Cardiorespiratory responses to table tennis in low-fit coronary patients and implications for exercise training

Racquet sports may evoke excessive aerobic and/or cardiac demands for many coronary patients with impaired cardiorespiratory fitness. We evaluated the cardiorespiratory and hemodynamic responses to table tennis in clinically stable patients with coronary disease. Low-risk cardiac men (n = 10, mean ± SD, age = 67.6 ± 8.8 years) satisfying inclusion criteria (functional capacity ≤8 metabolic equivalents [METs] without evidence of impaired left ventricular function, significant dysrhythmias, signs and/or symptoms of myocardial ischemia, or orthopedic limitations), completed the study. Patients were monitored for heart rate (HR), blood pressure, rating of perceived exertion (6 to 20 scale), and electrocardiographic responses during a 10-minute bout of recreational table tennis. Metabolic data were directly obtained using breath-by-breath measurements of oxygen consumption. Treadmill testing in our subjects revealed an average estimated exercise capacity of 6.8 ± 1.4 METs. Aerobic requirements of table tennis averaged 3.2 ± 0.5 METs; however, there was considerable variation in the oxygen consumption response to play (2.0 to 5.0 METs). Peak HR and systolic blood pressure responses during table tennis were 98.0 ± 8.5 beats/min and 140.4 ± 16.2 mm Hg, respectively. The average HR during table tennis represented 83% of the highest HR attained during treadmill testing. Rating of perceived exertion during table tennis averaged 10.6 ± 1.7, signifying "fairly light" exertion. In conclusion, table tennis represents a relatively safe and potentially beneficial leisure-time activity for cardiac patients with impaired levels of cardiorespiratory fitness. The average aerobic requirement of table tennis approximated prescribed exercise training workloads for most of our patients.