Tai Chi Chuan Exercise Research Articles

Speed effect of selected Tai Chi Chuan movement on leg muscle activity in young and old practitioners

Background Tai Chi Chuan is becoming a popular exercise for improving balance and preventing falls in the elderly. To date, there is no quantitative study investigating the effect of Tai Chi Chuan movement speed on leg muscle function. This study investigated the effect of Tai Chi Chuan exercise performed at different speed on leg muscle activity characteristics in both young and old Tai Chi Chuan practitioners. Methods Surface electromyography of six leg muscles and kinematics of lower extremity joints were measured in young and old subjects during Tai Chi Chuan practice at fast, normal, and slow speed, respectively. The magnitude and duration of activation, and durations of isometric, concentric and eccentric actions of each muscle were compared among three speeds and between two groups. Findings The activation duration of all six leg muscles was significantly longer at slower speed than at faster speed ( P < 0.039). The durations of isometric, concentric and eccentric actions were either longer at the slower speed or did not change with speed for all six leg muscles. The action of knee extensor was primarily isometric at slower speed ( P = 0.004), and increased significantly to concentric and eccentric at faster speed ( P < 0.031). The activation magnitude of posterior leg muscles increased with speed ( P < 0.009). The old subjects had significantly shorter activation duration and lower activation magnitude in several leg muscles than the young, but similar speed effect as the young. Interpretation The activation duration and function of leg muscles, especially the knee extensor muscle, are significantly affected by the speed of the selected Tai Chi Chuan movement. Practicing Tai Chi Chuan at different speed may alter the role of muscular function in movement control.

Effect of 12-week Tai Chi Chuan exercise on peripheral nerve modulation in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus

To examine the effect of tai chi chuan exercise on peripheral nerve modulation in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. Parallel group comparative study with a pre- and post- design. Twenty-eight participants with diabetes mellitus and 32 healthy adult controls from communities in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. Cheng's tai chi chuan, 3 times a week for 12 weeks. Fasting blood glucose levels, insulin resistance index and nerve conduction studies were measured. A 12-week tai chi chuan programme significantly improved fasting blood glucose (p = 0.035) and increased nerve conduction velocities in all nerves tested (p = 0.046, right; p = 0.041, left) in diabetic patients. Tai chi chuan exercise did not advance the nerve conduction velocities of normal adults; however, it significantly improved the motor nerve conduction velocities of bilateral median and tibial nerves, and distal sensory latencies of bilateral ulnar nerves in diabetic patients. Tai chi chuan exercise had no significant effect on amplitudes of all nerves tested in diabetic patients. Results from this study suggest that fasting blood glucose and peripheral nerve conduction velocities in diabetic patients can be improved by 12 weeks tai chi chuan exercise. A further larger randomized controlled clinical trial with longer follow-up time is needed.

Cycling and Tai Chi Chuan exercises exert greater immunomodulatory effect on surface antigen expression of human hepatitis B virus

Both athletes with intensive exercise and aged people may have weakened immunity against virus infection. This study aimed to evaluate whether people undergoing aerobic exercises including competitive cyclists with moderate training (CMT) and middle-aged people practicing Tai Chi Chuan (TCC) exercise have higher immunity against hepatitis B virus than age-matched sedentary controls including college students (CSC) and middle-aged people (MSC). Human peripheral blood mononuclear cells from competitive cyclists and sedentary controls were stimulated by phytohemagglutinin (PHA) to prepare conditioned medium (MNC-CM) for the assessment of inhibitory effects on hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) expression in human hepatoma Hep3B cells. The inhibitory effects on the relative HBsAg expression of CMT's and TCC's MNC-CM were greater than those of the controls. The CMT's MNC-CM prepared from 5 microg/ml PHA decreased HBsAg expression to 61.5%, whereas that of CSC remained at 83.8%. Similarly, this expression by treatment of TCC group' MNC-CM was 68.4% whereas that of MSC group was 84.3%. The levels of cytokines such as interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma), tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), IFN-alpha and interleukin-1beta (IL-1beta) in the MNC-CM from the CMT and TCC groups were greater than those in the controls. Antibody neutralization of CMT's MNC-CM and addition of recombinant cytokines into CSC's MNC-CM indicated that IFN-gamma, TNF-alpha and IFN-alpha had synergistic effects against HBsAg expression. Similar blocking effect was noted in TCC versus MSC groups. These results suggest that the immunomodulatory response to suppress HBsAg expression in CMT and TCC with moderate aerobic exercise is greater than that in age-matched sedentary controls.

Regular Tai Chi Chuan exercise improves T cell helper function of patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus with an increase in T-bet transcription factor and IL-12 production

Background:Exercise has been shown to be beneficial in the treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM); its benefit to immune function, however, remains to be determined.Objective:This study investigated the effect...

