Sperry's Sept/Oct Workout Plan

Sperry's Sept/Oct Workout Plan

September/October Workout Plan


Main Goals:
    The main goal for me during this lifting phase is to continue to lean out.  I do not have an exact measurement of my current Body Fat percentage but I am confident in saying that it is probably between 18% - 20%, which is still too high for any competitive tennis player.  The next two months I have 3 tournaments lined up; Austin UTR 1K September 14th and September 15th, Lifetime National Club Championship September 20th to 22nd, and then the Racine Adult Open October 6th to October 8th.  If you have questions about why I choose these tournaments feel free to comment below and I will elaborate on this. My plan on how I can further lean out my body composition is by combing a strength training program with an agility program which I will further outline below.  The reasons that I need to further lean out as a competitive tennis player is two-fold. Leaning out will help me cover the court quicker and easier and it is also necessary from a preventative maintenance stand point. The leaner I am the easier it is on my body to play and compete in tournaments.  It is quite common in a tennis tournament to be on the court for 4 -5 hours multiple days in a row. They more weight that I have on my body means the more energy I have to expend to cover the court.

Strength Training Schedule:
Weight Training                        Reps   Weight (lbs)
Circuit A   Lat-Pulldowns         3 x 12 @ 130
Circuit A   Push Ups                  3 x 20
Circuit B   Tricep Pull Downs  3 x 12 @ 45
Circuit B   Dumbbell Curls      3 x 12  @ 25
Circuit C  DB Shoulder Press  3 x 12 @ 20
Circuit C 2-Way Shoulders     3 x 20 @ 10

Above is the current weight training program that I am currently doing.  The lifts are pretty general upper body lifts. I am not trying to do anything fancy or work on anything specific. I am basically just lifting weights to continue to lean out as a player.  At the end of the weight training I like to finish with some higher intensity cardio, assuming my legs are not too burnt out from the day before. The plan is to weight train 2-3 times a week, 3 times a week if I am not playing in a tournament that weekend and 2 times a week if I have a tournament that weekend.  The other 3 days a week I am going to be focusing on my cardio and core.


 Agility Training Schedule & Tennis Specific Training Drills:

Agility Drills Times a Week
Ladders               2
Sprints                 1
Spider Drills        2
Line Drills            2
​
Unfortunately, I have not been able to follow my agility drills yet as the Achilles tendon on my right side is still not 100%.  I do not want to push it yet as I have been feeling good after I play tennis as long as I do not go overly hard, sometimes I have to slice out wide shots rather then attempt to get out to the wide balls and roll them back. 
Currently, I have been using the Stair Master to keep up with my cardio. The Stair Master is nice because it is a relatively low impact workout, yet it is quite cardio intensive. On days where my Achilles is feeling good Ill go hard for 30 seconds and then easy for 30 seconds.  I like to alternate between higher intensity and lower intensity as this mimic closer to how tennis is. Generally, tennis points are shorter bursts of higher intensity, followed by 10 to 15 seconds of rest in between points. I am hoping that in the next week or two I will be able to begin spending time working on my agility and movement around the court.

Conclusion:
At the end of October, I will reevaluate on how I felt about this workout plan and see what I want to focus on improving during the next two months. As a player it is important to reassess what you have been working on and evaluate what aspects of your workout has helped you improve on the court and see what changes have been made to your game. If you have any questions about anything in this article about my current workout or anything else feel free to comment below in the comment section. Let me know what else you would like to see in future posts about what I am doing as a player to better my game.