Tennis is a great option if you want to increase your heart health, enhance your coordination and balance, burn calories, use all of your body’s muscles, and have enjoyment while doing it.
Tennis, one of mankind’s oldest sports, is a timeless classic that you may play for the rest of your life and is great for your fitness. Interested in determining if it will work for you? Discover the advantages of tennis, how to make it a decent workout, how many calories it wastes, and more as you read on.
Table of Contents
Tennis Is a What Kind of Exercise?
Tennis is largely a cardiovascular workout because it makes you breathe and heart rate faster. Additionally, it uses your powerful lower body muscles for rapid front-to-back and side-to-side motions as well as your upper body musculature for racket swinging.
Tennis can therefore be used as a full-body workout that enhances cardiovascular fitness as well as muscular strength and endurance.
How Many Calories Does Tennis Burn?
Tennis is a very intense, calorie-burning aerobic workout. Your heart rate rises and your calorie expenditure increases after just a short while of chasing balls.
Low, moderate, and strong intensity are the standard levels for cardiovascular exercise. Singles tennis is categorized as a vigorous-intensity activity by the American CDC (Center for Disease Control and Prevention). In general, 30 minutes of intense activity will burn 220-295 calories for a 154-pound (69.9-kg) person.
Tennis matches can last anywhere from an hour and a half to almost three hours, therefore, an individual weighing 154 pounds (69.9 kg) could expend between 660 and 1,320 calories during a match. However, the majority of players who play for general fitness only play for 60 to 90 minutes.
Does Tennis Help You Lose Weight?
Diet and exercise are often combined to produce healthy weight loss. Regularly engaging in cardiovascular exercises like tennis can help you create a calorie deficit and thus lose weight. Prioritizing your calorie intake is still important because research indicates that eating has a bigger influence on weight reduction than a workout does.
When trying to manage your weight, exercise can be really effective. Exercise may be more successful at minimizing weight gain following a considerable weight loss, according to some research. The CDC advises doing 150 minutes a week of moderate or 75 minutes of strenuous aerobic training to maintain your weight. Exercise beyond this to increase calories burned if you are attempting to lose weight, providing it fits into your habits, health, and objectives.
Depending on the activity, how many calories you consume, your gender, body size, and age, as well as other factors, the precise number of minutes needed to lose weight will vary. Visit this site to discover more about how exercise and losing weight is related.
Other Advantages of Tennis
Tennis is a great cardio workout that enhances muscular power, endurance, coordination, balance, and agility. Playing a match requires a partner, which might boost social interactions. Tennis is a sport that you may play at any age, as well.
The advantages of playing tennis are listed below.
Maintains Heart Health
Tennis is a wonderful cardio exercise. Playing singles or doubles in tennis might make it more difficult or simpler.
Tennis is beneficial for heart health as well. For instance, one study found that those who engaged in racket sports seemed to have mortality rates from cardiovascular disease that were 59% lower and all-cause mortality that were 47% lower.
Fosters More Social Contact
Tennis is a socializing sport, so you can work out with your pals while having fun. Regardless of age, the sport fosters community and enhances social contact. Being a lifetime sport, it may encourage more physical activity throughout the course of a person’s life. And though it is a communal activity, playing the sport gives you a lot of room to move around. This can lower the chance of suffering harm from coming into contact with others.
There is little chance of coming into contact with other players. Because of this, more people can play tennis for a longer period of time than they can in contact sports like football, softball, or basketball.
Enhances Musculoskeletal Performance
Your body’s each muscles must contract when playing tennis. This sport’s players have better lower and upper body musculoskeletal mobility than non-players, based on a 2019 study. Your musculoskeletal system is made up of tendons, ligaments, muscles, and soft tissues.
The reason for this, according to the experts, may be related to tennis’ hybridized high-intensity interval training style.
Helps Boost Coordination and Balance
Tennis and other racket sports demand a lot of coordination, balance, and postural stability. For instance, a lot of lateral mobility is needed to play tennis, which is uncommon in most people’s daily life. While you may move your feet a lot forward and backward throughout a match, it is the side-to-side movements that really test your coordination and balance. Additionally, pursuing a ball necessitates a lot of direction changes, which enhances balance and muscle coordination.
Tennis may help with balance and prevent falls, according to certain research. More so than running, racquet sports like tennis may enhance bone health and muscular performance.
How to Maximize Your Tennis Exercise
There are several steps you could do to maximize your time spent on the court if you are ready to incorporate tennis into your training regimen. The best method to learn the proper techniques is to enroll in private or group lessons with a teaching pro.
