Back pain and problems are something tennis players know all too well, and not surprisingly when you consider the enormous stress the game puts on that area with excessive and repetitive rotational movements.
Herniated discs frequently crop up in tennis players, and so do muscle spasms and low back strains. But there are ways to head off those sorts of lower back issues through basic exercises that strengthen the all-important trunk muscles – and allow players to relieve some of the strain they have been putting there.
“The best way to dampen excessive rotational forces in the back is to strengthen the trunk muscles,” says TennisMD expert Bob Donatelli. “The trunk includes the abdominal muscles, the back muscles and the side muscles, called the quadratus lumborium. And it is possible to build them up in a couple of simple ways.”
One is called the side bridge, which requires the tennis player to lift up his hips while lying on his side. (See video.)
Test and Exercise for Core Lats, Side Bridge.
“The idea is to be able to maintain a good hold position for up to 60 seconds once you have done this for a while,” Donatelli says. “Be careful about doing this if you have any back pain, and work your way up from, say, a 20-second hold for both the left and right sides.”
Exercise #2 is called a single leg bridge, with the tennis player in this case lying on his back, and then lifting his butt up, so it is straight and not rotated. Then, he should hold one leg straight out for up to 60 seconds before switching to the other leg. “You can build strength and endurance in your trunk with this, and you can go a long way to protecting yourself from lower back pain as a result,” says Donatelli. (See video below).
Test & Exercise, Core / Trunk.
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