Iga Swiatek once made a lot of headlines by practicing with mouth tape, and the mouth tape returned again in her most recent workout.
Iga Swiatek is a very dedicated player who will do whatever she needs to do to improve her tennis. She's a hard worker, so she never really shies away from trying anything and everything in practice, and some of that has been quite strange as well.
Back in August, Swiatek appeared in practice with a mouth tape on, which was quite the news. It went viral online in a matter of hours, with many wondering what was going on.
She would explain later that it had to do with endurance. By having a tape on your mouth, you are forced to breathe only through your nose, which makes the breathing a bit tougher and further raises the heart rate.
There is this whole science behind the exercise, which the Polish player is trying to explore, and therefore maximize her efforts.
One of the highest heart rate zones, close to the maximum heart rate, is called the endurance zone, which builds up the type of fitness you need to be a tennis player. Currently, it's the offseason, and Swiatek is back to working out with mouth tape.
A post on social media showed Swiatek working on an air bike with her mouth taped, and it's probably for cardio. The machine is designed for cardio, so by putting tape over her mouth, she's building up her endurance.
It'll be needed in the upcoming season, as it's a long one and will start in pretty brutal conditions Down Under.
It wasn't all just work for the world number one on the WTA Tour, as she multitasked while working out. The Pole actually managed to watch something on her laptop, making her offseason routine really unique.