Strengthen your bones through diet

With Wimbledon approaching many of us will find ourselves becoming more interested in the sport and some of us may even take it further by dusting off our rackets and taking to the courts.

In 2013 Andy Murray’s Wimbledon triumph saw a huge rise in the number of people taking to tennis courts across the country with London’s Regent’s Park Tennis Centre reporting its busiest day following the event.

For any tennis player the sudden influx of competitions being played means the body can easily come under undue strain, and injuries may occur such as a stress fracture.

Stress fractures

Stress fractures are a common obstacle that many keen tennis players will face, especially during training; in fact a stress fracture of the spine is one of the most common injuries within the sport.

Junior tennis players can suffer from this type of injury, so it can be important to improve the strength of your bones.

This type of injury in tennis is usually the result of increasing training too rapidly, for example 20% of junior players suffer from it, compared to just 7.5% of professional players.

A stress fracture is caused by the muscles tiring which causes increased stress to be placed on the bone. This stress causes tiny cracks in the bone which can be extremely painful and, with rest being the only cure, it can be an extremely frustrating injury for any tennis player to have.

Professional tennis player Andrea Petkovic was forced to withdraw from the Australian Open in 2012 due to a stress fracture in her lumber, after three years of serious injuries she has only just returned to the top 10.

Improving bone health

Others ways to improve your bone health is through nutrition. Increasing your protein intake for example, or eating more foods that contain vitamin D.

These are responsible for maintaining bone health and enables the body to absorb calcium.

So if you’re thinking of taking to the tennis courts this summer consider your diet first.