Getting Warm with Simon Hegelund

A thing that we often forget when entering the tennis court is to warm up and activate our body before starting to hit, mostly because of the fact that we just cannot wait to get going. But this can cause injuries and even worse, make for poor hitting because our bodies aren't all warm yet. Here, we speak with friend of Palmes and Los Angeles-based tennis coach and movement director Simon Hegelund on his approach to warming up on the tennis court. Follow Simon on Instagram here.

"I approach the warm-up the same way that a pilot would check the cockpit before taking off. Is everything working properly? Are my hips activated? Do my hamstrings feel good? How are the joints working? Are we ready to fly?

I am checking in with my body, activating specific muscles and joints that will need to work effectively in order to play well and safely. Most importantly, all of these moves are dynamic, not static; this improves your blood flow, opens joints, explores power, and slowly increases heart rate, all in an effort to reduce risk of injury and improve your performance on-court."

1. Walking lunges with a side twist: This one engages your quads and glutes, stretches hips, firing up your entire core.

2. Walking quads stretch with reach-up: It opens up the anterior chain (hip, quad, chest, shoulder) of your body while activating your balance.

3. Karaoke drill: Challenge your coordination a bit while getting your heart rate up.

4. High kicks with opposite hand reach: Opens the hamstring and hip.

5. Shoulder rotation forward while on toes: Explores the range of motion in your shoulders while engaging the calf muscles and challenging your balance.

6. Shoulder rotation backward while on heels: Explores a range of motion in your shoulders, while engaging your shin muscles and challenging your balance.