Strenua's World» aerobic

Just How Tough is Tennis?

Strenua — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 01:13:22 +0000

2008 US Open Final - Andy Murray and Roger Federer

Following the epic match between John Isner and Nicolas Mahut at the beginning of Wimbledon 2010, Andy Murray tweeted ‘This is why tennis is one of the toughest sports in the world, this will never ever be matched again’.

After watching some of the world’s elite footballers play so disappointingly during the World Cup, supposedly their sports most prestigious competition, Murray’s point is justified. Football is a team competition; players can be rested during matches, be substituted when injured and even miss matches by suspensions. Even the winning team will have only played 7 matches of 90mins (with possible extra time of 30minutes) over a period of 4 weeks.

In comparison Isner and Mahut’s single match took a record breaking 11 hours and five minutes, with the final fifth set alone taking eight-hours 11-minutes. In total 980 points including 215 aces were played over 183 games, the final score at 6–4, 3–6, 6–7(9–7), 7–6(7–3), 70–68. However, when you see slightly overweight, middle aged people inspired by Wimbledon fortnight, playing tennis on your local courts tennis doesn’t seem so demanding.

So why should tennis be considered a tough sport?

Whilst a knock about on the beach or the local park does not seem that strenuous, professional competitive tennis requires a combination of physiological and unpredictable variables. Each match depends on adapting to a number of factors:

Match duration (3 or 5 sets)
Weather
Opponent
Surface
Level of play

But within each match or indeed between each point there are also a number of variables that need to be considered:

The length of the point
Playing style of both players
Velocity of shot
Shot selections

Tennis players need to train specifically for their sport and playing style. During high level matches points have an average length of between 3 seconds to around 15 seconds on some of the faster surfaces such as grass and indoor. However the total playing time is only between 20-30% of the total match time and varies considerably between when the player in control of a rally is an attacking player who hits the net hard then consistently comes to the net, a whole court player, or a baseline player.

Is Tennis an Aerobic or Anaerobic Sport?

Tennis requires short explosive bursts of energy repeated hundreds of times per match which as we have seen can be of a long duration. This requires players to be trained anaerobically for performance and aerobically to aid recovery during and after play.

Maximum oxygen uptake (VO₂max) is used as a marker of aerobic capacity. Generally VO₂max and heart rate increases as the game progresses, decreasing during rest periods and end changes. VO₂max in competitive high level tennis players has been reported to be greater than 50ml/kg/min classifying tennis players as highly aerobically trained with aggressive attacking players having a lower VO₂max than baseline players.

The mean heart rate in trained players aged 20–30 years has reported to be between the ranges of 140–160 beats/min during singles matches. The long duration and moderate mean heart rate during a match suggests that tennis an aerobic sport.

However the explosive nature of the serve and ground strokes, along with rapid changes of direction requires a tennis player to have a high anaerobic capacity. Together with the need for a high percentage of fast twitch muscles tennis could be considered more as a predominantly anaerobic activity, needing high levels of aerobic condition to avoid fatigue and aid recovery between points.

Strength, Speed and Agility

In addition to stamina tennis players need fast reaction times to respond to every shot from the opponent. They are required to move not only forwards and backwards but also sideway and diagonally, so need to be agile, able to accelerate and move at a maximum speed.

Strength training is also important not only in muscles and joints for performance but also to reduce injuries. As well as the expected required strength in the shoulder and upper arm, tennis players require a firm wrist to direct the racket head under high speeds. Players also require a deal of flexibility, not only through reaching for or playing a racket shot but also when throwing the ball when serving.

There is no doubt that training as a competitive tennis player is demanding. You need to be both anaerobic and aerobically fit, have stamina, strength, speed, flexibility and agility, as well as being mentally aware to respond to your opponent’s shots. There are however other professional sports which could arguably also be considered some of the toughest in the world.

