What Gets Measured Gets Done

I believe that we need to stay active in order to live healthier and happier. But how do you know how much is enough and which activity is best?

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that adults need at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity or 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity aerobic activity every week. In addition, this activity should include muscle-strengthening exercise on 2 or more days a week that work the legs, hips, back, abdomen, chest, shoulders and arms. They add that going beyond the recommended minimums will return even greater health benefits.

The CDC defines Aerobic activity as anything that gets you breathing harder and your heart beating faster. This includes pushing a lawn mower, taking a dance class and biking to the store. All types of activities count as long as you're doing them at a moderate or vigorous intensity for at least 10 minutes at a time. But how do you know if you're doing light, moderate, or vigorous intensity aerobic activities?

Again, the CDC defines moderate-intensity aerobic activity as working hard enough to raise your heart rate and break a sweat. Some examples of activities that require moderate effort are walking fast, riding a bike on level ground and playing doubles tennis. Vigorous-intensity aerobic activity means you're breathing hard and fast, and your heart rate has gone up quite a bit. Some examples of activities that require vigorous effort include jogging or running, riding a bike fast or on hills and playing singles tennis.

There are a multitude of ways to achieve these activity levels; however, I want to focus on playing Tennis to stay active and healthy. Previously, I cited information from various sources that this sport can be part of a healthy lifestyle. I believe this to be true based on the information presented and my own personal experiences.

I’ve always assumed that I was getting a significant amount of exercise from my activities; however, this assumption was always based on some gut feeling rather than an objective measure. To correct this, I purchased a Fitbit activity tracker which does a very good job of tracking my activity level. Fitbit will record many data points and these items can be tracked over time so you can measure your progress.

The first item to pop up is steps taken. Fitbit has a default recommendation of 10,000 steps per day which meets the CDC minimum level of activity. Based on your steps, Fitbit will calculate the distance covered in a day. My goal is to exceed 10,000 steps every day and get 20,000 steps as many days as I can. The 20,000 steps translates into approximately 10 miles.

Another important item to consider is your Heart Rate which is tracked throughout the day. The heart rate can be viewed in graphical form and the levels recorded are divided into various categories including fat burn, cardio and peak (which are listed in increasing order of intensity). At the end of the day, I like to check the total amounts of minutes spent in each of these categories.

I mentioned earlier that the CDC states that activity should be of sufficient intensity for at least 10 minutes at a time in order to produce the desired impact. Fitbit records your Minutes Active when your activity is more strenuous than regular walking for at least 10 minutes. At the end of the day, I check to see if I have met or exceeded the CDC recommendation of a minimum of 20-30 active minutes.

So, how much activity have I seen while playing tennis? As one measure, I average 7,500 steps (approximately 3.5 miles) when I participate in our 90 minute Cardio Tennis drill. I am on the court 4-5 hours per day 6 days per week and the majority of my activity comes from playing Tennis. Last week, I took over 150,000 steps and covered more than 70 miles. It is fair to say that you can maintain a high level of activity from this sport and easily exceed the CDC minimum levels.

You should also know that I work out at the YMCA 2-3 times per week. I use a variety of exercises to work the major muscle groups in order to prevent injury and enhance my Tennis game. However, I do not enjoy these sessions nearly as much as my time on the court.

Fitbit is certainly not the only activity tracking device on the market. It is the one with which I am most familiar and it more than meets my needs. It would be helpful to know if other products offer more advantages.

One of the best things you can do to maintain your workout routines is to share them with others who have similar goals and aspirations. Soon, I hope to start a Fitbit Challenge with others at our Tennis club so that we can collectively achieve our ambitions and have fun while we do so. If you have done this, please let me know.

Have I missed anything? If so, let me know what you think.

