Ping pong may lengthen your life
/The secret to a longer, healthier life may be hidden under a pile of laundry in your basement: That beat up, old ping pong table.
Dr. Danine Fruge, medical director at the Pritikin Longevity Center in Florida, is convinced that table tennis can help people stay healthier longer.
“I had my first experience with tennis and longevity when I taught people at a country club who were in their 90’s,” she told the Well+Good website. “I noticed two things: There was something about practicing a racket sport that seemed to keep these people young, and they were always having fun while they played.”
While tennis and table tennis are distant cousins, Fruge argues that they offer similar benefits to players:
1. It’s a workout for the brain
Since the 1990s, science has recognized the link between table tennis and mental ability. A 2014 study of women compared table tennis to other exercise, including dancing, walking and resistance training. It found that table tennis had a stronger effect on cognitive function.
Fruge believes the benefits result from the fact that table tennis requires players to use several regions of their brains at the same time. During a game, you use the prefrontal cortex, which is involved in memory retention and recall, to plan your next serve or anticipate an opponent’s move. Using the brain this way can strengthen it, much as exercise strengthens a muscle.
“There is evidence of something called neuroplasticity, where the brain actually gets used to and gets good at whatever you repeatedly do,” said Fruge. “By activating the prefrontal cortex with table tennis, you may actually boost memory retention and cognition.”
2. It makes you more agile
When you play table tennis, you use fast-twitch muscle fibers, which provide short bursts of force in ways that walking or lifting weights do not. The fast-twitch fibers are activated when someone needs to react quickly, like when you need to move your body to hit an oncoming ball. Repeated movements strengthen the fibers, which helps people to avoid slips and falls.
“Anytime you’re on an uneven surface, if you have strong fast-twitch muscles, you’ll automatically navigate pushes and shoves more effectively,” said Fruge. “The same goes for stepping over a curb or over a threshold, or catching yourself if you misstep. The more responsive your fast-twitch muscles, the less likely you are to fall.”
3. It gets your blood pumping
Though it may not be immediately obvious, table tennis is a real aerobic activity. Mayo Clinic researchers found that table tennis can support brain health for several reasons, including the fact that it elevates your heart rate, which helps to boost your lifespan.
“You may be surprised by how quickly you can build up a sweat with a game of table tennis,” said Fruge. “After about 15 minutes of generating these quick bursts of activity, the game becomes much like high-intensity interval training—even if you don’t realize it.”
All this suggests that table tennis may be the right Olympic sport for the rest of us. And it’s fun!