The Development of Rhythmic Balance Training Equipment and its Effect on Performance for Elderly

Abstract

The elderly accounted for 13.1% of the entire population of Korea in 2015, with 6,624,000 individuals, and are projected to account for 40% of the total population in 2060. The drastic increase in medical expenses for the elderly (3,220,000 Won per person in 2014) is becoming a social problem (StatisticsKorea, 2015). From a social welfare point of view, the idea of disseminating various types of exercise equipment to reduce medical expenses for the elderly is spreading (Josephs, Pratt, Meadows, Thurmond, & Wagner, 2016). Exercise training programs for the elderly have evolved in different ways. Korean exercise training programs such as Pilates (Kim, Rhyu, & Hong, 2011; Kang & Jon, 2014), walking (Choi & Lee, 2013; Kim & Beak, 2016), and step box (Kim, Choi, & Kim, 2016) have been used to promote exercise among the elderly. Internationally, training programs using dance (Kattenstroth, Kolankowska, Kalisch, & Dinse, 2010; Rahal et al., 2015), resistance bands (Wessner, 2016; Nemček & Simon, 2016; Oh et al., 2016), square-stepping exercise (Teixeira et al., 2013_ENREF_17; Jindo et al., 2016), and resistance with dumbbells, barbells, or cable have been recently used among the elderly (Peltonen, Arokoski, Kallinen, & Pullinen, 2012). A 2013 study by Jorgensen, Laessoe, Hendriksen, Nielsen, & Aagaard reported that most training programs for the elderly are composed of simple exercises, and more entertaining programs are needed to replace monotonous exercise programs. Park, Kim, Kim, Lee & Lim in 2010 also emphasized the need for development of an exercise program for the elderly with music and choreography to maintain interest. Nintendo's Wii Fit (Jorgensen et al., 2013), which was developed in Japan, maintains the user's interest by providing numerous programs such as yoga, strength and cardiovascular exercise training, and balance games. Because Wii Fit is a program in which the user simply repeats the motion shown on the screen, it is debatable whether Wii Fit can effectively provide exercise training with only the user's weight and strength. Only a few pieces of exercise equipment designed for the elderly are used in Korea and overseas. As several previous studies show, exercise training for the elderly has mostly been conducted using tools (tilting boards, foam plates, dumbbells, and resistance training machines) rather than equipment (Gillespie et al., 2009; Patil et al., 2015). Many pieces of exercise equipment have been developed for the elderly with a focus on rehabilitation, however. In Japan, water resistance equipment has been developed in which the user wears sock-like devices and walks forward in water to increase lower limb strength and balance (Katsura KJSB Korean Journal of Sport Biomechanics 2016; 26(3): 323-331 http://dx.doi.org/10.5103/KJSB.2016.26.3.323 http://e-kjsb.org eISSN 2093-9752 ORIGINAL