Effects of Taichichuan Exercise on Functional Fitness, BDI and QoL in Patients with Parkinson's Disease

Effects of Taichichuan Exercise on Functional Fitness, BDI and QoL in Patients with Parkinson's Disease

Tai Chi Chuan Exercise Decreases A1C Levels Along With Increase of Regulatory T-Cells and Decrease of Cytotoxic T-Cell Population in Type 2 Diabetic Patients

Type 2 diabetes is a metabolic syndrome associated with chronic inflammation (1–3). Although exercise training has been proven beneficial in treatment of type 2 diabetes (4,5), this preventive and therapeutic modality remains underused (5). Recently, evidence (6) indicates that physical inactivity can increase proinflammatory burden independently of obesity, and exercise may induce anti-inflammatory mediators (7). Strenuous exercise has been shown to augment proinflammatory reaction (8,9) and compromise adaptive immunity with a higher risk of upper respiratory tract infections (9,10). Moreover, strenuous exercise might also potentiate hypoglycemia in elderly diabetic patients (11). In contrast, certain studies show that moderate exercise enhances T-cell function (12) and decreases respiratory infections (13), which suggests that the volume of exercise is a critical element of inducing a positive or negative immune response in diabetic patients. Tai Chi Chuan (TCC) exercise, a traditional Chinese martial art that is classified as a moderate exercise because it does not demand >55% of maximal oxygen intake (14), can benefit balance and cardiovascular and respiratory function (14–16). We have previously shown (17) that a regular TCC exercise for 12 weeks significantly enhances functional mobility and regulatory T-cell function of normal adult volunteers; however, we could not assess the effect of TCC …

Physical benefits of Tai Chi Chuan for individuals with lower‐limb disabilities

This paper reports on an experimental study that examined the effect of a 15-week Tai Chi Chuan (TCC) exercise programme on the cardiovascular function, pulmonary function, and shoulder range of motion of persons with lower-limb disability. The experimental group comprised 22 people with lower limb disabilities and a control group of 17 participants. The experimental group was provided with 30 sessions of TCC training while the control group did not receive any intervention. After 30 sessions of TCC, significant improvements in shoulder external rotation and shoulder extension were found among participants of the experimental group. Improvements in cardiovascular and pulmonary functions were not significant. The investigators concluded that a 15-week TCC programme with mild exercise could be an effective tool for improving shoulder flexibility and muscle strength among sedentary individuals with lower-limb disabilities. Further research is recommended in examining the long-term effects of TCC on improving cardiovascular and respiratory functions in individuals with lower-limb disabilities.

Regular tai chi chuan exercise enhances functional mobility and CD4CD25 regulatory T cells

Background: The duration and vigour of physical exercise are widely considered to be critical elements that may positively or negatively affect physical health and immune response. Objectives: To investigate the...

Comparison of the Effects of Tai Chi Chuan and Wai Tan Kung Exercises on Autonomic Nervous System Modulation and on Hemodynamics in Elder Adults

The health of the middle-aged and elderly people is a major concern given the rapid aging population and rising costs of medical care. Low-impact exercise on a regular basis is ideal for maintaining the well-being of an aging population. Tai Chi Chuan (TCC) is the most well-known and most widely practiced form of low-impact martial arts therapy and has been shown to have positive health effects. A lesser-known form of martial arts therapy is Wai Tan Kung (WTK), which our previous study found to have positive health effects as well. The present study compares the effects of TCC and WTK on autonomic nervous system modulation and on hemodynamics in adults among non-exercising control (30), TCC practitioners (30) and WTK practitioners (30). Our study found that in a short-term, WTK and TCC exercises enhanced the vagal modulation, lowered the sympathetic modulation and lowered arterial blood pressures in the practitioners. It was also observed that the forced vital capacity of TCC practitioners was significantly higher than that of WTK practitioners before exercise. There were no significant differences in the percentage changes in HRV measures and hemodynamics between WTK and TCC practitioners 30 and 60 min after exercise, indicating that the effects of WTK and TCC were similar in magnitude. In conclusion, TCC and WTK are comparable to each other in terms of their effects on autonomic nervous system modulation and hemodynamics, thus suggesting that WTK can be just as beneficial as TCC as a form of low-impact exercise for elderly adults.

