cardio tennis

Cardio Tennis + Give Away

The winner was:
Seana Smith October 24, 2012 at 10:29 pm
Hi Nicole, I’d love to do one with my 13 year old son as he’s great fun to exercise with and would so egg me on. I haven’t heard of this before and think it’s a great idea, especially to give you a heart rate monitor. I know that would motivate me a lot.

This post is sponsored by Nuffnang.

When it comes to exercise I am a cardio girl. Love, love, love getting the heart rate up, working hard and letting the endorphins kick in. I am a creature of habit when it comes to my exercise routine though – gym most mornings, start with cardio, then onto weights and core, with one run long a week on the streets.

Last week however, I mixed it up and did a couple of Cardio Tennis classes. They were seriously so much fun. In a nutshell in combined a few of my favourite things:

  • a high energy cardio workout
  • great music
  • hanging out with a lovely friend

Lou joined me for the sessions and she is quite handy with the racquet and is just starting to get back into regular exercise. I have pretty good cardio fitness, but am pretty uncoordinated when it comes to hitting the ball!

I was a little worried that I may not get as much from the Cardio Tennis session because my skill set for tennis is low. Thankfully it didn’t matter at all and by the end of the second session, I could actually see a notable difference in my ability to hit the ball accurately back over the net. The aim of the sessions isn’t to critique your playing style, but to get a great and incredibly fun workout with the added advantage of working on your tennis skills.

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At the start of the Cardio Tennis sessions, you are given a heart rate monitor and watch to put on so you can monitor your heart rate through out the session.

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There were only four of us in our sessions but they usually have 6 – 8 participants. On both nights we met lovely people. Friendly, social and we had lots of laughs and cheers as we enjoyed the great shots some got in.

The session format is a combination of routines that get the heart rate up and the legs running and then more tennis skill based drills and games, tweaked so that you are constantly moving and continuing to work hard with out resting.

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Between exercises the instructor checks in on how your heart rate is going. Paddy was our instructor on the second evening and he was fantastic. He kept an eye on how everyone was tracking individually and would recommend different approaches (eg taking it easy or stepping it up) depending on how we were traveling.

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During the drills we went through loads of balls. If the heart rate was high at the end of the activity then we would just pick up the balls quickly and move onto the next activity.

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If though the heart rates were on the lower end, we would race to pick them up two at a time, running to and from the basket. There were lots of simple, short activities like this which were fun and added great variety to the work out.

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For me, someone who is not natural drawn to tennis, Cardio Tennis was all the good bits I like jammed into one 45 – 60 minute session. Lots of running around interspersed with the fun and satisfaction of a few good volleys and some decent whacking about of the ball.

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And I really enjoyed exercising with Lou. The exercise I usually do is pretty solitary, so it was lovely to mix it up, chat and laugh (generally at some of my shots!) while burning off some calories. A nice change of catching up and consuming calories at the cafe!

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At the end of the session the instrutor shows you how to see the results of the workout on the watch.

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I burned 505 calories over the 58 minutes I had the heart rate monitor on and that was without me working at maximum intensity. The Cardio Tennis sessions were my first time running around again after six weeks of no running (had been doing other cardio though, just not high impact). Lou burned even more calories!

But it wasn’t just about the number of calories, both Lou and I left the sessions feeling great and in high spirits. It had been a crazy couple of weeks for me, so exercising with with a friend and having a ball like I did, was a fantastic way to manage the stress of a busy work load.

We attended the sessions at Melbourne Park, but there are centres all around Australia that host Cardio Tennis. Head to the Find A Workout page and enter your postcode or suburb to find the one closest to you. You can also register for a free trial too!

Next time I want to take Mr I along, as I think he would have a great time as well. We could do a Cardio Tennis session at Melbourne Park and then pop down to Victoria Street for a meal – would make a great night out!

You can follow Cardio Tennis on twitter or connect on facebook.

Win a Cardio Tennis Pack

Thanks to Cardio Tennis, you can win a Cardio Tennis pack, containing:

  • Wilson racquet
  • 5 Cardio Tennis session pass
  • Suunto Heart Rate Monitor
  • Cardio Tennis singlet top

To enter, leave a comment telling me who you would like to do a Cardio Tennis session with and why. Australian residents only. I will short list entries and the winner will be chosen by Nuffnang. Full terms and conditions here.