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Prevent Tennis Related Injuries Ankle and shoulder injuries are the most common tennis related injuries, followed by wrist, biceps and quadriceps tendonitis and tennis elbow. Stretching and strength training help enhance performance, prevent injuries and promote pain free tennis. There are over 20 million tennis players in the U.S. Most of the tennis superstars of the 70s, 80s and 90s were American, however this has changed in the 21st century, with the new stars emerging from Eastern Europe and Russia, such as Maria Sharapova, the highest paid female athlete in the world. Thus, the popularity of tennis has slipped by almost 10 million players in the U.S. since 1980. The game has gone global. Tennis exercises all major muscle groups, so as your arms and shoulders work hard, so will your legs. Competitive tennis burns more calories than aerobics, inline skating, or cycling. Some call tennis the sport for a lifetime. The benefits of tennis include lowering stress and blood pressure, and reducing your risk for heart disease, diabetes and obesity. Since there are many public and municipal tennis courts, your major expenses are limited to a tennis racket, balls, and a pair of good shoes. Tennis lessons are available at your nearest YMCA, municipal parks and recreation department or community college. If your children need tennis rackets, check out the nearest thrift store, garage sale or go online to find a good deal. Twenty minutes before you begin playing, it is advised to warm-up and stretch your calves, hip muscles, quadriceps and hamstrings in your legs, your shoulders and forearms. Go jogging around the tennis courts for a few times, do some calisthenics or practice going thru the strokes without hitting the ball. Tennis elbow is most common in people over 35 years of age. It is recommended that people over 30 do some strength training with lightweight dumbbells. This will strengthen your elbows, wrists and shoulders. Even younger players, such as Venus Williams, had to drop out of competitive tennis for awhile due to a wrist injury. Tennis elbow is an inflammation of the elbow. It is a form of tendonitis, affecting the tendons, which are the ends of muscles that attach to bone. The medical name for tennis elbow is medial epicondylitis. If you sustain a tennis-related injury:
Stretching is important to every game of tennis – as a warm up, as a break during repetitive movements, and as a cool down after the game. Keep muscles flexible and relaxed, joints mobile, and relieve tension and strain by doing a few gentle stretches. Tennis players should concentrate on stretching the hands, wrists, forearms, trunk, shoulders, lower back, chest, hamstrings and calf muscles.
Proper footwear with good arch support provides a firm grip on the ground and good balance. Good shoes should allow you to play all day in comfort. If you play in hot weather, drink water before you go out, and keep it handy. Listen to your body and watch for recurring or persisting pain. Stretch until you feel tension but not pain. Stretching is more effective if you warm-up first. Do leg kicks, arm circles and simulated swings without a club, take a brisk walk, jog lightly, or exercise gradually until you get your heart pumping. A conditioning program can improve leg, hip, shoulder and torso strength, as well as flexibility, which is important to enhancing tennis performance and preventing injury. 
There are numerous benefits to strength training regularly, particularly as you grow older. It can be very powerful in reducing the signs and symptoms of numerous diseases and chronic conditions, among them:
Arthritis Relief Tufts University recently completed a strength-training program with older men and women with moderate to severe knee osteoarthritis. The results of this sixteen-week program showed that strength training decreased pain by 43%, increased muscle strength and general physical performance, improved the clinical signs and symptoms of the disease, and decreased disability. The effectiveness of strength training to ease the pain of osteoarthritis was just as potent, if not more potent, as medications. Similar effects of strength training have been seen in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. Restoration of Balance and Reduction of Falls As people age, poor balance and flexibility contribute to falls and broken bones. These fractures can result in significant disability and, in some cases, fatal complications. Strengthening exercises, when done properly and through the full range of motion, increase a person's flexibility and balance, which decrease the likelihood and severity of falls. One study in New Zealand in women 80 years of age and older showed a 40% reduction in falls with simple strength and balance training. Strengthening of Bone Post-menopausal women can lose 1-2% of their bone mass annually. Results from a study conducted at Tufts University, which were published in the Journal of the American Medical Association in 1994, showed that strength training increases bone density and reduces the risk for fractures among women aged 50-70. Proper Weight Maintenance Strength training is crucial to weight control, because individuals who have more muscle mass have a higher metabolic rate. Muscle is active tissue that consumes calories while stored fat uses very little energy. Strength training can provide up to a 15% increase in metabolic rate, which is enormously helpful for weight loss and long-term weight control. Improved Glucose Control More than 14 million Americans have type II diabetes—a staggering three-hundred percent increase over the past forty years—and the numbers are steadily climbing. In addition to being at greater risk for heart and renal disease, diabetes is also the leading cause of blindness in older adults. Fortunately, studies now show that lifestyle changes such as strength training have a profound impact on helping older adults manage their diabetes. In a recent study of Hispanic men and women, 16 weeks of strength training produced dramatic improvements in glucose control that are comparable to taking diabetes medication. Additionally, the study volunteers were stronger, gained muscle, lost body fat, had less depression, and felt much more self-confident. Healthy State of Mind Strength training provides similar improvements in depression as anti-depressant medications. Currently, it is not known if this is because people feel better when they are stronger or if strength training produces a helpful biochemical change in the brain. It is most likely a combination of the two. When older adults participate in strength training programs, their self-confidence and self-esteem improve, which has a strong impact on their overall quality of life. Sleep Improvement People who exercise regularly enjoy improved sleep quality. They fall asleep more quickly, sleep more deeply, awaken less often, and sleep longer. As with depression, the sleep benefits obtained as a result of strength training are comparable to treatment with medication but without the side effects or the expense. Healthy Heart Tissue Strength training is important for cardiac health because heart disease risk is lower when the body is leaner. One study found that cardiac patients gained not only strength and flexibility but also aerobic capacity when they did strength training three times a week as part of their rehabilitation program. This and other studies have prompted the American Heart Association to recommend strength training as a way to reduce risk of heart disease and as a therapy for patients in cardiac rehabilitation programs. After the age of 20, women who do not strength train will lose about 5 pounds of muscle every decade of adult life. This leads to a slower metabolism and a gradual increase in fat weight (about 15 pounds per decade), as well as an increased risk for diabetes, arthritis and heart disease. Strength training helps develop strong and shapely muscles that will improve your physical appearance, your mood and your sex life. It will also help considerably to prevent sports injuries.  We have organized Femhealth products into the following categories: Adaptogens, Anti-Aging, Aromatherapy Blends, Brain Boosters, Chinese Formulas, Cleansing, Eucalyptus Oil, For Women, Green Food, Herbal Formulas, Natural Medicine, Liquid Extracts, Magnetic Jewelry, Minerals, Pain Relief, Sexual Health, Single Herbs, Sports Nutrition, Vitamins, and Weight Loss. For an alphabetical list of Femhealth products, visit our Site Directory. |
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