First a little information about how Cardio Tennis got started. Cardio Tennis is a cross-over fitness and tennis program that was started by the Tennis Industry Association, in conjunction with the U.S. Tennis Association in the summer of 2005. Since its inception, the program has expanded to over 30 countries and nearly 2,000 tennis facilities in the United States. According to data from the 2013 Physical Activity Councils annual U.S. Sports, Fitness, and Recreation Participation report, more than 1.4 million individuals participated in Cardio Tennis in 2012, up nearly 60% since participation in the program was first measured in 2008.
Cardio Tennis has slowly become known as the “third way to play tennis,” rather than the traditional singles and doubles matches. Classes are geared towards keeping players in their target heart-rate zone so they can burn the most calories and get the best workout possible in the hour long sessions. Men can burn between 500-100 calories in one class, whereas women can burn between 300 and 500 calories. Rather than being about “playing” tennis, its more about training and the great cardiovascular workout the program provides.
Sessions run for 1 hour with a 10 minute warm up, a 40-50 minute cardio session and then finally a 5-10 minute cool down session. People of all ages and all tennis level can participate in the same class. Instructors will provide music and will have heart rate monitors available. If participants wish to purchase their own monitors, they can do by contacting us for special pricing. Participants will be checking their heart rates 4-5 times per session to make sure they are heart rates are in the desired zone.
Importance of a Heart Rate Monitor
Cardio Tennis is first and foremost a fitness program. It is more about getting people moving and active and less on hitting great forehands and backhands. In Cardio Tennis the goal is to train in the zones for 40- 50 minutes in a 60 minute workout; the only way to determine this is by using a heart rate monitor. The heart rate monitor is the most accurate way to measure a participant’s heart rate. It will help you attain your goals whether it is weight loss, improve fitness or maintain fitness.
When you first start exercising, the body changes from the inside out. Unfortunately, most of us want to see the visible changes (weight loss, increased tone) first and when these changes aren’t seen, it is easy to become frustrated and demotivated. But by paying attention to heart rate (especially early on) and seeing that you’re able to do more work with less effort, you’ll be able to stay on course until the visible progress starts to come through.
Most peoples’ goal is to lose weight and tone up (or something similar to this). To do this, you need to have a gauge of how many calories you’re burning during exercise and you need this number to accurate. Otherwise, when you’re trying to create the caloric deficit necessary to shape up, your numbers may be off and may slow your progress. Cardiovascular equipment does not have the level of individualized detail as a heart rate monitor in terms of calories burned and thus, it is not as good a measure in terms of caloric burn.
Registration is now open for our Cardio Classes. Please visit our Programs page for information about location and schedule. You can also register directly at link below.
