Tai chi can make you stronger at any age

It’s now broadly accepted that tai chi, with its graceful movements and deep breathing exercises, can improve our mental focus, relaxation, and overall health, such as lowering high blood pressure, but can it also make us physically stronger, particularly if we’re in our advanced years?

The simple answer is “yes.” This is especially the case for those of us unable or unwilling to tackle the traditional forms of strength training, such as free weights or machines. In fact, for many, tai chi is now the go-to alternative for increasing stamina and lowering the risk of injury that comes with weak muscles and bones, especially as we age.

According to its practitioners, tai chi can be easily performed by people of all ages and states of health, even if you’re in your 90s, in a wheelchair, or bedridden. Having grown in popularity, millions of people around the world are now doing tai chi to improve overall wellbeing.

“Tai chi is very safe to practise, even for elderly. It’s not strenuous to the cardiovascular system. Besides, each individual can perform this exercise according to his level of capability. Even a patient in a wheelchair can perform tai chi,” said Dr Reza Ng Ching Soong, an orthopaedic surgeon at the KLSMC Hospital, a sports medicine facility in Kuala Lumpur, to Global Health and Travel. 

Part of its attraction may be that research has shown its health benefits come quickly. According to numerous studies, you can see significant improvements to a host of different conditions within 12 weeks of doing tai chi for one hour twice a week.

Much of the past research on tai chi is now summarised in a book from Harvard Health Publications, “An Introduction to Tai Chi.” It notes that of the 507 studies it reviewed in 2015, 94.1 percent of participants found positive effects from tai chi. These included 50 studies of people seeking better balance or prevention of falls.

This may be one of the most important benefits of tai chi given that every 11 seconds an older adult in the US is treated in the emergency room for a fall, and one in five falls results in a fracture, concussion, or other serious injury.

A 2017 study published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society found that older adults who did one-hour tai chi sessions one to three times a week for 12-26 weeks were 43 percent less likely to fall and half as likely to incur a fall-related injury.

In fact, tai chi provided superior benefits to other fall-reduction approaches like physical therapy, balance exercises, or yoga. This is because it’s able to combine multiple benefits of these other approaches, such as strengthening your lower body, improving your posture, and increasing your awareness of where your body is in space. It also improves your ability to navigate obstacles while walking, the studies showed.

The research also found that tai chi can enhance your ability to catch yourself before falling. And it’s also been shown to counter the fear of falling, a condition that can discourage people from being physically active.

Tai chi’s weight-bearing but low-stress exercises can also reduce your chances of breaking a bone. Four clinical trials showed that tai chi has positive effects on bone health. A yearlong study in Hong Kong of 132 women past menopause found that those practising tai chi experienced significantly less bone loss and fewer fractures than those who remained sedentary.

“Tai chi trains the muscles and coordination at the same time,” explained Dr Reza. “There’s no running or jumping, hence reducing the chance of joint and other musculoskeletal injury. By developing muscular strength, this technique eventually strengthens the bones too.”

As a form of therapy, Dr Reza said that he recommends tai chi to his patients, especially those who have weak muscles and gait problems due to muscular, cardio, or neurological diseases.

A 2016 study of 204 people with knee pain from osteoarthritis similarly found that tai chi done twice a week was just as effective as physical therapy in relieving their discomfort. Those doing tai chi for 12 weeks reported that they were less depressed and had a better quality of life than those undergoing physical therapy.

“Even without the assistance of weights or resistance bands, tai chi can help build muscle strength in the lower and upper extremities as well as the core muscles of the back and abdomen,” writes Dr David Slovik, chief of the division of endocrinology and diabetes at the Newton-Wellesley Hospital in Massachusetts and associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, in the health platform ShareCare.

Dr Slovik notes that, in a study published in Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine, Stanford University researchers found that, after taking 36 tai chi classes over 12 weeks, a group of elderly over 65 showed improvement in both lower-body strength (measured by the number of times they could rise from a chair in 30 seconds) and upper-body strength (measured by their ability to do arm curls). 

In a review of 33 previous studies on the effects of tai chi on people with osteoarthritis and other conditions, researchers from the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada found similar benefits, with overall physical function improving as well.

One advantage of tai chi over other exercises, experts say, is a particular style of “taichi walking.” In this exercise, you first take an “empty” step, then you transfer the weight.

“By transferring the body weight from one leg to another during the exercise helps to strengthen bones, improve coordination, balance, endurance, and increase bone density,” said KLSMC Hospital’s Dr Reza.

So if you’re interested in starting tai chi, experts recommend that you first talk with your doctor, especially if you have severe osteoporosis, fractures, joint issues, or back pain. In some situations, tai chi exercises can be modified so you can still do them safely, even in a chair or wheelchair.