In celebration of this year’s Wimbledon Championships, LA fitness, in conjunction with Slazenger has devised a workout ‘fit for ball girls.’
And, yep! You guessed it. We decided to get into the spirit of things too – so we grabbed a copy of this ingeniously quirky workout.
And here it is for you keen lot to have a gander. (Game set and match calls are optional...)
THE WORKOUT
In their crucial role in collecting the balls throughout a tennis game, ball girls must have strong legs and arms. Here are some exercises to help strengthen your arm and shoulder muscles.
1. Biceps Curls – you will need dumbbells. Pick a weight you can just manage to do 15-20 reps with, ideally between 4-8kg.
You have to move only the hands from down your body to up.
Start by putting back against the wall and lift dumbbells to the shoulders. You should concentrate on squeezing the muscle you are working in the front of the upper arm.
When you lift the dumbbells exhale, when you go down, inhale. Proper breathing is very important.
Do as many repetitions as you can (15-20).
Rest 30 seconds and do another 2 sets of 15-20 reps.
Rest for 2 minutes and after that do 3 sets of 20 reps from the following exercise. Hammer Curls-Take dumbbells, and making the hand holding the dumbbells with the thumb on top, alternate lifting one hand to shoulder by bending elbows.
2. Triceps Extension
You need some weights (dumbbells, small bottles from mineral water or 2 books in every hand).
Starting with the elbows bent, move your arms to the back extending the arm with hands pointing to the ceiling.
Do 15-20 reps and rest for 30 seconds. After that do 2 more sets.
Another exercise you can try is the same as before but try to lift your hands as higher as you can, keeping your arms straight and make small pulsing movements from up to down.
Do 3 sets, each set of 10-15 reps. Rest 30 seconds between sets.
3. Shoulders
As exercise is important for every muscle in the body, we must also remember to work out our shoulder muscles.
Shoulder Frontal and Lateral Raises #1
Stay upright.
Make your stance shoulder width apart.
Bend your knees very slightly.
Raise the dumbbells in front of you to shoulder height by keeping both the arms straight and then out to the sides and up to shoulder height again. This counts as 1 repetition. Continue up to 10 reps.
When lift hands exhale, when go down inhale. Do 3 sets, each 10 reps.
Shoulder Overhead Press #2
Stay the same starting position as the above exercise.
Start with both hands holding dumbbells on shoulders and progress to pushing dumbbells overhead.
The ends of the weights should almost touch at the end of the movement.
4. Core Workout
The Plank-This is quite simple, safe and effective.
With elbows and toes on the floor, lift the rest of the body up so that it hovers above the floor in a straight line, like a plank of wood.
Keep drawing the abdominal muscles back in towards the spine and keep them tight.
Hold for 1 min and repeat 2 times trying to hold for a few seconds longer each time.
5. Legs workout – Quadriceps and Gluteals
Agility, speed and strong leg muscles will aid every ball girl in their role. Squats are an incredibly effective exercise to help tone up.
Start by standing with your feet about shoulder width apart.
Keep your back upright and straight and not bended at the waist.
Your abdominals should feel tightened.
Bend the knees and squat slowly, while breathing in and taking care to keep your back straight, rise and breathe out.
Squat 20 times, rest 90 seconds and complete another two sets of 20 squats.
Remember:
- Warm up your knees first.
- Control your motions, i.e. do not squat quickly by letting your body weight bring you down. It is important to feel every inch of moving down.
- Hold your back straight and your abdominals tightened throughout the exercise.
- Breathe: breathing properly will allow you to make more repetitions and you will have firmer thighs.
6. Lunges-Hamstrings, Gluteals and Quadriceps
These exercises are probably the most beneficial for the movements required of the ball girl on the court.
Start with feet placed hip width apart.
Step forward onto one leg, bending both knees. The back knee should hover just above the ground and knees should remain over heel rather than toes at all time.
Alternate legs and perform 20 repetitions. Rest 1 min and repeat twice more for strong functional legs on the court.
To increase the difficulty, add dumbbells of 4kg-8kg to improve strength.
So what are you waiting for readers – get into the Wimbledon spirit why don’tcha!?
By Tasha Usefnia