EFFECTS OF TAI-CHI CHUAN ON FUNCTIONAL FITNESS IN OLDER ADULTS

Tai Chi Chuan is a suitable mode to improve coordination, postural stability, autonomic neurofunction, mood, and emotional condition in older adults. However, the physiological effect of Tai-Chi Chuan on functional fitness in this population is not well known. PURPOSE To determine the effects of Tai-Chi Chuan on functional fitness in older adults. METHOD Thirty-seven volunteers were randomly divided into an exercise group (EX: 8 men and 13 women, average age 69 □} 4 yr) and control group (5 men and 11 women, average age 68 □} 4 yr). The EX participated in a 12-week supervised exercise program (60 min/day, and 2 days/wk) that consisted of 10-min warm-up and stretching, 40-min Tai-Chi Chuan exercise, and 10-min cool down/relaxation exercises. The control group was asked to not change their physical activity habits. Functional fitness measures including body mass, static balance (single leg balance with eyes closed), dynamic balance (functional reach, up & go), cardio-respiratory fitness (12-min walk test), muscular strength (arm curl, chair stand), and flexibility (back scratch, sit & reach) were taken before and after the intervention. RESULTS At baseline, no significant differences were noted in any of the measured variables between groups. After the 12-wk Tai-chi exercise program, improvements were noted in single leg balance with eyes closed (92%, p < 0.05), up & go (10%, p < 0.05), 12-min walk test (8%, p < 0.05), arm curl (24%, p < 0.01), chair stand (39%, p < 0.01), and back scratch (34%, p < 0.10) for the EX. No change was noted in any of the variables for the control group. CONCLUSION These results indicate that Tai-chi Chuan elicits significant improvements in the functional fitness parameters of balance, cardio-respiratory fitness, and muscular strength in older-adults.

Regular Tai Chi Chuan exercise may retard bone loss in postmenopausal women: A case-control study

Qin L, Au S, Choy W, Leung P, Neff M, Lee K, Lau M, Woo J, Chan K. Regular Tai Chi Chuan exercise may retard bone loss in postmenopausal women: a case-control study. Arch Phys Med Rehabil 2002;83:1355-9. Objective: To evaluate the potential benefits of regular Tai Chi Chuan exercise on the weight-bearing bones of postmenopausal women. Design: Case-control study. Setting: University medical school in Hong Kong. Participants: Postmenopausal women (age range, 50–59y), including 17 self-selected regular Tai Chi Chuan exercisers (TCE) with over 4 years of regular exercise, and 17 age- and gender-matched nonexercising controls (CON). Interventions: Not applicable. Main Outcome Measures: Bone mineral density (BMD) in the lumbar spine and proximal femur was measured at baseline and at follow-up 12 months later by using dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA) and in the distal tibia using multislice peripheral quantitative computed tomography (pQCT). Results: Baseline results showed that the TCE group had significantly higher BMD (10.1%–14.8%, all P<.05) than the CON group in the lumbar spine, proximal femur, and the ultradistal tibia. The follow-up measurements showed generalized bone loss in both groups. Although both DXA and pQCT measurements revealed decelerated rates of bone loss in the TCE group, only the more sensitive pQCT showed significantly reduced rate of bone loss in trabecular BMD of the ultradistal tibia (TCE vs CON: −1.10%±1.26% vs −2.18%±1.60%, P<.05) and of cortical BMD of the distal tibial diaphysis (TCE vs CON: −0.90%±1.36% vs −1.86%±0.93%, P<.05). Conclusion: This is the first case-control study to show that regular Tai Chi Chuan exercise may help retard bone loss in the weight-bearing bones of postmenopausal women. © 2002 by the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine and the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation

Heart rate responses and oxygen consumption during Tai Chi Chuan practice.

Tai Chi Chuan (TCC) is a popular Chinese conditioning exercise, however, its exercise intensity remains controversial. The objective of this study was to determine the exercise intensity of Yang TCC by measuring heart rate (HR) responses and oxygen consumption (VO2) during practice. Fifteen men aged 39.9 +/- 9.5 yrs (range 26-56 yrs) participated in this study. Subjects had practiced classical Yang TCC for 5.8 +/- 2.4 years. HR responses and VO2 were measured during practice of TCC by using a K4 telemetry system. Blood lactate was measured before and immediately after TCC practice. Additionally, breath-by-breath measurement of cardiorespiratory function and sequential determination of blood lactate were performed during the incremental exercise of leg cycling. Measurements obtained during the TCC practice and exercise testing were compared to determine the exercise intensity of TCC. While performing TCC, the mean HR of subjects was 140 +/- 10 bpm, and the mean VO2 was 21.4 +/- 1.5 mL x kg(-1) min(-1). Compared with the data of the exercise test, the HR during practice was 58% of the heart rate range. Meanwhile, the VO2 during TCC practice was 55% of the VO2peak. Additionally, the level of blood lactate immediately after TCC practice was 3.8 mM, which reflected the level of lactate during TCC, approximated the onset of blood lactate accumulation (OBLA). The results demonstrate that TCC is an exercise with moderate intensity, and is aerobic in nature.

Balance control, flexibility, and cardiorespiratory fitness among older Tai Chi practitioners

Background—Tai Chi Chuan (TTC) exercise has beneficial effects on the components of physical condition and can produce a substantial reduction in the risk of multiple falls. Previous studies have shown...

