A research on the effects of practicing Baduanjin on the lower extremities by using sEMG

摘要

[Purpose] The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of practicing Baduanjin exercises on the lower extremities of subjects, using electromyography analysis, and values of IEMG were calculated. [Subjects] Forty, healthy adults were randomly assigned as subjects to two groups: SG (Study Group, n=20) who received twelve weeks of Baduanjin training, and CG (Control Group, n=20), who received no training. [Methods] A sixteen-channel sEMG system (ME6000, Mega Electronics Ltd., Kuopio, Finland) was selected to record and measure activity changes in two muscles (vastus medialis and vastus lateralis). [Results] After twelve-week of Baduanjin training, the results of this study showed that the SG group had significant increases in values of IEMG in second, fifth and seventh section of the Baduanjin exercises. In second section, the values of IEMG had increased for 56.95% in vastus lateralis (p ＜ 0.05) and for 40.04% in vastus medialis (p ＜ 0.05). In fifth section, the values of IEMG had increased for 37.61% in vastus lateralis (p ＜ 0.05) and for 33.83% in vastus medialis (p ＜ 0.05). In seventh section, the increasement of IEMG values was 47.19% in vastus lateralis (p ＜ 0.05) and 49.31% in vastus medialis (p ＜ 0.05). [Conclusion] This study indicated that performing twelve-week of Baduanjin training can significantly increase the strength and the physical function of the lower extremities among healthy adults. With no adverse events from exercise were reported during the training procedure, the safety and low intensity of Baduanjin exercise was also proved, it could be widely taken as an appropriate no-risk treatment exercise for healthy adults.