I’ve been playing league tennis for a long while, and I’ve noticed that nearly all players will actually skip warming up. Now, I’m not talking about the quick 10 minutes on the court with your opponent(s), where you practice a few strokes and serves; I’m referring to the warm-up that should be done before that one… the warm-up that gets the muscles moving and blood pumping.

Tennis consists of numerous quick movements, both from side to side as well as forward and backward, so it’s important that players properly warm up. In talking to a number of players, I found that while a few do warm up before they get to the court, the majority choose to skip it because it is “too much of a hassle” and “takes too much time”, that it’s not worth the effort since they warm up during the match. Well… whatever their logic is, they couldn’t be more wrong!

A proper warm-up should ALWAYS be done before each match or workout session, and it doesn’t have to take a lot of time either since 5-10 minutes is typically all you need to get your body ready for working up a sweat.

Warming up will:

1. Increase blood flow to your working muscles, better preparing them for the match or workout to come.
2. Increase the delivery of oxygen and nutrients to your muscles, which prevents you from getting out of breath too early or too easily.
3. Prepare your heart gradually for an increase in activity, helping you avoid a rapid increase in blood pressure.
4. Prime your nerve-to-muscle pathways to be ready for vigorous movement, which can improve the quality of your match or workout.
5. Improve your coordination and reaction times.
6. Reduce the chance of soft tissue (ligament, tendon, and muscle) injuries by allowing your muscles and joints to move through a greater range of motion easily and safely.
7. Lubricate your joints for easier (and less painful) movement
8. Increase blood temperature, which can allow you to play or work out longer and harder.
9. Prompt hormonal changes in the body responsible for regulating energy production.
10. Help mentally prepare you for the match ahead, giving you a few minutes to get pumped up!

A warm-up can be a lower intensity version of the activity you are about to do, or it can be something totally different, but that uses the same muscle groups.

Warm up before every match and you’ll not only have an advantage over your opponent, but you’ll also have fewer injuries.

Today we’re sharing four fabulous, (mostly) vegan/dairy-free healthy smoothie recipes, all of which can be made ahead so you won’t be late for your tennis match or work, or wherever you need to be. Each one of these healthy AND delicious smoothies has no added sugar, which means no juice, no maple syrup, no honey…nada. Just the natural sweetness of the fruit in the smoothie!

Prepare the smoothies ahead of time:

You can use freezer bags, but mason jars are perfect since they are reusable. Jars do require more space in your freezer to store, and they collect frost faster, so it’s best to prepare the smoothies no more than 2 weeks prior to drinking them.

• Place the frozen fruit chunks at the bottom, and follow with your add-ins: extracts, flax, chia seeds, spices, etc. are all totally fine to add in!
• Top the jars with any greens like kale or spinach (great nutrition and fiber that you CAN’T taste!!), and seal with the jar lids.
• NOTE:  DON’T use fresh fruit as any moisture will freeze the fruit to the jar itself, making it difficult to get out of the jars.
• These smoothies will keep for about 2 weeks in the freezer.

The Tropical Turmeric Smoothie

This smoothie is PACKED full of anti-inflammatory promoting ingredients including the turmeric, pineapple and leafy green spinach (or kale). And you can’t taste the turmeric or the leafy greens, just pure tropical bliss! This makes a perfect post-match or post-workout treat as the anti-inflammatory properties help your body to recover more quickly.

Image Source: POPSUGAR Photography / Michelle Bell

Serves 1  |  Total calories: 305  |  Total protein: 5g  |  Total carbs: 49g

INGREDIENTS

• 1-1/4 cups almond milk
• 1 cup kale or spinach, packed
• 1/4 teaspoon turmeric
• pinch of black pepper
• 1 tablespoon chia seeds
• 1-1/2 cups frozen pineapple chunks

PREPARATION

Rushing the net happens more often in doubles tennis, and occasionally you’ll come across a team in which not just one, but BOTH partners will not only serve and volley, but will also come in to the net with their returns. EVERY. FRICKIN. TIME.

Uuuuugh! It’s so frustrating! They move in to the net and mentally slap you with intimidation, putting you in defensive mode, forcing you to think fast and make a passing shot.

But DON’T FALL INTO THEIR TRAP. Only the very best volleyers cope well at the net, and even though they might seem they can handle it, the odds are strongly in your favor that they can’t. Matter of fact, sometimes this intimidation is merely masking some other weakness.

Don’t get me wrong, if you’ve got a solid ground stroke, you’ll get it by them a few times. But sooner or later (no doubt sooner), your opponent will be reading you like a cheap romance novel.

So what can you do?

You’ve gotta change up your game – and often. Call your opponent’s bluff and make her work for the point! These are some great things you can do (other than your passing shot) that will help neutralize your net rusher:

• hit deep – keep your groundies low and close to the baseline, which will keep them back.
• lob – force the net rusher back by lobbing over the head of the person already at net. Both players should then move back, which will allow you and your partner to take control of the net.
• hit a dipper – using heavy topspin, hit a short return to the net rusher’s feet as she’s coming in, which will result in her hitting a shorter, higher and softer ball, thus setting up your passing shot.
• get aggressive – give the net rusher a taste of her own medicine. As she’s coming in, hit the ball as hard as you can, keeping it low and aiming for her abdomen – and move in. At best she’ll only be able to block the ball back, setting up your passing shot.
• mix it up – keep you opponent guessing by dishing out all of the above.

If you succeed in discouraging a net-rusher, you often find that all their ammunition miraculously disappears!