Anna Kournikova Is On And Now Off "The Biggest Loser"

I don't know if you are a fan of NBC's "The Biggest Loser" but my family definitely is. My 11-year-old, my husband and I are addicted to this show. I don't know if that's a good thing but isn't the first step towards recovery admitting that we have this problem?

Anyway, I keep meaning to post about one of the new trainers in Season 12 - Anna Kournikova! If you remember, last season, she appeared on the show to put the contestants through a round of Cardio Tennis. I posted about that here - Anna Kournikova Takes Cardio Tennis To The Biggest Losers. This season, they brought her back as a full-fledged trainer! I think the idea was for her to try and replace the apparently irreplaceable Jillian Michaels. I say irreplaceable because even though Season 12 isn't finished, it has already been announced that Anna will not be returning for Season 13.

At first, I was skeptical of Anna's ability to train anybody to do anything, let alone help these incredibly obese people through the emotional miasma of their weight loss. I mean let's get serious - Anna Kournikova has never been overweight in her life. She has more in common with a super model than with a fatty. But over the course of the season, she really seemed to get into the concept of the show - providing these people with both physical fitness training as well as psychological guidance. I thought she ultimately did a great job and was a nice contrast to the other two male trainers. And I liked that she worked tennis into her training program every chance she got.

Apparently, however, the show was not "the right fit" for her and so she won't be returning next season. Too bad - now we'll have to meet some new female (I'm sure) trainer who won't be a good substitute for Anna or for Jillian. Oh well.

My family and I will miss you Anna and I'm sure a lot of other viewers will too. Good luck finding something to do as lucrative as "The Biggest Loser." I'm pretty sure its not World Team Tennis.




© Kim Selzman 2011 All Rights Reserved

Let's Get Real - How Many Calories Can I Burn Playing Tennis?

So you think tennis is a really great workout? Not so fast, my volley-slamming friend. Let's calculate how many calories you can really burn off playing tennis.

We all know how to lose weight - burn off more calories than you take in. The question then is how many calories can you burn off by playing tennis?

I went on-line and found several sources to tell me what the calorie burn is for tennis. I first checked out myfitnesspal.com, an on-line site that lets you easily keep track of your calories taken in and calories worked off. (This site also has an iPhone/iTouch app that is very easy to use.) Myfitnesspal gives these calorie counts for tennis:

• Tennis, General - 408 calories per hour
• Tennis, Doubles - 291 calories per hour
• Tennis, Singles - 466 calories per hour

Another site that gives calorie counts is www.fitwatch.com. This site has a Physical Activity/Exercise Database that you can search to find the number of calories you burn while exercising. The little twist with Fitwatch is that you enter your weight to find the number of calories burned, so presumably the calorie count is a little more customized. For me, at my weight (which I am not telling you), here's what Fitwatch has to say about calories burned during tennis:

• Tennis, General - 433 calories per hour
• Tennis, Doubles - 371 calories per hour
• Tennis, Singles - 495 calories per hour

And then I visited a third site - www.my-calorie-counter.com. Again, with this one, you had to enter your weight to get the calories burned calculation. They had this to say about calories burned during tennis:

• Tennis, General - 414 calories per hour
• Tennis, Doubles - 295 or 355 calories per hour (there were two different kinds of doubles)
• Tennis, Singles - 473 calories per hour

With these figures in mind, I'm guessing that, in doubles, you probably burn off about 300 calories an hour and, in singles, you can burn off about 450 calories an hour. And when calculating how many hours you've played, be sure and deduct some for all of that time spent standing around, chatting, drinking water and running to the bathroom between sets.

Now remember - it doesn't do any good to burn calories playing tennis if you're just packing them back in by mindlessly eating. To give an example, let's say you're at a match waiting to play. Let's say your league requires the home team to provide snacks and the usual junk is out there. So while you're waiting, you have a banana (90 calories), 10 peanut M&Ms (103 calories) and 3 mini Reese's peanut butter cups (132 calories). You've now taken in 325 calories without eating a real meal. You have to play a solid hour of doubles to burn those mindless snacks off. (Unfortunately, this is pretty representative of what I do while I'm standing around waiting to play.) Conclusion - play a lot of tennis and stay away from the M&Ms!


This post originally appeared on Tennis Fixation's blog page on the Tennis Now website. Click here to read this and other great Tennis Fixation posts on Tennis Now!




© Kim Selzman 2010 All Rights Reserved

Tennis Nutrition: Planning Your Ideal Diet

This is a guest post from avid tennis player and blogger, Maria Rainer.

