Can I Lose Weight Playing Tennis? (Best Tips Included)

When playing a tennis game, you may need to carry plenty of fluids to rehydrate your body. It is because the sport can be somewhat challenging at the beginning, though, as long as you keep your focus on the court, you will get the necessary skills and maintain good health for your body. Is there a probability of losing weight when playing tennis?

You can lose weight when playing tennis. It will, however, depend on the intensity of the match you are playing. Someone playing doubles is likely to lose more weight than playing singles. The general time you take on the court also determines the rate at which you will cut down your weight.

Watching an ongoing tennis game is so interesting that you may get interested in trying it out. So whether you play for fun or with a weight cut goal, your first few days on the court may not be that pleasant. Read ahead for more details on the game, including what you stand to benefit from playing it.

Is Tennis a Full-Body Workout

Playing tennis is a full-body workout because it involves every other muscle in the upper and lower body. Through rapid movements on the court, your muscles will be able to withstand minor injuries while flexing and boosting your general body stamina over time.

Playing tennis is not only a mental exercise, as most people assume it. However, it does have more skills in body coordination, which are dependent on timely calculations from the brain. But the game takes a lot into toning and trimming your body. It’s the kind of sport you’ll want to play when you’ve been eating lots recently, consuming lots of calories.

However, tennis can also be a fun and exciting activity if you do not focus exclusively on exercising your body. Plus, it’s a rare chance you get to meet up with your family, neighbors, or friends from your club.

Here are some of the general body benefits you stand to get when playing tennis games.

It Improves Your Balance and Flexibility

Playing tennis involves your whole body motion, both the upper and the lower body. Therefore, the longer you play the game, the more your arms, legs, torso, and other muscles become active. Consequently, these parts become more balanced and flexible as a result of their coordinated movement. In this way, it is more difficult to get injured in your everyday activities.

Tones Your Muscles

You should expect sudden direction changes and rapid body movements all around the court if you’ve never played this game before. Among these movements are constant swinging of your arms, jumping, and crouching, among others that will not let any muscle in your body remain still.

However, the more experience you gain in the game, the more you can limit your movements, especially when practicing. Since you will have mastered the art of serving the ball right and predicting its expected landing. In addition, you should know all these activities are strength-based, so as you burn the calories, you also get to tone your body.

However, many people often misunderstand the art of training and working out. It is unlikely that you will go to the pitch one time and wait for your muscles to tone. To achieve your body-toning and fat-burning goals, you have to invest some time in this activity. Even if you went to the court once a month, it wouldn’t qualify as a workout; it would only burn excess calories.

Other body benefits you get from playing tennis are:

• Brain stimulation:- this stems from the strategic thinking that is required to make quick decisions about what patterns and shots to use.
• Boost for cardiovascular health:- Your heart has to beat faster to supply more oxygen and nutrients to your muscles since every activity on the court is strength-based. By doing this, you become free from heart attacks, strokes, high blood pressure, and other heart-related diseases.
• Body fat control:- most people often go for runs or walks to work to burn the excess fats in their bodies. However, with playing tennis you stand to burn between 400 and 600 calories per hour. So the game is a sure way of burning fats more than many other exercises.

How Much Weight Do You Lose When Playing Tennis?

When playing tennis, you lose 0.5 to 1kg of a week’s training. Therefore the overall weight you will lose will depend on the period you spend on the court. In addition, the nature and intensity of your gameplay will also determine the weight you will lose.

Tennis is majorly a cardiovascular workout since the heart is the source of sustained strength for all muscles. So the more rapid your activities get the more your heart rate spikes, burning more calories in the process.

To determine how many calories you burn while on the pitch, you must also consider how long you spend on the field and your body weight. So the more your weight is, the more calories you will need to burn.

So, according to the tennis calories calculator, an average person burns between 400 to 700 calories per hour. However, it will depend on the intensity of the game. So if you are playing alone, probably against a backboard wall, your body will burn about 350 to 500 calories per hour. 

Accordingly, if you are playing the game primarily as a body workout, one hour of your gameplay is enough to match your fitness desire.

Although individual bodies might differ from one to another, the general body metabolic rate is, for every 3500 calories, your body weight will reduce by 0.5kg. So the 3500 calories are the average of an hour of play for a week.

Since you can’t make it to burn all these calories in a single day’s gameplay, you will need at least a week for you to reduce about 0.5 to 1 kg. 

That’s why you need to practice or work out in the game for at least three consecutive days a week. You can rest on the fourth day and resume the training on the next day for effective results. 

