Research on development of remote communication system exercise guidance tools and evaluation of social implementation

Japan has one of the most elderly populations in the world and it is important to support the country's ageing society through social programmes. It is also important to ensure that the elderly remain physically and mentally healthy as, with the pension rate declining, more and more elderly people may need to work for longer. Associate Professor Hiro Kishimoto, Kishimoto Laboratory, Core Education Institute, Japan, is conducting research to advocate and support the concept of keeping healthy, including the development of a remote communication system that can provide exercise guidance from afar, benefiting Japanese society. The system is called "Enkaku Undo-kun 2" as a remote exercise system and can be used by instructors to enable them to exercise with elderly people online. Kishimoto plans to develop a communication system that is easy for elderly people to use, allowing them to use a remote control to go online and receive exercise guidance as he believes existing online conference systems such as Zoom and Microsoft Team aren't particularly accessible for the elderly. Kishimoto envisions a global community of elderly people all exercising in their homes or care homes together, through a simple internet connection, which would have significant benefits for mental and physical health. Looking ahead, Kishimoto dreams of the elderly people in the UK participating in the frailty prevention exercise class held in Itoshima City, Fukuoka Prefecture.

A study on the development of joint tracking-based exercise contents technology for improving the strength of older people

Currently, Korea's population is aging rapidly, and there is a lot of interest in the area of life in old age. Especially, as you get older, your ability to exercise gradually decreases, and you need to exercise continuously for your health. As a result, Korea older people exercise more than welfare powerhouse Japan. However, recently studies show that physical function lags even further. The results are based on a lack of diversity in motion. In Korea, people enjoy walking, hiking, and riding bicycles, but in Japan, there is a difference in the quality of exercise such as muscle-building exercise class, ball exercise, and underwater exercise. The old Korean ways of exercising are all high-intensity sports, but some do not know whether the purpose is for social club purposes. In this paper, real-time joint tracking using a single camera and deep learning was carried out to study the development direction of content that can measure or improve exercise ability to improve actual muscle strength.

Alexander Technique vs. Targeted Exercise for Neck Pain—A Preliminary Comparison

Background: Alexander technique private lessons have been shown to reduce chronic neck pain and are thought to work by different mechanisms than exercise. Group classes may also be effective and would be cost-effective. Design: A two-group pre-test/post-test design. Participants were assigned to either a general Alexander technique class or an exercise class designed to target neck pain. Both groups met over 5 weeks for two 60 min sessions/week. Participants: A total of 16 participants with chronic neck pain (aged 50+/−16 years) completed this study. Interventions: The Alexander class used awareness-building methods to teach participants to reduce habitual tension during everyday activities. The exercise class was based on physical therapy standard of care to strengthen neck and back muscles thought to be important for posture. Measures: We assessed neck pain/disability, pain self-efficacy, activation of the sternocleidomastoid muscles during the cranio-cervical flexion test, and posture while participants played a video game. Results: Both groups reported decreased neck pain/disability after the interventions. Sternocleidomastoid activation decreased only in the Alexander group. Conclusion: In this small preliminary study, Alexander classes were at least as effective as exercise classes in reducing neck pain and seemed to work via a different mechanism. Larger, multi-site studies are justified.

Will ‘we’ continue to exercise? The associations between group identification, identity leadership, and relational identification on group exercise class adherence

The present study sought to provide support for the roles of both the social identity approach (group identification and identity leadership) and relational identification in adherence to group exercise classes. One hundred and twenty U.K. based group exercise class attendees completed an online survey in a cross-sectional design. Group identification, perceptions of identity leadership behaviour, and relational identification were not significantly associated with length of class attendance. However, both identity leadership behaviour of the class instructor and ingroup affect (measured as an element of multi-dimensional group identification), were significantly associated with expected likelihood of continued class participation. For every 1 unit increase in the identity leadership and in-group affect measures respectively, participants were 1.9 and 2.0 times more likely to be ‘at or near 100%’ likely to continue vs not. Social identity variables were not associated with how long exercisers had been attending class, but identity leadership and ingroup affect are positive influencers of expected future adherence. Further research into the social identity approach and identity leadership behaviour regards exercise class attendance tenure vs volume is warranted and is likely to benefit from the use of multi-dimensional group identification measures.

