Love tai chi for fun and fitness
People often ask whether tai chi can help with fitness. When I say “YES” they ask how is this possible when you don’t ‘huff and puff’ while doing tai chi?
Puffing and the ‘blood, sweat and tears’ approach to exercise is mainly propaganda from the gyms touting for business. Fortunately, there is better news for those who don’t fancy working up a sweat or can’t?
The team at “Trust Me I’m a Doctor” (BBC TV) set off to the University of Birmingham to answer the question on whether something so slow and graceful as tai chi could really give you the benefits of a more vigorous workout.
For this clinical trial, they worked with volunteers aged 65 – 75 to compare tai chi with Zumba Gold. The results (released in October 2018) surprised them: The tai chi group showed similar benefits to those in the Zumba group, with improvements in blood pressure and vessel flexibility.
You can find out more and WHY in this link: https://www.bbc.com/news/health-45799473
Numerous other studies and clinical trials have shown that tai chi improves muscular strength, flexibility, fitness, immunity, relieves pain and improves the quality of life. If you’d like to know more about this and how/why tai chi works then chick out this information from Dr Paul Lam and the Tai Chi for Health Institute: https://taichiforhealthinstitute.org/articles/life-style/
Dr Lam says that, “Hour for hour, practising a Tai Chi for Health programme is probably the most effective exercise to improve health and well-being“. To find more about the Tai Chi for Health programmes that I teach click here.
Find out more about Kia Ora Tai Chi classes.
Kia Ora Tai Chi for fitness and for health. Fun, too.