Triathletes competing at Ironman distances for example, may argue that a 2.4-mile (3.86 km) swim, a 112-mile (180.25 km) bike and a marathon (26 miles 385 yards, 42.195 km) run, raced in that order and without a break, is also quite tough. As might the cyclists competing in the Tour de France covering around 3,600 kilometres (2,200 mi) through 21 stages over 3 weeks. But considering it took Rafael Nadal 17 and half playing hours, over the course of two week tournament to win 2010 Wimbledon championship I will concede to Andy Murray that professional competitive ‘tennis is one of the toughest sports in the world.’

Review: Trudie Styler’s Cardio Dance Flow DVD

Strenua — Mon, 24 May 2010 10:38:39 +0000

Trudie Styler’s Cardio Dance Flow is one of 3 new DVD’s from Gaiam designed to help improve balance, endurance and help tone your body.

With music from Trudie Styler’s husband Sting, this is a good beginners home fitness DVD. The routines performed and narrated by James D’Silva are repetitive and along with a footwork tutorial easy to master the moves. You don’t feel intimidated by Trudie as in spite of her ballet and yoga background, never looks like she is pushing herself and the flowing dance movements look like she is taking part in some expressive dance class rather than a challenging exercise workout. It definitely looks like they are having fun even if you just want to laugh at them and the voice over.

One problem with the DVD that I found was that it was very impersonal and there is no encouragement or personal interaction. The warm up routine just begins with a voice saying ‘..And prance and prance and second position, first position…’ without an introduction or description of what second position entails. I also found it strange having a narrator to the routine rather than an instructor talking you through as they or the class do the workout. I thought this was because French and Greek languages were offered at the start but actually that is just for the menu, the rest of the DVD is only in English. Trudie gives a one sentence introduction to the cardio workout and James the stretch workout but I missed someone to keep telling me to keep going as the routine intensified.

The 25 minute core stretch workout is only with D’Silva and again the unique voice over. This is described as a workout that ‘isolates and works every muscle in the body whilst elongating and aligning the skeletal system’. I would love to have discovered if this was true but the entire work out requires a foam roller, something that is not indicated by the accompanying literature. Unlike other workout videos where substitutions can be made if you don’t have the correct hand weights or step, there is no advice given how to modify the routine if you don’t have a foam roller and I can’t think of what could be used as a suitable substitute.

There is also an 11 minute Express workout which contains much of the extended cardio routine but is much more cardio specific with a lot of the slower moves and stretching missed out. As an added bonus there is music from Stings Album ‘Songs from the Labyrinth’, interviews with Trudi, Sting and James and behind the scenes footage.

Whilst I agree with the DVD claims that ‘it allows you to dance, stretch and improve balance through fun and energetic dance routines’, I’m unsure if the word Cardio should be included in the title. The 22 minute cardio dance segment is not what I would consider fast paced as it contains a lot of yoga stretches and positions.

I wore my heart rate monitor during this segment as you can see here, although my heart rate briefly reached 149bpm (74% of max HR) it averaged at 126 bpm (63% of max HR). It is generally accepted that 60-70% develops your endurance and is considered the fat burning zone whilst 70-80% is the aerobic zone, which will develop the cardiovascular system improving the delivery of oxygen to the working muscles. So I would consider this may suit someone looking for a fat burning rather than cardio workout.

Overall

If you are a beginner to exercising this is a fun gently introduction and I recommend using the footwork tutorial first to learn the moves. However whilst it is fine as a low intensity fat burning workout I doubt it would get many people into what would be classed as a cardio/aerobic zone. The stretch moves are also described well and repeated slowly so beginners can understand and follow although you would need the added expense of a foam roller whilst the more advanced exerciser who already own one may find the routine too simplified.

Release Date: 14th June 2010
Running Time: 1Hr 18Mins

Also read our reviews of other recent fitness DVD releases:

The FIRM: Power Half Hour designed to produce maximum results in a minimum amount of time

5 Day Fit Weight Loss designed to add variety to your routine with 5 different fat burning workouts

Review: 5 Day Fit Weight Loss DVD

Strenua — Mon, 24 May 2010 10:31:55 +0000

5 day Fit Weight loss is a new DVD from Gaiam that provides 5 different 30 minute fat burning workouts, offering you variety to your exercise regime. The DVD introduces you to Budokon, yoga, dance, walking and cardiosculpting led by fitness experts who provide challenging workouts to help you tone and lose weight.