Tennis Players are Social Animals

Okay, in my previous 2 posts, I have listed and discussed some of the benefits of playing tennis as mentioned in an article from Tennis Industry magazine. This week, I want to focus on the social benefits as mentioned in the article. These ideas are included below:

• Tennis develops social skills. You play with others both across the net and on teams and in leagues.  For players of all ages and abilities you can make new friends and expand your social network.
• Tennis time is great family time. It’s a great sport that the whole family can enjoy together.
• Tennis develops teamwork. Whether it’s playing on a doubles team, or on a league or school team, tennis helps to develop your ability to communicate and work together.
• Tennis improves your self-image. Tennis players scored higher in vigor, optimism and self-esteem while scoring lower in depression, anger, confusion, anxiety and tension than other athletes or non-athletes, according to a Southern Connecticut State University study.

I wholeheartedly agree that tennis allows you to make new friends and expand your social network. I have experienced this personally and have seen this same effect with others. During matches and drills, laughter and good natured ribbing is standard fare. After play, I find players lingering to talk with one another and even plan activities outside tennis. It is a wonderful venue for establishing new and continuing relationships with others.

My father was an avid tennis player and that is certainly one of the reasons I began playing the sport. At our club, we see multiple families participating in the drills and match play. It is difficult to determine if the families are strong because they play together or they play together because of the strong relationships. Regardless, tennis is a sport played by the very young to the very old and families can enjoy their time together on the court.

Playing singles can be very lonely. You have to focus totally on the task at hand and develop your own solutions to the problems you face. Doubles is very different. Good doubles players have a good understanding of their partner, solve problems collaboratively and provide continuing support to their teammate. The communication happens both verbally and nonverbally and this ability is something that can be developed with practice.

It does not surprise me that tennis players scored higher in vigor, optimism and self-esteem while scoring lower in depression, anger, confusion, anxiety and tension than other athletes or non-athletes. However, it is not clear if these attributes were developed as a result of tennis or those individuals with these traits were attracted to the game. I have seen players develop confidence as a result of their mastery of the sport and believe that is entirely plausible that tennis helps to enhance their positive self-image.

Do you agree or disagree with my suggestions. If so, please reply.

Tennis is all mental and that is good!

In my previous post, I focused on the physical benefits of playing tennis mentioned in an article from Tennis Industry magazine. However, there were other topical areas included in the article. This week I would like to focus on the mental benefits. Some of the ideas presented in the article are included below:

• Tennis develops your mind. The sport requires critical thinking and problem solving. Tennis keeps your brain active. When I play, my mind is totally focused on the game trying to determine how to win the match. There is no doubt that my mind is active while playing tennis.
• Tennis helps develop a work ethic. By improving through lessons and practice tennis reinforces the value of hard work. This is absolutely true. It takes a significant amount of time to develop your game and a large number of repetitions is necessary to improve.
• Tennis develops self-discipline. Regular practice keeps you disciplined in your approach to improvement. In this way, playing tennis is similar to learning a musical instrument and students learn that there is no easy way to success.
• Tennis helps in managing mistakes. Being able to move past mistakes is critical, whether in tennis or in life. Like the good salesperson, tennis players need to put mistakes behind them so they can move on to the next opportunity.
• Tennis helps in problem-solving and managing adversity. Players need to figure out the angles, geometry and physics, while adjusting constantly to match conditions. To those who have not played, tennis seems simple. However, after a significant period of time with the game, players soon realize the complexities of match play.
• Tennis helps to manage and reduce stress. With the physical, mental and emotional challenges tennis presents, you’ll increase your capacity to deal with stress. Tennis has pressure points and learning to deal successfully with these situations can offer benefits within the game and in the rest of your life.

I believe that the benefits mentioned are true but I don’t think that people play tennis to develop their mind. I think that these benefits are by-products of playing the game and add to the list of reasons to start or continue the sport.

Tennis can be a very frustrating sport and I think that one has to work at enjoying the game. I continually see individuals who berate themselves at a missed shot or suffer with a loss. The challenge in tennis is to learn to enjoy yourself when you play while working hard to improve all the aspects of your game. The ultimate question we have to face is how we use tennis to make ourselves healthier and happier.

