How Much Cardio Is In An Hour Of Tennis?

In one hour of playing tennis, a 160-lb. person will burn an average of 584 calories, nearly half the American College of Sports Medicine's and the American Heart Association's recommended minimum weekly guideline for physical activity. Playing tennis for a few hours a week, you will work to improve your health and fitness, while reducing your risk of developing chronic disease or disability. Always consult your doctor before starting any new exercise regimen.

Cardio

Cardiovascular exercise includes participation in any activity that increases your heart and breathing rates, while repetitively working large groups of muscles in your body. Tennis is a form of cardio exercise, so when you play tennis for an hour, you are also performing an hour of cardio. As a form of cardio training, tennis works to strengthen and improve the performance of your heart and lungs.

Tennis

Playing tennis provides you with all the fun qualities of a game, plus the added benefits of cardiovascular exercise. Besides helping to maintain your overall health and fitness, regular tennis play will help you to maintain your coordination, ability to balance, flexibility, strength and reaction time.

Warmup

Preparing your body for tennis with a dynamic warmup routine will help prevent your body against injury and improve your ability to play tennis. The United States Tennis Association recommends warming up with 12 exercises outlined on their website, including jogging at a moderate pace while swinging your arms in circles, and performing knee hug lunges.

Tips

To reduce your risk of injury, gradually increase the amount of time you spend on the tennis court, warmup before you play and wear proper tennis shoes while playing. You receive the most cardiovascular benefits from playing tennis when you play against an evenly matched opponent. If you maintain an active lifestyle, you can continue to play tennis at least into your 80s.