Does Tai Chi Enhance Muscle Strength?
The next point to cover is building muscle strength. Or, more to the point, how does Tai Chi accomplish that task?
If you have kept up to date with our recommended exercises for beginners, you will recognise the face in this image.
The Tai Chi walking exercise we cover helps to build lower core strength. It’s a consistent, regulated movement that shifts weight distribution over the entire lower core. See the video below.
While Tai Chi is not typically considered a high-intensity exercise, it can still help to improve muscle strength, particularly in the lower body.
Tai Chi involves a series of slow, controlled movements that require the practitioner to shift their weight from one leg to the other and hold various postures. These movements can help to strengthen the muscles in the legs, including the quadriceps, hamstrings, and glutes, as well as the core muscles.
If you’re up to it, why not try our 7-Day Challenge to test your fitness level? It’s not hard by any means. But it will give you some idea of where your weaknesses lie. After that, it’s a matter of repeating those exercises until you feel better about your fitness level. And you can do it at home! Until you’re ready for our classes that is.
Additionally, Tai Chi can be modified to include more intense movements, such as lunges or squats, which can further improve muscle strength. Practising Tai Chi with added weights, such as wrist weights or ankle weights, can also increase the level of resistance and further challenge the muscles.
It’s important to note that Tai Chi is not a traditional muscle-building exercise, and it may not produce the same level of muscle hypertrophy as weightlifting or other forms of high-intensity resistance training. However, for individuals looking for a low-impact, low-intensity form of exercise that can still improve muscle strength, Tai Chi can be a great option. So let’s look at this walking exercise now.
