IMPACTS OF WEIGHT TRAINING ON PHYSICAL FITNESS IN TABLE TENNIS

ABSTRACT Introduction: Sportive physical fitness is the capacity to accomplish of physical or muscular activity in a satisfactory way and its variables for excellence include corporal composition, flexibility, force, and muscular resistance. Weight training generates benefits in the musculoskeletal system and is believed that with its practice there is some impact on the athletes’ physical fitness. Objective: Study the impacts of weight training on the physical fitness of table tennis athletes. Methods: Sixteen professional table tennis players were selected for this study and randomly divided into a control and an experimental group. The control group maintained the existing table tennis training program, and the experimental group received additional weightlifting training using 30% maximal strength based on the existing training. Relevant fitness data were collected before and after the intervention, analyzed, and discussed statistically. Results: The time of the Illinois sensitivity test in the experimental group was reduced to 17.20±0.23 s, a reduction of approximately 0.43 s, while in the control group, it was approximately 0.08 s. As for the hexagonal ball sensitivity test, in the experimental group it was reduced to 0.52 s, while in the control group, the reduction was 0.175 s. Conclusion: In table tennis training, weight gain can improve training efficiency and optimize the competitive level of table tennis players. Level of evidence II; Therapeutic studies - investigation of treatment outcomes.