Tennis is a wonderful sport that keeps your body moving making it an ideal physical activity that could benefit both the body and mind. One good tennis advantages among other sport activities is that it allows anyone – of any age or playing skill to engage in this sport. Being a low-impact sporting activity tennis is not solely dependent on the strength of the players whether old and young, making this an ideal physical activity for everyone to enjoy.
Whether you play tennis for fitness, for fun or for the competition, tennis provides great benefits that can contribute to health and fitness. It can tone and develop muscles and can improve physical endurance these are just the key benefits that tennis can offer.
Tennis for Muscle Power
The game of tennis is quite a demanding sport. It will require you to use almost all of your basic muscle groups from your shoulders down to your feet. Using various muscle groups in a single action can help improve muscular strength. Playing or practicing tennis for a minimum of 30 minutes to up to 3 hours of a tennis match can tone muscles, improve flexibility and enhance speed while effectively burning calories that will result in weight loss. Tennis is a weight bearing physical activity that can build muscle endurance, improve bone density while reducing the risk for developing osteoporosis. It is highly recommended to have a good stretch workout prior to a tennis match or practice to condition the muscles and prepare them for an intense muscle activity workout.
Muscles Involve in Playing Tennis
Playing tennis involves the different actions of body’s muscle groups. It will undergo some twitching, contracting, stretching and flexing. All of these actions can contribute to a good muscle workout. The forehand in tennis action depends on the transfer of energy from one part to another body part. This kinetic energy will start with the feet as it pushes the ground. Now it will transfer to the calves which is the lower legs, then to the quadriceps and hamstring which is the thigh area onto the gluteus maximus or the hips up to the abdominals, to pectorals which is the upper body up to the shoulders, biceps to forearm and lastly the hand. This long chain of kinetic action can workout almost all the muscle groups in the body while strengthening the core.
While the backhand tennis action would rely on the weaker muscle groups like the triceps and shoulder muscles while using less hip muscle power. The mechanism in a tennis serve is very much the same with forehand action. The serve would count on shoulder muscles while the rotator cuff is more active with every stroke. Like the forehand the action will take place first on the feet and travels in the same order of muscles utilized as the forehand action.
Tennis for Total Body Strength and Endurance
Tennis is a highly active sport involving almost all muscle groups in achieving balance, endurance and coordination of the total body movement. This will also involve a good aerobic workout that would engage the heart to pump more oxygen throughout the body delivering its nutrient rich blood within the bodily system. This will strengthen the heart muscles and will improve heart health while burning calories in the process. Tennis is also beneficial in keeping the core stronger and its metabolic effect is long lasting even after your tennis match.
Author Bio:
Michelle is a writer for The Park Club, the best Chiswick gym in the area. She enjoys playing tennis, writing, and practicing yoga.
