IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v17y2020i7p2565-d343045.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Effects of Exergames on Physical Fitness in Middle-Aged and Older Adults in Taiwan

Author

Listed:
  • Tzu-Cheng Yu

    (Ph.D. Program in Biomedical Engineering, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung 807, Taiwan)

  • Che-Hsien Chiang

    (Department of Sports Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung 807, Taiwan)

  • Pei-Tzu Wu

    (Department of Rehabilitation, Oregon Health and Science University Hospital, Portland, OR 97239, USA)

  • Wen-Lan Wu

    (Department of Sports Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung 807, Taiwan
    Center for Long-Term Care Research, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung 807, Taiwan
    Department of Medical Research, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung 807, Taiwan)

  • I-Hua Chu

    (Ph.D. Program in Biomedical Engineering, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung 807, Taiwan
    Department of Sports Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung 807, Taiwan
    Department of Medical Research, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung 807, Taiwan)

Abstract

Using exergaming for exercise training was found to improve physical fitness. Yet, few studies have used the “Xbox Kinect” to examine its effects on physical fitness in healthy middle-aged and older adults. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of 10-weeks of Xbox Kinect training on physical fitness in healthy middle-aged and older adults. Forty participants (average 64.00 ± 4.44 years old, eight males and 32 females) were randomized to either intervention (n = 20) or control group (n = 20). The intervention group played Xbox Kinect three times per week, for an average of 50 min per session for 10 weeks. The control group was instructed to maintain their levels of physical activity. All the participants completed assessments of body composition, muscle strength, flexibility, balance and cardiopulmonary endurance at baseline and after 10-week intervention. After 10 weeks of training, the intervention group showed significant improvements in cardiopulmonary endurance and leg muscle strength. Moreover, there were significant differences between the intervention and control group in changes in aerobic fitness and leg muscle strength. The exergame program effectively improved cardiopulmonary endurance and leg muscle strength in healthy middle-aged and older adults. It could be an alternative to conventional exercise.

Suggested Citation

  • Tzu-Cheng Yu & Che-Hsien Chiang & Pei-Tzu Wu & Wen-Lan Wu & I-Hua Chu, 2020. "Effects of Exergames on Physical Fitness in Middle-Aged and Older Adults in Taiwan," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(7), pages 1-10, April.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:17:y:2020:i:7:p:2565-:d:343045
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/7/2565/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/7/2565/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:17:y:2020:i:7:p:2565-:d:343045. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.