Cross Training for Table Tennis / Ping-Pong

Cross training is an accepted training technique in most modern sports, and table tennis is no exception. While the average recreational ping-pong player should probably spend as much time playing table tennis as he can, serious table tennis players who are already spending a number of hours out on the table can definitely benefit from intelligent use of cross training.

What is Cross Training?

Simply put, cross training for table tennis purposes is the use of different exercises or sports to enhance your ping-pong performance more than you could just by sticking to on-table training.

Why Bother Cross Training?

Why worry about cross training - why not just spend every free hour you can get on the table playing table tennis? Surely the best use of your free time is actually playing the game? While this seems logical at first glance, there are actually a number of problems with this approach as you increase your training hours past more than a few hours per week, including:

• Increased chance of burn-out from mental fatigue - performing the same old routines over and over again can quickly get mind-numbingly boring.
• Increased chances of injury either from repetitive strain or overuse - if you are repeating the same looping and hitting drills day after day, your chances of overworking the muscles involved are much greater.
• Diminishing returns in terms of aerobic and anaerobic fitness - as you get used to performing the same drills, you will get more efficient at performing them, making it harder to improve your fitness as you get nearer to the upper limits of your speed and power.

Benefits of Cross Training

Cross training can allow you to avoid the above problems, and provide a few more benefits besides. By bringing in a variety of exercises and playing other sports, you can enjoy the following advantages:

• Increased motivation due to exercise variety.
• Work different muscle groups, allowing your main table tennis muscles to have a break.
• Work the same muscle groups differently - again giving your table tennis muscles a bit of a rest.
• Work around injuries and give those little niggles a chance to heal properly. Keeping active while injured also gets the blood pumping around the body better, helping the healing process.
• Increase the intensity of your aerobic or anaerobic training if desired.
• Improve your overall core body fitness.

What Exercises and Sports Should You Use For Table Tennis Cross Training?

Aerobic Exercises
Anything that gives your cardiovascular system a good workout but allows you to talk normally while exercising (barely!) - such as:

• Aerobics
• Exercise machines - rowers, bicycles, treadmills, stair climbers, skiing
• Jogging/Running
• Race Walking
• Cycling
• Skating - ice, roller, blade
• Other racket sports
• Swimming

Anaerobic Exercises
Anything where your muscle power gives out before your cardiovascular system does, such as:

• Free Weights / Weight Machines
• Bodyweight exercises (squats, push ups, chin ups, etc)

Before deciding on what exercises or sports you want to add to your training routine, you should think a little bit first about two other questions, these being:

1. How do you play table tennis?
2. What areas of your table tennis game do you want to improve?

The point of the first question is to determine what demands your current table tennis style is putting on your body. If you are playing at an elite or advanced level, you will find that table tennis is a mixture of aerobic and anaerobic exercise. During intense rallies, there is a definite anaerobic element - just watch the heavy breathing of professional players after a couple of long rallies! And a long match or a day with several matches will test your aerobic fitness as well.

At lower levels, the anaerobic component is not likely to be stressed as heavily - beginners and intermediate players generally don't have the ability to play the type of rallies that tax their anaerobic system heavily. The aerobic system can still be important though during the course of a long day.

The point of the second question is to give you some help in deciding what exercises or sports to add to your training routine. There's no point in starting to lift weights if you are looking to improve your aerobic fitness, and if your legs are getting sore from table tennis drills then you might want to think twice about swapping some drills for running instead - the pounding from running might be just as bad for your muscles and joints!

Examples of Choosing Table Tennis Cross Training Exercises

• To improve aerobic fitness - in this case you need to use exercises or sports that you can perform at a high enough level to be of aerobic benefit. Aerobics, jogging/running and most exercise machines spring to mind. Depending on your standard, you might have trouble performing another sport at a high enough level to get a good aerobic workout.

• To reduce the chances of injury - This depends on what injury you are trying to avoid. I use a lot of walking aerobics and cycling to reduce aching knees due to the impact of my bodyweight on my legs. If I was lighter (or younger!) and wasn't as worried about impact injuries then I could use running as a change from table tennis drills and a rest from the crouching table tennis ready position.

  One other thing to be wary of is the potential for injury when performing another sport. For example, although I enjoy blade skating, I would never use it for cross training, since the speed I would have to skate at makes it way too risky for me in terms of falling over and possibly breaking or straining something.

• To increase anaerobic conditioning - If you need to increase your leg strength, or just your core body power, then you can't beat weight training in terms of efficiency. A couple of brief weights workouts per week will increase your body power more than many hours of table tennis drilling. Weight machines are good too, especially for novices who are new to lifting weights, and using bodyweight exercises can accomplish the same thing if done correctly.

• To prevent mental burn-out - Just about any exercise or sport can be great here. Just to get out of the table tennis hall and do something else for a while can be a great mental refresher.