Tai chi’s benefits become more obvious over time

The fitness benefits of tai chi for older women only become obvious if they engage in long-term practice. Chinese researchers randomised 105 urban elderly women into an experimental group (tai chi) and two active control groups a (dance or brisk walking).

At 12 months, the effects of tai chi were found to be more significant than both control groups.

The fitness benefits of tai chi for older women only become obvious if they engage in long-term practice. Chinese researchers randomised 105 urban elderly women into an experimental group (tai chi) and two active control groups a (dance or brisk walking). Each group exercised once a day for 40 minutes each time. Measurements of muscle mass and strength, bone mineral density and balance were carried out at baseline and after four, eight and twelve months. After four months of exercise, most of the study indexes in the dance and walking groups were found to have improved significantly, while those in the tai chi group showed no significant difference. However, after eight months the study indexes of subjects in all three groups had improved significantly compared with baseline, with the improvement in the tai chi group better than that of the walking group. At 12 months, the effects of tai chi were found to be more significant than both control groups.

     

Effect of Tai-chi exercise on lower limb muscle strength, bone mineral density and balance function of elderly women. Int J Clin Exp Med. 2014 Jun 15;7(6):1569-76. 

Int J Clin Exp Med. 2014 Jun 15;7(6):1569-76. eCollection 2014.

Effect of Tai-chi exercise on lower limb muscle strength, bone mineral density and balance function of elderly women.

Song QH1, Zhang QH2, Xu RM1, Ma M1, Zhao XP2, Shen GQ2, Guo YH1, Wang

Abstract

To study the effect of Tai-chi exercise on lower limb muscle strength, bone mineral density and balance function of elderly female, 105 urban elderly women, who do insufficient exercise in daily life, are selected as the subject and randomly divided into an observation group (Tai Chi Group), a control group I (Dance Group) and a control group II (Walking Group). Each group is consists of 35 women. Among them, the women in the observation group do Tai-chi exercise once a day, while the women in the control group I dance once a day and in the control group II stick to brisk walking once a day. All women in the three groups do the above said exercises for 40 minutes and the exercise intensity is controlled to be medium. At the time of selection and after 4, 8 and 12 months upon their exercises, respectively detect and compare the lower limb skeletal muscle mass, lower limb muscle strength, bone mineral density and balance function of the subject.

RESULTS:

At the time of selection, the general information of the subjects in the three groups show no significant difference (P > 0.05); however, after 4 months' exercise, most of the study indexes in the control group I and group II are improved significantly (P < 0.05), while most of the study indexes in the observation group show no significant difference (P > 0.05) in comparison with those at the time of selection and their general improvement effect is slightly lower than that in the control group; after 8 months, relevant study indexes of the subjects in the three groups are significantly improved (P < 0.05) in comparison with those at the time of selection, especially, the effect in the observation group is more obviousand is better than that of the control group II (P < 0.05). 12 months later, the effect of the observation group is improved significantly from day to day when comparing to theose in the control group I and group II (P < 0.05 or P < 0.01).

CONCLUSION:

Compared with the senile dance and walking exercises, the short-term Tai-chi exercise effect is not obvious, however, once the exercise period is extended, that is, continuous exercise for 8 months or even above 12 months, the advantage of Tai Chi is more and more significant. The study suggests that as a fitness measure, Tai Chi is more suitable for long-term exercise and its short-term effect is not obvious.

KEYWORDS:

Tai-chi; balance function; bone mineral density; elderly women; lower limb muscle strength

Learn more about the predecessor of Tai Chi, Shaolin Rou Quan