The Influence of Regular Tai Chi Exercise on Neuromuscular Reaction in Old People

The purpose of this study was to investigate the impacts of regular Tai Chi (TC) exercise on neuromuscular reaction in old people. 21 old TC practitioners with regular practicing TC for more than 4 year and 22 sedentary non-practitioners were recruited to respectively form the TC group and sedentary control group. Electromyography (EMG) was used to detect the neuromuscular reaction of the leg muscles to an unexpected ankle inversion perturbation. The latency of muscles, defined as the time from the moment of perturbation begins to the first EMG response (i.e. onset), was evaluated. The results indicated that regular TC practitioners activated their rectus femoris and anterior tibialis muscles to an unexpected perturbation significantly faster than their sedentary counterparts, which might be helpful for timely correction of postural disturbances.