Bodybuilding in Tabletennis !

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Hello all TTD Members :)
I'm confused , does the budybuilding harm tabletennis performance in any aspect of the game ? is there specific muscle I shouldn't build it ?
what kinds of training should i use ?
I saw some photos of elite players with no T-shirt and their bodies aren't built well
Please help
 
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It's simple. Bodybuilders want muscle mass, table tennis players want fast muscles. It's harder to be fast with more muscle mass. More muscle mass means more muscle fibers. More muscle fibers are harder to contract in the same time, so you movement will be slower. Also, if you train a lot with weights, your muscles will be more inflexible. Never skip streching.

If you want to look good, do dynamic exercises. You can have pretty good-looking muscles and be fast at the same time. But try to achieve the body of a martial artist, not the body of a weightlifter. This doesn't mean you can't use weights, but weights shouldn't be in the focus of the training. Do lots of abs training, it's good for TT too.

I've got pretty good muscles on my playing arm without going to gym (I train very intensively and I play a very aggressive looping game). It took 3 years, but it's there. I don't think it will grow more from TT. Since the fourth year I do push ups, some strength training with rubber bands and similar things to close the imbalance between my right and left side.

Just to know how looks an ideal TT player body, Wang Liqin:
Wang-Liqin-3.jpg
For playing TT, no more muscle is needed.
 
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says Spin and more spin.
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If you are serious about TT, you don't want to do high weight, low rep weight training. That builds slow twitch muscles and makes you bulkier. That will definitely slow you down.

If you do both "body building" and TT as a hobby, then don't worry about it and do what you want.

But if you are serious about TT, heavy weights, at least for the arms, is not what you want.

There are threads about cross training routines to help your TT development if that is what you are asking about.

But the exercises that would make you increase mass in your arms, chest and back specifically would slow down your stroke for spinning the ball in TT.


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If you are serious about TT, you don't want to do high weight, low rep weight training. That builds slow twitch muscles and makes you bulkier. That will definitely slow you down.

Carl you got that switched up. slow twitch fibers are better for endurance (aerob) and fast twitch for strength (anaerob).
The lower body is the important part in tabletennis. a strong core favors tabletennis players. the upper body (except abs) is not necessary in tabletennis. the question is how far do you want to push it. to a certain extend it doesnt really matter. most sports require many things which all matter more or less. you can be significantly overweight and make it quite far in tabletennis. those are factors dont matter until getting into the top 10-5%. Until then bigger building blocks are just way more important. footwork, placement, spin, tacticts.
a lower body weight is more optimal for tabletennis though.
 
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Yes, fast twitch muscles tend to be bulkier (compare sprinters to marathoners). Elite table tennis players often have relatively bulky legs and are pretty skinny everywhere else, and usually are quite lean. Power and racket speed in a stroke is not really coming from the arms. It is coming from legs and core.

Over and above what QWERTY just wrote, one thing that is important in TT is to make sure that both sides of your lower body are of equal strength. This very much helps footwork. A lot of balance and footwork issues emerge from people subconsciously putting more weight on one leg (usually the right leg for right handers).
 
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Don't dwell on the technical terminology too much, the point remains , don't do high weights for arms and shoulders ... or rather any exercise that increases the bulk of muscles above chest on either side
slow twitch muscles or fast twitch muscles should i build ?
I have understood that i should care of slow twitch muscles and fast twitch muscles make me bulkier
 
says Spin and more spin.
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The power comes from legs and body. The arm has to move fast for spin. Whipping action from wrist and elbow joints help you get a lot of spin. Heavy weight, low repetitions will make the arm move slower and you will get less spin.

2734f9c67bae8ea65856f238f152e720.png


Arms like the photo would make it hard to get forearm snap and wrist whip movements.


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with arms like this , I think one can even shave or brush teeth ... forget about whipping ...

The power comes from legs and body. The arm has to move fast for spin. Whipping action from wrist and elbow joints help you get a lot of spin. Heavy weight, low repetitions will make the arm move slower and you will get less spin.

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Arms like the photo would make it hard to get forearm snap and wrist whip movements.


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Lots of people forget you can't become very muscular with big arm without steroid and drugs. All professionnals are loaded with drugs, very huge difference between with and without drugs.

Also muscular volume depends on diet. You can't be enormous with only bodybuilding, even with 5 or 6 session a week.

Diet is 70% of results with good bodybuilding program.

Also you can have lots of strength, lift heavy weight, and look skinny or normal body.
 
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Take a look at olympic lifters and tell me heavy weights and low reps build slow muscles... lol -- sounds like some locker room propaganda from the 1950s!

And for anyone asking "will bodybuilding ruin me athletically?" I usually just giggle to myself. For a very elite few, it might. Most people who think about bodybuilding and muse, hmm I wouldn't want to get that big! ...couldn't even get a 1/5 of the size if they trained for 30 years! So it's usually a moot point anyway.

 
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Its just not about the muscle mass, if you lose the flexibility and the sensitivity in your forearm you won't be able to feel the ball , if you know of exercises that strengthen your muscles without losing speed , power and touch you should suggest the OP about them ...
I'm on the same line of thought as Pippington. If you train for mass, you train for mass, but you don't gain mass from low weight, high reps. You gain strength.
 
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