Introduction
Are you trying to lose weight by gymming and running but still cannot see any major difference? Or are you already frustrated with your weight loss process? If you have given up on your weight loss process, then it’s time to think again.
Besides working out, running, and limiting your diet, incorporating tennis into your fitness regimen is also a great method to lose weight. So from now on you do not just have to indulge in your boring monotonous workout at the gym. Tennis can be a great alternative for all the sports freaks.
With physically demanding moves and multi-directional patterns, tennis when played consistently will help you shed some additional weight and tone your body. Be it the singles or the doubles in tennis, both are a high calorie-burning activity and will help you burn off unwanted fat.
So let’s get started and learn in detail about tennis and weight loss.
Is a Tennis Workout Effective for Weight Loss?
Tennis, as a sport, is a great way to lose fat because of the fast-paced nature of it. Since it is a physically demanding sport, it will require you to indulge in quick movements or runs and hence keep your heart rate up for the entire time.
When your heart is beating quickly, it will lead to an increased calorie burn along with an increase in your resilience and building muscle strength. No doubt why all these benefits when integrated together will help you lose weight.
Types of Exercises in Tennis
You do not just perform a single movement while playing this sport but target the different muscle groups in your body at the same time. Let’s have a look at the four major exercises that occur when you play tennis.
1. Aerobic Exercise
Tennis is a top-notch form of aerobic exercise because it requires players to continuously move and run around the court. As a form of aerobic exercise, it will help to increase your stamina and cardiovascular health.
2. Anaerobic Exercise
When you quickly change directions in tennis and perform sprints, it will require short waves of intense activity. This is the reason why tennis helps in performing anaerobic exercise that will improve your power, agility, and speed.
3. Flexibility Training
When you play this multi-directional game, you have to include your entire body and perform activities of twisting, turning or reaching. You may even have to perform different types of stretching exercises like shoulder stretches, hamstring stretches, hip flexor stretches, etc. All these exercises together can help to improve the flexibility in your lower body, upper body as well as the core and reduce any risk of injury.
4. Balance Training
As mentioned earlier, you need to change your direction very quickly in this sport. No doubt that needing stability in your body is very crucial to changing directions swiftly and balancing your weight.
Tennis will help you learn balance training because it will improve your precise footwork, encourage swift changes in direction, stabilize your core, and enhance reaction time.
Tennis & Weight Loss
Earlier in this article, we learned how tennis is effective in weight loss. But now we will delve into more details and learn about the amount of calories burnt by playing tennis. Weight loss is all about creating a calorie deficit which means eating fewer calories than the calories you burn in the day.
Tennis can be an effective way to create a calorie deficit because it helps burn large amounts of calories. Especially singles will burn high calories but a good match of doubles will also keep your body toned. If you want to see the best results make sure to include tennis in your workout regimen while following other tips for weight loss like eating a healthy diet.
Calories Burned
According to a study conducted by Harvard Health Publications, a person weighing around 155 pounds is supposed to burn around 520 calories in one hour of a singles tennis session. On the other hand, a person weighing around 1805 pounds can burn anywhere around 622 calories.
The conclusion from this is that the more you weigh, the more calories you can burn while doing the same amount of activity. The key tip to remember here is that the intensity and the duration of your activity will affect the amount of calories you lose.
So if you are playing tennis for weight loss then make sure to move your body as much as possible by making quick turns, running, chasing balls, etc. These high-intensity activities will help you lose more and more calories.
Cardio Tennis
Cardio tennis was popular in the early 2000s when it emerged as a fitness trend in large cities. However, now this tennis technique is seen in a number of tennis clubs. The advocates of this type of tennis believe that it can help females burn calories anywhere around 300 to 500 calories per hour and males may burn twice these figures.
In cardio tennis, all you have to do is integrate tennis into different types of workouts like running, calisthenics, up-tempo music and fitness drills. This makes cardio tennis also a high-intensity exercise program thus helping you burn more calories and lose weight quickly when compared to normal tennis.
Good Tips for Tennis and Weight Loss or Fitness
Here are some of the tips that can help you lose weight by playing tennis:
If you are playing tennis to lose weight, then try playing it with a person who has the same goal in mind. In this way, both of you will have the same goal to achieve from this sport and hence this will smoothen up your weight loss journey
Try playing tennis with just one ball so you have to run for it each time it goes out of your league. If you are playing tennis with more than one ball then you may not have to indulge in more physical activities and hence this can slow down the amount of calories you burn while playing the sport.
Using a ball machine for around 15 minutes can also help to increase a rigorous workout time thus, allowing you to indulge in more physical activity and hence burn more calories.
During waiting times or when you are on breaks, make sure you practice some warm-up exercises like jogging on the spot or jumping up and down to help you keep moving.
Try to play tennis against a wall where you can keep on hitting the ball without losing it for as long as possible.
Losing Weight Playing Tennis – Singles or Doubles?
Playing singles or doubles in tennis is an important factor in losing weight. Both these types of tennis sessions have their own advantages and disadvantages.
When you play in singles, you will burn more calories because you are alone and will have to cover the entire court by yourself. This will compel you to indulge in more physical activity by running on every shot because you are the only person responsible on both sides. It is said that your physical capacity may be entirely used while playing singles in just about one and a half hours. However, this figure may vary from individual to individual
Now coming on to playing doubles in tennis. Though doubles will also help you burn calories, it will only burn half of them when compared to the singles. But doubles are more fun when compared to singles because you have someone to socialize with when playing.
Health Benefits of Playing Tennis
Did you ever realize how lacing up your tennis shoe laces, getting your tennis racket, and moving to the court can provide multiple health benefits? Since tennis targets the entire muscles of your body, it is said to be a “total body” sport. This means it can provide you a wide range of benefits be it related to physical, mental, or overall well-being.
Besides the weight loss & physical fitness benefits, some other benefits which you can receive while playing tennis consistently are as follows:
1. Strengthen the Muscles and Bones
With a lot of weight-bearing activity, tennis can help strengthen your muscles and bones. Weight-bearing activities include running, jumping, etc. which will reduce any risk of osteoporosis.
2. Improves Mental Health
When you play tennis you get a physical outlet for all the bottled-up emotions which results in the release of feel-good hormones known as endorphins. So this sport can help you deal with anxiety and stress.
3. Increases Social Connections
Apart from singles, tennis is generally played in teams or pairs thus, providing opportunities for socializing with others. Moreover, tennis competitions, events, and tournaments also help you connect with others which can enhance your mental well-being.
4. Improves Cardiovascular Health
As mentioned earlier, tennis is a part of aerobic exercise and hence it can increase your heart rate, improve blood circulation as well as reduce any risk of heart disease.
Conclusion
Thus, tennis is a holistic or full-body sport that does not just provide physical benefits but also mental benefits. It is a high-calorie burning game that will help to tone down your body and burn off any unwanted fat when combined with the right type of diet and workout routine.
So get ready to include it in your weight loss routine. Good Luck!