A SINGLE PHYSICAL EDUCATION SESSION IMPROVES SUBSEQUENT ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE IN RURAL SCHOOL STUDENTS

ABSTRACT Introduction: Activity breaks or physical exercise interventions in schools are linked to better cognitive function in adolescents. However, few studies have evaluated the relationship between physical exercise and cognition in rural schools, where drop-out levels tend to be higher and academic achievement lower. Objective: To analyze the effects of a physical exercise class (PE) on subsequent academic performance of students, and how they felt during mathematics (MATH) and Portuguese language (PL) tests. Methods: Thirty-six students (14.9 ± 1.5 years) randomly carried out 30 min of PE, performed at 74.3 ± 11.8%HRmax, while a control group (CON) remained seated watching a movie, prior to the tests (PE-MATH; PE-PL; CON-MATH; CON-PL). Results: The PE-MATH group presented higher scores (5.3 ± 2.2) than the CON-MATH group (4.0 ± 2.2). The tests were completed more quickly in PE-PL (7.8 ± 3.3 minutes) than in CON-PL (10.5 ± 4.2 minutes). The number of correct answer per minute was higher in PE-MATH and PE-PL (0.52 ± 0.25; 0.64 ± 0.51) than in CON-MATH and CON-PL (0.35 ± 0.19; 0.41 ± 0.41). Furthermore, 38.9% of PE-MATH felt more focused during the test, while only 16.7% of CON-MATH felt more focused. During the Portuguese language test, 27.8% of CON-PL complained of greater apprehensiveness, compared to 8.3% for PE-PL. Also, 36.1% reported feeling fatigued during PL after PE, compared to 8.3% in the CON-PL group. Conclusions: PE improved the adolescents' academic performance. Despite feeling fatigue, more students who performed physical exercise felt less apprehensive and more focused during the tests after PE. Level of evidence I; STARD: studies of diagnostic accuracy.

An Exploration of Online Exercise Participation of Older Manitobans During the COVID-19 Pandemic

During the COVID-19 pandemic, in-person exercise programs for older people were temporarily closed, and some were replaced with online exercise. We explored the online exercise experiences of older people in Manitoba, Canada, using an online survey. We recruited a convenience sample (≥ 65 years), primarily through community organizations, and 745 people (57.5% female) consented. About 38.2% reported participating in online exercise during the pandemic. Most used pre-recorded classes (80.4%), from their local community (79.7%), and YouTube was the most used platform (57.4%). Almost all (82.7%) found the classes had the right variety and intensity. Of those who had participated in online exercise, 67.0% said they would participate in an online exercise class outside of a pandemic time. Participants like the following aspects better about online exercise: no transportation arrangements, it doesn’t matter what they wear, no travel time, and they like to exercise without others seeing them. However, they also miss being with and socializing with others, and they reported feeling unsafe when the instructor cannot see them. Of those who did not participate online, several reasons were given: they prefer to exercise with others in the same room, they prefer to exercise with an instructor directly present, no appropriate device, and their internet is not reliable. Many also provided examples of future circumstances when they might participate online, including: when the weather is not conducive to outdoor exercise, and if they can overcome technical issues. Lessons learned from this study can help those delivering online exercise in the future.

Increasing Physical Activity and Reducing Dementia Risk in Older African American Residents of Public Housing

Older African Americans—especially those with lower income and those living in urban public housing—have a greater risk of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) compared to the general population. Inadequate levels of physical activity and aerobic exercise are thought to be among the probable causes for increased AD risk. Based on our preliminary data, we hypothesize that a cluster-randomized multi-level intervention in low-income public housing, focused on heart and brain health, can produce participant-level increases in physical activity among participants enrolled in an aerobic exercise class after six months (primary outcome) that are maintained at one year, as well as housing-level changes in attitudes and beliefs about physical activity and exercise participation among housing residents, both exposed and not exposed to the participant-level intervention as well as participant-level improvements in cognition and brain health evincive of decreased risk for AD.

Superspreading Events Without Superspreaders: Using High Attack Rate Events to Estimate Nº for Airborne Transmission of COVID-19

We study transmission of COVID-19 using five well-documented case studies – a Washington state church choir, a Korean call center, a Korean exercise class, and two different Chinese bus trips. In all cases the likely index patients were pre-symptomatic or mildly symptomatic, which is when infective patients are most likely to interact with large groups of people. An estimate of N0, the characteristic number of COVID-19 virions needed to induce infection in each case, is found using a simple physical model of airborne transmission. We find that the N0 values are similar for five COVID-19 superspreading cases (∼300-2,000 viral copies) and of the same order as influenza A. Consistent with the recent results of Goyal et al, these results suggest that viral loads relevant to infection from presymptomatic or mildly symptomatic individuals may fall into a narrow range, and that exceptionally high viral loads are not required to induce a superspreading event [1,2]. Rather, the accumulation of infective aerosols exhaled by a typical pre-symptomatic or mildly symptomatic patient in a confined, crowded space (amplified by poor ventilation, particularly activity like exercise or singing, or lack of masks) for exposure times as short as one hour are sufficient. We calculate that talking and breathing release ∼460N0 and ∼10N0 (quanta)/hour, respectively, providing a basis to estimate the risks of everyday activities. Finally, we provide a calculation which motivates the observation that fomites appear to account for a small percentage of total COVID-19 infection events.