What do you guys think of these exercises? I scanned them out of the book "Power Tennis Training". They seem like very good functional exercises, but I'm a little concerned about the twisting forces they might exert on the knee joint. Thoughts?

http://img10.imageshack.us/img10/8674/45-lunge.gif

http://img10.imageshack.us/img10/5941/co-lunge.gif

http://img10.imageshack.us/img10/9261/s-lunge.gif

note: John, these scans are from copyrighted material, but I assume posting them is within the boundaries of fair use. Of course, if you have any concerns, I'll take them down.

There's no way in hell I'm going to try that stuff! Always try to work in a straight line (well, with most exercises anyway).

I think I would fall down go boom if I tried those. As for being safe - I have no clue for most but for me NO.

There's no way in hell I'm going to try that stuff! Always try to work in a straight line (well, with most exercises anyway).

This makes for an interesting point. This is one common cause of injury. If you always work in a straight line, which theoretically is "safer," then in a sporting event are forcing to deviate, your body has no preparation and therefore is prone to injury. This is why doing something like this in a controlled fashion is a great way to prepare the body for the impact/stress of the movement to diminish the potential harmful effects of an unplanned imposition of force in that direction.

I know I am rambling but basically it like rehabbing the knee - after knee surgery, the leg extension is a common method of rehabbing. While this places extreme shearing force on the knee joint, in the context of the rehab, the weight is light and the activity is controlled and serves to actually strengthen the joint. In a similar fashion, when you are engaging in sportsl like tennis, basketball, etc that have a lot of twisting and impact, then the key is to mimic those actions in a controlled fashion in order to allow your body to adapt to the stimulus under YOUR terms rather than the less controlled environment of an actual game.

Those exercises look cool to me - but I would want adequate warm-up, thorough stretching, some bodyweight "dry runs" before loading, and then loading would start out extremely light!

Jeremy

I would think for functional power in tennis, polymetrics would be better suited. Sure weight-lifting makes you stronger, but to what extent does that help the constant foot-work you do in tennis?

I would think for functional power in tennis, polymetrics would be better suited. Sure weight-lifting makes you stronger, but to what extent does that help the constant foot-work you do in tennis?

That is something that is a huge trend right now - function, function, function - but does it make sense? I mean, if duplicating what you do on the court is the key, then why not just play tennis all the time? Why even weight train?

What I'm saying is that all of these are important components. Plyometrics - sure, they have their place. So does strength training. Again, the key is to take what you gain through active practice, etc., and then augment/compliment it through other actions. For example, you don't sit and static stretch during a tennis game, but lengthening the muscle so that unexpected shock or overextensions can be handled certainly has its place. In the same token, strength training that will strengthen the joint will thus prepare it for the shock of training as well.

I've always had the most success complimenting rather than overdoing. In other words, if I have a roofer for a client, I'm not going to add a high volume of upper body work to what they already do in their daily jobs. Instead, I'll focus on strengthening the core (a lot of bending over) and doing lower reps, higher intensity training to compliment, rather than duplicate, the effort.

Jeremy

Those exercises look like some of the leg strengthening exercises we do in kung fu class. We don't use any weights, though. For the cross over lunge, we just turn our front foot outward and then just stand there. For a long time. My max is 5 minutes so far. It really forces your muscles to do more work with less oxygen, as your blood isn't pumping as fast as when you're doing weight training.

The side lunges aren't done with weights, either. We just go as low as possible (sitting on the heel, almost). Then focus on just one leg pushing you back up to the standing position. You'll essentially be doing a one-legged squat with your whole weight.

It works great for me. Just do the exercises as slow as possible and you'll definitely see some results you didn't expect.

Those are all pretty good exercises. If you limit yourself to working in a straight line, you will be toast on the court. The queen is such a more effective piece than the rook. Jeremy is right, you want to do these exercises in a controled strengthening manner to prepare yourself for game time. You still don't want to twist your knee - keep you knee inline with your toe.

If at all possible do these at home or at the gym late at night. That way if you lose balance or fall, no one will see you. I know a guy that tripped on some equipment at the gym and fell. He never came back to lift at the busy time 5-7pm because he was to embarassed. So now he comes at night when I'm there. :p

I don't see a problem with trying them out. Just start out light and make sure you are keeping to form and aren't trying to increase the weight too quickly.

I'd suggest substituting the barbell for dumbbells if you can figure out a way to do it on the sideways moving ones. Using DB's on straight forward/back lunges is easy.