We’re going to look at some of Roger Federer’s favorite exercises that have helped him retain elite levels of fitness in a professional career spanning over 23 years, covering warm-ups, exercises for mobility, agility, and strength training.

How Roger Federer Warms Up

Whether you’re a professional athlete or weekend warrior, warming up before undertaking intense exercise is essential in helping to improve your performance and avoiding injuries.

Though Roger Federer has an army of nutritionists, personal trainers, and coaches, his warm-up exercises are basic moves that are easy to do but have multiple benefits.

Jump Rope: Jump rope is an excellent exercise for your cardiovascular system and agility. Federer likes to start off slowly and work his way up to ‘double-unders’.

Butt Kicks: A simple yet effective warm-up exercise perfect for elevating your heart rate and getting some heat into your quads.

Stretches: Dynamic stretching is best performed once your muscles are warmed up a little. Avoid static stretching as it can negatively impact your workout and fatigue your muscles.

Side-Line Sprints: This exercise not only builds a bulletproof cardiovascular system, but it’s also known to pack on muscle and get the body used to sudden changes of direction, which is essential on the tennis court. This intense exercise is best done as the last part of your warm-up.

Roger Federer’s Favorite Exercises

Medicine ball Shuffle: Roger Federer uses the medicine ball shuffle (passing a medicine back and forth while shuffling sideways) with his coach as a way to build core stability, arm strength, and coordination.

Lateral Band Walks: With resistance bands, like the Victorembands, wrapped around his legs and feet set at shoulder-width apart, Roger Federer performs lateral band walks to increase his hip stability and knee-joint strength.

Cone Drills: Federer’s workout routine includes cone drills to sharpen his agility by using cones as markers for fast-paced direction changing, while simultaneously practicing his forehand and backhand.

Side lunges & Twists: Using a medicine ball to tax his muscles further, Roger performs side lunges with a twist for balance, coordination, and isolating his hamstrings, glutes, and quads.

Trampoline Volleys: Standing on one leg on a trampoline, Federer practices volleying the tennis ball to a partner. He believes it helps his balance and hand-eye coordination.

Racket Drills: Practice makes perfect, and Roger Federer’s fitness coach, Pierre Paganini, runs racket drills with the 20 grand slam winner to make sure his forehand, backhand, groundstroke, and volleys are as sharp as possible.

HIIT: Or ‘High-Intensity Interval Training is a series of cardiovascular exercises performed at maximum intensity for periods of 10-to-15 seconds followed by a rest period of around 45 seconds. Federer does HIIT to build explosive power for short but taxing points within a tennis match.

Jogging: While jogging is not high on Roger’s list of popular exercises, building cardiovascular endurance is essential for top tennis players. Though much of the game is played over short, intense time periods, tennis matches can last for hours.

Rest & Recovery

Roger Federer didn’t become a top athlete by exercising alone; he achieved elite status by recovering properly from consistently intense workouts and letting his body adapt to the stimulation.

If you want to recover sufficiently, you need a balanced and nutritious diet and proper sleep. Federer eats whole foods healthily, lean protein for muscle growth, and complex carbs for energy and endurance while getting a minimum of ten hours of sleep per night.

Following Roger Federer’s training routine might not lead you to win Wimbledon, but it will help improve your overall health and fitness, which will lead to gains on the tennis court.

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