Warming up is as important as good sleep. It is of highest priority in order to prepare the body and the mind for the upcoming stress. The physical and mental demands of a practice-session, practice-match-session or an official match are enormous. The body must be put into a “low risk of injury” state and the mind into a “ready to go” state. The warm up procedure should be at least 15 min (general warm up), the specific warm up (20 min) and the high specific tennis warm up about an hour.
The main target of the warm-up is to increase the blood circulation, so the muscles and organs are provided with enough nutrients and oxygen. The temperature of the muscles is raised, so they can function smoothly. Warming up releases also four important hormones:
TESTOSTERONE (it stimulates muscle growth and is important for fast recovery).
HGH HUMAN GROWTH HORMON (especially released when doing HIIT-Training or PLYOMETRICS. It is responsible for strong bones and muscles and raises the fat metabolism)
IRISIN (it supports the building of new bone cells and protects the brain).
CORTISOL (helps the body and mind to be alert for every upcoming challenging situation).
The focus here in that article is on the GENERAL- and SPECIFIC-WARM UP.
In the first video the exercises are raising the body temperature. The muscles temperature rises so the movements can become smoother.
The second video shows exercises to raise the grade of joint mobilization. These exercises help later on to be able to have a maximum range of movement.
The third video shows exercises of a dynamic warm up. They are series of movements performed dynamically with the purpose of restoring active flexibility. They prepare the joints, muscles and connective tissues for dynamic movement and to promote muscular force.
The last video shows exercise with different resistance bands. In that exercises the load onto the muscles and joints is getting harder. These exercises prepare the muscles for high specific exercises like throws with a med ball (groundstroke imitations or serve imitations). Also, the shoulder calf rotators are strengthened, which is crucial for a tennis player.
After the general- and specific warm-up the athlete should do an about one hour lasting high specific tennis warm-up. Here the player is warming up all the strokes and is executing important patterns of play to be ready for the match. After that WARRIOR WARM-UP, the player is not only body wise but also mentally wise ready for battle. Try to implement those exercises into your daily routine and become stronger, less injured and mentally ready for practice and match play.
All the best COACH DIMI