[Red Circle]

Nikhil - I am not a expert on this but would like to suggest some basics, First thing before you start playing do some warm up atleast for 10 minutes by walking,jogging,bicycling,stair climbing etc and then do some stretching before and after the game because when you are playing tennis you will be putting stress on most of your body parts like your arms, legs, shoulder and without proper warm up and stretching cramps/injuries are bound to happen. It is also important that you do not eat a meal just before you start playing, Try to give a gap of at least 90 minutes(i had done this mistake once and had the worst cramp at gym). Finally, if you need more energy at the court i would suggest you Creatine Monohydrate supplementation over energy drinks as it is more effective & costs less than the energy drinks. Incase you dont know what is creatine monohydrate just google and you will find all the details. One thing i did not understand is how does drinking salt water helps?

[Nikhilb2008]

Originally Posted by Red Circle

Nikhil - I am not a expert on this but would like to suggest some basics, First thing before you start playing do some warm up atleast for 10 minutes by walking,jogging,bicycling,stair climbing etc and then do some stretching before and after the game because when you are playing tennis you will be putting stress on most of your body parts like your arms, legs, shoulder and without proper warm up and stretching cramps/injuries are bound to happen. It is also important that you do not eat a meal just before you start playing, Try to give a gap of at least 90 minutes(i had done this mistake once and had the worst cramp at gym). Finally, if you need more energy at the court i would suggest you Creatine Monohydrate supplementation over energy drinks as it is more effective & costs less than the energy drinks. Incase you dont know what is creatine monohydrate just google and you will find all the details. One thing i did not understand is how does drinking salt water helps?

Food: No worries. I make sure the timing is proper.

Warmup/stretching : No worries again. I take care of that.

I'm not worried about the cost. I just want to lose weight. Fat basically.

Drinking salt helps. One of the reasons for cramps is lack of sodium which is solved by salt water.

[hemanthisgreat]

Nikhil, Since how long have you been playing regularly, maybe you just have to get used to the exercise thats all.

If you feel tired after playing, you can drink a whey protein shake right after playing. Carry it along with you. It will also aid in losing fat. Stay away from energy drinks.

[Saiyan]

^Yeah that is a good suggestion, whey protein will be helpful. Am not sure how creatine will be helping here.

[Nikhilb2008]

Originally Posted by hemanthisgreat

Nikhil, Since how long have you been playing regularly, maybe you just have to get used to the exercise thats all.

If you feel tired after playing, you can drink a whey protein shake right after playing. Carry it along with you. It will also aid in losing fat. Stay away from energy drinks.

I do feel tired, but it's a good tired. It's not like I feel that I'm about to collapse or anything. I want to avoid supplements as much as possible.

I also need to avoid protein as much as possible. The uric acid level in my blood was a little high a few months back when I got back from Europe(too much red meat and too little water). After that, it seems to be in control but I want to avoid unnecessary protien.

[hemanthisgreat]

Originally Posted by Nikhilb2008

I want to avoid unnecessary protien.

What are the other sources of protein you are getting daily. The body does need the required proteins and the typical Indian diet does not provide much of it. If you eat eggs daily, discard the yolks, it will help a lot in cutting fat.

[jassi]

Originally Posted by Nikhilb2008

I do feel tired, but it's a good tired. It's not like I feel that I'm about to collapse or anything. I want to avoid supplements as much as possible.

I also need to avoid protein as much as possible. The uric acid level in my blood was a little high a few months back when I got back from Europe(too much red meat and too little water). After that, it seems to be in control but I want to avoid unnecessary protien.

The solution is to drink water not curb protein - you need atleast 1gm protein per kg of your bodyweight and more if you are exercising or into sport. I would suggest eat wholesome foods rich in protein - don't go for supplements unless you absolutely feel you cannot get enough protein from your daily diet.

Drink atleast 2-3 litres of water every day - in addition to juices. Don't depend on salt solution as you are treating the symptom of cramping not the real reason behnd it - which is the lack of a wholesome diet.
Also the water intake should be atleast 30 mins prior to meal or 1 hr post meal - if you take water or juice with the food, you are not chewing properly and you are also diluting your digestive juices making absorbtion of the nutrients in food even more difficult.
Also you can sip some water and juice during your tennis game.