Here is some advice for beginner players beyond lessons:
- Engage various players. By practicing with players of diverse skill levels, including those who are more and less experienced than you, you can improve.
- Never forego the warm-up. You will play better and suffer fewer injuries as a result. Prior to a game, concentrate on a dynamic warm-up, saving the static stretches for your post-game recovery.
- Put emphasis on good form. Your skill level will improve and your risk of harm will decrease.
- Be on guard. Keep your eyes on the ball while moving your feet. Your performance might get better if you focus on the game.
- Play by yourself or with a friend. You can play with a device that keeps throwing balls your way or strike the ball at a wall. You could also play with a friend.
- Test out various surfaces. Try playing on various types of surfaces if you have pain in the joints. There are three primary types: clay, grass, and concrete-like hard surfaces.
Tennis Is for Anyone “between the Ages of 4 and 94”
Every year, a variety of thrilling tennis competitions take place, including the eagerly awaited Wimbledon (eagerly awaited not only by pro players and fans but also by punters at Wimbledon bookmakers). Local interest is maintained by regional events, and as a result, tennis clubs witness an increase in the number of people who wish to participate in one of the most popular sports on the planet.
Tennis players are eager to emphasize out that the sport is suitable for players of all ages. Tennis is said to be appropriate for anyone “between the ages of 4 and 94”. This opinion is purely based on observation, as can be seen by looking at the tennis club members across the nation. Grandparents can engage with their grandchildren in this game as long as the youngest members of the household can grip a racquet and smash a ball.
Superstars have even competed at the professional levels far into their 40s; two examples are Martina Navratilova and Jimmy Connors. While Leon Smith, the ex-captain of the British Davis Cup team, is 43 years old and, according to his own admission, plans to continue playing for his neighborhood team until he is 80.
Tennis is unmatched when it pertains to fitness. Tennis, however, has benefits for both physical and mental health, not to mention it is a very social sport. Tennis is not just about physical fitness. Tennis keeps you surrounded by pals, which keeps your mind occupied and your anxiety levels in check.
Tennis is virtually exceptional in that it can remain your life’s part from the minute you begin playing at a young age and continue to do so for as long as you like to continue to appreciate the sport.
Ages 4-11
Tennis can help with the development of balance and hand-eye coordination because these skills are necessary for accurate ball control. It strengthens the immune system while also giving the body an excellent aerobic cardiovascular workout.
Fine motor coordination is improved by learning how to hit drop shots, lobs, and other intricacies of the game. A change in direction of action improves agility and muscle tone.
Adolescent Time and throughout Your 20s
At this age, emotional development occurs, which may contribute to the inclination to neglect tennis’ advantages. Tennis, however, has health advantages that support this emotional development. Speed and endurance are increased through sudden changes in direction, strong acceleration, and frequent short sharp bursts of energy. It is important to remember that a single match could deliver the same amount of workout as a five-mile run.
Tennis can also help to mitigate the often unfavorable emotional impacts that come with living in this sometimes perplexing period. It demands discipline and patience. Making time to practice and compete in competitions needs commitment and teaches time management. It can also improve social interaction skills. All of these are crucial life skills for individuals who desire to contribute to society successfully.
It is intriguing to see that tennis players frequently achieve academic success. When contrasted with their friends who don’t play tennis, they also exhibit higher levels of self-esteem and optimism. Additionally, they are less hostile, unhappy, and worried than the typical person their age.
Ages 30-40
The typical 20-year-old may believe that they are subjected to extreme time constraints. In your 30s and 40s, that only becomes more accurate. But continuing to play tennis can be a terrific strategy to achieve the ideal work/life harmony without putting too much strain on the person’s free time.
At a period when bone density starts to drop, it will also aid to preserve and enhance muscle tone and bone health. Playing tennis consistently can be essential to maintaining healthy bone health because it is a weight-bearing sport.
Additionally, it works wonders for reducing tension. This is crucial since those between the ages of 30 and 40 are experiencing a turning point in their professional lives. Additionally, it can prevent the dreaded midlife crisis, at least according to anecdotal data.
Around 50s
Tennis is understanding. At any age, you can begin playing again. If your mobility is sufficient, you can pick up a racquet with ease and start reaping the rewards in your 50s and then beyond.
Conclusion
Following a regular strengthening training regimen is one method to get the most out of your game of tennis and avoid injury. Tennis will make your heart stronger, but it will not do anything for your skeletal muscles.
So, it is crucial to lifting weights as well in order to enhance your general health and lower your danger of injury. We advise tennis players to concentrate on their arms and legs, particularly the muscles around their knees and their rotator cuffs.
