Playing Table Tennis is Exercise For Life
How does exercising while having FUN sound to you?
Playing table tennis comes with numerous health benefits and doctors call it “The best brain sport”.
It’s a new spin on battling devastating diseases—table tennis therapy.
It improves hand-eye coordination, is aerobic, uses both the upper and lower body, and causes many different areas of the brain to function. “Making a good brain great,” Table Tennis can increase brain activity. The smashes come at a rapid pace but even when you miss the table, you are right on target when it comes to taking part in an activity that experts say forces out brains to work a little hard, reducing our risk of getting Dementia or Alzheimer’s. Researchers also say it can reduce an Alzheimer’s patient’s reliance on medication.
It may be the last thing on the minds of younger players, but for others, it’s very much top of mind as they try and put their own spin on the aging process, hoping for a net gain on the disease. The theory is playing the game can actually make a part of the brain that shrinks in Alzheimer’s and Dementia patients bigger instead.
So there you have it. Never underestimate the power of any kind of physical activity. People who exercise regularly are happier and live longer. And chances are, they’re better at Table Tennis too.
Very few sports work the brain as much as the game of Table Tennis.
In fact, researchers have found it works five different areas of the brain at the same time.
Read below from Daniel G.Amen, MD American psychiatrist, a brain disorder specialist, director of the Amen Clinics, and a ten-times New York Times bestselling author.
Table Tennis is highly aerobic and gets both the upper and lower body moving in every way — twisting, bending down low, reaching up high, and shuffling from side to side. Plus, it gives your brain workout too.
Table Tennis is great for hand-eye coordination and reflexes (cerebellum and parietal lobes). You have to focus (prefrontal cortex) so you can track the ball through space (parietal lobes and occipital lobes), figure out spins (parietal lobes and occipital lobes), and plan shots and strategies (prefrontal cortex and cerebellum). Then you have to follow through and execute those tactics successfully (prefrontal cortex and cerebellum). All the while, you have to stay calm so you don’t get too nervous on game point (basal ganglia). And you can’t dwell on that point you blew a few minutes ago (anterior cingulated gyrus) or blow your top when you make a mistake (temporal lobes). It is like aerobic chess.
