Many people don’t find stretching to be as fun as other parts of their workout routine. For this reason, we often push back the tennis stretching exercises or even ditch them altogether. It’s not recommended you do this and for many reasons.
Especially in tennis, stretching can make or break the quality of your game. The more you pay attention to this aspect of your training, the better you’ll do.
Regular stretching means an improved range of motion, stress reduction, athletic capability, better sleep and much more. There are different ways you can stretch that can help you like it a bit more.
Stretching two or three times a week will improve elasticity and muscular range of motion. Of course, it’s important you warm up first because muscles stretch better once they’re warm. Climb stairs, walk, throw a ball or use the elliptical for a few minutes are all great ways to warm up. If you skip this part, stretching can be hard and dangerous.
Static stretches
When your muscles are constricted, they are affecting appearance, capability, and flexibility negatively. When you do static stretches, you hold your muscles in a position that increases muscle fiber elasticity and length.
These are the stretches that help you unwind, which is why you should do them after your workout. What you should do is hold the stretch until you feel the tension in the muscle. This should be about 20 to 30 seconds but make sure you’re not in pain. You can repeat them as many times as you like.
Dynamic stretches
These use more than just one muscle at a time. Dynamic stretches are best for speed and improving your muscles range of motion. They are recommended for muscular efficiency, elasticity and decreasing muscular strain during exercise. For this reason, it’s best you do them before your workout.
Stretches like arm circles are great for your shoulders if you want to wake them up and prepare them for a workout. Do these stretches for 60 seconds in total, but you can even break them into segments depending on what fitness level you’re at. Yoga
There is hardly a better way to stretch than by doing yoga. It improves your muscular elasticity, but it also improves your balance, fitness. It makes you mindful, and it takes away the stress. Yoga improves your flexibility, but it also helps with depression, asthma, and anxiety.
You can take yoga in group classes, which is always a lot of fun. If not, there are also DVDs and podcast. Still, having a yoga instructor is much better since there will always be someone to check up on your form. It’s good to have someone making sure you do all your poses correctly.
Yoga combined with tennis is bound to make your body flexible, strong and capable of many physical challenges.
Be cautious
Tennis stretches are great for keeping you lose but they should never hurt. You have to be careful when doing any stretching because you can seriously harm your muscles if you don’t do them correctly. If you aren’t sure about how to do it, consult with a professional. However, listen to your body at all times and you’ll know if you’re stretching the right way. Last but not least. Make sure you’re diet is on-point and you’re getting the necessary nutrients you need on a daily basis.
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