6 exercises that GET RESULTS! Make sure you stay fit and get stronger during lockdown with this workout.
Exercises are demonstrated by Jay Davern, a bachelor degree qualified applied exercise sports scientist.
The 6 exercises are:
1. Concentration curl – hello guns!
2. Calf raises – hello calves!
3. Chest flye – hello pecs!
4. Trophy squat – hello wheels!!
5. Reverse flye – hey back!
6. Stomach shrink – hello abs!
A step-by-step guide is provided on the how and a short explanation of the why for all 6 exercises.
Exercises 2 to 5 should be key exercises to perform in your off court workouts. I do these exercises pretty much everyday and especially at the moment.
To lower your body fat for more muscle definition to appear, it is critical to focus on the legs and glutes primarily. Next in order of importance is the upper back then the chest followed by the abdominal core.
One of the most significant factors in tennis performance is power to weight ratio. In general, the aim is to be lighter and increase your strength at the same time. By doing this, you have more power, speed and stamina as you have less excess baggage or dead weight to carry every step in your play.
These exercises I have found really get results in both getting leaner and stronger. They are especially effective in muscle fibre activation and targeting the areas of the body where we have the most to burn. Most people would take the option of getting better results with expending less time. Considering that most tennis players do not train their body enough then exercises that give you more for your time investment are the ones I make the core ones when prescribing to others and for myself.
The order of exercises demonstrated are in a random order i.e. NOT the order they should be performed in. The number of repetitions and sets plus the amount of weight will all be covered another time.
KEY points to try for all 6 of these exercises:
a) Really increase muscle fibre activation throughout each repetition (rep) so really put your mind towards squeezing the targeted muscle/s unless at rest.
b) Increase the time your muscles are under tension throughout each rep so move in a slow and controlled manner for the entire rep.
c) Before you begin each repetition (rep) be in a still position.
d) Pause at the mid way point for each rep before returning to the starting position.
e) Commence each rep slowly and take your time performing each rep and especially in the easier direction.
f) Go through a broad range of motion so move the weight through a longer distance.
g) Really limit the rest time between sets and exercises. The lower the rest time in between, the more fatigued your muscles will remain before being asked to fire again. This means you will be able to do less weight and reps, but the aim is to get improved body composition results not more quantity of weight and/or reps that you can do when you increase the length of rest time.
h) To get leaner plus replicate tennis more closely, keep to 25 seconds to 45 seconds maximum before the next set.
i) Inhale smoothly through the easier direction of the movement and exhale through the exertion phase of the movement.
j) Engage the abs throughout all exercises as much as possible as you do in the stomach shrink exercise.
HOW …
To go directly to watch Concentration Curls click 0:12
1. Start position: sit to reduce excess movement, hip to shoulder straight/aligned, remain upright, straight arm, hang the weight still before commencing
2. Mid way position: only contract the bicep, only move from the elbow on the way up, move the dumbbell over the full distance, face bicep and your palm in the same direction as your hip and shoulder alignment to target biceps more which reduces shoulder muscles helping, at the end roll your fingernails to the bicep so your wrist is in the “flexed bicep” emoji position versus your wrist straight with your elbow like the “respect” emoji.
3. Return to start position: go slow and controlled as you can to activate muscle fibres to resist the easier movement phase, redo all the tips mentioned in No.1 above i.e. “start position tips”.
Watch Calf Raises click 1:18
Watch Chest Flye click 1:42
Watch Trophy Squat click 2:22
Watch Reverse Flye click 2:59
HOW – stomach shrink
Watch Stomach Shrink click 3:31
The stomach shrink exercise is basically clenching your abs as if someone was about to punch you in the stomach. In addition, keep pulling in your abs as much as you can to make the smallest stomach size that you can then hold that tight/clenched/shrunken position, just as if someone was taking a really long time to take a side on photo of you, that you know they will share on instagram!
