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Dear Reader
Whether for radio, route planning or as a travel guide, those of us with smartphones will use “apps“ – small applications of variable value. The Internet is now swarming with apps for health and fitness applications. You can count your steps and calories or calculate your BMI. There are also apps extolling the virtues of fitness programmes that suggest that they can replace personal instruction from a trainer.
I am often asked to develop a “Kieser app“. Do you really want one? Imagine the scene; you are firmly secured in a machine and are giving your muscles a really hard time. Suddenly, an instructor grabs your smartphone, checks the machine settings or weights and enters corrections.
Sometimes the simplest solutions are the best ones. Individual training plans and their management belong in the hands of specialists and no app in the world can replace that – however smart it may be. Although the training card may look somewhat antiquated, it is still the best way to monitor progress. I would also say to those who think that they can achieve their aims entirely without the aid of documents. You are just training your memory!
Werner Kieser
Strong enough for Match Point?
From the 20th of June to the 3rd of July it‘s game, set and match at Wimbledon with top players once again spending hours powering the yellow ball over the net. Often, it will be a single, almost imperceptible but powerful movement that will decide the match. Strength – along with technique, tactics, endurance, speed and coordination – is a crucial factor in determining the success of both professional and amateurs alike.
To ensure you win the point and the match, we recommend that you supplement your tennis training with targeted strength training twice a week – irrespective of whether you play for pleasure or have higher ambitions. Why? A lack of strength limits performance; an increase will provide you with the strength you need to win the match.
Tennis puts a strain mainly on the leg, trunk and back muscles together with shoulders, forearms, wrist and ankle joints. “Tennis players often suffer from typical muscle imbalances and other associated problems,“ says Dr. Babar Abbas of Kieser Training London. “An extremely common problem is severe back pain, which is usually caused by a weakness in the deep spinal muscles,“ continues Dr. Abbas. “However, the real problem is not just pain but the lack of ability to hit the ball with sufficient clout due to pain inhibition or muscular imbalances. To hit a tennis ball properly, you must be able to rotate the trunk and this requires strength in the back as well as the abdominal muscles. As a general rule, you cannot play an athletic game of tennis unless you have a strong muscle corset.“ According to Dr. Abbas, “tennis combines quick spurts, sudden stops, continuous changes in direction and hard returns,“ all of which puts an enormous strain on joints, ligaments and tendons. Playing tennis or any other sport without adequate strength training will lead to muscle spasms, joint injuries, ligament sprains and tendinopathies, such as the dreaded tennis elbow.
According to Dr. Abbas, Kieser Training develops both general muscles and the specific muscles involved in performance. “We can prepare a specific training programme for tennis and other sports. Proper strength training will serve as a foundation for stamina, speed and endurance in sport“. He also emphasises the importance of training “not just for muscle strengthening but also for strengthening bones, tendons, ligaments and joints. .Not only increases performance but also reduces the risk of injury“. Kieser Training offers specific machines for effective training, e.g. the F3 (back extension) strengthens the deep back muscles, the E4 and E5 (internal and external shoulder rotation) train the muscles in the rotator cuff and the H3 and H4 (wrist pronation and supination) stabilise the wrists.
The plus in terms of performance is that strong muscles allow you to jump higher and further, run faster, hit the ball harder and really accelerate it. In addition, the greater your range of motion, the better equipped you are to produce strength from unusual positions. But that‘s not all: The Kieser Training tennis programme also increases endurance, and so you tire less quickly and continue to hit challenging returns for longer. In particular, improved inter- and intra-muscular coordination and more explosive strength means faster reactions; as a result, you serve better, volley more energetically and make spectacular returns.
Stay on the ball – we‘ll be happy to advise you.
70 – a powerful number
Apparently, it is the destiny of women to be pigeonholed as the proverbial weaker sex. We think that belongs by right in the realms of the cliché! With one exception: If we look at the physical differences between men and women, there is some truth in that outmoded myth of the weaker sex. Of course, there are strong women, just as there are weak men. However, on average women only achieve 70% of the strength of men, assuming identical age and size.
The reason why women are not as strong is primarily a distinct lack of muscle. On average, 40% – 50% of the male body consists of muscle, whereas in women it is just 25% – 35%. The reason is testosterone, the male sex hormone. Although women do have testosterone, it is present in much smaller quantities. Testosterone is responsible for muscle build-up and so men quite simply benefit from more advantageous hormonal status.
However, not all muscle groups display the 70% rule. Strength tests at Kieser Training have shown that the difference in strength is less in the lower body. For example, the strength of female leg muscles is about 74% – 78% that of men. In contrast women fare less well when it comes to arm strength where most women only achieve 63% – 65% of male strength. Despite that statistic, what counts in the final analysis is how diligently men and women train. On that score, women do just as well as men: exactly 50% of Kieser Training customers are female – and we find that great!
