Squash has long been recognized as one of the world’s healthiest sports; its physical demands require strength, balance and agility of players at every level of performance. Plus it’s a mental game in which smart strategy usually prevails over brute force!
Stand on one foot on a Bosu ball hip distance apart and lift each leg off for a period of time, gradually lengthening your hold time and raising higher. Progress by holding for longer.
Core Strength
The core muscles provide spinal stability and assist us in daily activities like standing up, walking and moving around. Strength training exercises focused on core muscle groups can include sit-ups, crunches, planks and bridges; functional movements that mimic activities of daily living (such as skipping and lunges ) also work towards increasing stability and decreasing injuries such as back and shoulder problems. The more stable you become, the less likely it is that injuries such as back or shoulder problems occur.
Strong core muscles are crucial for stability and power in both lower body and upper body for effective squash play. Plyometric training provides this opportunity, by training the body to generate repeated explosive force across its movements – essential to developing that “ghosting” power seen among top squash players.
Plyometric training isn’t the only way to build up core strength; there are other simple exercises you can do as well, like bird dog. To do so, lay on your back with a stability ball between your knees, place both hands below your shoulders on it, then extend right leg and left arm towards each other to hip height and hold for 10 seconds before returning back to starting position – repeat this 10 times each side.
Another excellent strength and mobility exercise is the Bulgarian split squat, an effective single-leg strength and mobility exercise designed to strengthen and build mobility in one leg at a time. While challenging, mastering it will certainly make you stronger on the squash court.
Core muscles can become weak if not exercised regularly, and almost anyone would benefit from adding core-focused exercises to their workouts. Before engaging in any new core-specific exercises, however, be sure to consult a fitness professional first in order to make sure that you perform them safely and appropriately.
Starting off is simple with bodyweight exercises like sit-ups, crunches and planks – simple bodyweight moves you can do anywhere without equipment! Once comfortable with those, advanced core exercises should include movements incorporating large ranges of spinal motion like rotation, flexion and lateral flexion for increased results.
Leg Strength
An invaluable advantage of being an excellent squash player lies in their leg strength. Being able to run quickly, jump high, and reach difficult balls requires having strong legs – not only major muscles like quads, adductors and hamstrings but also smaller stabilizer muscles in knee, ankle and foot joints.
These muscle groups can be strengthened quickly with simple exercises that can be performed either at home or at the gym. Try adding these leg-strengthening moves into your regular fitness regimen or consulting with a fitness professional for assistance in mastering more advanced techniques.
Start with feet together, lifting one right leg behind you until its back knee is an inch or two off of the floor. Keep your core and chest lifted while driving your leg forward as far as possible. Repeat with left leg, making sure that hamstrings and glutes are engaged throughout each rep for 15 repetitions on each side.
An effective and challenging exercise, single leg squats provide effective strengthening for quads, hamstrings and calves. To add additional difficulty to this workout, hold weight in either hand or add dumbbells as you perform each repetition.
Not only can single-leg squats help improve balance and leg strength; lunging exercises such as the forward or backward lunge also strengthen core muscles while developing hip stability that’s essential for good balance.
Giordano highlights the importance of gradually building your leg-strengthening exercises in order to prevent injuries, saying this includes gradually increasing repetitions or weight load as well as providing sufficient rest between sessions.
Doing too many leg exercises too frequently or using too much weight can damage your muscles, leading to discomfort or soreness during training. If this occurs, consult a fitness professional immediately as they will be able to suggest an appropriate and safe training routine that fits your individual needs.
Shoulder Strength
Shoulder stability is essential to prevent shoulder pain, injuries and decreased function. A balanced strength program should include all muscles involved with shoulder movement for maximum results. To support the shoulder joint there are four distinct sets of muscles: rotator cuff muscles provide stability to help regulate motion within its normal range; when these become weak it may increase instability of the shoulder joint and increase injury risks. Doing resistance training with shoulder muscles will improve and maintain their strength and mobility.
The shoulder is an extremely mobile joint, and its supporting muscles can be divided into prime movers and stabilisers. Prime movers include pectorals, lats and deltoids; stabilisers help move and position scapula while centering ball of humeral head in glenoid cavity; an active rotator cuff and active scapular stabilisers help ensure maximum shoulder stability.
Shoulders that are weak or unstable can result in poor posture and joint mobility issues that ultimately place extra stress on joints of the shoulder, elbow and hand and eventually cause chronic injury.
One of the most frequent shoulder injuries is a rotator cuff tear, often caused by repetitive overhead activity or trauma such as falling onto your shoulder. Since rotator cuff muscles help lift and rotate arm, any weakness in this muscle could result in pain, swelling and decreased function in your shoulder.
To build shoulder strength, it is critical to use a progressive weight training program which exercises each of the shoulder muscles across their range of motion. Begin with light weights and aim to perform 20 repetitions without reaching muscle failure – as you become stronger increase weight while decreasing repetitions.
Balance
Playing squash requires excellent balance to move efficiently around the court, which requires having strong core muscles and being able to shift your weight from foot to foot depending on where the ball lands. As such, many players incorporate stability exercises into their training sessions.
Balance exercises help strengthen the deep muscles that support your body, improve posture and can alleviate back pain or other musculoskeletal disorders. They also strengthen the proprioceptive system enhancing body awareness as well as encouraging mindful movements during both exercise sessions and daily life.
One effective way to enhance your balance is through doing some lateral movement work, like lunges with toe touches. This warm-up exercise for the lateral movements required in squash and can really help increase lateral speed. You could add variety by standing on an platform like StrongBoard Balance Board and dropping a medicine ball down onto the floor in front of you while maintaining core engagement by doing lunges while still dropping into a squat position and maintaining core engagement – such is the power of movement work!
One great stability exercise is the single leg deadlift, an excellent lower-body and core workout suitable for any surface. It can be made easier or harder by holding some dumbbells, increasing repetitions or adding a plyometric component; more advanced exercises include pistol squats and single leg heel raises that focus on increasing hamstring strength and power.
Stability exercises can be difficult and challenging, so it is best to start slowly and build up gradually. Also, for your safety make sure something nearby that can provide support if you start to slip.
Take time out each week to strengthen your balance and coordination through various stability exercises – it could prevent injuries while improving performance in other sports and activities! Don’t forget to schedule in a balance training session!