Tennis players that compete at the professional level are not recognized for having an enormous amount of muscular mass or being overweight. Although some may be larger and stronger than others, all of them have the agility and dexterity necessary to perform at a high level in the sport they play.
However, is it possible for obese persons to play tennis?
Even if overweight individuals can play tennis, it is still a very physically demanding sport to participate in. Even though most larger men and women do not have the speed and agility necessary to play at a professional level, it is an exciting leisure sport that also gives a superb way to train one’s cardiovascular system.
Your movement, endurance, and agility rate should all increase as you proceed through your exercise regimen. You should also see gains in these areas.
How good is tennis for obese people?
You should try tennis to be in shape, have fun, and boost cardiovascular health, balance, coordination, calorie burn, muscular use, and strength. Tennis is one of the world’s oldest sports, and it’s also a timeless classic that can be played for a lifetime.
Have you decided whether this is the right option for you? Read on to learn more about tennis’s potential health advantages, including calorie burn, ways to improve your tennis fitness, and more.
How good is tennis as a sport?
Tennis is often classified as a cardiovascular exercise since it elevates the heart rate and boosts the respiratory rate. As you swing the racket, you’ll be engaging your upper body’s key muscles to assist you in performing rapid, lateral, and rotational movements, as well as your lower body.
Tennis may therefore be used as a total-body exercise that improves cardiac fitness, muscular endurance, and strength.
How many calories can an obese person burn while playing tennis for an hour?
Tennis is one of the finest cardiovascular workouts since it has little to no impact while providing a high-intensity workout. After only a few minutes of ball-chasing, your heart rate and calorie burn will increase.
Cardiovascular exercise is sometimes classified into three levels of intensity: low, moderate, and intense. The CDC considers a game of singles tennis to be a hard exercise. In 30 minutes of strenuous activity, a person weighing 154 pounds (69.9 kg) would burn between 220 and 295 calories.
A 154-pound (69.9-kilogram) person may anticipate burning 660 to 1,320 calories during a tennis match, lasting anywhere from 90 minutes to almost three hours. While basketball is a terrific method to get in shape, the average player only spends 60 to 90 minutes on the court every session.
Does your body type matter in tennis?
In short, the answer is yes and no. Tennis has no weight limit because, unlike many other outdoor sports, you don’t need any equipment that can hold your weight. Still, some body parts can give you an edge over other players when you play tennis.
You might find out that being tall gives you an advantage over other big, tall men. Even though you are taller, your arms will naturally be wider, and when diving for the ball, it is very helpful to have a longer arm span. You can make up for some of the speed you might not have. You aren’t as agile because you have longer arms.
Being taller and more agile is good, especially when they go together. Even though naturally agile people are thinner and have stronger legs, anyone can get faster and more agile with practice and training, no matter how big or small.
What is the physical requirement for tennis?
It takes a lot of stamina and speed to play tennis. The stamina to follow the ball wherever it may go is even more vital than speed and agility.
There may be a decline in agility for overweight people, particularly if they are quite overweight. You must anticipate where the other team’s player will place the ball and then go across the court to get it back.
On the other hand, I’ve seen players who aren’t as fast as others but who make up for it with their incredible anticipation of where the ball will go. They have the foresight to foresee its future course. More important than raw strength or speed is the ability to anticipate where the ball will be and where you’ll be tossing it (and how the other player will react).
Increasing your stamina and quickness on the court may be quite helpful if basketball is a sport you’re interested in playing (and being successful at it).
Some evidence suggests that improving a player’s strength, balance, and flexibility may improve their tennis performance. Most larger individuals, especially those who walk or move about daily, get their strength by carrying their weight. These are just a few examples of pursuits that might be challenging for someone who isn’t physically fit. That kind of power is perfect for laying the groundwork for efficient court movement.
When diving for the ball, you’ll put your arms and legs in awkward positions and move your body into a wide range of awkward postures and positions. Therefore you must have good flexibility and balance.
Cardio Tennis for fitness:
The term “cardio tennis” suggests an activity that requires a significant exertion of both mental and physical energy, as its very name suggests.
Cardio tennis is the best aerobic and cardiovascular exercise for the full body because it combines the energizing effects of tennis drills, games, and talents with the calorie-burning advantages of aerobic and anaerobic training.
This results in a total-body workout that is second to none. This is a wonderful chance to improve all three of your playing talents, your lifestyle, and the people you meet, so take advantage of it if you want to do all those things.
