IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v18y2021i14p7479-d593565.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Positive Role of Tai Chi in Responding to the COVID-19 Pandemic

Author

Listed:
  • Suodi Xu

    (Department of Physical Education, Ningbo University of Finance and Economics, Ningbo 315175, China)

  • Julien S. Baker

    (Centre for Health and Exercise Science Research, Department of Sport, Physical Education and Health, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong 999077, China)

  • Feng Ren

    (Faculty of Sports Science, Ningbo University, Ningbo 315211, China)

Abstract

The ongoing coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has posed a significant threat to both people’s physical and mental health. Physical inactivity, sedentary behavior, and negative emotions among the general population have been significantly increased because of COVID-19 home confinement. These are major risk factors associated with higher incidences of morbidity and mortality. Therefore, effective exercise management should be proposed as a prevention strategy to improve both physical and mental health while diminishing the effects of COVID-19. Tai Chi as a low-to-moderate aerobic exercise combines physical and mental training and plays a positive impact on human health. Here we aim to outline the effects of Tai Chi on the immune system, inflammatory responses, pulmonary function, and emotional control. The benefits of Tai Chi practice for individuals coping with COVID-19 are stated here which include immune system promotion, inflammation response reduction, rehabilitation in respiratory diseases, and emotional improvement. This statement has been supported by available clinical, physiological, and biological research. As a result, we hope to introduce Tai Chi as an effective exercise intervention for people coping with COVID-19 and as a beneficial exercise for maintaining an active lifestyle during a pandemic.

