12-MONTH TAI-CHI TRAINING IN THE ELDERLY - ITS EFFECT ON HEALTH FITNESS

Purpose: The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of Tai Chi Chuan (TCC) on health fitness in older individuals. Methods: Thir ty-eight community-dwelling persons aged 58 to 70 yr completed this st udy. The TCC group included 9 men and 11 women; the control group incl uded 9 men and 9 women. The TCC group practiced TCC for 11.2 +/- 1.4 m onths, with the attendance of 4.6 +/- 1.3 times.wk(-1). Each session i ncluded 20 min of warm-up, 24 min of TCC practice, and 10 min of coold own. The exercise intensity was 52-63% of the heart rate range. Cardio respiratory function, strength, flexibility, and percent of body fat w ere evaluated before and at the end of this study. Results: The male T CC group showed 16.1% increase in (V)over dot O-2max (P < 0.01), 11 de grees increase in thoracic/lumbar flexibility (P < 0.05), 18.1% increa se in muscle strength of knee extensor (P < 0.01), and 15.4% increase of knee flexor (P < 0.05). The female TCC group showed 21.3% increase in (V)over dot O-2max (P < 0.01), 8.8 degrees increase in flexibility (P < 0.05), 20.3% increase in muscle strength of knee extensor (P < 0. 05), and 15.9% increase of knee flexor (P < 0.05). The control group s howed no significant change in these variables. Conclusions: The resul ts indicate that a 12-month Tai Chi Chuan program is effective for imp roving health fitness of the elderly.