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July 20, 2004 (August 2004 Issue)
FITNESS: Working Out with Roger Federer
The 23-year-old from Switzerland is the best player in the world, and he’s training hard to keep it that way.
By Bill Scott, TENNIS Magazine
Does
anything bother Roger Federer? The young Swiss is unflappable on the
court, unfazed by his No. 1 ranking, and he even gets a kick out of his
fitness work. “I’m not thinking about anything when I work out,”
Federer says. “I just see the light at the end of the tunnel. When
you’re with good friends, training can also be a lot of fun.” In
fact, the smooth-stroking Federer has found that the more work he does
off the court, the easier he can make the game look on it. While he’s
hardly a muscleman, he spends plenty of time in the gym.
“I like
lifting weights,” says the two-time Grand Slam champion, “but tennis
players do a lot of different kinds of exercises—gym, muscle training,
sprints, footwork, coordination. I like to mix it up.” As the
biggest target on the men’s tour, Federer needs any edge he can get.
And when it comes to the nuts and bolts of training, he likes to have
as much information as possible. “I just need to understand why I’m
doing the work I have to do on court and in the gym,” he says. “Once I
understand, training isn’t really a problem for me. You can’t have a
bigger motivation to play well than I do already. I want to maintain
No. 1, win Wimbledon again, and play well at the Olympics. I have a lot
of goals left in my career.” The current fury on the ATP tour
over dietary supplements and trace readings of steroids seems to have
passed the clean-living Federer by. Because he plays so many matches,
he has become the most tested man in the sport, having undergone more
than 20 drug screenings in the last year. Still, he seems less
concerned about the controversy than most of his colleagues. “I’m not
scared, I know that I’m 200-percent fit,” Federer says. “I’m just
trying to do the best I can for my game.” Like most of the top
players, Federer and his team, which includes traveling fitness trainer
Pierre Paganini and Basel-based physiotherapist Pavel Kovac, keep the
workouts light over the course of a tournament week, while bearing down
at home in Basel. “When I’m at home, I’ll play on court and work out
for about four hours every day,” Federer says. “At a tournament, it’s
much less. There, I just need to make sure that I’m 100 percent for
every match that I play.” As far as his training meals go,
Federer is careful about what he eats while he’s on the road, but he
loosens up a bit off it. “I try to make sure I eat correctly. But when
I’m in Switzerland, I don’t watch it so much. I want to give myself a
treat occasionally.” At right are two exercises from Federer’s routine
that will help you with your balance and overall strength.
Lateral Lunges with Twist
Works
the glutes, obliques, and torso. Stand with your feet shoulder-width
apart. Lunge with your left leg out at a 45-degree angle (see photo at
left), then lower your upper leg and twist the left side of your torso
forward (see photo at right). Hold, return to starting position, and
repeat with right leg. Do 10 times on each side. As you get stronger,
place a barbell with little or no weight on it across your shoulders.
Medicine-Ball Toss
Improves
agility and strengthens core and upper body. Stand across the net from
a partner, with both of you at the singles sideline, about halfway back
to the service line. Moving quickly across the court with shuffle
steps, pass a medicine ball of comfortable weight back and forth,
keeping the ball at chest level. Go from sideline to sideline three
times.
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