In order to strengthen people’s immune systems during the epidemic period, Kong Zhaowei, associate dean of the University of Macau (UM) Faculty of Education (FED), and Lei On Kei, a PhD student from the faculty, have recorded a video to demonstrate a set of indoor exercises that is suitable for people of all physiques (except for pregnant women and people with lumbar spinal cord injuries). Prof Kong is an expert in the impact of sports and eating habits on health, while Lei is a professional swimmer known as the ‘Frog Queen’ of Macao.

Developing time-effective exercises is an important topic in the field of sports science. According to Prof Kong, regular physical activity can help people promote well-being and mental health, strengthen their immune systems, and prevent diseases. ‘During the period of work and class suspension, people stay home all the time. Therefore, it is necessary for them to exercise moderately,’ says Prof Kong. ‘High-intensity exercises with pauses can significantly improve cardiovascular efficiency and promote metabolism. These exercises don’t take much time to do.’

According to Lei, This set of exercises can train the whole body, with emphases on waist and abdomen, shoulders and back, as well as the lower body. For otpimal effect, one should repeat the whole set three to four times. Those who do not exercise regularly are usually weaker in cardiopulmonary function. They may do the set only once, with 10 seconds in each of the eight movements and a 15-second pause between them. Those who are older or physically weaker usually have less capability in their weight-bearing joints. They should be careful with movements that involve jumping, such as leg raise, jump lunge, and star jump, and should adjust the frequency and difficulty of the exercises based on their own abilities. If necessary they should consult professionals for instructions.

This set of indoor exercises includes a total of eight movements that are in a loop. The movements are 20-second long each, with 10-second pauses between them. They are demonstrated by Lei in the following video: https://youtu.be/ocUZg8nV1c4 

UM has been ranked among the top 125 in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2020 by subject. Sports science is one of the research areas of the FED. The research interests of Prof Kong’s team mainly focus on the impact of sports and eating habits on health. The team’s research results in exercising and health, as well as the physiology of hypoxic training have been published in many international academic journals, including Nutrients, Frontiers in Physiology, Journal of Sports Sciences.

(Ref: PPC/CO/037)

Source: Communications Office

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