If you’re going to invest in maintaining the best possible conditions for your primary tennis equipment, your own body should top the list. Sure, it’s important to re-string your racket and make sure your shoes don’t slip, but taking care of your body is even more important. Even beyond wearing braces for vulnerable joints, your diet and nutrition should be a focal point of your tennis fitness routine.

Because it’s so easy to slip when you’re on a specific diet, planning ahead can help you ensure that you’ll have the best possible opportunities to maintain healthy tennis nutrition. To start planning your success, check out the following categories of nutrition you’ll need to address.

General Nutrition

To maximize the benefits you receive from everyday meals, avoid more than three servings of alcohol each week and stay away from excess calories and saturated fats. Make sure that you aren’t experiencing any mineral or caloric deficiencies by taking vitamins designed for your gender, age group, and level of activity.

Use an online calorie intake calculator to determine how many calories you should consume in a given day, then make sure that you don’t come up short of this number or exceed it by too much. You can do this by using a caloric value calculator if you don’t have access to nutrition labels on everything you consume.

You daily caloric intake should be accounted for by the following:

• 3 ounces of whole grain
• 2 ½ to 3 cups of vegetables
• 1 ½ to 2 cups of fruits
• 3 cups of milk products
• 5 to 6 ½ ounces of meat or other proteins
• 2 to 3 liters of water

Pre-Match Nutrition
Many tennis players and nutritionists who understand the demands of extended, high-intensity physical activity advocate carbo-loading before a match. This means that it’s advisable to consume enough carbohydrates to get you through the match without sapping permanent energy stores like muscle.

To do this, avoid “empty” or simple carbs like sugar and white bread and focus on complex carbs instead. Start adding more complex carbs to your diet the evening before your match, at the very latest. Anything that contains barley, buckwheat, bran, cornmeal, oatmeal, wheat germ, brown rice, or similar whole grains will help you store energy for the upcoming match.

Add extra water, juice, and sports drinks to your diet as you begin to consume more complex carbs and consider adding salt to compensate for sodium loss through sweat. This will help you to stay hydrated during the match.

During-Match Nutrition
Keep drinking and make sure that you’ve packed some isotonic sports drinks (containing six to eight percent carbohydrates). Drinks that contain sodium, glucose, and electrolytes are also helpful. Avoid drinking too much straight water, or you might risk causing mineral deficiency.

Post-Match Nutrition
Try to consume a high-carb meal within two hours of finishing your match. If you can do this immediately, you’ll be able to replenish your energy stores much faster than you will if you wait too long. In addition to restoring carbs, you’ll want to keep consuming fluids and electrolytes to make sure that your body won’t be deficient in these important diet components.

To adhere to your new diet, make sure that you plan when you’ll go shopping for groceries, which types of meals you’ll make and when you’ll prepare them, and which restaurants you’ll go to for healthy food that fits your diet. Set yourself up for success by focusing on tennis nutrition and maintaining it with deliberate planning.

Maria Rainier is a freelance writer and blog junkie. She is currently a resident blogger at First in Education, researching areas of online degree programs. In her spare time, she enjoys square-foot gardening, swimming, and avoiding her laptop.

© Kim Selzman 2010 All Rights Reserved

Anna Kournikova Takes Cardio Tennis To The Biggest Losers

I'm going to be very honest with you - I never thought the day would come when I would write a post that had anything AT ALL to do with Anna Kournikova. But that day has come.

Anna appeared on NBC's "The Biggest Loser" this week, taking the losers through a Cardio Tennis workout.  I've done Cardio Tennis, both at the Canyon Ranch in Tucson, AZ and here at my club.  It can be a really great workout (assuming it doesn't degenerate into just a regular old tennis drill session).  A lot of running is involved.  A lot of footwork drills go on (running ladders, jumping cones, fun stuff like that).  And A LOT of tennis balls are hit.  So I think Anna actually did a great job giving the contestants a pretty good Cardio Tennis workout.

Here's the clip from the show.  It's only about 2 1/2 minutes and, if you're unfamiliar with Cardio Tennis, it gives you an idea of what the workout is like:



Maybe this happened because Anna is about to become the face of Cardio Tennis? Maybe it happened because people will pay attention to anything, including Cardio Tennis, if Anna Kournikova is involved? I don't know the answer. I just know I'm happy to see anything involving tennis on prime time TV.

Here's a cute shot of Anna with the losers (although I prefer the photo at the top of this post where she's exiting her helicopter in her K-Swiss tennies, begin protected by a bodyguard with an umbrella):

If you want to find out more about Cardio Tennis, check out their web site: www.cardiotennis.com. They have a locator in the middle of the home page (and on the bottom of other pages) that will help you find a Cardio Tennis site in your own home town.


Photos via www.kournikova.com.


© Kim Selzman 2010 All Rights Reserved