Introduction of home exercise program for current circumstance worldwide

Abstract

Currently, the pandemic of Coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) has been crucial problem worldwide. 1 Lots of people are restricted in their behavior. 2 In particular, elderly people are at high risk of becoming serious due to COVID-19 infection. 3 Then, physical activity and social interaction have also decreased. 4 For the elderly, deterioration of physical and cognitive function as well as exacerbation of nutritional status are observed. Consequently, there are concerns about the progression of sarcopenia and frailty. 5 In such social situation, the balance between infection prevention and activity maintenance would be important. For healthy life expectancy, specific tools have been recently developed. 6 This is the National Center for Geriatrics and Gerontology-Home Exercise Program for Older People (NCGG-HEPOP) 2020. 7 This paper introduces this program and related matters.How much exercise and activity were actually reduced by COVID-19? There are data for 30days after the WHO pandemic declaration. The average steps in 455million subjects in 187 countries decreased by 1432 steps (27.3%). 8 An internet survey of 2381 patients aged >18years reported reduced physical activity in 43% of subjects. 9 Another study uses wearable devices to track individual physical activity levels. The average steps for 30million users were 7% -38% lower in mid-March 2020 compared to the same period last year in almost all countries. An internet survey of 1600 elderly people aged >65 showed that physical activity time per week decreased by about 30% (about 60minutes) after the pandemic. 10 Furthermore, during the emergency period for 40days from April, the steps decreased by up to 30%. 11 During this period, 41% of outpatients refrained from visiting the hospital for dementia rehabilitation at NCGG facilities.

Overarching Goal and Intervention for Healthy Aging in Older People during and after the COVID-19 Pandemic: Impact of Rehabilitation

“…recommends of balance improvement package. Five other packages were also created: Strengthening package, Inactivity prevention package, Cogni-package, Feeding and swallowing improvement package, and Nutrition improvement package [29,30]. Each package includes more than 10 different programs and is classified into three levels according to the exercise difficulty and load, thereby allowing participants to select and combine exercises according to their abilities and condition on that particular day.…”

Daily recommended effective and safer walking and running from integrative medicine

“…5 For these health and medical problems, authors have continued diagnosis, rehabilitation, treatment and other related activities. 6 They include several lectures for exercise and nutrition for maintaining and improving QOL. 7 The subjects are from elementary school students, junior and senior high school athletic club members, general sports enthusiasts and Masters athletes.…”