North Melbourne AFL footballer Liam Anthony discusses his role in promoting Cardio Tennis in the AFL community and how it’s a fun and social way to improve your health and fitness.

“I grew up playing a little bit of tennis, I follow the circuit pretty closely year-round and attend the Australian Open,and thought I wouldn’t mind seeing how things go behind the scenes,” Anthony says.

That opportunity arose when he began a role with Tennis Australia in July 2011 through the AFL SportsReady program, an initiative providing footballers with an entry point into the workforce in an industry of their choice.

Anthony works in the hub that oversees programs including Cardio Tennis. During the 2011 December Showdown he promoted and coordinated a Cardio Tennis session at Melbourne Park involving some of his North Melbourne team-mates, and says they responded positively to the program.

“It’s completely different to any sort of coaching session or fitness-based workout we do. We were lucky enough to get Belinda Colaneri coaching us, and she was brilliant. She’s upbeat and enthusiastic and that’s what you want from your coach,” he says.

“Cardio Tennis is better than running 30 minutes on a treadmill where you’ve got your earphones in.  You’ve got music pumping, you’re meeting new people and learning new skills, and you get a very good workout, as some of the North boys will tell you.”

One of those was Luke Delaney, who says that while his tennis skills were not as sharp as he’d like, he really enjoyed himself.

“It was good to have the [music beat] going, and Belinda kept us on our toes and doing push-ups and burpies and what-not. It was a bit of fun and it kept the heart-rate up,” he says.

“It was good to use a heart rate monitor. We’ve used them before during our training and it was good to see the comparison to what heart rate we were getting to. Most of the guys were in the zone, if not higher.”

During the AFL pre-season, players’ intense training load means they can’t incorporate many other forms of physical activity into their programs. Yet Anthony says Cardio Tennis is a great form of exercise for footballers to consider at other times throughout the year.

“During the season it’s pretty much just recovery, and I’m sure if the boys are feeling up to it and feeling a bit fresher it’d be something we’d look into, especially during January and February when it’s coming into game phase and the Australian Open is on,” he says.

“You definitely do get a good work-rate … (and it’s) pretty intense training. It improves your speed, sprint work and agility and it definitely does get your heart pumping. It’s great for people who like to get fit, lose weight, and do lots of running and different activities. And with the music going it’s just a whole lot of fun.”

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