Tai Chi to lose weight, the effect is quite good!

Since today is Children's Day, the singularity cakes should be talked about in childhood.
It's not the past in college.

At that time, the physical education facilities on the medical school campus were very ordinary, so every semester of physical education courses selection, I was drooling looking at the variety of choices in other campuses.

But this course cannot be ignored, what should I do? The final choice for Singularity Cake is Tai Chi, and I have been selected for two consecutive semesters.
Although it is because the exam is simple and easy to score, it is suitable for hard work such as Singularity Cake, but it is also very interesting to practice Tai Chi in class.

In the years after graduation, Singularity Cake has really seen a lot of academic results that prove the benefits of Tai Chi.
This is not another one today: a randomized controlled clinical trial conducted by a research team in Hong Kong showed that it is effective for people with central obesity.
For the elderly, the effect of Tai Chi to reduce weight and waist circumference is no less than that of regular aerobic exercise! I heard that many young people have also joined the ranks of Tai Chi.
Compared with not doing any exercise, they can significantly reduce their waist circumference, weight, and improve each after three hours of Tai Chi or aerobic exercise per week.
This trend of metabolic indicators is really very suitable for middle-aged and elderly people [1].

The research papers are published in the famous "Annuals of Internal Medicine" journal.

In recent years, there has been a "Tai Chi research fever" in the medical field at home and abroad.
On the one hand, compared with some other exercise methods, the exercise intensity of Tai Chi is not high, and it is suitable for people with not so good physical foundation; Studies have confirmed that Tai Chi, as a regular exercise method, can bring many physical and mental benefits [2].

As the singularity cakes have introduced before, the simplified version of Tai Chi is quite effective in preventing the elderly from falling.
There are also trials to try Tai Chi to improve the cognitive function of patients with mild cognitive impairment [3].

But if you want these benefits of Tai Chi to be recommended by authoritative health guidelines, you have to do more rigorous randomized controlled trials to provide evidence.

Tai Chi fever has indeed spread abroad (Image source: Pixabay) This trial led by the University of Hong Kong and the Chinese University of Hong Kong team specifically targeted the middle-aged and elderly aged ≥50 who needed exercise and were obese.
More than 500 people were enrolled in the group.
Participants who meet the central obesity standard (waist circumference ≥90 cm for men and ≥80 cm for women), who have no serious illnesses but do not usually exercise.

Participants were divided into three groups according to the ratio of 1:1:1.
One group was a control group who did not require any exercise during the intervention and follow-up period, and the other group received coach guidance during the 12-week intervention period to perform brisk walking and strength.
Training (such as heel lift, shoulder press, squat, etc.
) based aerobic exercise.

The remaining group is the Tai Chi exercise group.
The research team chose the 24 Yang >
After the 12-week intervention period is over, the study will continue to be followed up for 26 weeks.
During the follow-up period, participants are no longer required to participate in exercise classes, but they will be encouraged to exercise as much as possible.

The research team measured various indicators at the beginning of the study, the end of the intervention and the completion of the follow-up, to evaluate the effects of different methods of exercise.

Participants in the group are all central obesity, so the primary endpoint of the study is the change in waist circumference indicators.
The secondary endpoints include body weight and body mass index (BMI), as well as high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), triglycerides, Metabolic related indicators such as blood sugar and blood pressure.

First look at the three indicators of waist circumference, weight and BMI.
When the Tai Chi group and the aerobic exercise group are at the end of the 12-week intervention period and the end of the follow-up period (data at 38 weeks, that is, 12-week intervention + 26-week follow-up), all three indicators are Compared with the non-exercise control group, there is a significant improvement, but there is no significant difference between the two groups when compared with each other.

The index changes between the two exercise groups and the control group should not be underestimated.
The 4.
3 cm waist circumference lost is directly linked to the risk of cardiovascular, diabetes, and even all-cause death.
Previous studies have shown that waist circumference is lost.
For every 1 cm increase, the risk of cardiovascular disease increases by 3.
2%, and every 5 cm increase, the risk of all-cause death increases by 7-9% [4-5]. Regrettably, in terms of metabolic indicators, Tai Chi or aerobic exercise only significantly improved one indicator of HDL-C, and none of the remaining indicators showed a statistically significant improvement.

However, burning off belly fat through exercises like Tai Chi with moderate intensity and good safety is indeed the best strategy to fight the "waist defense war".

Moreover, the singularity cake also said that the benefits of Tai Chi are not only to lose weight, but also to bring positive changes in various aspects such as mood and cognitive function.

If parents of this generation are advised to start exercising, compared with square dancing, Singularity Cake will definitely recommend Tai Chi reference materials: 1.
Siu PM, Yu AP, Chin EC, et al.
Effects of Tai Chi or Conventional Exercise on Central Obesity in Middle-Aged and Older Adults[J].
Annals of Internal Medicine, 2021.
2.
Huston P, McFarlane B.
Health benefits of tai chi: What is the evidence?[J].
Canadian Family Physician, 2016, 62(11): 881-890.
3.
Sungkarat S, Boripuntakul S, Chattipakorn N, et al.
Effects of Tai Chi on cognition and fall risk in older adults with mild cognitive impairment: a randomized controlled trial[J].
Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 2017, 65(4): 721-727.
4.
Tian J, Qiu M, Li Y, et al.
Contribution of birth weight and adult waist circumference to cardiovascular disease risk in a longitudinal study[J].
Scientific Reports, 2017, 7(1) : 1-6.
5.
Cerhan JR, Moore SC, Jacobs EJ, et al.
A pooled analysis of waist circumference and mortality in 650,000 adults[C]//Mayo Clinic Proceedings.
Elsevier, 2014, 89(3): 335-345.
Head image source: Pixabay Author of this article | Tan Shuo