Baduanjin is Better Balance Training Compared to Walking: A Cross-Sectional Study Based on Center of Gravity Trajectories

Weilan Jiang; Bingchen An; Shuangtao Liu; Chuan Xue; Chunlai Niu; Jie Qiu; Qilian Hu; Yaping Wang; Liang Chen; Liao Wang

doi:10.7759/cureus.54620

Baduanjin is Better Balance Training Compared to Walking: A Cross-Sectional Study Based on Center of Gravity Trajectories

Cureus. 2024 Feb 21;16(2):e54620. doi: 10.7759/cureus.54620. eCollection 2024 Feb.

Authors

Weilan Jiang¹, Bingchen An¹, Shuangtao Liu¹, Chuan Xue¹, Chunlai Niu¹, Jie Qiu¹, Qilian Hu¹, Yaping Wang¹, Liang Chen², Liao Wang²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Huadong Hospital Affiliated to Fudan University, Shanghai, CHN.
² Department of Orthopedics, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine Affiliated Ninth People's Hospital, Shanghai, CHN.

Abstract

Background: It has already been demonstrated by previous studies that Baduanjin training can improve the body's balance. However, its biomechanical mechanism remains unknown. Center of gravity (COG) trajectory analysis is an essential biomechanical test to explore the balance ability of the human body. Previous studies have not used the COG trajectory analysis technique to research Baduanjin training. The study utilizes COG trajectory analysis to analyze the trajectory of COG during Baduanjin training and compare it with that of walking, which is a common exercise for improving balance and aerobic ability, to determine if Baduanjin exercises affect the COG more than walking.

Materials and methods: Eight healthy female college students performed the walking and the eight forms of Baduanjin, a total of nine motions. The lower body kinematics were captured by the Vicon Motion Capture and Analysis System, while the kinetic data were acquired by the Kistler 3D Force Platform. The data were imported into Visual 3D to process the trajectory of the COG displacement amplitude, velocity, and acceleration of each motion. The COG horizontal envelope areas were calculated by Origin 9.0 Software (Origin Lab, Northampton, Massachusetts, USA) .

Results: Specific motions of Baduanjin provided significantly higher COG displacement amplitude, velocities, and acceleration training than walking. The F2 and F5 motions could provide a larger COG horizontal envelope area than walking. On the x-axis, F2 provided a greater COG displacement amplitude than walking, F1, F2, and F5 provided greater velocities, while all the motions provided greater accelerations. On the y-axis, all the motions except F2 provided greater COG displacement velocities and accelerations than walking. On the z-axis, F1-7 provided a greater COG displacement amplitude than walking, all the motions provided greater velocities, while all the motions except F2 provided greater accelerations.

Conclusion: Baduanjin training provides a more intense COG perturbation than walking, which may be a more challenging balance training than walking.

Keywords: baduanjin; balance; center of gravity; motion analysis; walking.