Explicit exercise coaching for health promotion based on bio-mechanics and ontology engineering

Abstract

Effective exercise coaching is critical for helping people master the correct forms of movements in order to gain the benefit of exercise. However, the potential ambiguity of verbal instructions in exercise coaching may become a hindrance to effective coaching. This study proposes a framework to support explicit and objective exercise coaching. We first present the two components of the proposed framework: (1) quantifying the differences between the correct and the wrong forms of a movement using bio-mechanics, and (2) modelling the sequence of muscle and joint activation in the correct form using ontology engineering. We then provide two examples of applying the proposed framework to exercise coaching on two basic movements. The ultimate aim of the study is to reduce unnecessary injury and to improve the quality of coaching services in the context of health promotion.