When you’re playing a game of tennis, your anaerobic energy system gets a serious workout. This sport is high intensity, as it’s consistently start-and-stop, throughout the match. Depending on the court’s surface (clay, hard, grass…), tennis can affect your body dramatically. It’s a great way to burn calories, but be aware of the positives and negatives of any high intensity sport.
Heart and Lungs
Really, you can shape a game of tennis around your needs; building on stamina or short bursts of energy. During an intense match, you can reach your maximum heart rate and then recover again, during a pause. Playing a game of doubles, with less physically fit individuals, still has great benefits; it just means you won’t reach quite the same calorie-flaming intensity. Regardless of your approach, your heart and lung capacity will grow with time and your fitness, cardio, and stamina will all increase.
Exercising three times a week can significantly lower your chances of heart disease, cardiac arrest, or stroke, by lowering your blood pressure.
Muscles and Bones
You use a lot of muscles during a tennis match, so you can be sure you’re toning all the way through your body. Tennis boosts your phasic fibres (fast-twitch to you and us). Your muscular endurance will substantially increase, while pounding the hard court.
Your bone density will also benefit from the high impact, which reduces your risk of osteoporosis. It’s important to stretch after a match, as tennis (like many activities) can shorten your muscles.
Joints, Ligaments, and Tendons
Unfortunately, (similar to running) during a tennis match, you run the risk of putting a lot of stress on your joints, as it’s a high-impact activity. You may find that you feel soreness in your knees and elbows. Repetitive stress injuries, from repeated movements, can also severely damage your body. Usually, the worst affected areas are the knees, shoulders, elbows, and wrists.
Beware the tennis elbow!
Weight Loss
Often, people take up a new sport to get fit and lose a little weight. The good news is, due to the high intensity of tennis, you’ll starting shedding pounds. If you want to up your calorie-burning, play singles games; not doubles. An hour of this, and a 160lb person should flame 584 calories!
Even after you’ve finished the match, tennis will keep torching calories. Especially if you do your best and give it your all!
Psychological Benefits
Exercise is a wonderful way to alleviate the symptoms of depression. Tennis increases positive mood-enhancers in the brain, decreases stress, and reduces feelings of fatigue. Not only will tennis change your body, but it’ll help you feel less lethargic on a day-to-day basis and improve your outlook. Alongside losing a little weight, this mood booster can really change how you see your life and make problems more manageable. The social aspect of tennis also gives you that extra interaction with another person, which can be uplifting.
Will you be playing tennis this summer? Let us know in the comments!
*Post contributed by specialist surface manufacturers, http://www.playrite.co.uk.