The following workouts are included:

Budokon for Weight Loss with Cameron Shayne uses a combination of yoga, martial arts and meditation to raise your metabolism. What I liked about this session is that instead of demonstrating the poses himself, the workout feels like yoga and martial arts expert Cameron is taking a class and the 6 other people in the video are students. So instead of just telling you to lengthen your spine you can see how he corrects someone’s bad posture. The routine is slow but provides you with a good description and learning experience of yoga poses used in many other workouts.

Walking for Weight Loss with Debbie Rocker is a routine that just revolves around walking. I was a bit sceptical how you can just walk 30minutes but as you start marching on the spot listening to Debbie’s motivational talking you increase the exercise intensity by lifting your legs higher or speeding up or incorporating your arms. Although it is a routine very suitable for beginners, one thing I really liked was that it was great if you had little room to exercise in you could easily do this workout without worrying you didn’t have enough space.

Dancer’s Body Workout with Patricia Moreno is a dance routine that will help you burn calories and sculpt a more lean body. As someone who has no co-ordination when it comes to dancing I liked the slow repetitive development of the movements, slowly moving to the complete routine. Also Patricia described the movement before you did it not during so you already knew what was coming up next.

Cardio Burn Yoga with Patricia Moreno claims to use yoga to rid the body of excess fat. Patricia talks you through the movements describing exactly what to concentrate on. I found it useful that unlike some yoga workouts where the instructor expects you to know what a downward dog is Patricia talks you exactly through what your arms should be doing when you can’t look at the TV as your head is looking at the ceiling or what legs should be doing when you are staring at the floor.

Cardio Burn Sculpt with Tanja Djelevic uses a mixture of cardio and sculpting to not only lead to weight loss but also flatten abs, slim legs and tone the upper body. As it was described as a cardio workout I wore my heart rate monitor during the routine and the results can be seen here. Although it was easy to follow I felt I still benefited from the routine with the first 15 minutes clearly being a cardio workout. Exercising at 70-80% of your maximum heart rate is considered the aerobic zone, which will develop your cardiovascular system and improve the delivery of oxygen to your working muscles. After the initial warm up my heart rate was predominately within this range peaking at 170bpm (85% max), with the final 15 minutes a slower sculpting session.

Overall Review

A fitness DVD suitable for beginners and intermediate levels. Instructors comprehensively talk you through each routine and overall the DVD provides enough variety to maintain your exercise motivation, working all muscle groups through cardio and stretches.

Release Date: 10th May 2010

Running Time: 2 hours 41 mins

Also read our reviews of other recent fitness DVD releases:

The FIRM: Power Half Hour designed to produce maximum results in a minimum amount of time

Trudie Styler’s Cardio Dance Flow designed to help improve balance, endurance and help tone your body

Review: The FIRM Power Half Hour DVD

Strenua — Mon, 24 May 2010 10:18:00 +0000

The FIRM Power Half Hour DVD is the latest addition to the FIRM home fitness workout routines. It consists of one intense 30 minute workout led by Emily Welsh, one of the FIRM’s master instructors and claims to show visible results after just 10 sessions. ‘Putting the spark back into your fitness programme and ensuring your body is in peak condition in time for summer.’

I admit that although I am physically fit to keep up with the routines and I know the names of a few yoga positions I am not an aerobics expert. Having said that, I think that this DVD is definitely aimed at the high intermediate or experienced aerobic class participant.

Whilst it gave me a good cardio work and I certainly felt the effects the next morning, I did find it confusing at times due to the speed in which Emily speaks and the number of different moves included in each repetition. I doubt I will ever learn the fast, ever changing routine, even if after 10 sessions. A criticism I do have with the DVD however, has to be the screen shots which sometimes just show Emily’s upper body when I would rather be watching what her legs are doing during new complicated leg combinations

Kelsey is there to provide the beginners modification. Although, instead of just showing how to do the workout without free weights or not including the optional jumps, I wish she put in more effort or enthusiasm into her movements as she should be motivating you to do the same.