Don't take meat daily unless you are having it with a huge salad and look at other sources like egg (atleast 1 yellow), nuts of different kinds (not salted or fried), paneer, some milk (if you are lactose tolerant) etc. Stay away from refined and processed foods like white bread, maida, oily foods, etc.

Lastly avoid mixing concentrated sources of protein (meat, eggs, paneer, nuts) with concentrated sources of carbs (potato, bread). Carbs require alkaline medium for digestion and proteins require acidic digestive juices - mixing the two delays or hinders absorbtion of nutrients, taxes your digestive system and gives you the feeling of being full for hours (meat with bread and potato, bread with cheese (aka pizza), etc). Not to mention that nutrients not absorbed properly are stored in or as fat.
A simple diet is easier on the system - you could alt majorly carb and majorly protein diets (so breakfast of mostly simple carbs like fruits and juices followed with some protein like egg or nuts after a 1hr break, lunch of majorly carbs roti/bread with potato and salad to provide energy for tennis, dinner of mostly protein which releases over the night to rebuild your muscles)

[Red Circle]

it is normal that the energy levels are down after 1hr of playing or even 1hr of workout at gym, Make sure you are not restricting on carbs since carbs are the main source of energy. As you have mentioned you are well hydrated, your food timing is proper and you do warmup & stretching i do not see any reason why you would get cramps. if the problem is very often then you better consult a physician.

[vivekiny2k]

Originally Posted by jassi

Not to mention that nutrients not absorbed properly are stored in or as fat.

If it's not absorbed, it should be excreted, not stored.

I am confused .

[jassi]

Originally Posted by vivekiny2k

If it's not absorbed, it should be excreted, not stored.

I am confused .

well a lot of the toxins from processed foods get stored in fat cells - the body has limits to what all it can process and throw out - given our modern junk filled diets and the overload they cause on our organs a lot of the excesses get stored in our fat cells. A simple google search will reveal on how toxins are stored in fat cells.
Also excess carbs get stored as fat - maybe you can read this
Carbohydrates - How Carbohydrates Are Digested And Used By The Body
specifically 4.9 "Not only are fats converted to carbohydrates for energy when carbohydrate intake is inadequate, but when carbohydrates are consumed beyond need, the excess is converted to fat and stored in adipose tissue."

Hope this helps
Actually I follow a lot of concepts from the above rawfood link chapters. Just that I am not on raw food only diet and do eat meats etc. and understand the need for all forms of food (raw or cooked) But the principles there are very sound and ensure healthy living and if applied in moderation can be helpful - you could basically find information on the causes for any problem there, be it hair related (like dandruff), skin related , indigestion (acidity), etc

[Mblova]

Nikhil

Can you please describe your level of fitness(how often you play, did you take a break from playing, when was the last time you played if you took a break, etc)
Also, can you please describe your dietary intake(whether or not you have dietary restrictions)
Take the salt water is a good choice for when you get cramps but also look to massage them and put something akin to tiger balm on them or a heated pad.

Do not take salt water throughout the day, you get enough sodium in food that ingesting salt water will simply cause you to retain more water and further dehydrate you.
Do not take creatine, it is not called for in this situation.
Before subscribing to taking whey protein(which I do not think will help) take time to list what your diet is for a sample day.
There is nothing wrong with taking a electrolyte supplement such as gatorade during strenuous activity, however I stick to making my own style of "Nimbu Pani" if you will. Take a large water bottle, throw some nimbu/or lime in it, add some sugar/honey, and a little salt to taste(and ice if you want it chill) and you have your own electrolyte drink.

[godog]

Just drink gatorade/ ORS whatever is your cup of tea. (Ya! Drink tea!?) Early morning as well as post workout/ sport-session. Hydrate well means water with all the salty salty things. Lemon-aid/lassi/chhaachh should get a try too.
and/ Or try varying play times- An hour today, half tomorrow... and so on.

[Nikhilb2008]

Originally Posted by jassi

The solution is to drink water not curb protein - you need atleast 1gm protein per kg of your bodyweight and more if you are exercising or into sport. I would suggest eat wholesome foods rich in protein - don't go for supplements unless you absolutely feel you cannot get enough protein from your daily diet.

Drink atleast 2-3 litres of water every day - in addition to juices. Don't depend on salt solution as you are treating the symptom of cramping not the real reason behnd it - which is the lack of a wholesome diet.
Also the water intake should be atleast 30 mins prior to meal or 1 hr post meal - if you take water or juice with the food, you are not chewing properly and you are also diluting your digestive juices making absorbtion of the nutrients in food even more difficult.
Also you can sip some water and juice during your tennis game.