Women are believed to burn between 300 and 500 calories per day, but men’s daily calorie expenditure may go as high as 1,000. This energizing change of pace breaks up the monotony of running on a treadmill. Isn’t what you said true?
Why are there no obese tennis players?
You may expect to see at least a few overweight tennis players if you visit a tennis court or sports club. While many people play recreational tennis for enjoyment, the sport may also be practiced at a competitive level. Players of any kind may find the game to be enjoyable. The amount of physical exertion required varies according to factors like setting and adversary.
Sporting professionals such as tennis players are athletes. If they want to compete with the finest tennis players in the world, they need to be in top physical shape, which is why they spend so much time in the gym each week. In tennis, you must sprint from one end of the court to the other, judge the ball’s trajectory, and contort your body into unnatural positions to smash it across the court.
As a rule, tennis players are not overweight but tend to be more muscular and hefty than lithe and graceful. That’s because playing this sport requires a lot of physical stamina. Their upper body strength allows them to serve and return the ball more effectively, while their powerful legs assist them in propelling themselves around the court.
The advantages of playing tennis
Tennis is an excellent cardiovascular sport that promotes muscular strength, endurance, balance, coordination, and agility. Because you require a partner to play a match, more individuals may engage with one another. Tennis is also a sport that people of all ages may enjoy.
Tennis has several advantages, including it helps maintain your heart in excellent form.
Tennis may give a good cardiovascular workout.
According to Jasmine Marcus, DPT, tennis may be more difficult or easier depending on whether you play singles or doubles.
Tennis is an excellent exercise if you want to keep your heart healthy. Compared to non-players, racket sport participants had a 59% reduced risk of death from cardiovascular disease and a 47% lower risk of death from all causes.
Improves the quality of social interactions
Tennis with friends is a terrific way to exercise while also spending time with your friends. Sports may help individuals of all ages connect and meet new people. Because it is a lifetime sport, it typically leads to more constant participation throughout the participant’s life.
Furthermore, although being a social activity, the game allows for lots of individual mobility. Consequently, you are less prone to injuries when engaging with others. Tennis allows many people to play for longer than other sports, such as basketball, soccer, and softball since there is less physical contact.
Enhancement of the musculoskeletal system’s performance
When playing tennis, you should be using every muscle in your body. In 2019, researchers discovered that tennis players had higher musculoskeletal performance in both the upper and lower bodies than non-athletes.
This advantage was shown in both the upper and lower limbs. Your ligaments, bones, muscles, and other connective tissues, as well as your tendons, make up your musculoskeletal system. Tennis players that compete professionally think that the hybrid high-intensity interval training that the sport requires is to blame.
Contributes to one’s sense of balance and coordination
Tennis and other sports that use rackets need remarkable balance abilities, postural stability, and coordination on the player’s part. Sports such as tennis, which require a significant amount of lateral motion, are beyond the realm of possibility for most people.
You’ll be executing a lot of forwarding and backward footwork during a competition, but the side-to-side routines are the ones that will put your balance and coordination to the test. Chasing a ball also requires making numerous changes in direction, which helps develop muscles and keep balance.
This may be one of the reasons why playing tennis has been shown to improve stability and reduce the number of times people fall.
Beginners’ Advice
New players may benefit from the following outside of formal training:
- Accept other players’ difficulties by putting yourself in their position. It is ideal to play with persons of both higher and lower skill levels than yourself if you want to progress.
- Warmups should never be skipped. You’ll be able to play with more effectiveness and reduced danger of injury. You should execute a dynamic warmup before the game rather than static stretches, which are more suited for post-game recuperation.
- Concentrate on utilizing proper grammar. By doing so, you may strengthen your powers and reduce the probability of harm.
- Maintain your composure. Keep moving and your eyes on the ball. You might perform better if you can keep your attention on the game.
- Have fun by yourself or with a companion. You may either play with a machine that spits balls at you or just strike the ball against a wall. Another alternative is to collaborate with a buddy.
- Investigate various substrates. If you have joint discomfort, try exploring different games on different surfaces. The three most frequent types of courts are grass courts, clay courts, and hard courts like concrete.
Conclusion
So, can people who are overweight play tennis? It all boils down to your degree of physical fitness and if you have the appropriate strength, stamina, and flexibility to play the game. Do not let this discourage you, if you have the passion and would like to try out the game, you can. Just take it easy and spend time learning the basics first. Once you have them you can gradually up the level.