body and remember we have legs weights as well that would be more accurate for a tennis player to build.
Thanks for reading and getting this far in our article we hope you understand the main reasons why tennis player don’t bulk up in the sport of tennis. For more understanding, you can visit why are tennis players not muscular for more detailed information or you can tap the main menu icon at the top of the page and visit the how-to for other related articles.
