Fitness Formula
 

The fitness formula for Squash consists of a number of items:

  • Cardio-respiratory fitness.
  • Muscle endurance, a combination of the ability to recover (mainly anaerobic recovery).
  • Muscle speed, an important component of power in all the racket sports;
  • Flexibility;
  • Low percentage body fat.

Squash is a high impact game lasting anywhere between 6 min. to 3 hrs. One rally may last one stroke and 1.5 sec, or 400 strokes and 10 mins. For training purposes, rallies con be categorized into three sections - those lasting 5 seconds, those between 6-20 seconds and a small but important number which last more than 20, but not usually longer than 60 seconds.

This sport requires a combination of both types of fitness – anaerobic as will as aerobic. The lactic acid levels which is a product of anaerobic metabolism is known to be high at the end of the game – say about 50% of maximum.

In squash, where players play for an hour, they have about 7-10 mmols of lactic acid (the human maximum is 20 mmols); but this is a huge amount to tolerate for that amount of time. When squash players are training for local muscle endurance they are doing two things. Firstly they are training the ability to produce anaerobic energy, and secondly they are training the ability of the muscle and the body to remove the lactic acid that is its fatiguing by-product. Lactic acid training two things: one to increase the anaerobic power and the other to remove to remove faster more lactic acid. Shadow training and ghosting intervals are the basic training methods.

A good pre-season training programme will include the following: 

  • Aerobic/cardio respiratory training;
  • Lactate/glycolytic training (for both anaerobic power and recovery); and
  • Phosphagen/speed training; the physical programme will have an appropriate in-season maintenance component.

The physical programme should be fully complemented with solo and pairs practices, practice and conditioned games, and games against opponents selected to probe particular technical, tactical or physical weaknesses.