According to Baechle and Earle (2008), athletes who have achieved advanced training status can train between 4-7 days a week during the competitive season, and 4-6 days a week during the off season. As the athlete is a professional tennis player and has completed three years of a previous structured resistance programme, it suggests that the athlete has achieved advanced training status. Therefore, the athlete will undergo 6 days of training a week with one day of complete rest to allow recovery.
EXERCISE SELECTION
Core Exercises
Ivančević, Jovanovic, Đukić, Marković and Đuki (2008) used biomechanical analysis to ascertain which muscles are used in tennis. Therefore, for this training programme, exercises were specifically selected to increase the muscular endurance of as many of these muscles as possible. The exercises selected were: Bench Press, Split Squat Thrusts, One-leg Romanian Deadlifts, Kettlebell Swinging, Wide-grip Pull Ups and Arnold press*. These are all multiple joint exercises, which Kraemer and Ratamess (2004) suggest are the most effective exercises for increasing muscular endurance.
Assistance Exercises
Assistance exercises target smaller muscle areas which are considered less important to improving sport performance, but are vital to stabilise the body and maintain correct technique of core exercises (Baechle and Earle, 2008). The assistance exercises selected were: Kettlebell Ribbons, Kettlebell Shrugs, Bent-over Lateral Raise, Calf Raises, Dumbbell Lateral Lunges, Leg Extensions with Simultaneous Arm Raise*. Most of the assistance exercises focus on the lower body and the shoulders, as these are the primary areas utilized in the athletes sport.
Prehabilitation Exercises
Kibler and Safran (2005) reviewed the literature on tennis injuries and found that certain areas of the body more frequently injured than others. These were (in order of highest incidence): the ankle, the shoulder, and the elbow. The prehabilitation exercises were selected specifically on their ability to target these areas of the body. These exercises were (corresponding to above order): One Legged Stance (Wobble Board), Wobble Board Squats, Smith Machine Inverted Row, Shoulder Rear Diagonal Pull (Cables), Shoulder External Rotation (Cables) and Wrist Extensions*.
Flexibility Exercises
Tennis players commonly have limited range of motion (ROM) in their hamstrings and shoulders, internal rotation deficits in the hip and poor lumbar extension (Vad, Gebeh, Dines, Altchek & Norris, 2003). To prevent or address these issues, static stretching will be used as it has proven an effective way of increasing ROM (Sharman, Cresswell & Riek, 2006). The stretches selected were: Sleeper Stretch, Cross Body Stretch, Hamstring Stretch, Lying Crossover Stretch, Child’s Pose and Subscapularis Stretch*. These were selected as they have all been proven effective at increasing ROM at their associated joints.
Core Stability
Enhanced core stability benefits sports performance as it provides a foundation for greater force production in the upper and lower limbs (Willardson, 2007). Exercises were selected to incorporate movements found in tennis to make the exercises more sport specific. The exercises that were selected were: Woodchop, Incline Twisting Sit-Ups, Plank (Stability Ball), Twisted Lunge with Medicine Ball, Hanging Leg Raises, Back Extension (Stability Ball).*
*For references on the effectiveness and/or choice of individual exercises/stretches, see the reference section of the training plan.
EXERCISE ORDER
According to Baechle and Earle (2008), a highly-trained, advanced athlete is able to implement a split routine to train different muscles on different days. This exercise order does not violate the recommended guidelines for recovery, as it allows for the muscles to achieve adequate rest on days when they are not working. For example, a split routine could involve training the trunk and arms on one day, followed by lower body exercises the next. Additionally, Baechle and Earle (2008) suggest upper-body muscles are able to recover quicker than lower-body muscles after undertaking heavy-loading sessions. To account for this, lower-body exercises are more spaced out in the training schedule in comparison to upper-body exercises.
TRAINING LOADS AND REPETITIONS
From the movement assessment it can be seen that the athlete already has good basic strength. The coach has expressed a wish that the athlete improve their stamina. Therefore, it was decided to focus on increasing the athlete’s muscular endurance. To achieve this, Baechle and Earle (2008) recommend training loads to be ≤67% of one repetition max. When exercising at this training load, Baechle and Earle (2008) suggest the athlete should complete 2-3 sets, leaving a maximum of 30 seconds rest between each set.
VOLUME
Baechle and Earle (2008) suggest training sessions should account for volume. This is the total amount of weight lifted in a training session, and is calculated as sets x reps x weight per rep. For example, during the bench press exercise the athlete does 3 sets of 12 reps at 67% of one repetition max. The athlete’s 1RM is 100kg, so 67% is 67kg. Therefore, the athlete would lift a volume of 3015kg for that exercise. This procedure is repeated for each exercise in a training session, and then added together to give the volume of that training session.
REST AND UNLOADING WEEKS
Baechle and Earle (2008) suggested that athletes with advanced training status can train between 4-6 days a week during the off-season. It was decided to train the athlete for 6 days a week, allowing Wednesday as a rest day. As the athlete is currently in the off-season, they do not need to undergo an unloading week. Strength training should be at a high intensity during the off-season to compensate for reduced strength training during preparatory and competitive phases, although it is suggested that the athlete has an unloading week post-competition (Plisk & Stone, 2003).
PERIODIZATION AND PEAKING
To achieve optimal performance during competition, training must be periodized so an athlete reaches peak performance just before the start of competition. To achieve this, training loads and intensities are adjusted throughout the season. During preparation phases, volume and intensity increase to promote adaptations, but in pre-competition phases load and intensity drop to allow rest and recovery, as there is no time to further adapt. Training intensity and volume are lowered during competition to reduce the risk of overtraining.
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