Thread: need a hand here...

You should train your whole body... including legs, and especially for tennis. What are your stats now and what are your goals?

well, i am about 140lbs, im 16, 5"5

erm, i am not particularly strong, as flexibilty has always been the work ethic as i play tennis, i am a little chunky because of the xmas season, but no that much.

well, rethinking it all. i feel that probably a whole body workout would be better, what do you think.......

Fix your diet and you'll get the weight off in no time. Do a search for CowPimp's full body routine thread. It explains a lot of training variables and manipulations recommended for beginners and includes templates and suggestions for beginner routines. He also has a split routine thread for beginners I would advise you to check out. Good luck and keep playing.

Nadal!

I love tennis. Used to play all the time but my elbow can't take it. You should probably set up a routine that caters to power and explosiveness. In tennis you are constantly changing directions and sprinting back and forth. I don't know alot about the exercises that help those things, but there are people on here who do. Good luck.

clean and jerks, snatch, push press, hang cleans, and isolateral bench press. Id also do some plyometrics. doo a google hit on plyometrics to find out what they are, if you dont know.

I would have suggested weightlifting, but it's highly technical and may take away from tennis practice because you need so much practice. I suppose you could take it slowly and get the form down, but it would take a very long time and a ton of dedication.

Originally Posted by Squaggleboggin

I would have suggested weightlifting, but it's highly technical and may take away from tennis practice because you need so much practice. I suppose you could take it slowly and get the form down, but it would take a very long time and a ton of dedication.

you can pick up weightlifting fairly quick, you just can't sling record numbers right off the bat.

Originally Posted by ABLQ2

you can pick up weightlifting fairly quick, you just can't sling record numbers right off the bat.

Not really. It takes a hell of a lot of patience, dedication and hours of watching videos or others to properly execute a C&J or snatch... If he plans on doing it with anywhere near good form, it's going to take some work. It takes most people quite a long time to get deadlift form down correctly, nonetheless continuing that motion by pulling the weight up, rising up on the toes, shrugging, squatting down, catching it in the weightlifting style on their shoulders, standing up, doing another quarter squat, jumping explosively and catching the bar overhead. Of course, that's just my opinion, but no one can say it's easy to learn.

Guys, he's a beginner, he doesn't need to be doing C&Js and plyometrics just yet. Just sticking to the basic compound lifts at the lower end of the intensity spectrum is plenty for the first few months.

Designing a Full Body Routine
Guide To Designing A Routine

Check 'em.

Originally Posted by CowPimp

Guys, he's a beginner, he doesn't need to be doing C&Js and plyometrics just yet.

Are plyometrics really that advanced? I thought they would be good for anyone who is relatively fit.

So did I. Perhaps CP's referring to the more advanced things. Even so, BW exercises always seemed a viable option for the novice and advanced athelete alike in my mind.

Cleans and jerks are unnecessary for a tennis player, period. Low impact plyos would be fine, but unnecessary until you have a base level of strength. I would work a whole body routine, adding in some SAQ (Speed, Agility, Quickness) work.

Originally Posted by Dale Mabry

Cleans and jerks are unnecessary for a tennis player, period. Low impact plyos would be fine, but unnecessary until you have a base level of strength. I would work a whole body routine, adding in some SAQ (Speed, Agility, Quickness) work.

Actually they're unnecessary for pretty much everyone. It's usually a choice to do them.

Originally Posted by Squaggleboggin

Actually they're unnecessary for pretty much everyone. It's usually a choice to do them.

They won't do anything for a tennis player, they will do something for a football or basketball player.

Originally Posted by Dale Mabry

They won't do anything for a tennis player, they will do something for a football or basketball player.

Why is that? I'm not doubting you, but I'm curious as to why you think that.

Originally Posted by Dale Mabry

They won't do anything for a tennis player, they will do something for a football or basketball player.

Actually I was being sarcastic. Saying, however, that developing explosiveness wouldn't do anything for a tennis player seems a little off-base to me. Obviously most tennis players won't weightlift, but the actual benefits of weightlifting can help a tennis player. They do have to move and be explosive a lot and have a lot of balance, and all of these things are required for a weightlifter. It may not be practical to do, but it is possible to see carryover I would think.