To me, one of the beauties of Tennis (and other sports) is that I am able to immerse myself in the game and divorce myself from the rest of the world. I think that this is healthy for both my mental and emotional states. I don’t have any concrete evidence to support this contention but it seems reasonable to me.

However, just because this seems reasonable to me doesn’t make it so. If you have thoughts on this matter, please share your opinions.

Okay, that is it for today. I will be back next week with more thoughts on this topic. If you have comments or questions, please reply so that we can all contribute to this conversation.

Welcome to Tennis, Health & Happiness

Are you happy? Are you healthy? I am not certain what response I would get in response to these questions. However, if I asked if you want to be happy and healthy, I am confident that your response would be yes. I think that it is clear that we all want to be happy and healthy.

Okay, if everyone wants to be happy and healthy, how do we get there? I am sure that there are multiple ways to achieve these ambitions. However, I want to explore one way to improve our health and happiness.

I have always been very active and I believe that my life is better as a result. A constant in my life has been the presence of one or more sports interest that kept me active.

Tennis has become my passion and I am fortunate that I now get to play and teach this great sport. I am on the court 6 days a week and I believe that I am happier and healthier as a result. I truly enjoy the sensation of hitting a tennis ball and moving around the court.

Recently, I came across an article from Tennis Industry magazine in which they discussed the benefits of playing tennis. This article particularly resonated with me and I want to share some of the ideas presented:

• Play 3 hours of tennis a week and you’ll cut your risk of death in half from any cause, according to a Harvard study of 10,000 people during a 20-year period. What insurance company wouldn’t want that for their clientele! You can literally save your life by taking up the sport.
• Tennis burns calories. An hour of tennis can burn 580 to 870 calories, depending on your weight, says the Mayo Clinic. I think that there is general agreement that controlling your weight is vital to maintaining your health. Google says reducing calories by 300 per day and increasing daily activity to burn off an additional 200 calories should result in a weight loss of one pound per week.
• Tennis keeps your heart healthy. The Cleveland Clinic says tennis is ‘ideal sport for a healthy heart.’ And a Johns Hopkins study showed that middle-aged men who played tennis-more than any other activity-had a significant lower incidence of cardiovascular disease as they aged. I want to choose an activity that maximizes my health and tennis appears to be a good choice based on these statements.

These are strong statements and compelling reasons to play tennis. However, I don’t believe everything I read either in print or on the Internet. I want evidence that leads me to my own conclusions.

Given this, I recently purchased a Fitbit Zip which tracks steps, distance and calories burned. This device was relatively inexpensive and met my needs. My goal is to see if in fact tennis is burning calories and increasing my activity level.

I now wear my Zip whenever I am active. By default, Fitbit recommends that you take 10,000 steps per day. Fortunately, I have exceeded this amount averaging 15,000. As an example, on a recent 1 mile walk, the device indicated that I took 2,200 steps and burned 800 calories. As a comparison, in a 90 minute Cardio Tennis drill, Fitbit indicates that I typically take over 5,000 steps covering approximately 3 miles and burn 1,200 calories.

In my short experience with this device, I have found it to be motivating. I am certainly much more aware of how much I move during the day and how my activity levels vary over time. I am making progress in reaching my health goals. My weight is down and I am much more active.

I am still gathering statistics on my activity level in order to determine the benefits of various activities and, over time, I will get a clearer picture of my usage. However, I am interested in comparing these results to that of others. If you track your workouts, I ask that you share this information with the hope that we can begin to compile a more comprehensive set of data.

By the way, I chose the Fitbit because it was relatively inexpensive and readily available. So far, I am very impressed with the device and the software that accompanies it. However, I know that there are many other devices on the market and I cannot offer a comparison to the other products. If you have experience and knowledge with Fitbit or other devices, please share what you know.

My goal is to post weekly and I hope to continue the conversation started with this item. If you have comments or questions, please reply so that we can all contribute to this conversation.