Run, lunge and jump the stairs to become ultimately fit.
In tennis you need explosiveness, strength, balance, stamina, speed and agility. The movements you do on the tennis court are short and fast, so you are using a lot of anaerobic energy. But because you stay on the court for hours, you need a good aerobic endurance as well. Running stairs is a great activity that can give you tremendous results in your tennis fitness training.
Running stairs is extremely effective in increasing your endurance and building your lower body strength. And if you want to add the balance and agility element into your stair training, you can do different variations of lunges and jumps, described below.
If you live in Los Angeles, or if you ever come to visit, you need to stop by the famous Santa Monica Stairs - possibly the most popular stairs in US. It can take 1 to 1.5 minutes to run up one flight of the 180 steps that are located in beautiful nature surroundings, with the views and smells of the ocean - if you ever are that conscious to enjoy it… ;-)
For your training purposes, you can use any stairs. Remember that the stair training is very intense, so if you feel like you are not in the greatest shape, start slowly. Stay well hydrated (read why it is so important) and listen to your body. Adjust the amount of flights you run up and down depending on the length of your stairs. Going down the stairs, focus on being evenly aligned with both feet and knees pointing forward.
- Run the steps one at a time. Move your feet as fast as possible and be light on your toes.
- Run/lunge every other step.
- Lunge every third step if your leg length allows. Remember to use your butt muscles, and push from the heel (not toes) of your front foot. Refresh your memory for proper technique in the lunge article.
- Lunge sideways every other step. Do both sides.
- Jump with both legs each step. Be light on your feet and decrease the lag time on each step – explode immediately into the next jump.
- Jump with both legs every other step.
- Jump with both legs every third step. Or like Apolo Ohno every fourth step!
- Jump on one leg each step. Do both sides.
- Jump on one leg each step sideways. Do both sides.
- Jump on one leg forward every other step, if you can. It is intense.
After your stair workout you should stretch really well – your hips, hamstrings, groin and quadriceps for sure, and preferably even more stretches. Add stair training to your tennis fitness regimen regularly and you will be in an excellent physical shape very soon.
For more info: ex Ms Natural Olympia Suzanna McGee is an experienced athletic trainer, competitive tennis player and a freelance writer. She lives in Venice Beach, CA and online at www.sixftlion.com
If you liked reading this article, feel free to subscribe with the button above, so you wouldn't miss any future great articles on fitness and injury prevention. Until then, read also tips how to
- Rejuvenate your body in the morning or any time with Sun Salutations.
- Stretch your hips with the Pigeon, Frog, Crocodile Twist, external hip stretch and groin stretch.
- Do the myo-fascial release for your feet, booty, and lower legs.
- Strengthen your legs and booty with lunges, jump squats, windmills and air bench.
- Strengthen your core with the side plank with leg lift, windmill, plank with arm and leg lifts and push up with knee to elbow touch.
- Prevent overuse injuries of your shoulders, wrists and elbows with elbow curls, arm circles and dogs and cats.
- And if the injury happened and you had a knee surgery, here are exercises for your come back.
- Use the beautifully colored kinesio tapes to prevent or heal your injuries.
- Work on your agility, coordination and balance with some fun footwork drills.
- And because the weather and conditions in Los Angeles are very hot, don’t forget to drink a lot of water, because it will increase your performance and well-being.
- Learn how to sleep well to feel good and increase your performance.
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