Tai Chi Chuan and aerobic exercise may assist recovery after myocardial infarction

Tai Chi Chuan and aerobic exercise may assist recovery after myocardial infarction

THE PSYCHOPHYSIOLOGIC EFFECTS OF TAI CHI CHUAN EXERCISE 819

The present investigation was conducted to compare acute psychophysiological effects of Tai Chi Chuan (TCC) and treadmill exercise Cardiovascular hemodynamics, including heart rate (HR), stroke volume (SV), cardiac output (Q), total peripheral resistance (TPR), systolic blood pressure(SBP), and diastolic blood pressure (DBP), were measured 10 min before exercise, immediately post, and at 10 min intervals, up to 60 min of recovery in ten healthy females (age, 56.4 ± 11.84 yrs: TCC expenence, 11.3± 17.1 mo). State anxiety (S-Anxiety) was also measured 10 min before exercise, immediately post, and at 60 min of recovery. Participants performed both TCC (95.6 ± 20.1 bpm) and treadmill exercise (94.7 ± 12.9 bpm) in randomized fashion at a similar HR. A repeated measures factorial ANOVA and a multiple comparison procedure using SPSS contrasts with the difference method comparing ascending mean differences was calculated(Norusis, 1993). No significant (p >.05) interaction between exercise modality and time was found, and no significant (p >.05) main effect was found for exercise modality for any of the dependent variables. Significant (p<.05) main effects across time for HR, SV, Q, and TPR were found. HR levels at post, 20, 50, and 60 min; SV level at 10 min; and Q levels at all recovery time periods were significantly higher than the average for the previous time intervals. TPR levels at 40 and 60 min of recovery were significantly lower than the average for the previous time intervals. No significant (p >.05) interaction between exercise modality and time, and no significant (p >.05) main effect for exercise modality was found with respect to S-Anxiety. A significant (p <.05) main effect across time was found for S-Anxiety S-Anxiety immediately post and at 60 min of recovery was significantly lower than the average for the previous time intervals. In conclusion, there are no differences between TCC and treadmill exercise with respect to changes in hemodynamic and anxiety measures following an acute exercise bout.

Push Hands: Tai Chi Chuan Exercises

Push Hands: Tai Chi Chuan Exercises

EVALUATING THE SAFETY AND POTENTIAL USE OF A WEIGHT-BEARING EXERCISE, TAI-CHI CHUAN, FOR RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS PATIENTS

The safety of a traditional Chinese exercise, Tai-Chi Chuan, on rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients was evaluated. RA patients, who received 1 h of Tai-Chi Chuan instruction once (n = 20) and twice (n = 15) a week for 10 consecutive wk in two separate studies, showed no deterioration in their clinical disease activities compared with the corresponding controls (n = 11 and 9, respectively). Testing parameters included joint tenderness, joint swelling, time to walk 50 feet, handgrip strength and a written functional assessment. No significant exacerbation of joint symptoms using this weight-bearing form of exercise was observed. Tai-Chi Chuan exercise appears to be safe for RA patients and may serve as an alternative for their exercise therapy and part of their rehabilitation program. Weight-bearing exercises have the potential advantages of stimulating bone growth and strengthening connective tissue, but this effect needs to be documented in long-term studies.

Cardiovascular and Ventilatory Responses during Formalized T'ai Chi Chuan Exercise

T'ai Chi Chuan (TCC) is a widely practiced Chinese martial art said to physically develop balance and coordination as well as enhance emotional and mental health. TCC consists of a series of postures combined into a sequential movement providing a smooth, continuous, low-intensity activity. The purpose of this study was to examine the ventilatory and cardiovascular responses to the Long Form of Yang's style TCC. In addition, the subjects' TCC responses were compared to their ventilatory and cardiovascular responses during cycle ergometry at an oxygen consumption (VO2) equivalent to the mean TCC VO2. Six experienced (M = 8.3 yrs) male TCC practitioners served as subjects with data collected during the Cloud H and movement of the TCC exercise. Significantly (p less than .05) lower responses for ventilatory frequency (Vf) (11.3 and 15.7 breaths.min-1), ventilatory equivalent (VE/VO2) (23.47 and 27.41), and the ratio of dead space ventilation to tidal volume (VD/VT) (20 and 27%) were found in TCC in comparison to cycle ergometry. The percentage of minute ventilation used for alveolar ventilation was significantly higher during TCC (p less than .03) than cycle ergometry, with mean values of 81.1% and 73.1%, respectively. Cardiac output, stroke volume, and heart rate were not significantly different between TCC exercise and cycle ergometry at the same oxygen consumption. We concluded that, during TCC, expert practitioners show significantly different ventilatory responses leading to more efficient use of the ventilatory volume than would be expected from comparable levels of exertion on a cycle ergometer.