Originally Posted by Squaggleboggin

Actually I was being sarcastic. Saying, however, that developing explosiveness wouldn't do anything for a tennis player seems a little off-base to me. Obviously most tennis players won't weightlift, but the actual benefits of weightlifting can help a tennis player. They do have to move and be explosive a lot and have a lot of balance, and all of these things are required for a weightlifter. It may not be practical to do, but it is possible to see carryover I would think.

The amount of carryover would be minimal.

1)Jumping is of little importance in tennis.

2)Most of the movement is lateral.

Sure, you could gain some benefit from a clean, but there are many other things you should be doing if you have extra time on your hands.

I don't think jumping is of little importance in tennis, but it isn't executed very often. However - a very important skill to have. Here I am thinking of Lleyton Hewwit

I disagree. I use clean and jerks for cardio. I use a lower weight and just keep doing them when i first come off a bulk cycle so i can get quickly into shape to start running again. I think they are a quick way to build stamina and get your heart rate up.

Originally Posted by fufu

I don't think jumping is of little importance in tennis, but it isn't executed very often. However - a very important skill to have. Here I am thinking of Lleyton Hewwit

I play tennis, it is of little importance. I am 5'11" (Short by tennis standards) and I spend maybe .5% of the time jumping. You figure with my outstretched arm, and a 2.5 foot racquet, you can cover most balls that will be in with your feet on the ground. Most of the time you see a tennis player leave the ground, it isn't because they are jumping, it is because they are generating so much speed/power that their feet leave the ground.

Originally Posted by Dale Mabry

Cleans and jerks are unnecessary for a tennis player, period. Low impact plyos would be fine, but unnecessary until you have a base level of strength. I would work a whole body routine, adding in some SAQ (Speed, Agility, Quickness) work.

Yeah, that's all I was really saying. It's better to develop a good base of strength before trying to enhance power generation through explosive movements. You gain a lot of speed and power just by exposing yourself to heavy resistance training in the first place.

Originally Posted by ABLQ2

I disagree. I use clean and jerks for cardio. I use a lower weight and just keep doing them when i first come off a bulk cycle so i can get quickly into shape to start running again. I think they are a quick way to build stamina and get your heart rate up.

Cleans are certainly very metabolic. They are great for conditioning. The thing is that it is also an advanced movement. I think the fella should get some classical lifts under his belt before he jumps into those. Not to mention, the vast majority of people do cleans totally wrong, and have trouble conceptualizing the proper way of doing them without significant research or help from an experienced individual.

thanks for the help, but im not a complete dumbass- i have been weightlifting for about 1 and a half years, i know the basics.. its just that i was told that i do too much, and so i turned to you guys to tell me what i should do...

I was basically doing 2 hours conditioning a day, a rough amount for any pro..

1 hour of roadwork and cardio..etc

1 hour of weighlifting in the body parts stated in the first post, but i was very random and stopped on new years, as someone told me it was too much..

so i ask you guys.....

2 hours is entirely too much, with conditioning you should spend at most 90 minutes.

so would you say about 30 min for cardio- and 1 hour for weights

Yeah, you prolly don't need much more than 45 minutes with weights, but add in a decent warm up and that would take it to an hour. Your cardio should also be HIIT. I can't remember off the top of my head, but I believe the average tennis point lasts 10 seconds and average time between points is like 25 seconds, so do intervals similar to that, adding in longer ones every so often.

ok, thanks for that, should be good then

Originally Posted by Dale Mabry

I play tennis, it is of little importance. I am 5'11" (Short by tennis standards) and I spend maybe .5% of the time jumping. You figure with my outstretched arm, and a 2.5 foot racquet, you can cover most balls that will be in with your feet on the ground. Most of the time you see a tennis player leave the ground, it isn't because they are jumping, it is because they are generating so much speed/power that their feet leave the ground.

I guess we have different styles then. If someone returns with a high shot jumping can enable someone to hit the ball sooner and at a more extreme angle to throw the other person off. I don't think someone would need to to do clean and jerks for that though.