Simona Halep is a highly successful tennis player who recently returned to competition after a break. She shared highlights of her comeback match on Instagram, captioning it, “Words cannot describe the feeling of being out there on court competing – and winning my first match after such a long period – in the sport I love. Thank you for all your support and your love, it means the world to me ❤️.”
Tennis is one of the ways Halep stays in shape. The Columbia Association states that the sport has a lot of benefits. “Tennis is an excellent full-body workout that releases feel-good endorphins to help you relax and relieve tension. Its low-impact nature also means your joints and bones will thank you. Because tennis includes short bursts of activity, it offers the same conditioning benefits of interval training, which has an unparalleled positive effect on the heart and lungs, slashing your risk of heart disease by 56% (!). Just an hour of play burns between 400 to 600 calories.”
Halep shared her wellness secrets in an interview with Tennis World USA. She says that she does a lot of at-home workouts. She also says that she makes sure to work her entire body. In the house, I do push-ups, crunches, back exercises – because I have spinal problems, herniated discs – squats, lunges… exactly what I did when I was a child.”
Another thing that Halep does to stay in shape is going for runs. She opened up about her running routine in her interview with Tennis World USA. “I run around 20-25 minutes, but progressively, I want to run for an hour in one go,” Halep explained. “I don’t usually run too much, but this is the only way I can keep my fitness up.”
Halep says to Tennis World USA that getting enough sleep is important to her. “I sleep pretty much, something I couldn’t do in the past because I’ve always had a schedule. I admit that I go to bed a little later, around 11-12 PM, but I sleep until 10, 10:30. In the past, I wasn’t sleeping past 8:30-9, but not because I couldn’t. Mentally, knowing that I had a program for the day, I was waking up without an alarm. Now, I can sleep relaxed because I know that I make my own schedule.”
Halep shared some of her favorite workouts in this Instagram video. In it, she is seen doing planks. These are very beneficial. The Cleveland Clinic states, “Plank exercises work your core muscles, which are located between your pelvic floor and diaphragm. The area is also known as your trunk. These muscles support your movements and stabilize the spine.”