Exercising with a buddy, in teams or part of a group offers a whole new dimension to your physical activity and a variety of benefits. Cardio Tennis represents an excellent opportunity to enjoy a great workout in a social environment.
How many times have you planned to be active, only to excuse it away? “I’m too tired”, “it’s too hot”, “I don’t want to get out of bed yet” or “I’ll start on Monday” are all common reasons for not getting out and getting fit.
Self-motivation and discipline are key to exercise and crucial to getting benefits from being physically active. Including a few more people within your exercise regime offers a different approach and may alter your attitude to working out.
Up your motivation
One way to increase your likelihood of doing exercise is to work out with a friend. Getting a training buddy involved means there is someone else relying on you to work out with them – you’re less likely to skip out on a training session as you won’t want to let them down. Plus, exercising with a friend gives you a chance to catch up and take your mind off the exertion you’re putting in.
Widen your social circle
If working out with a friend enhances your social life, then working out with a team takes this to a whole new level. Taking part in a team sport or a group exercise session connects you with lots of new people, many of whom are likely to be of a similar age and have shared interests.
Manage stress
With several people in each session, Cardio Tennis is a great example of a group approach to exercise. And according to Energise Health Management’s Nathan Martin, this makes it a great stress buster.
“When people train by themselves, a lot of the time they’ll think about the dramas they’ve got going on in their lives, but as soon as you throw in a few more people it becomes more interactive,” he explains.
“They become more present in the moment, and it becomes more about what they’re doing now rather than what they’ve got to do or what’s happened, so they really start to let go. All of a sudden they get a lot more out of the training because they have forgotten about everything else by focusing on themselves and enjoying the training. And that’s why Cardio Tennis would be fantastic for people.”
Tennis Australia’s Psychological Services Coordinator Heather McGregor-Bayne agrees.
“One of the great things about Cardio Tennis is the social aspect – social support can be really important in managing stress. Creating a team environment and a really fun culture is very helpful.”
Improve your results
Having people around you when you exercise can really lift your performance, due to the encouraging, supportive and motivating environment that you’re working out in.
Television and entertainment personality Geoff “Coxy” Cox noticed this about Cardio Tennis when he took part in a session during the 2011 December Showdown.
“This bunch (the people in his session) were fantastic … I’ve come down and I’m as rusty as all get out playing tennis, and they were all really supportive, and saying “yeah come on, we’ll have a go, you’ll be right”, so I thought the whole social thing was fantastic,” he says.
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