So averagely,

• If you weigh about 60 kilograms, you will lose between 350 and 500 calories per hour.
• If you weigh between 70 and 80 kilograms, your body will burn between 550 to 700 calories per hour.
• Persons weighing over 70 kilograms have their bodies burning about 750 to 800calories per hour of playing a tennis game.

How Long Should You Play Tennis to Lose Weight?

To lose weight, you should play tennis for at least two to three months. Nevertheless, the exact period also depends on how frequently you play on the court and with what intensity.

Depending on your drive to lose weight, you may take more time or less time. To lose weight, you must maintain this drive and engage in intense physical activities. 

However, as I mentioned above, losing weight is not a one-day event; you will have to put forth effort in your everyday life to reach the 0.5 to 1kg weekly goal. The 2 to 3 months is just an average. The length of your training will depend on both your weight and your level of activity. 

The following factors can help you determine how long it will take you to lose weight playing a tennis game.

• Social factor:- this is the drive behind your decision to lose weight. It can be anything from a spouse’s request, to wanting to please someone or just something about your self-confidence. Based on each of these factors, you are likely to put in more effort based on why you are doing it in the first place.

• Nutrition:- the kinds of foods you eat influence the calories you absorb into your bloodstream. So, you may need to lower calorie-rich meals for quick results. Such foods include proteins such as red meat, pork, and chicken. 
• Some carbohydrates also boost calorie levels. These include potatoes, whole grain pasta, brown rice, and whole-grain bread among others.

• Weight:- your immediate weight plays a significant role in determining how much you want to reduce. For instance, if you are 90kg and you need to reduce to 70 or 60 you may have to put more effort into your gameplays. Accordingly, you may have to reduce your calorie intake for approximately 6 months to reach your weight goal.

• The intensity of the play:- Once you are sure of how many pounds you want to drop, you can calculate effectively the period it will take you to reach your goal. Considering a tennis game lasts approximately three hours. To make your court time as convenient as possible, you can decide to spend an hour on the court daily.

Do You Need to Be Fit to Play Tennis?

You do not need to be fit to play tennis. However, it depends on your reason for playing the game. You don’t need to be fit if you want to burn off some fat. If you want to rise to the top-ranked tennis players, you have to be fit.

So if you want to play tennis because you enjoy the game, you need to know that the intense activities on the court are consuming in the form of energy and quite hydrating as well. Therefore, you will need to take some fat levels daily to cover up for the energy consumed on the court.

You may need to undergo severe training for your body to adjust to running around the pitch for about three hours before you can manage to play. The intense burst of physical activity in tennis makes it not for everyone, regardless of its excitement and health benefits. 

In addition to a physically fit body, the training will help you develop better hand-eye coordination. It will be essential to help gauge the oncoming ball and your contact point with it. 

The training for playing tennis should also include nutritional tips that will keep you in shape and make you stronger throughout the match.

These nutritional tips are:

Assuming you will be in the court for 2 to 3 hours, you need to consume at least 2.7 pounds per kilogram of body weight per day. Nevertheless, if you will be there for more than 4 hours, you’ll have to eat about 3.5 or 4.5 per day. 

Eating carbohydrates at least 30 minutes before a match will improve your endurance on the court. If possible, take additional grams of carbohydrates every two hours during the game. Among the best sources of these carbohydrates are whole-grain bread, fruits, and vegetables.

Take 0.5 to 0.8 grams of protein a day per pound of body weight. You do need to pay attention to the exact levels of protein you are consuming since eating more proteins may not boost your tennis performance. The best sources for these proteins are turkey, chicken, low-fat milk, and beef.

Tennis players need some fat for energy production. However, carbohydrates work better than fats. Therefore take 0.45grams a day per pound of body weight. The best sources for these fats are olive oil, canola oil, and nuts.

Does Playing Tennis Help to Lose Belly Fat?

Playing tennis helps to lose belly fat. However, it won’t work on belly fat alone; you’ll have to lose the overall body weight to lose belly fat.

There are lots of myths today about losing belly and general body fats. Some believe you have to stay the whole day on the treadmill; others believe you must eat particular foods and do specific workouts. It ends up with you being on an empty stomach and losing nothing at all because of the confusion included in it.

However, it isn’t that easy to lose belly fat without losing weight to some extent. Playing the sport will not only slim your body but also tone your muscles. The latter, however, will depend on how intense your exercises are, but you will find that your body will start to lose fat as toned muscles replace it.

However, you should expect your body to become sore after a few days of playing for the first time. That is to show that you are on the right track for lean legs and upper body muscles. Make sure you increase your water intake whenever you decide to embrace the game.