Don't take meat daily unless you are having it with a huge salad and look at other sources like egg (atleast 1 yellow), nuts of different kinds (not salted or fried), paneer, some milk (if you are lactose tolerant) etc. Stay away from refined and processed foods like white bread, maida, oily foods, etc.

Lastly avoid mixing concentrated sources of protein (meat, eggs, paneer, nuts) with concentrated sources of carbs (potato, bread). Carbs require alkaline medium for digestion and proteins require acidic digestive juices - mixing the two delays or hinders absorbtion of nutrients, taxes your digestive system and gives you the feeling of being full for hours (meat with bread and potato, bread with cheese (aka pizza), etc). Not to mention that nutrients not absorbed properly are stored in or as fat.
A simple diet is easier on the system - you could alt majorly carb and majorly protein diets (so breakfast of mostly simple carbs like fruits and juices followed with some protein like egg or nuts after a 1hr break, lunch of majorly carbs roti/bread with potato and salad to provide energy for tennis, dinner of mostly protein which releases over the night to rebuild your muscles)

I do take in the proper amount of proteins on averagee Not a problem. I am well hydrated, so water is not a problem. I do sip water every half an hour or so while playing. I do try my level best to take in the proper nutrients. I try to eat a lot of fruits(mainly apples and bananas), vegetables(generally raw - carrots, cucumbers, lettuce, red capsicum, green capsicum, yellow capsicum).

Originally Posted by Red Circle

it is normal that the energy levels are down after 1hr of playing or even 1hr of workout at gym, Make sure you are not restricting on carbs since carbs are the main source of energy. As you have mentioned you are well hydrated, your food timing is proper and you do warmup & stretching i do not see any reason why you would get cramps. if the problem is very often then you better consult a physician.

I do try to stretch properly. I think I should focus more on that from now. The problem is, I get cramps once I'm done and am at home. I'm quite comfortable while I'm actually playing.

Originally Posted by Mblova

Nikhil

Can you please describe your level of fitness(how often you play, did you take a break from playing, when was the last time you played if you took a break, etc)
Also, can you please describe your dietary intake(whether or not you have dietary restrictions)
Take the salt water is a good choice for when you get cramps but also look to massage them and put something akin to tiger balm on them or a heated pad.

Level of fitness right now is pathetic. Been on a break for a little too long. I can play for about 1 and a half hours and by then I start feeling really tired. If I'm swimming however, I can swim for more than 40 mins at a stretch. No issues at all.

Do not take salt water throughout the day, you get enough sodium in food that ingesting salt water will simply cause you to retain more water and further dehydrate you.
Do not take creatine, it is not called for in this situation.
Before subscribing to taking whey protein(which I do not think will help) take time to list what your diet is for a sample day.
There is nothing wrong with taking a electrolyte supplement such as gatorade during strenuous activity, however I stick to making my own style of "Nimbu Pani" if you will. Take a large water bottle, throw some nimbu/or lime in it, add some sugar/honey, and a little salt to taste(and ice if you want it chill) and you have your own electrolyte drink.

I do not take in salt water through the day. That will be just stupid. If I take it, it's only a spoonfull when I start to gt cramps. Not otherwise. I am not going to take Creatine. I dont like supplements and want to avoid it as much as possible.

I think I will try the nimbu paani think from next week.

Originally Posted by godog

Just drink gatorade/ ORS whatever is your cup of tea. (Ya! Drink tea!?) Early morning as well as post workout/ sport-session. Hydrate well means water with all the salty salty things. Lemon-aid/lassi/chhaachh should get a try too.
and/ Or try varying play times- An hour today, half tomorrow... and so on.

Cant vary my playing times. I want to play a minimum of an hour everyday.

[jassi]

Originally Posted by Nikhilb2008

I do try to stretch properly. I think I should focus more on that from now. The problem is, I get cramps once I'm done and am at home. I'm quite comfortable while I'm actually playing.

Hi Nikhil - do you cool down properly - or do you just stop playing and thats it. Warming up and stretching in start is important, but so i cooling down and more stretching post exercise.

Also it seems you are eating good food, however food combining (not mixing proteins and carbs) maybe something you could look into (just google for it).

[Nikhilb2008]

cooling down might be a problem. I havent focused much on that. Will start that asap.