With the total DVD only lasting 30 minutes it is not something you will be returning to everyday if you want variety, but if you are a hardcore aerobics fiend and one day you miss your regular class this could be a perfect substitute. There is no chance to rest during the half hour routine and when wearing a heart rate monitor my average heart rate was around 72% of my maximum, reaching as high as 172 beats per minute. So clearly within the zone considered as an aerobic exercise. My heart rate throughout the workout can be seen here.

Overall

An intensive body firming and cardio routine that works the entire body. Fast paced, probably most suitable for more experienced exercisers. At only 30 minutes this DVD lacks variety to be repeated everyday but excellent as a one off workout or part of a varied exercise regime.

Released Date: April 2010

Running Time: 32 minutes

Also read our reviews of other recent fitness DVD releases:

5 Day Fit Weight Loss designed to add variety to your routine with 5 different fat burning workouts

Trudie Styler’s Cardio Dance Flow designed to help improve balance, endurance and help tone your body

Could starting your aerobic session with weights increase fat burning?

Strenua — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 10:23:15 +0000

For those of us wanting to lose weight, the important aim is to use up our stores of fat. When we think about how to improve our physical condition, aerobic exercises or resistance work are two of the most common choices. But could combining the two exercises in the right order increase our body’s fat burning ability?

Aerobic exercise is effective in improving our cardiorespiratory fitness whilst improving the burning of fat and overall energy use. Weight training or resistance work acts as a stimulus to the muscularskeletal system to increase muscle size and strength. It is therefore recommended that a training routine combines both types of exercise as each has its own advantage. Normally aerobic or resistance exercises are performed in a single training session and if are combined aerobic exercise is often completed first as it is seen as a warm up of the muscle prior to resistance training.

A group of researchers from the College of New Jersey however wanted to examine the impact of resistance training prior to aerobic exercise. The study published in European Journal of Applied Physiology involved 11 males and 21 females who ate a moderate (50%) carbohydrate diet. Six static weight machines were chosen for the resistance exercises: Leg press, lat pull down, leg extension, seated row, shoulder press and chest press. For each subject their 8-RM was determined. This being the maximum amount of weight that could be lifted through a full range motion 8 times. Each subject completed each one of the following trials on different days

Aerobic exercise only (C) (cycle for 20mins at 50% maximum oxygen uptake (VO₂max))
High intensity resistance training (HI) (3 sets of 8 reps at 90% of 8-RM) followed by aerobic exercise
Low intensity resistance training (LO) (3 sets of 12 reps at 60% of 8-RM) followed by aerobic exercise

Throughout each aerobic activity the researchers looked at oxygen uptake and also the oxidisation of carbohydrate and fat. Oxidisation is when the fuel source ie, fat or carbohydrate, combines with oxygen to provide energy. They found that fat oxidisation and oxygen uptake was higher in the HI group than either LO or C in both males and females. Prof Kang, the paper’s author suggests that whilst fat oxidation following LO training was itself higher than aerobic exercise alone it is the intensity of the resistance exercise that is more important than the total volume of exercise completed.

Interestingly after the first five minutes of aerobic exercise they found no difference in carbohydrate oxidation rates. Prof Kang suggests that it appears in training that combines both aerobic and resistance exercises, performing a comparatively higher intensity resistance exercise first would boost the use of fat and energy during any subsequent aerobic activity.

He suggests that the metabolic effect of the resistance work is due to an increase in lipolytic hormones, which may have a short time before they revert back to their resting levels and that the aerobic exercise should ideally start within 5mins of resistance exercise, but after no more than 20mins.

So according to Prof Kang’s research if you really want to burn fat quicker get to the gym half an hour before your aerobics class or run and lift some weights.