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Working Out with Jelena

Her name is Jelena Dokic. She is young, beautiful and hard working girl. His name is Mike Nishihara. He is director of fitness and sports conditioning at Saddlebrook Resort in Wesley Chapel, Florida. Together, they make the perfect team.

In this article you shall see what secret methods Mike uses to help Jelena Dokic with her fitness, which is one of the best on the WTA tour.

Mike Nishihara believes that if you do tennis-specific cardio drills it can help you to boost your aerobic capacity.
"You can get a great aerobic workout, but you'll be teaching your body to react to the way it's stressed during match" Mike said.

But Mike also believes that lack of sleep may also contribute to injuries, make you prone to illness etc, etc. If you ask sleep experts, they will tell you that we need a minimum of 8 hours a night, though nine is ideal.

"Tennis is a mental game, and if you are not well rested, you can't think" according to Mike.

"When I don't get enough sleep, I don't perform as well. I'm sluggish and I can't concentrate" Dokic added. This was highlighted in the Italian Open when Dokic recieved a call at evelen O'clock the night before a match from a certain Mr Brixi asking her if she wanted to play doubles with Anna Kornikova. Dokic lost her match the next day.

As Jelena needs extra resistance and to be more focused on her running form, Mike Nishihara likes to use a harness wrapped around her waist. After running in place, kicking her knees high, Mike would take her off at top speed for 20 yards, with that form being kept.

Mike comments "This is so she has good running form before she begins moving forward. Than I have her take off at top speed for 20 yards, keeping that form. It's important for her to keep her arms moving quickly after she begins running. She does 6 repetitions, resting for 20 seconds between each. The harness makes every step tough".

And that is not all.

Mike Nishihara is somewhere between the service line and the baseline. Jelena is closer to the net. The program starts with Mike tossing a 'reaction ball' in the air. What Jelena has to do is to catch it on one bounce two times and after that on bounce twice. After that, Mike Nishihara would throw the ball over her head, and Jelena would have to catch it on one bounce two times. After that, Jelena would throw the ball up herself and would have to catch it on one bounce 3 consecutive times.

As you can see, these exercisers are not only for stamina but for her stroke production as well. If you were asking how her fitness is so good after so many weeks on the tour, you got the answer. Just keep working hard and the result will come very soon.