Suggested Citation

  • Suodi Xu & Julien S. Baker & Feng Ren, 2021. "The Positive Role of Tai Chi in Responding to the COVID-19 Pandemic," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(14), pages 1-8, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:14:p:7479-:d:593565
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/14/7479/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/14/7479/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Liye Zou & Albert Yeung & Xinfeng Quan & Stanley Sai-Chuen Hui & Xiaoyue Hu & Jessie S. M. Chan & Chaoyi Wang & Sean David Boyden & Li Sun & Huiru Wang, 2018. "Mindfulness-Based Baduanjin Exercise for Depression and Anxiety in People with Physical or Mental Illnesses: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(2), pages 1-17, February.
    2. Shu Zhang & Liye Zou & Li-Zhen Chen & Ying Yao & Paul D. Loprinzi & Parco M. Siu & Gao-Xia Wei, 2019. "The Effect of Tai Chi Chuan on Negative Emotions in Non-Clinical Populations: A Meta-Analysis and Systematic Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(17), pages 1-16, August.
    3. Ellen Bentlage & Achraf Ammar & Daniella How & Mona Ahmed & Khaled Trabelsi & Hamdi Chtourou & Michael Brach, 2020. "Practical Recommendations for Maintaining Active Lifestyle during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Systematic Literature Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(17), pages 1-22, August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Man Jiang & Hongli Yu & Juan He & Guoping Qian & Marcin Bialas, 2023. "Effectiveness of Cooperative Learning Instructional Models in Training In-Service Physical Education Teachers in Southwest China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(13), pages 1-16, June.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Zaimin Li & Shijie Liu & Lin Wang & Lee Smith, 2019. "Mind–Body Exercise for Anxiety and Depression in COPD Patients: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(1), pages 1-15, December.
    2. Federica Gentili & Giulia Cafiero & Marco Alfonso Perrone & Massimiliano Bianco & Annamaria Salvati & Ugo Giordano & Stefani Silva Kikina & Paolo Guccione & Andrea De Zorzi & Lorenzo Galletti & Fabriz, 2021. "The Effects of Physical Inactivity and Exercise at Home in Young Patients with Congenital Heart Disease during the COVID-19 Pandemic," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(19), pages 1-10, September.
    3. Qingyuan Luo & Peng Zhang & Yijia Liu & Xiujie Ma & George Jennings, 2022. "Intervention of Physical Activity for University Students with Anxiety and Depression during the COVID-19 Pandemic Prevention and Control Period: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(22), pages 1-20, November.
    4. Éva Bácsné Bába & Anetta Müller & Christa Pfau & Renátó Balogh & Éva Bartha & György Szabados & Zoltán Bács & Kinga Ráthonyi-Ódor & Gergely Ráthonyi, 2023. "Sedentary Behavior Patterns of the Hungarian Adult Population," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(3), pages 1-15, February.
    5. Mateusz Ciski & Krzysztof Rząsa, 2023. "Multiscale Geographically Weighted Regression in the Investigation of Local COVID-19 Anomalies Based on Population Age Structure in Poland," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(10), pages 1-23, May.
    6. Liye Zou & Yangjie Zhang & Jeffer Eidi Sasaki & Albert S. Yeung & Lin Yang & Paul D. Loprinzi & Jian Sun & Shijie Liu & Jane Jie Yu & Shengyan Sun & Yuqiang Mai, 2019. "Wuqinxi Qigong as an Alternative Exercise for Improving Risk Factors Associated with Metabolic Syndrome: A Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(8), pages 1-15, April.
    7. Viktor Bielik & Marian Grendar & Martin Kolisek, 2021. "A Possible Preventive Role of Physically Active Lifestyle during the SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic; Might Regular Cold-Water Swimming and Exercise Reduce the Symptom Severity of COVID-19?," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(13), pages 1-11, July.
    8. Liye Zou & Albert Yeung & Nan Zeng & Chaoyi Wang & Li Sun & Garrett Anthony Thomas & Huiru Wang, 2018. "Effects of Mind-Body Exercises for Mood and Functional Capabilities in Patients with Stroke: An Analytical Review of Randomized Controlled Trials," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-13, April.
    9. Pedro Delgado-Floody & Luis Chirosa-Ríos & Iris Paola Guzmán-Guzmán & Claudia Andrea Vargas & Karina Sandoval-Aguilera & Felipe Caamaño-Navarrete & Francisco Guede-Rojas & Cristian Alvarez, 2022. "The Social Distance Impacts from COVID-19 Pandemic on the Development of Two Orders of a Concurrent Training Programme for Morbidly Obese Patients," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(20), pages 1-15, October.
    10. Aurélie Goncalves & Sarah Le Vigouroux & Elodie Charbonnier, 2021. "University Students’ Lifestyle Behaviors during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Four-Wave Longitudinal Survey," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(17), pages 1-9, August.
    11. Ildiko Strehli & Ryan D. Burns & Yang Bai & Donna H. Ziegenfuss & Martin E. Block & Timothy A. Brusseau, 2020. "Mind–Body Physical Activity Interventions and Stress-Related Physiological Markers in Educational Settings: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(1), pages 1-24, December.
    12. Yi-Ching Lee & Lindsey A. Malcein & Sojung Claire Kim, 2021. "Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Usage during COVID-19: Motivating Factors and Implications," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(7), pages 1-14, March.
    13. Shu Zhang & Liye Zou & Li-Zhen Chen & Ying Yao & Paul D. Loprinzi & Parco M. Siu & Gao-Xia Wei, 2019. "The Effect of Tai Chi Chuan on Negative Emotions in Non-Clinical Populations: A Meta-Analysis and Systematic Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(17), pages 1-16, August.
    14. Manuel Weber & Thiemo Schnorr & Mareike Morat & Tobias Morat & Lars Donath, 2020. "Effects of Mind–Body Interventions Involving Meditative Movements on Quality of Life, Depressive Symptoms, Fear of Falling and Sleep Quality in Older Adults: A Systematic Review with Meta-Analysis," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(18), pages 1-22, September.
    15. Lijuan Guo & Zhaowei Kong & Yanjie Zhang, 2019. "Qigong-Based Therapy for Treating Adults with Major Depressive Disorder: A Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(5), pages 1-11, March.
    16. Khaled Trabelsi & Achraf Ammar & Liwa Masmoudi & Omar Boukhris & Hamdi Chtourou & Bassem Bouaziz & Michael Brach & Ellen Bentlage & Daniella How & Mona Ahmed & Patrick Mueller & Notger Mueller & Hsen , 2021. "Sleep Quality and Physical Activity as Predictors of Mental Wellbeing Variance in Older Adults during COVID-19 Lockdown: ECLB COVID-19 International Online Survey," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(8), pages 1-18, April.
    17. Ke Wang & Shijie Liu & Zhaowei Kong & Yanjie Zhang & Jing Liu, 2018. "Mind-Body Exercise (Wuqinxi) for Patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(1), pages 1-12, December.
    18. Salma Azzouzi & Catherine Stratton & Laura Paulina Muñoz-Velasco & Kangxin Wang & Maryam Fourtassi & Bo-Young Hong & Rory Cooper & Joseph K. Balikuddembe & Angela Palomba & Mark Peterson & Uma Pandiya, 2022. "The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Healthy Lifestyle Behaviors and Perceived Mental and Physical Health of People Living with Non-Communicable Diseases: An International Cross-Sectional Survey," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(13), pages 1-13, June.
    19. Markel Rico-González & José Pino-Ortega & Luca Paolo Ardigò, 2021. "Playing Non-Professional Football in COVID-19 Time: A Narrative Review of Recommendations, Considerations, and Best Practices," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(2), pages 1-15, January.
    20. Mumtaz Ali Memon & Saba Shaikh & Muhammad Zeeshan Mirza & Asfia Obaid & Nuttawuth Muenjohn & Hiram Ting, 2022. "Work-From-Home in the New Normal: A Phenomenological Inquiry into Employees’ Mental Health," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(1), pages 1-19, December.

    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:18:y:2021:i:14:p:7479-:d:593565. 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.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with 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.