Effect of long term tennis participation on aerobic power, body composition, muscular strength, flexibility and serum lipids

Abstract

Aerobic power, body composition, strength, flexibility and serum lipid concentrations were measured in 28 elite senior male tennis players who had participated in tennis for an average of 20.6 years and 18 moderately active age matched controls to determine the health and fitness benefit of long term tennis participation. A two‐way ANOVA was performed for age (40–59 and 60+ years) and activity (tennis and controls) on all variables except strength. A three‐way ANOVA was performed for strength with the speed of rotation defined as a repeated measure. A significant difference was found between the tennis player and control groups for both age groups studied for both aerobic power and body composition. The tennis player group also expended more kilocalories per week during activity and spent more time in vigorous activity than the control group for both age groups studied as measured by the Yale Physical Activity Survey. There was no significant difference between the experimental groups For strength and fle...